Washington DC Day 1

While Celia and Sue were still working I took a 3 day trip to Washington DC where I had been once before but only seen the Space & Science Museum ( long separate story) I traveled up by train from Penn Station and had a comfy 2.5 hr trip

I had booked on line and was staying at the L'Enfant Plaza hotel just over the L'Enfant Plaza metro stop. I even was offered an' E up-grade to a 'Deluxe King room with views of the Potomac and Monuments' This turned out to be a slight exaggeration as I could see both Washington Monuments and the edge of the river between views of other buildings, a sort of Dame Edna view.
But the hotel was great, handy and not expensive. Aussie dollar is lovely at the moment.
Union Station was a gem where they filmed the pram and shootout on the stairs scene from The Untouchables. It's very tempting to relate knowledge of the US from films seen!
My first sight of the familiar scenes was the State Capitol as the taxi took me to the hotel. I had booked on a Best of DC tour at 230 so had time to find some lunch, and the Old Post Office from where the tour started.
Although the main sights and Museums are on the Mall all together, the tour was good covering the distant spots that saved trekking all over DC. The guide was informative but typically ignorant when it came to Australia. he was most impressed with the knowledge of USA history of the 4 Aussies on the trip.
It was cold but not windy There was snow left on the ground from a storm a few days before, but with coat gloves scarf and hat I was very comfy. Short forays out of the bus were 10-30 minutes at most at a time.
Finished off about 530 as it got dark, and then went back to hotel for dinner.

New York New York!

After a long 25hrs of travel in fair comfort and no connection delays arrived at 48th street to be greeted by Celia in the lobby! She and Sue and Bernadette shared a welcome champagne, then off to bed as they were working next day.
I slept fairly well waking at 3am for a brief check of surroundings then up for a tea before Celia left for work then back for a nap.
Lessons to be learnt. No 1.
No matter how warm you are inside is no indication of amount of clothing needed outside!
I actually went back indoors to get my lighter gloves as it was so hot as I left the apartment.
I was walking down to Penn station to book my ticket to Washington DC, so at least the exercise kept me warm and (an important lesson 2) it is not as cold if it is was not windy!
I arrived where Penn station should be on the map but all I could see was Madison Square garden so walked up the adjacent street and when redirected back by the police found it is under MSG and as I headed back that way the sign was evident. Booked my ticket with no trouble getting the Acela express as advised by my resident travel guru(Celia) The walk back took me past Grand Central Station The New York Yacht Club (no water in sight) Macy's, Empire State building and NY Public Library and Bryant park. I took a photo of where the tidal wave rushed up the 'canyon' street to the library (The day after tomorrow movie) I also realized that from the apartment 37th floor we are looking at the sunshine sky , but down on the street the sun doesn't get through. "young girls are coming to the Canyon" has meaning now.
Did a little shopping at Lord and Taylor and Ann Taylor's (any relation?) then home to Celia's delicious meal of Japanese pork and cabbage

The Pom Pom tree

It is hard to generate from photos the magnificence of this tree. It is in almost full bloom now, and the perfume wafts through the house and can be smelt from the front gate when I arrive home. A sort of gardenia and daphne combination perfume

It started off in a jam tin; a weedy sapling 30cm high .It just grew taller, a thin stick that then lost the few leaves it had.
Maddy gave it to us promising a thing of beauty. Hard to imagine. It was a seed from a tree at her chiropodist she said. Eventually from its hidden corner of the garden we retrieved the tin when the twig divided and became 2 then 3 branches, and started to look sturdy.
I'm allergic to lots of grasses so we decided to replace the lawn with garden, eventually digging up some of the back lawn. So we started by planting this in the corner of the grass.
That was about 20 years ago and it has certainly turned into a thing of beauty... at least for 2-3 weeks of the year. We tolerate its other defects because it is so wonderful.
When it was growing taller suddenly one year it looked like it was dying , yellowing & dropping leaves (no flowers at this stage) when we found it in a garden book; African Pom Pom Tree , dais cotonofolia. We were thrilled to read it was semi deciduous!! not dying at all!
The following year it bloomed in all its glory. When it has finished all the flowers dry up and it looks like it is covered in tiny dirty mops! Then they fall on the ground, then the leaves fall and by November is in leaf again. It shoots from wherever it is cut so can be trimmed at will.
A lovely legacy of Maddy's love of gardens!
The other amazing survival story is the Fig tree.
There was a large fig tree in our neighbour's yard A sucker came through the fence and he cut his tree down The sucker kept growing and for years was a good source of fruit in the Summer. Then it got too big and clashed with the space for the Pom Pom tree So we cut it down and little suckers would shoot up, despite being lopped off as they appeared. This year the rain has given it a new lease of life and here it is again!!

