beginning the 57th year

Let him eat cake!  Some to the fun things we did for my birthday week celebration...

57th Birthday portrait prior to eating the amazing chocolate sunflower cake. Clearly a winner in my book!  

This week after a fun day with Keith at the Bread Line for lunch and a visit to the excellent 40 Under 40 show (link to slide show of the artworks) of young crafts artists at the Renwick Smithsonian American Crafts Museum we had a quiet evening at home we ate birthday cake and watched the funny & sad movie Beginners which tells the story of a 75 year old man coming out and his son's romance with a lovely French actress. It was funny and had a great role for the little Jack Russell Terrier. Christopher Plummer (82 years old) won his first Oscar for the role of the gay father this year which is one reason I wanted to see this film.

I received, just what I wanted, from my guy, a beautiful copy of the exhibition catalog from Vincent Van Gogh The Drawings, at the Metropolitan Museum of art up in NYC that I saw a number of years ago. It's a great collection of his works on paper and a few paintings to show how he sketched his finished works in letters to show his supporter Theo, other artists and his family what he was creating. It also has some great reproductions of his formal reed pen and ink drawings which are very detailed and very accomplished works on paper. I used to draw with a reed pen but we don't have any bamboo growing in our pots in the garden any longer to cut flexible green reeds from. I need to go scouting to see if I can find some near by that I can cut and use to draw again.

Rose star quilt top over the curtain rod 

Light pouring through the quilt top looks like stained glass windows

 The next day we arrived in Manassas to celebrate with my Mom late in the afternoon. I wanted to photograph my Rose Star quilt top hanging over her bay window before it got too late and did that then we had to go eat lunch right away. I had seen other quilters paper pieced tops hanging in the sunlight and wanted a few of mine to show how much they look like stained glass windows. We later went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. She had never had Vietnamese and we always liked the dishes at a restaurant that was closed up in Clarendon, Va. a few years back to make way for condos by the metro station. Closing of Cafe Dalat was a real loss to our list of restaurants we love. Pho in Manassas was OK but nothing to write home about the way Cafe Dalat once was.

Thursday we took off to Warrenton to find a bakery that made a delicious Lemon cake my sister Jenny sent mom for Valentines earlier this year. We enjoyed the ride through the country side and were also looking for lunch and some thrifty shopping at a number of shops Keith found on his google maps. Red Truck bakery was sold out of sandwiches at 2 PM when we arrived and wouldn't have any more until they opened the next day. They sent us to a little nature shop that was a complete time warp back to 1970's that served us up some delicious sandwiches way upstairs in an old house turned vitamin, herbs, books, massage and incense, etc. store. It happened to be right across the street from Salvation Army shop. I went back later for some red truck shaped and iced short bread cookies too attractive to pass up after going to the bakery so far from home.

Keith escorts Phyllis across the street to Salvation Army store in Warrenton

We didn't find anything thrifty to buy but we had a good time looking and seeing the old town of Warrenton before we headed home. Friday we went to Lowe's hardware for a bucket and found that they had several plants Keith and I wanted. Mom treated Keith to a red December blooming camellia called Yule Tide. We also found several big white clematis on the discount racks for $2.50 each a super bargain at exactly the right time of year to plant them for next year's flowering. Remember: first year sleeps, second year creeps, third year leaps is the rule for perennial vines.

Keith's red camellia is already planted as I am writing this post , that was fast.

white clematis x two 

New York Asters

 I spent some birthday money at Joann's Fabrics again to select gifts from Mom myself since she can't get out and buy them alone. I picked out a rotary cutter and blades and a few blue and white fabrics to go with the old sheets I found at thrift stores recently. I am dreaming of a Dresden plate design to mimic the antique one that she has which was made by her grand mother. I borrowed it and plan to make some adjustments to the design but I wanted it handy to guide my work in the coming weeks. I also got my backing & batting washed and shrunk up in the dryer at home because we don't have laundry in our apartment building.

Great grand mother's Dresden plate quilt 

These are some new & old blue and white fabrics for a new quilt project were a gift from Mom this year in addition to the bumpy off white bedspread I found at Salvation Army store Manassas. It reminds me of being a kid and napping on my parents bedspread just like this one.

I have to say it was a great week from beginning to end. Thanks too all my friends and family who sent best wishes on Facebook.

