Tea Time and Visas

Song - Tea For Two by Yehudi Menuhin & Stephane Grappelli

Yesterday Mr. B and myself went to an interview for obtaining our Visas for traveling to Britain this Spring.

Yes.....we know that you don't need a Visa.......yet.......but with all of the shenanigans that our current President is pulling, there has been talk!  So we didn't want to be trip-less if something should happen in the next few months!

I was both excited and nervous about this portion of the process. We spent hours online filling out our forms and then another few hours pulling together "qualifying documents" like our bank statement, new & old passports, house mortgage, travel plans, plane reservations, etc.

I anticipated that we would be shown into the UK Embassy and we would talk with a friendly person  of British decent and cute British accent and we might be served tea sandwiches or sweets......but surely some proper English tea!

We would pour over all of the paperwork we brought with us and discuss where we were staying and what sights we were seeing.  I thought this lovely person might have some input as to things that we might wish to change on our itinerary.

So in the morning I Googled the address of the place.

Mmmm....it was out near the Oakland Airport in an industrial area.  That didn't fit my vision for an Embassy....at all!

Then on the way there, Mr. B broke the news to me that he thought it would just be a USCIS place.  (I still had high hopes!)

We pulled up to this lovely building and.......

......even though we had a "timed" appointment, we went from one sitting area to another....along with many, many other people.  It felt like DMV or the Social Security offices. They finally called my number and it flashed on the big screen 2-7-6.

Yup that was me.  276.  I was photographed and fingerprinted and told to send all of the "supporting documents" to NYC within 5 days.  Mr. B number 277 was next....same thing.

NO tea, no cute accent, no interview, no lodging discussion, no, no, no....

Just signs....and people....and no food, no drinks, no cameras, no cell phones allowed.


Remember how at the beginning of this post I told you that I was kind of nervous?

Well, besides my fantasy of a sweet tea day, the other half of my brain was thinking.....

"Mmmm.....I wonder what happens if I answer a question wrong or different than Mr. B?"

The Dungeon for us both!!!!

Mr. B just laughed and knows what life with a Gemini is like.

"Kilt - it's what happened to the last person to call it a dress."

The Duke

Song - Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler

Do you know this man?  

I don't either but I found this photo yesterday in a shoe box on a shelf I was cleaning.

(I really should be painting)

The shoe box was full of post cards and old photo's totally unrelated to our family.

 I bought them at the flea market in Lake Tahoe several years ago.

And since this name and date were on the back of the photo.....

I Googled him.

 (I really should be painting)

His name was on the Harvard Autograph File collection, just several names down from Einstein's!

So I Ancestry-ed him.

(I really should be painting) 

He died at 60 of Typhoid Fever. I found his grave.

I learned about his parents, two wives, children and siblings.

(I really should be painting) 

So I wrote to several of his family members to see if they would like a copy of the photo and for them to be able to see if it really is him!

I got a reply.

They said that the brothers married Kramer sisters in NY and the sisters were instrumental in preserving George Washington's headquarters on upper Manhattan.

 

 

 (I really should be painting) 

Now I have sent them the photo and I'm ready to paint.

My work here is done!!!

"George Washington slept here" - J. Baird

Oscar

Song - The Painter by Neil Young

Friday a friend and I went to an exhibit at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.  The exhibit was "Monet - The Early Years" and encompassed his paintings from 1858 - 1872.

He put in the work to find his style.  

Would you ever think that these two paintings were painted by Claude Monet?

 

 The card for the above painting read "the still life was the rainy day activity for plein air painters"

This painting is a detail from the two huge canvases that depicts an outdoor luncheon.  The dappled light just brings you eye around and around the paintings.

His snow scene's were brilliant.  My very favorite painting of his (the one directly about) brought tears to my eyes - The Magpie.  Even though it looks like a pretty basic snow scene, there is so much soft color in this painting.

And his depiction of water during these early years shows where he was style was heading.

 A

 B

 C

D

Can you match the water details in the paintings above with the paintings below?

