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!