2019

Greetings!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

May your new year bring everything you are hoping for!

Been Busy!

Time is flying by!

Here it is December 12th.  Just 13 days until Christmas!

Decorations are up.

Cookies are baked.

Three kinds this year: peanut butter,

molasses,  and

almond shortbread.

I made double batches of each to share with our regular dining couples and to have on hand for family.

Shopping complete and gifts are wrapped.

Cards are made, addressed and most will be in the mail or hand delivered shortly.

My birthday is in 5 days and to celebrate that and Christmas, Dan and I are headed to Maryland's eastern shore for a get away for couple of nights.

Family will arrive on the 26th to celebrate through to the New Year.

Time for a respite from blogging.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

Happy 100th Birthday

Today would have been my mother's 100th birthday.

She missed celebrating it by 5 years.

She is sorely missed by me, my 5 siblings, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren, some of whom never knew her.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Buttons and Bows Tree

I got out the Christmas decorations last week and decorated the apartment for the holiday.

We have a shelf outside our door which I decorate too. 

This year I felt the urge to make something to go on that shelf so did just that.

From Michaels I purchased the tree base and a hot glue gun.  Didn't bring any of the ones I had with me when we moved.

I had a box of buttons 

and ribbon that I tied into bows.

I sorted out the buttons to use,

and glued them to the bows, and then to the tree branches.

Here's the shelf decorated.

Can't claim to have made the doll or pillow but I did make the chalkboard Joy to the World sign years ago, but not as long ago as the wreath on our door.  I made that 44 years ago!

National Museum of the American Indian

Last Friday after visiting the Botanic Gardens we then went to the National Museum of the American Indian next door. 

It was a golden color in the midday light. Notice the line of food trucks outside.

Daughter Sarah knew there was hoop dance performance scheduled for noon and we arrived just in time to get seats on the periphery and watch the dancer set up his hoops.

The performance space is much like a kiva.  Above the ceiling is a dome of rings.

The performance started with the flute playing.

Then the dancing to the beat of a drum and singing.

One by one the dancer picked up the hoops with his feet, tossing them over his head and around his body, never stopping.  13 hoops in all!

Then he invited children and parents to join hands and form a circle line.

The line wound tighter and tighter into the center of the circle and

then back out.

It was a microcosm of our nation with all races and nationalities, young and old, joining hands in the dance.

We visited the 4th floor briefly of this museum,

then headed over to the National Gallery of Art to grab lunch before heading back to Greenbelt on the green line.

U.S. Botanic Gardens

On Friday after Thanksgiving we joined daughter Sarah, son in law William and granddaughter on a subway ride into downtown Washington, DC.

Sarah had read there was a model train exhibit at the Botanic Gardens which is on the National Mall near the Capitol.

Lots of others had read the same thing and the line was incredibly long for such a very cold morning.

We opted to just visit the gardens inside and skip the train exhibit which was accessed through another door.  We did see one model train (above) at the entrance.

Inside was all decked out in holiday plantings.

"Seasons Greenings" they called it.

Christmas trees with coconut trees towering over them.

And everywhere these models of Washington landmarks.  Above Supreme Court.

Union Station

Library of Congress

Botanic Gardens

We wandered through different ecosystems.

The White House

Washington Monument

Smithsonian Castle

Jefferson Memorial.

When we saw this one a light bulb went off in our heads.  The dome is a gourd.

All these models were built with plant materials - 70 different ones the brochure told us.  The Capitol took more than 600 hours to build.

Lincoln Memorial with columns made of branches.  Also used: seagrape leaves, eucalyptus leaves, birch bark, corn husks, lichens, willow sticks (maybe those were the columns), coriander seeds, burl oak, kangaroo pods, wheat, sisal rope, pine cones scales and lots more.