No worries because we are sure to drown our weather sorrows eating lovely plates of food like these.
If you don’t see anything new around here or don’t see comments from me on your posts you’ll know why. As usual I’m not guaranteeing you won’t see anything new here. It all depends on wi-fi and down time in a hotel room.
“It would have been pretty darn difficult for actress Dina Merrill to have ever pulled off playing a commoner on stage, film or TV. She just had too much class. The epitome of poise and glamor, the New York-born socialite and celebrity was born in 1925 the daughter of financier E.F. Hutton, the founder of the Wall Street firm, and heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post of the Post cereal fortune”. (from a mini biography of Dina Merrill)
I really enjoyed the glamour surrounding the Hillwood Estate in Washington D.C. I’m not one to fuss much with glamour but I can appreciate it in others. Unlike Dina Merrill I can pull off being a commoner every day.
I’m quite comfortable in blue jeans and a comfy tee-shirt. I like a certain level of glamour once in a while. That glamour still has to have an element of comfort with it.
Dina Merrill whose birth name was Nedenia Marjorie Hutton, was the only child of Merriweather’s union with E.F. Hutton.
Wow! How about these wedding bouquets!?
Marjorie Merriweather Post seemed to have connections with other very glamorous people, too.
I think my most glamorous days have been at weddings. Growing up my mother always made sure my sisters and I had a new home sewn dress for Easter and Christmas. Those were glamorous days, too. How about you? Do you enjoy glamour and what was the most glamorous event you attended or were the star of?
There was one more post hanging back from my favorite museum in Washington D.C. and I better share it before I forget. The Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens was full of surprises.
The Japanese-Style garden was tucked below the edge of the other areas of the huge estate.
You had to go down these stairs to enjoy the garden.
Tucked into a wooded area and surrounded by rhododendrons and azaleas, the Dacha, or Russian country house, is a romanticized interpretation of a small peasant house. Built in 1969 during the Cold War, when U.S. – Soviet relations were tense, Dacha represents a nostalgic view of Russian culture.
The architecture features many elements typical of authentic Russian peasant dwellings, such as the whole-log construction and the intricate carvings around the windows and door. Other details are American adaptations of Russian motifs. The bright colors of the window carvings and the roof’s onion-shaped domes are typical of Russian churches. The Dacha on this property is used for museum programs and Hillwood’s changing exhibitions.
I hope your summer is going well. Dear was off last week and he worked on our basement project and it’s getting close to getting done. He has another week off the end of August into September and I’m dragging him away from the house so he does something besides work on this old house. We booked a night on the coast of Oregon and a night at Bonneville Hot Springs on the Columbia River in Washington State just across from Oregon. I’m looking forward to it. Have you all already had some vacation?
Because Moisi is my father we made it to the Lavender Festival over an hour early. Most farms weren’t open to visitors until 10:00 A.M. so we got our bearings with my favorite navigator in the back seat. Last year I journeyed to the festival all by my lonesome. It’s a lot more fun with my navigator and a bloggy friend who understands that we take photos of everything! Jill and her camera are great companions for me. You’ll need to check out her beautiful perspective of our days, too.
Here’s my navigator, Katie. We had time to stop and look out at the Dungeness Spit and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We gave a shout out to our Canadian friends across the Strait. Hello Pondside and to the east of Vancouver Island, hello Girls from MGCC!
We picked the roads on the perimeter to travel and were happy to spot this away from downtown spot for breakfast. A great start to our farm tour. We all chose the 1-1-1 for breakfast. One egg, one piece of sausage or bacon, and one pancake or piece of french toast.
Jill was served her coffee in a lavender mug. While we were waiting for our breakfast the owner of the restaurant brought us a bouquet of flowers for the table. He showed us the bush the mock orange blooms came from that were in the bouquet.
