Top secret hotel splash

Well if you note the location data embedded in the photo this swim is more publicly illicit than intended. Thanks to a lovely guest we were able to take a rather chilly splash when all was quiet, though the girls quickly moved on to the jacuzzi while I swam some much needed lengths - our Dairy Milk delivery has not helped my svelte-form aspirations.

PS: And yes, we did begin an attempt to clear the location data, before deciding life was too short.

M.F.A. Show, Anderson Gallery, VCU

Ranked no. 1 by us, but also US News & World Report Week, the M.F.A. students at Virginia Commonwealth University have been sifted down to a compelling group for this show.

Ghosts and 'presences' of all sorts are conjured up... with our top prize going Jacob Vincent's Solaris-style installation (pictured) and hidden around the corner was Mayme Donsker's film piece shot in an old-time dance hall, showing just the shadows on the wall - past couples spirited away with grace. It felt as if we were about to cast our own shadows and was all the more moving for this.


Outside Ander Mikalson's howlings filled a neighbouring barn, whilst back indoors Ginger Metzger stitched away on little blocks of fabric to no seeming purpose or end... The girls attempts to engage her were thwarted with focussed intent .

M remains adamant that this is where she is going to study.

More weather... in Richmond

Somedays it's so wet it takes some strong spirits to embrace the outdoors, but with Tina by our side we did it! Encased in waterproofing for most, and the P'ter-principle of less clothes, less wet for the rest, we crossed the Tredegar Bridge for some pottering in lime-green leafiness. It felt as if we were in the jungle, beside a wild river and it was bliss, until we got too cold.

We refuelled at Buzz n Ned's smokery, this time with a half rack of ribs for us and every carb variable for P - fries, potato salad plus mac n cheese n bread. You could spot those who'd gone for the full rack, so to speak. Then off for some calories-shifting shopping - dashing between covered walkways and flooded tarmac - with the odd bargain in between. More storms to come...

Hurricane Irene with SP Weather Station, VCU

Just yesterday a mass of VCU art foundation students, a giant map of America and the delightful artist duo of SP Weather Station station, gathered to recreate Hurricane Irene with lambs wool for a stop-go animation.

Taking note of the Levi's Walk Across America advert, this bookshop one, Beringer Wineries and the joy of Fantastic Mr Fox, they knelt and stretched over the  image board and between of countdowns of ten, began the laborious process of moving Irene across the eastern seaboard and their own city... absorbing in the process - the idiosyncrasies of the weather and collaborative art making. They added their own energy and the odd puff of fake snow to a scene that took it's tole just over 8 months ago, before the earthquake, that is.

'Survivor 2011' T-shirts are sported by many a local teenager and make us chuckle. LA folk may mock the 5.8 richter scale ranking but we have nuclear power stations and no-one had earthquake insurance out here - it's just not normal... after-shocks still rumble.

Designer kids c/o Quirk Gallery

Sitting on our the neighbour's porch, drinking crushed strawberry, mint and vodka cocktails... children absorbed in vintage Barbies, when someone notes that they know them from Richmond's best craft/design store?!? We check it out and it seems M & J are indeed the Facebook icons for the truly fabulous Quirk Gallery. We recall the shot but it looks super cute in this context.

Quirk Gallery - Facebook

Obama's House, Washington DC

Yanky doodle went to town... riding in a substantial Nissan. Three generations of the Taffs got to Obama's house and it was white and lovely. Then on through the un-scenic National Mall improvements, past a Sikh/Scottish march with bagpipes to the toe-dipping joy of the World War II Memorial - 'No wading please out of respect for the perished'. The reflecting pool is a mud pit but one day soon all will be a gently rippled, mirrored expanse.

Next stop Dulles International and we were back down to just two generations of van Taffs.

Random knitting, Richmond

Knit one, pearl one... we think a VCU materials student is responsible for these installations about town. We loved the hole in the middle and wrapped around the lamp post it says, 'Darling sister' - cute and a little bit edgy!

Oscar Munoz, Part II, Visual Arts Centre, Richmond

In the The True F. Luck (!) Gallery was the immaculately installed second half of the Oscar Munoz' exhibition. A four screen projection showed the artist's hand painting newspaper obituary portraits in water on sunlit gravestones and as they faded away, he began again.

Over in a corner, on a  table with down-projections he continued the process of dissolving photographic images in a sink, but this time in reverse. J stood mesmerised waiting for the blank paper to be pulled out with a fresh face. Simple and gently systematic Munoz makes loss and life seem less absolute and if I was on the edge of thinking some of it repetitive, I stopped myself. With a palm full of water we caught a glimpse of him before it trickled away...

