Smithsonian Craft Show

Thursday was the first day of the "new schedule."  After walking Sophia and Griffin to school, I wen to the annual Smithsonian Craft Show.  It is a quite different than other Smithsonian shows....everything was for sale.  The prices were not as high as they could have been....considering the creativity and quality of work.  I met some great students from the Savannah College of Art and Design with some fantastic wearable art, jewelry and other creative designs.  They were so excited to have been accepted into this very competitive show.

I also enjoyed the work of Lisa and Scott Cylinder, creators of that snail brooch above.  They had a lot of birds and other small animals, made from mostly recycled materials...including pieces of musical instruments. Their website is
http://www.lisaandscottcylinder.com/

I also enjoyed furniture made by Tom Wessells, which were cabinets with an inlaid image on the door and then interiors reflect that...like a luna moth on the door and a moon on the inside.  It was beautifully done inlay work.  His website is http://www.furniturebytom.com/about.php

There were also some ubelievably creative cakes...well, decorated cardboard cakes.  I had never seen anything like some of those.  One was little truffles served inside a giant crinkled paper poppy.  Really special stuff.

There was much more and I could go on and on.  It was something to remember.

Also made a quick trip to the National Museum of Art, but will have to go back.  I had to leave in time to pick up the kids from school.

Peter and Louisa are off to Edinburgh

This was actually on Wednesday, though I am posting this on Friday....just trying to do a little catch-up.  

This is Peter and Louisa on their front porch as they set out for the big adventure in Scotland.  Sophia and Griffin went to school that morning as usual.  They love their school.  I drove to the airport, which was a little adventure for me because it was in their minivan and in pouring rain.  Then, I had to get back to DC and pick up the kids from school.  All  the trips that day went well.  Of course, the one to Scotland wasn't concluded until the next day!  They have a great apartment on the Royal Mile and we've received good reports.

Washington DC Today

Space Shuttle Discovery, mounted on an airplane, being transported from Cape Canaveral to the National Air and Space Museum Annex near Dulles Airport.  The shuttle was piggy-backed on the plane and was "shown off" above the Capitol Mall and around the area today.  Louisa and I were on the 6th floor deck of the Department of Labor for this shot.  We saw three "fly bys".   The most spectacular was the one aboe, where the shuttle was flown over the Capitol Building.  Below is a shot of the actual "rig" when it was a little closer to us.

This was an incredible sight to see.  There are better pictures on the internet, but these were the "real deal" for me.  I felt very lucky to be there with Louisa who, by the way, had clocked out and was not on official duty.