80th Birthday

Jenny and Frank in Texas sent a huge pink and white bouquet

Best friend Mildred Cunningham arrives to surprise Phyllis on her special day, and boy was she surprised.

Frederick, Mom, David, and Mildred enjoyed burgers at Hunter's Head Inn a little 18th century tavern in Upperville, VA

Phyllis and Mildred with take away heading home for strawberry cream birthday cake.

I went home to Manassas for my Mother's 80th Birthday. We had a nice surprise when on the big day, Sunday July 15th, her phone rang and her best pal Mildred Cunningham called from the curb to say she was out front of the house! She had driven up from Richmond where she was visiting her sister-in-law for a day with Phyllis on her special birthday. Dave and I planned a nice drive to the country through scenic horse farming country just beyond Middleburg to Upperville to have a meal. It was warm but not too hot and we all piled into Dave's big black Hummer to ride the 40 minute trip to lunch.
We all had great burgers of grass fed beef raised humanely on a farm less than a mile down the road. The Hunter's Head Inn is a nice place to go for a meal day or night but I prefer to go when it is light to see the rolling hills and fields along the way. I recently had a nice 5 hour lunch with my high school friend Valerie there which is what put it in my head for Mother's special day. We got home before storms arrived and were sad to see Mildred leave to go back to Richmond where she ran into some of that nerve wracking weather along her way. Monday after the big event I took Mom to the DMV where she as a sensible 80 year old turned in her driver's licence and ordered up a new secured state ID card so she can continue to vote in her state. Virginia new laws now require it for proof of citizenship.

Yorktown Va

On one day during our trip to Williamsburg we decided to drive the short drive down to the third corner of the triangle of historic areas called Yorktown. This is where the American Revolution ended and English surrendered to George Washington and the Continental American army and French naval forces that brought them down.  After a visit two years ago Phyllis and Mildred said we would enjoy it and they would come with us. We had a lovely sunny day and the drive was nice and not too long. We arrived and found the area by the York River where they had visited with my sister and brother in law and his mom.
We decided to go check out the historic area on top of the hill and the Mom's just hung out and shopped by the river.
Before we went up we saw the tall ship which was at pier seeking riders for a two hour cruise ($30 per person) it was tempting but costly. Maybe on some future trip we can go for a ride on the tall ship Alliance. I have always wanted to see how it feels to be on a big sail boat like that after reading of all the harrowing crossings our ancestors took back and forth to Europe in these small wind powered vessels.
Keith and I enjoyed a cool local gallery full of crafts from local artists. Quilts pottery even some glass work and naturally lots of watercolor and prints of historic areas and views were in the gallery. Then we just walked around looking at what was there and the many buildings that had been restored and rebuilt. Soon it was time to get back to the river side and eat a great meal with the two ladies who brought us out there. We had a view of the river in the restaurant and saw the tall ship go sailing by during the 2 PM cruise!
We also saw the coast guard doing drills at the piers. They were pulling up to the pier attaching ropes to the piers then unhooking them and driving back out and in again over and over. Three or four boats were all doing this at the piers. I enjoyed the visit and had a very good walk up and down the hill that day. We all slept well that night.
This is the end of my Williamsburg photo essays. Hope to go back and next time with a better camera and even more time to explore all the nooks and corners and museums and historic houses and gardens that are so intriguing and interesting and always evolving with new discoveries and new stories of how the new world was in the 1700's in the colonial era.

Phyllis, Keith and Mildred seated at the river walk where there were plenty of benches to rest upon.  Notice they all wear dark glasses.

Keith working hard to get a close up of a moving target

Monarch butterflies love the nectar of lantana flowers 

One of my favorite butterflies on asters by the river walk

two of the coast guard ships pulling in and out of the piers 

Three coast guard boats drilling docking maneuvers under the massive bridge 

coast guard ties up the speed boat....

Two sail boats at the piers, the little one in front only had one mast. 

the tall ship up close from the pier

the back door to the corner house 

brick wall around a big formal garden nice to a very large colonial home 

up on the hill a few historic houses 

The first sail went up on the three masted tall ship as we were heading back to eat lunch 

Finally as we were waiting on our food the big tall ship went by with full display of it's sails! Really nice way to end the perfect touring afternoon.