Mrs. NDL Goes to Washington

What we missed on our somewhat spontaneous two-day trip to DC:

Cherry blossoms. They peaked a month before the end of the cherry blossom festival and then a big rain washed the spent blooms away. There was not so much as a petal to be found.

Malbec World Day. We stayed in Dupont Circle in the midst of embassies from around the world. Huge banners at the Argentinian embassy pointed out the festival that happened just days before our arrival.

White House Garden tours. They only happen a couple of times a year and one of those times was exactly the weekend that had just passed. The view through the fence. So close, but yet so far.

We shoulda planned ahead.

But, it is DC, and there are a few other things to see and do.

Monuments of course. Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII, are all beautiful and moving, but we could not enter the Washington Monument which is still closed due to earthquake damage.

The United States Botanic Garden:  Site of the National Garden which features many aspects of gardening from roses to regional native plants.

Inside, a lovely surprise was  Orchid Mystique: Nature’s Triumph   - "observes the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of the cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C., by presenting our orchids in settings evocative of Japanese gardens. The tranquility of the Japanese aesthetic invites appreciation of the beauty, form and exquisite floral complexity of nature’s most diverse plant family."

The Library of Congress: If you were expecting a modern building warehousing shelves and shelves of books you would be as delighted to find that the original LOC building is a jewel of artistic architecture with a fascinating history as we were.

"The figures of little boys on the staircase are known as “putti” in Italian Renaissance art and represent the various occupations and pursuits of contemporary American life when the Jefferson Building was completed in 1897." - LOC Virtual Tour  Shown in the foreground here is the hunter, with the farmer, mechanic, and bacchanalian alongside. See the other three panels of industrious little putti here, here, and here.

The exhibit Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of Friendship was nice consolation for having missed the cherry blossoms.

Other highlights included:  beautiful stumbled upon surprises like the the Butterfly Habitat Garden, the Enid A. Haupt Garden 

and raised vegetable beds - the People's Garden, on the lawn of the Department of Agriculture. 

As well as sculpture gardens outside the Hirshorn Museum,

and the National Gallery of Art.

We intentionally sought out Sonny Bono Park, just a stones throw from DuPont Circle

Sonny Bono Memorial Park  is named for Sonny Bono. The park was established in 1998 after Sonny Bono's death by Bono family friend Geary Simon, a local real estate developer. He approached the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation's Park Partners program and paid $25,000 of his own money to revitalize an unused 800-square-foot triangle of grass. His improvements included installing an underground sprinkler system, planting new Kentucky bluegrass and a Japanese maple, as well as benches and a wrought-iron fence. The park also features a vault of Sonny Bono memorabilia, such as the sheet music for "The Beat Goes On," his official Congressional cuff links, and a mug from his string of Bono's Restaurants. - Wikipedia

And are now thinking we should write Cher, or Chaz, or Mr. Geary to tell them to hire a private gardener. and trash collector. 

But as we found over and over again in DC (as in most of life's journeys), for every disappointment  there is a supremely satisfying experience to cancel it out.

The attraction that totally lived up to our expectations - Smokey Bear's Office at the USDA Forest Service complete with animatronic Smokey.

Add champagne, lovely breakfasts, and old DC atmosphere at the American Guest House; a Prez Obama Burger and fries at the Good Stuff Eatery;  the Trenette al Nero di Seppia (Ink Squid Pasta) and offerings from the Prosciutto Bar at La Tomate; great people watching; flawless travel connections; a beautiful clean (thanks kids) house on our return, and you get a very wonderful  anniversary get-away in our nation's amazing capitol.

Superfun

Just in case it's too cloudy to see it, or past your bedtime when it comes out, in honor of tonight's supermoon, here's a fun little moon-related something.

Waiting for Spring

Not long ago we read this article about the lack of nature and animal themes in children's books and frankly, felt a bit shaken. Could it be true? We had to see for ourself.

In the kid-lit  area of our big new bookstore  we found,  right on the top shelf of the picture-book  section this:

A wonderful book about a grandpa whose fading memories are kept in the topiaries he creates.

And this:

A girl's imaginings of the colorful and whimsical garden she will plant. Jellybean bushes are involved.

And this:

 

Author illustrator team, Philip and Erin Stead put out annual lists of their picks for the Phildecott and Steadbury awards and we are pleased to discover that many of their choices are both nature and animal themed books.