When breakfast was done we were ready to head to our first farm of the day…
I’m going to have to break down my posts by farm so that my posts will be manageable. Oliver’s was a nice start with just a few other people around. Each of the farms had nice gift shops to shop in and some of the farms had several vendors on sight with their tents ready to lure you in to buy their wares…
It’s time for the letter M in Jenny’s Alpabe-Thursday.
This is fire etched wood relief called The Adoration of St. Joan of Arc, 1896, J. William Fosdick. This first series of photos were taken at the National Portrait Gallery.
Sadly I didn’t take photos of all the descriptions of the art and I didn’t have my museum husband or daughter with me who read everything in museums to help me out. OYE!
This was so mysterious and sad. This is a bronze memorial of Henry Adam’s wife “Clover”. She committed suicide in 1885 by drinking chemicals used for processing photographs. Adams commissioned Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create this memorial of his wife.
A most interesting canvas…
Now I’m moving on to the National Gallery of Art…
For my finale I’m posting 2 more Masterpieces from Monet…
I’m going to be traveling out and about being a tour guide for the next few days. I’ll try to visit sometime this weekend.
We were so excited that the U.S. Women beat France on Wednesday to go to the World Cup Finals on Sunday. They will be playing Japan who beat Sweden on Wednesday. Go U.S.A.!
Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973), heir to the Post cereal fortune, was the founder of Hillwood Museum and Gardens – her former twenty-five acre estate in Washington, DC. This is one of my favorite works of art that is housed in her former home.
This large painting depicts one of the most important social and political events of old Russia, a wedding uniting two families of the powerful boyar class that dominated Muscovite politics in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The artist has singled out that moment during the wedding feast when the guests toast the bridal couple with the traditional chant of “gor’ko, gor’ko,” meaning “bitter, bitter,” a reference to the wine, which has supposedly turned bitter. The newlywed couple must kiss to make the wine sweet again. The toast occurs towards the end of the feast when a roasted swan is brought in, the last dish presented before the couple retires.
For the rest of these photos I zoomed in on the painting above to get more of the detail to share…
The sumptuously attired guests at this lavish wedding feast fete the newlyweds in a candlelit dining hall replete with gleaming silver and gold and richly embroidered linens. Konstantin Makovskii painted this work in 1883, two hundred years after such an event would have occurred. The Russian revival style was quite popular at the time, as Russians were nostalgic for the traditions predating Peter the Great’s efforts to westernize the country.
Mrs. Post acquired the painting in the 1960’s. It was among her final major acquisitions as she and her curator, Marvin Ross, prepared to open her home as a museum.
On her death in 1973, Mrs. Post’s final and most important philanthropic gesture became reality when Hillwood, her last estate in Washington, DC, was bequeathed to the public as a museum. Her magnificent French and Russian collections remain on view at Hillwood Museum and Gardens, where her legacy of opulent beauty and gracious elegance continues to thrive.
I saw this next painting at the National Portrait Gallery. I was drawn to it again because of it’s Russian origin. The Samovar on the table suggests that it was a tea gathering. My parents and relatives were from the Peasant class so they never dressed up like this or had such a luxurious tea…
Many times at our Russian wedding receptions in the States the tradition of tapping our tea glasses with silverware to alert the newly wed couple that our tea was not sweet was performed. This was to inform the newlyweds they needed to stand and kiss each other to sweeten our tea. The Russian receptions that I attended did not serve alcohol so the “tea not being sweet” replaced the “wine is bitter” Chai nye slotky is one phonetic way to pronounce “the tea is not sweet”…
Despite myself I’ve had a productive week so far. I mowed the lawn, got some laundry done, cooked some new dishes, ran errands, payed bills, picked up books at the library, and did some shopping. I’m getting ready to take a few days off to have some fun with a bloggy friend flying into town. The main event we’ll be enjoying is the Sequim Lavender Festival on Friday. Of course you’ll be seeing what we did and where we went because neither of us will be forgetting our cameras…
Have a great Wednesday! I’ll be watching the U.S. Women play France in a World Cup semi-final.