B

D

C

A

And check out a close up of the "people" in the above painting.

Two are headless and one mans pants are not attached to his upper half!

And does this even matter when you look at the entire painting?  Not to me as I enjoyed the energy of the painting, the movement in the water, the colors, the brushstrokes and the feeling that it evokes.

 "The Beach at Trouville"

His people in these scenes are just "suggestions"!

Another favorite of mine was borrowed from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC for this show and is titled "Argenteuil". 

I loved the show and I loved seeing so many paintings of Claude Monet that I have never seen before!

Now you are probably wondering .....

"Why did she name this post - Oscar?"

I never knew.....now we both do!

And I still say that Brandon Crawford looks a lot like Oscar!!!

"Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things.  

It's enough to drive one mad.

I have such a desire to do everything,

my head is bursting with it."

--Claude Monet

TBT with Great Grandma Mary

Song - Choppin Wood by Van Morrison

Maria Bernadina Clauser Gembrini

There she is in 1961.....my Great Grandmother at 76 years of age and she is showing my brother David (standing) and my cousin Billy how to split firewood.  I love how she has a wedge and a maul as well as an apron on because she was probably cooking up some trout for dinner and saw the boys out of the window.  She was a tough ol' gal and lived to be 98.

Note from Grandma Sophie (Mary's daughter & my grandmother) on the back of the photo.

 My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all still building the cabin in Tahoe at the time.  We used a big pot belly stove for heat as well as cooking so we needed plenty of firewood. We also had a washer with a ringer on top and the clothes would dry on a line between the trees.

Oh the fun we had up there in Tahoe!

"Behind every great man is a woman 

rolling her eyes." - Jim Carrey

Love Is In The Air

Song - Steppin' Out With My Baby by Tony Bennett

Several days ago Mr. B told me that he saw two Mourning Doves on our fence checking out our ladder for a nest - once again.  Since I put up this nesting box last fall under our eves, I was hoping that they would use it instead. 

So Mr. B moved the ladder so it wouldn't be so tempting. Now the squirrels are using it to climb up and down and chase each other around.  Oh boy....a toy!

Mr. B wanted me to start a nest for the birds so that they would get the idea of what to do with the nesting box - ha!  I think Mother Nature provides them with their own nesting ideas!!!

And the very next day - sure enough they had begun their work - at least I thought it was just the beginning.  Apparently they think it's finished!

This morning when I checked on them, mama was on the nest and daddy was watching from the fence. But I didn't have my camera with me.

Then later in the afternoon, I checked on them and daddy was still on the fence but mama was up on the roof of our house just above the nest.  I hope they enjoy their new home. I'll keep you posted.


Some interesting facts about Mourning Doves:

--the oldest known Mourning Dove was 30 years 4 months old

--they tend to mate for life and both parents incubate and take care of the young

--they have 3-5 clutches each season

--they have 2 white eggs that are born 1 day apart

--the eggs hatch in 14-16 days

--the fledglings leave the nest in 11-12 days and on day 12 they are cut off from food to encourage them to leave - talk about tough love!!!!!

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."

 ~ Margaret Lee Runbeck

The Amazing Anna

Song - Hummingbird's Mesmerizing "color change" Illusion

Recently I purchased a new lens for my camera - one that "zooms" a bit.

I also decided that if I want better bird photo's then I need to start using my tripod more often.

I was pleased with the first few photo's which were taken through my office window - which has a lot of mineral deposits on it from our sprinkler system.  So I decided to head outside.

 There were two Mourning Doves and one was just starting to close his eyes.  Kinda weird huh?

I had no idea that their eyelids didn't close straight down but kind of towards their back.

But then......this happened......

I felt like I was watching the first episode of The Incredible Hulk......

This is a male Anna's Hummingbird that changed right before my eyes.

And it wasn't just the direction that the sunlight hit him - at least I don't think it was - or was it? 

Well.......Hello there you pretty little thing.....

What a charming beauty!

"If you change the way you look at things, 

the things you look at change." 

- Dr. Wayne Dyer