Christmas is Coming

We put up the Christmas tree tonight. I haven't put one up in years now (3? 4?) because we are always traveling in December.

This year I put my foot down because I have ornaments I hadn't seem in years. So we got a real tree from down the road and out came the sparkly Santas and the shiny balls and the many, many giraffe ornaments. And some of favorites still? The ones Fiona bought over a decade ago from Crate and Barrel from when I lived by the zoo.... 

Walkng Lecture at the National Portrait Gallery

Fiona and Abe

 In June, Fiona came for a visit and to give a lecture at the National Portrait Gallery about her book, focusing on the relationship between Thomas Nast and Presidents Lincoln, Grant, and Hay.  We all thought that it was going to be bit more like a formal lecture and not what it was, which was weird. One of the museum's "Three-Point Author Talks", Fiona stood before there presidential portraits.  The crowd that was there (about 20) were gathered together about 10 minutes before her talk began.  A relaxed setting, Fiona did her thing entertaining the masses with educational and interesting stories about Thomas Nast, his life, his work, and his influence on American history by using Nast's relationships to and with Lincoln, Grant, and Hay. 

standing crowd listening to the description of Nast's relationship with Lincoln

 At one point, signals got crossed and both she and I thought that she was running over time, so she moved onto the next painting.  Only, it wasn't time.  The museum program director just wanted her to stand closer to the painting.  Gotta come up with a better signal than touching your wrist and a directional head nod-- to me, all signs to move on, not to move closer. 

Fiona and President Grant

 Regardless, Fiona was awesome and it made me (and Will!) once again be in her history class.  After the walking talk, we went to the gift shop to sign books.  (Here is where the program breaks down: no sign saying to meet the author; no sign saying that there was a walking tour at 2 with the author; really just poor in-shop advertizing.). 

F with President Hay, as she describes the sad ending of Nast's list

the group

Ulysses, Tom, and Faynaynay

Fiona's book at the gift shop

Where is the sign to meet the author?

The Author ready to sign

After signing books, we were taken on a private tour of the museum, where Fiona, idiot savant, was able to name the people in the portraits as we walked by without reading the exhibit label.  She made sure to stop by a crazy dude and her historical boyfriend, General Sherman. 

Crazy dude!

Her heart is going pitter-patter!

Need a Good Book to Read?

I would suggest this one:

I heard that the author gave a talk at the Filson Club in Louisville the other day and she was amazing by all accounts.  Several people commented that she was the best speaker that the Filson ever had.  She was engaging, knowledgable, funny.  She really knew her stuff about Nast too.

Happy Birthday Fiona!

My dearest Fiona, happy birthday.  I thought of you and then I thought of figs....  

Hope all your wishes come true!

Backyard flowers

 The flowers are coming out in our backyard, finally.  The ones up front bloomed a while ago, but the ones in the back garden seem to be taking more of their sweet time.  We have a new flowering plant that spouted two branches of Bleedings Hearts.  Since the plant was brand new, the flowers were quite miniature.  

 Our lilac bush finally produced some flowers.  We planted it last summer and while it grew tall, it never sprouted any buds.  This year, we seem to have gotten at least one clump of delicious smelling flowers.

 I couldn't resist adding in this photo--she is taking a break from following me around as I snap photos.

 The white irises are very prolific this year.  We have about 15 stalks, each with at last 2 blossoms on them.  The two-toned purple ones are also out and the very deep (almost black) purple irises are starting to open up.   In other places, soft lavender irises are blooming.

 The roses form Fiona are simply bending over with all the buds on them.  We pruned quite severely at the end of the fall and now we are gaining that benefit.  Each plant must have one 50 buds on them.  And when they open up, it smells glorious!

F

Squish.  Happy birfday, Fiona.  Kees kees.

Fig Tree is Full!

Ohhhhhhhh Fiona.....  wanna come visit in another 3 weeks?  We will have plenty to go around!

Happy Birthday, Bestie!

Happy Birthday, my dear BFF!
Hope you have a marvelous day!

Is it nap time yet?

Cuz at nap time, Fiona reads to you and then you pretend to fall asleep as she sneaks out of the room, only to turn and discover you peeking out of half-closed eyes. She then comes back and finishes reading the book-- maybe even gives you a back rub, if you are lucky.

I hope that it gets to be nap time soon...

