More Art, More Family, More Projects

It's been a lovely couple of weeks. I don't think I've absorbed this much art in a month ever. 

I've been a member of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco for a while, mostly because I really enjoy the special exhibitions at the de Young and Legion of Honor. I've been wanting to see an annual   exhibit, Bouquets to Art, for a number of years, and I finally got the perfect opportunity. I played a bit of hooky on my way to a conference last Sunday morning and spent a few hours at the museum seeing some pieces from the permanent collection interpreted by floral designers.  

It was better than I expected, both the flower arrangements, and the permanent collection, which I felt like I hadn't really spent enough time with before. Some of the arrangements weren't particularly imaginative (I guess there's not much you can do with a painting of cherry blossoms in a ginger jar), but others were. I also took in another well-received show while I was there, "Botticelli to Braque," an exhibit from the National Gallery of Scotland. It was a great way to "fill the well" before the conference. 

View from the Grand Hyatt, San Francisco

The conference went very well. It's one of my favorite - a lot of really nice people. One woman I've known for a few years remarked at lunch that she "needed her Suzanne time" - I thought that was so sweet. The best part was Mark coming for a few days! We had fun hanging out during the show and in the evenings. The last night we met Katrin for dinner, which made it even more special. 

It was a long week, though. It was my own fault, but I had made plans to run early networking events every morning, so I didn't have time get to the gym. Also, sleeping through the night is but an elusive memory for me these days. It took a few days to recover.

But that didn't stop me from enjoying another art-filled day in the City. Felicia and I went to see a costume exhibit from the Brooklyn Museum on view at the Legion of Honor on Saturday. We also wandered through the permanent collection and around the grounds a bit after lunch. It was the first time she'd been there, which was nice. It had rained (yay!) the night before, so when the sky cleared we had beautiful views of the bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Land's End. It was great to get my Felicia time in.

I didn't plan for it, which maybe helped, but today was one of the more productive days I've had for a while. I got up early and went to church - I had really been missing it, and it was a lovely, inspiring service.  I made a quick trip to the garden store on my way home, and so was able to finish putting in the starts in the raised bed. M has become quite the drip irrigation master. I'm hoping this will allow us to have lots of veggies without raising our water rates too much.



We've been talking about getting a Japanese maple for months now, to put between the stock tanks on the patio. While I was at the garden store, I saw one I liked. I mentioned that to M when I got home and he decided it was time. Off he went. Waiting for him to return, I weeded the front year, read more of the book I'm enjoying, Helen of Troy by Margaret George and vacuumed my car, which needed it, and did some other cleaning odd and ends.

The transplanted maple looks absolutely fantastic - exactly what the space needed. I hope it thrives. He also got a dwarf orange tree that he planted back by the peach trees. We spent an hour or so sitting on the deck as evening came on, admiring our handiwork while the birds flitted about as they do. 

Another project I haven't had much to do with yet, but I'm very excited about: after a decade of languishing in the garage covered with Costco items and patio storage, M has unearthed the Chevelle for renovation. He's been hard at work pulling out the interior and getting it read for repairs. 

I've volunteered to help with installing the new carpeting, upholstery, and headliner, when it comes time. It may take a while, but he's making great progress. We're both very excited about driving it around again. I remember how fun it was to turn heads as we drove around in barely mufflered style.

*****

Other misc. medical notes - feel free to stop reading now if it's TMI: I have new dental crown.  I've had some low-grade pain in my upper back for a while, so had it Xrayed - it's a compression, so I had my first bone-density test a couple of weeks ago. It felt very Star Trek to lay there fully clothed while the white plastic "arm" with the spotlight scanned me from above. I've also decided to try to deal with the hot flashes that wake me up at night with prescription hormones. They've been playing havoc with my sleep and I'm desperate to make them stop. Ah, aging. Hope to feel rested enough to get to the gym tomorrow, it's been too long.