Outside we found our own absorbant blocks and brushes to have a go, before the girls went more absolute and soaked them to total darkness. Then on to the thematically appropriate next stop on the tourist trail - Hollywood Cemetery - where we cruised the historic graveyard (amidst it's holly trees) and peered into family tombs. All in sight of the impressive James River.

Hollywood Cemetery

Lewis Ginter Gardens, Spring

So now the stunning peonies are out, reminding me of my Granny's garden. I want to grow some too... The girls threw pennies into the Lewis Ginter ponds, a couple missing their mark but causing no bodily harm to fellow wanderers. A bright green frog was spotted in the Greenhouse and plenty of hairy caterpillars on our route.

Made it down to the Children's Garden where they had the sweetest outdoor studio and artist, who helped M make a tissue-paper flower. Then they both did more craft in an open, activity space. Finally we made it to the dinosaur-sandpit and thanks to the excellent adult to child ratio we were able to take tea as we supervised. The dinosaurs are missing though and the new pond walkways are plastic not wooden decks - oh America, you just don't get it yet.

Monument Parade, Easter Sunday

A petting pen in the middle of Monument Avenue experienced an extensive reportage shoot c/o J and my iPhone, before she refocussed on feeding the weary and un-hungry beasts.


The central reservation overflowed with fabulous blow-up slides, a balloon twister and crazy Muppet puppet show, the girls chose to view from behind. Whilst the human and hound Easter bonnet contingent added some colourful and odd sights to the pavements. From the trannies to the pets in tutus, we gazed, slightly bemused by the village fair feel, on an Easter Sunday. 

Easter eggs in Mineral

The Easter bunny in Mineral had heard that too much chocolate was not a good idea and instead hid pennies and dimes around the place in plastic egg-cases of pastel hues. Much joy and maths followed in the counting of the hoard.

Back across the wood on Phil's sunny deck we did a dash of egg blowing and painting of our own. The sun baked them dry in minutes, though the rustic twine was too thick for subtle holes and their longevity is not going to challenge the 25 year mark achieved in Malvern.

Floyd Fuddle

The neighbours pooled courses and in Jason's outdoor kitchen we got to huddle between the patio heater and grill for a spring evening of salmon, steak/black bean burgers and meringues. The latter the product of some romantic, late night baking under Delia's strict instructions. With a dollop of cream, plump raspberries, sweet blueberries and a dusting of powdered sugar - as whimsically described by Nigella - we did them both credit.

Backyard improvements

Wielding a pick our soil was turned and mixed with hummus mulch so that our new shrubbery can sustain a deep pink camelia and along the garage, a climbing hydrangea. We have plans for the herb bed but our aspirations for lavender had to shelved due to the pending great heat. Not sure what sunny-bush might relish the company of rosemary and chives - suggestions please. The Garden Centre of choice was Sneeds - idyllic in the warm afternoon sun with azaleas and the odd cherry blossom in crazy-flowering mode.

Easter at Fox Elementary

I'm a little off eggs having got 19 children blowing them (cage-free and organic!) and then dealt with their contents' disposal down the school loos... Returned for the slightly less visceral joy of painting them. The results were wonderful and bright.

Later a parent had laid out an Easter egg hunt in the front gardens of the school and the kids all wore bunny ears and scampered about. M came home and repeated the treasure hunt for J and shared her spoils, though the fake colours and sugar saw her awake far into the night.

Bug watch, Spring 2012

So spring seems to go like this... ants, inchworms and them more inchworms, followed by ghost spiders, stink bugs and today giant sewer rats...

Then there is the poison ivy. I've proudly been able to identify this nasty thanks to my 'cultural awareness' training - trifolate (!) with hairy creepers, for the uninitiated.

On the plus side we've had cherry blossom and ongoing dogwoods, blankets of wisteria on those endless trees, tulips in small outbursts and unbelievably abundant azaleas. It's not all bad.

Three Lakes Park, Henrico

This week's BIG question is whether fairies are real - what with the first wobbly tooth and this Tinkerbell Birthday party out at Three Lakes Park. Hours of clambering and playing with the loveliest group of children, followed by a family cook-out under an open shelter. The roof did slightly protect us from the crazy inchworms falling from the sky - of such quantity they have got front page coverage in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Inchworm infestation