Water's Edge

This morning, we went to see the Great Salt Lake, something that Charles, Fiona, and Iain had yet to do in the 5 months that they have been living here. We went to the Salt Lake Marina. The lake is very flat and it has a pungent sulfur/rotten krill smell. But Iain was intrigued by the water's edge nonetheless. Plus, how much fun is 1-2-3 swing?

Park City, Utah

Park City is a very cute little town where the Sundance Film Festival is held every year. We didn't see Sundance himself walking the streets, but we enjoyed ambling up the main road, looking at the art galleries and jewelery shops. It was a lovely sunny day and so what better way to celebrate the crisp fall air than with a caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop.

Pre-cut, dontcha know! Fiona had hers sans pecans. "I like the smoothness of the caramel," she explains. Me, I like the pecans mixing with the caramel-- it is more turtle like.

Afterwards, we met up with our dear bear friend, Mr. Bernstein.
He let us know that Boss Hog was indeed in town and we should go visit...

A View of the Mountains

Fiona and I went to Park City (about a 15 minute drive from their house) and the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake valley are stunning and very impressive cloud formations. Some of the mountains (closer to Park City) even had a bit of snow....

Salt Lake Visit

I am here in Salt Lake visiting Fiona and Iain "the item" X. The landscape is certainly dramatic and the mountains are beautiful. It is hard for a East Coaster like myself to figure out which direction west is because "west" is where the mountains are, but here, there are mountains in every direction! Fiona's house is located in a cutie neighborhood with wonderful gardens (the roses here are amazing!). We walked around tonight, went to a park, and then purchased some local eggs. As Fiona says, gotta have the local eggs! I visited her school and saw her classroom-- even showed her a thing or two about her smart board.

Tomorrow: Park City and outlet shopping! The only thing that might cause me to have some restraint: a small suitcase.

Dear F, Suck it!

And P.S.

Check out the 2.4 quart bowl of figs I just picked... and there are more on the tree!!!

Kees, Kees, M

Dear F, More Blooms

Hey, F!

The roses you sent to us for staying here/wedding/birthday/just cuz are blooming! They smell gorgeous. The Crown Princess Margarete is in bloom again! And the Graham Thomas by our front door has new buds on it. So pretty!

Still waiting for the debut flower of the Shropshire Lad, however. That one seems content to just climb the fence, rambling along, instead of producing buds. We'll keep our eyes open, because I know you are *just* as excited as we are!

XO, M

New Roses' Blooms

Hey, Utah--

Lookie lookie lookie what is blooming for us!! The newest roses you sent as a wedding present, or a birthday present, or a just-because present (frankly, I can't remember why you sent them), are blooming!

The first photo is the Graham Thomas rose, which opened up yesterday, late. Soon we will have to train it up around the newly painted column on the front porch. Exciting!

This is the first bud of the Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden. Fitting, since Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden just wed over the weekend. (dude--check out her tiara! gorgeous!)


The third rose, Shropshire Lad, isn't even budding yet. It is too busy growing! It is about a 3 feet tall now. No photos of that one, just thought I would report.

Thanks for making our garden beautious!

The Berry Beginnings

Raspberries, Blackberries, and Blueberries are beginning to take shape!
I am feel your jealousy through the screen... yeah, I'm talking to you, Utah.

Roses!

Dear Fiona & Charles & Iain,

Thank you for the roses from David Austin. We planted them and they are doing quite well. All three have new growth on them and we think that we planted them in really good spots.

Two are climbers, as you will recall. One, A Shropshire Lad, is going to climb on our neighbor's fence in the backyard, and the other one, Graham Thomas, will be trained to go around the columns on the front of the house. The third rose, Crown Princess Margareta, was planted beside the more established Mr. Lincoln--he needed the company.

Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden

Thank you again and we can't wait to show you the first blooms, when they finally appear!

A Shropshire Lad (climber)

Love, Miriam & Will

Flower Power

We interrupt the constant photo stream of building works to bring you:

ORCHIDS!!
(and mini ones at that)

plus, regular sized ones:

And for good measure, white and red Christmas Cactuses, getting ready for Edward & Sylvia's holiday visit:


Lastly, but not leastly, the bulbs from Fiona for Will's birthday, which will be beautiful variates of amaryllises:

We now bring you back to the regularly scheduled tour of the progress of our 12 foot dormer.....