Aireys Garden

After the trip to Brisbane I went down to Aireys with Wendy for a few days.

My activity there was restricted as 2 days of walking around a gallery led me to a severely tight back and great discomfort so I spent more time lounge round than doing anything.
We played lots of speed Scrabble and saved a fortune by not actually betting on the Cup!
But I did manage to take some photos of the flowering garden after rain!

Brisbane Culture

Brisbane for the weekend! Traveled up Business class using my frequent flyer points. No Direct flight so had a 40 minute wait in Sydney then arrived to sunshine and 28degrees. Staying at the Ibis hotel who offer some free internet access so catching up in the bar while I have a gin and tonic in happy hour ($4!!)
I met up with Kate, Jo's daughter and with her young son Natal 6 months. We went to see the Valentino exhibition What a delight room after room of fabulous gowns, A beautiful selection of his collection,We arrived at 1000 and got in with the first 5-10 people In half an hour the place was packed and we stopped walking in sequence and just viewed the ones with less of a crowd. Natal in a baby byorn was a good as gold; attracting attention of his own being so gorgeous as you can see.
There were desdescriptions of the gowns as well as any info of who might have owned or worn them Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Cate Blanchett, Liz Taylor etc.
There was a fascinating video called The Red Dress. Valentino drew a picture of the dress fine pleated, straight with a insert ruffle a shawl type body and a bow at the bust. Then he hands it to the Chief dressmaker and she works out how to make it!!!!! She described how it was hard to keep the dress tight and straight as the pleated fabric needed bulk so she had to build it over a flat body corset. He just admired or criticised the finished product!! And to my embarrassment I can't remember her name!!! I hope she receives appropriate remuneration!
We the had lunch and chatted about families, then Kate headed off for a driving lesson and I went to the State library (next door) I missed the War and Love exhibition opening next week, but saw a great exhibit about the Lindsays, Norman and his siblings.
Then down to the Art Gallery and saw an exhibition of (another) unknown-to-me artist Vida Lohan who was a contemporary of Margaret Preston. As well as other painting she became well admired esp by Arthur Streeton for her flower paintings.

An Artistic day

I now have alternate Wednesdays off and instead of frittering them away I have resolved to do something specific each time. This week I went with Sue M to see the Titanic Exhibition that has been on for months, but due to close soon. It has been booked solid all school holidays so we booked ahead.
It was fascinating and well displayed from the construction of this 'unsinkable' boat to the iceberg, the rescue, the loss of life and the subsequent massive changes in Maritime safety law. I didn't know about the coal strike in England that meant many people transferred off their planned ship to travel on the Titanic. The quirks of events that lead to.... The Grand staircase was replicated and the first class bedrooms and state rooms. The list of survivors and those lost was a huge imbalance of first and 3rd class passengers.When the ship went down there were still 1500 people on board.

After that we went down to Federation Square to ACMI (Aust. Center for Moving Image ) to see a new Bill Viola Installation. Not so new as he did it in 2003; I'd seen one of his in Melbourne last year (the same one was on in Japan when I was there with Kiyoe!). He uses water in his slow motion video images. The one on right is someone seen through a veil that you realize is water, and then they slowly move forward into the sheet of water and come through. Amazing in slow movement.
The recent one as part of the Melbourne festival is The Raft showing a group of men and women and women of various races and socio-economic backgrounds suddenly being knocked to the ground by a huge, high-pressure jet of water. Water flies everywhere, clothing and bodies are pummeled, faces and limbs contort in stress and agony against the cold, hard force.

Then, as suddenly as it arrived, the water stops, leaving behind a band of suffering, bewildered, and battered individuals.The action in The Raft is recorded in high-speed film and unfolds in extreme slow motion to reveal subtle nuances of the light and colour in the explosive impact of the water and the individual expressions and gestures of the figures in the face of an overwhelming onslaught. Described by the artist as “an image of destruction and survival”, this powerful and extremely moving work is a symbol of hope in the difficult times we find ourselves.
Seemed appropriate after the Destruction on the Titanic.
Next week I am off to Brisbane to see The Valentino Exhibition. A far cry from grief and destruction

End of the wattle

This tree is on my daily walk and looks wonderful and symmetrical!
I had cut a huge branch off my wattle tree as the neighbours complained of the leaf litter and her allergy to wattle. She has a Wattle on her nature strip and hasn't asked Council to cut that down!
So it now has a lop sided air but was in full glory for the last 2 months.
Now I have bits of blossom all over the house as the wind blow it about. It collects in great drifts on the ground.
I swept it up today as last year when it rained it stuck and stained all the bricks for weeks and set like concrete. Eventually it went.