HT: Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens Tour Guide.
Here are some of my photos from Washington D.C. that happen to have a lot or just splashes of Ruby in them. I’m linking with Mary at Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday.
We really enjoyed the trolley tours that take you to lots of major monuments, etc. The drivers are really knowledgeable and you get a great D.C. education.
Hope your Monday went well and that your Tuesday will be even better!
Oh dear me…
I saw and took pictures of so many statues while in Washington D.C. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know who half of them are. Maybe you can help me? If not I’ll have to start googling images and try to figure it out. I was also in a quandary as to whether I should call them statues or sculptures.
This one is for my Canadian friends. The statue is in the plaza area of the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Grand Army of the Republic
Organized at Decatur Illinois, April 6, 1866
By Benjamin Franklin Stephenson M.D.
On some of the statues I managed to get the name in the photo so that is helpful. This statue of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock was sculpted by Henry Jackson Ellicott in 1896. Hancock fought in the Mexican, Seminole and Civil Wars.
Another easy one of Ben Franklin in front of the Old Post Office which is now a mall.
Sitting statues are popular in D.C. Here is the Majesty of Law Statue in front of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Contemplation of Justice
These last two sit in front of the Supreme Court Building. This one is called Authority of Law.
This is the Columbus Statue that sits outside Union Station.
Architect John Russell Pope placed four monumental statues around the National Archives Building. Each was cut from a single block of limestone weighing 125 tons. Aitken’s “The Future” sits on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the building. The young woman lifts her eyes from the pages of an open book and gazes into the future. Its base is inscribed with a line inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Tempest: “What is Past is Prologue.”
This was taken on the grounds of the National Cathedral in D.C., George Washington.
The white marble Peace Monument was erected in 1877-1878 to commemorate the naval deaths at sea during the Civil War. Inscribed “In memory of the officers, seamen, and marines of the United States Navy who fell in defense of the Union and liberty of their country, 1861-1865.”
The Garfield Monument
Believe me when I say these are no where near even half of the statues around the D.C. area. There are many I missed.
Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and photobucket stamped versions. They are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
This post will be loaded with photos so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I’m joining Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday for the Letter L.
I’m gathering all my photos that I took while I was in D.C. in May of Abraham Lincoln. I’ll start with the less obvious views around D.C. and end with the Lincoln Memorial.
The spot where life ended tragically for our 16th President.
I’m adding humorous quotes from here on out from President Lincoln.
From the National Portrait Gallery…
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man I ever met.”
“When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”
“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
“When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, its best to let him run.”
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
Hope your summer is swimming along. We are enjoying some happy weather here in the Northwest!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and photobucket stamped versions. They are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
Because this is our 4th of July weekend in the U.S.A. I thought it would be good to post my photos of the U.S. Capitol and the Statue of Freedom that crowns the Capitol Dome.
Nothing in the United States symbolizes democracy more than the U.S. Capitol Building. For nearly two centuries, it has been home to both chambers of Congress and has evolved and expanded as times changed and the nation grew. The building itself has more than 16 acres of space and 540 rooms. The Capitol Grounds cover about 274 acres with sloping lawns, splashing fountains and beautiful terraces.
This is a small view of the inner dome and canopy over the Capitol Rotunda. I’ll have another post of more photos from the inside of the Capitol on another day. E Pluribus Unum ~ Out of many one. E pluribus unum was suggested by the committee Congress appointed on July 4, 1776 to design “a seal for the United States of America.”
E Pluribus Unum still appears on U.S. coins even though it is no longer the official national motto! That honor was given to In God We Trust in 1956 by an Act of Congress.
Hope you enjoyed these views of our Nations Capitol and a great symbol of freedom. That’s what we celebrate every 4th of July.
We’ve been getting our patio all ready to go for our 4th of July celebration hoping that we get our long awaited summer for many days in a row! Hope your weekend is going well!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and photobucket stamped versions. They are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 