Egyptian Tomb at MFA worth seeing

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has extended its Middle Egyptian exhibit until June 2010. In 1915 archaeologists uncovered a shaft leading to an amazing burial site from over 4,000 years ago along the eastern Nile. The exhibit displays rooms of carvings and implements buried for a provincial governor and his wife, to bring them safely to the afterlife.

One of my favorite carvings was of women weaving on a horizontal ground loom. The fiber was flax and the task was shared with one women who spun the fiber, and others who helped control the warp (lengthwise ) and woof (crosswise) threads. According to the exhibit, these techniques are still used by traditional weavers in the Middle East. For more about "Secrets of Tomb 10A" , go to: www.mfa.org

Pineland Farms Visit

February is a great time to visit Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. It is a perfect destination to see after a long winter. A little west of Portland, it is a 5,000 acre working farm which includes a Creamery with delicious cheeses, a market, restaurant, and horses and award winning cows. The Holsteins produce delicious milk and graze outside when its warmer and live in a spacious barn in winter. They make good animals to photograph and draw. I'll be ready to visit the farm soon. Curious about more? Go to: www.pinelandfarms.org