Based on our independent study and that of the Steads we are choosing to believe that the report of the dwindling of books of this genre is premature. They are there but it may take some intention to seek them out and share them with the kids in your life to help keep them connected with their "big backyard". Better yet, read some of those stories to them right in the great outdoors.

Smarty Plants

If you possess one of those newfangled smart phones you now have it made in the shade when you go to the greenhouse to get your garden going.

Formerly, when phones were dumb, we had to get out our readers, squint at the very small print on the plant label, then consult the armful of garden books  we had dragged along to the nursery to help us make informed choices on creating planter pots and borders perfect for our conditions. 

We own a lot of very muddy garden books.

No more of that silliness. 

Now you can let your fingers do the scanning and get masses of information in the blink of an eye.

Notice we said your, not our? Our flip-phone needs a little more higher education afore it can be smart like the other phones. In the meantime we'll keep the cheaters at hand and muddle along as we always have.

Up Where the Air is Clear

It's in the news, but it really isn't all that new. Urban rooftop gardening is an arcing trend for gardeners who are not as blessed with tillable green space as are we.

This very charming image shows early up-in-the-atmosphere plant education. A "kindergarten" perhaps?

Act Now, Don't Delay

They're going fast.

Our new victory garden poster-inspired sign.

Yes, you too can grow peas this big in your own community garden plot. Get one while you still can.

Boy Meets Girl

Dapper, diapered, and revving along with a sweet ride.

Neatly coiffed, saddled-up, and hot to trot.

Made for each other.

30 years and counting.

Snowballs in April

Another completed UFO.

The fabric was in the stash so long that it has creases that will need to be worn down by use and washing. Ironing was not enough. Oops.

Use It Up

The stash isn't busted yet, but we are doing our best to use up the seemingly bottomless pile of yardage we have accumulated. These three twirly quilt tops went a good way towards our goal but the end of the hoard is not in sight yet.

Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without! - a mantra worth adopting.

Dairy Air

The particularly picturesque and very Wisconsin-like view from a friend's new farmhouse dining area.

Do you think they draw the blinds on steak night?

Oh wait, perhaps we can answer our own question by looking back at an uncropped photo of the same view.

Farmers are nothing if not pragmatic.

Formerly smokers' hill

No, you won't find it on Mapquest, but it seems one of our local landmarks has become an officially capitalized place. The fish-wrapper, perhaps only repeating usage from the police dispatch, has seen fit to legitimize the butt-strewn grassy knoll just across the street from the high school by using it as an official crime scene address.

Our initial intent was to mock this silly formalization of the well-known moniker for a notorius locale, and it is kind of funny, but noting that the activity of the restless youths has deviated from de rigueur rebellious underage tobacco use to incidents of a more disturbing nature, perhaps a tone of gravity is somewhat more appropriate. Is it possible we are endorsing bad behavior by acknowledging that there is a dedicated place for it?

Hmmm... we wonder what other infamous locations might get the official nod.

Will we soon be able to reserve by name, the park picnic shelter in the wooded area known as Bong Hollow?

Remember When...

We had blooming things, just last weekend?

It was fun while it lasted.

Pre-freeze photos by S. Plasch.

RCMPS&P

These guys are in charge until we return from checking out what's happening North of the border.

We're hoping that the authoritative presence of the RCMP on the kitchen windowsill will have some influence on the tidying-up habits of those left to keep order on the home-front. Not that they need reminding mind you. They always manage to do-right before we walk back in the door.

Someone's in the Kitchen with NDL

This sweet kitchen utensil came our way at the Lutheran Church Ladies' annual "favorite things" birthday gift exchange. Spoons like these, and more, are from Talisman Designs of Minneapolis, MN.

Finally someone other than our self to mutter to while slingin' the hash.

Bunny Business Tip

Don't forget to count the eggs before you hide them.

Have a good day!


Image: The Graphics Fairy

When We Win the Lotto

After we pay someone a million bucks to fix once and for all the broken kitchen cupboard door that drives us crazy, and then pay to keep them on retainer to make sure it stays in working order forever, we will have fresh flowers like these in the house everyday.

This is what $100 flower baskets look like.

We'd appreciate it if one of you could do the math and tell us how many we could have and for how long before the jackpot runs out. Thank you.

Hey There Freckle Face

Polka-Dot Plant, Pink Polka-Dot Plant, Measles Plant, Flamingo Plant, Freckle Face, or Pink Dot - no matter what you call it hypoestes phyllostachya is at home indoors or out.