Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday. Judy takes Wednesday off and cooks and cooks and cooks.

Max eagerly awaits the meal.

Emily dons her hunting attire, so she can go out and play with Katie.

We always play a few good games.

We eat all vegetarian food. No turkey but all the traditional (stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy), and some not so traditional dishes (hot lulu, Moroccan vegetables). Sarah posted some of the recipes. http://sarahbeing.blogspot.com/

This year I made a jello mold - with cranberries, apples, oranges, and pineapple. It tasted like a cranberry relish.
Even though we are stuffed - there's always room for the pies.

Judy makes apple, pumpkin, and custard pies. We each have a piece of all three, and can never decide which one we like best. For me, its between pumpkin and custard.

Great job Judy - now I need to climb a few mountains.

World's End, Hingham, MA

A great place for a pre-Thanksgiving day walk is World's End. I first discovered this place when I was in college, and recently rediscovered it. Dogs are welcome (on leash).

The landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park and much of Boston's park system including the Fenway and Franklin Park. It was originally designed for a subdivision, but fortunately never developed.

The landscape is designed in the pastoral style: no structures, cars, gardens, or manicured gardens. Just carriage trails, beautiful trees, meadows, and views of Hingham Harbor, the Weir River, Boston, and the harbor islands.

It is owned by the Trustees of the Reservations, Massachusett's land conservation trust, an organization I have been a member of for the many years I lived in Massachusetts, and still am a member today.

I try to visit every time I am in the area.

McKee Botanical Garden - Hans Godo Fräbel - Reflections of Glass on Water - Vero Beach, FL

One of my favorite things to do is to spend a day ‘around and about’ with the Wellington Garden Club, visiting gardens in the area. In November we took a bus trip to McKee Botanical Garden, an 18 acre Subtropical Jungle Hammock. Not only is the garden beautiful, but we also were most fortunate to be there for the Fräbel exhibit ‘Reflection of Glass on Water’. Hans Godo Fräbel is known for his flamework glass art.

There were over 200 sculptures placed throughout the garden.
This sculpture is called "Aces and Deuces, Jokers Wild". It consists of 13 jokers, balancing on playing cards. It is a symbolic expression of life's journeys through ups and downs, highs and lows. It shows the risks and challenges we face and the gambles we have to make in our lives.

In the background is the “Large Cube with Imploded Spheres"

This is known as the "Longfellow Fountain". Longfellows are elongated figures with stretched torsos and exagerated extremities giving them an almost alien look.

This piece is composed of 15 large clowns on large spheres, entitled "Balancing".

Enjoy life like these clowns, as if it is one big carnival.

The Cavorting Clown Fountain stands over 10’ tall and 7’ in diameter, and is displayed in a beautiful pavillion. Frabel achieved international recognition for his cavorting clowns when he was chosen as an Absolut Vodka Artist in 1987 along with Andy Warhol and Keith Herring

The show will be at the McKee Botanical Garden through April 30, 2009.

Hei La Moon Restaurant, Boston

To celebrate Katie's birthday we met in Boston for Dim Sum. What a treat for me. I haven't had Dim Sum since I worked for Oracle and spent a lot of time in the Bay area.

Dim Sum is served at Hei La Moon Restaurant, 88 Beach Street, from 8:30am-3:00pm. We ate in a big room downstairs.

Dim sum consists of a variety of dumplings, steamed, or fried dishes similar to hors d'oeuvres, served with tea. The items are usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate.

Instead of ordering from a menu, you choose from an assortment of dishes that servers push around on carts. The servers don't speak much, if any English.

We had no idea what we were ordering, but Raf's idea is to say 'yes' to everything that comes by. That worked fine for most of us, but Sarah, being a vegetarian didn't get that much to eat.

Afterward we went to another shop for bubble tea - a tea beverage containing gelatinous tapioca pearls.

Happy Birthday Katie! I'm so glad I could spend the day with you!

Buena Vida Garden Club

I led a flower arranging workshop for the Buena Vida Garden Club. Here's the ladies busy at work in the arts and crafts room.
We created a line design using anthurium, horsetail, and leatherleaf fern. Here's Christine demo'ing the placement of the flowers.

Each arrangement came out a little different, but all were beautiful. There are so many creative people here. Here's Christine's on her dining room table.

Here's Karen's (The golden doodle, Max,'s mother)- notice how the horsetail is connected behind the flowers.

Everyone had a great time and took home an arrangement to brighten their homes for Thanksgiving.

Golden Doodles

This post is for Katie who loves Doodles. Look who I met - a dog named Max!


He is so sweet - his hair feels curly and soft like a poodle's and he loves to be patted just like a golden.

He wants to be a lap dog and hops up onto the couch to cuddle.

Fiesta Dinnerware

How I love my new Fiesta Dinnerware! I went to Linen's & Things closing sale and got it for 60-70% off. I'm sad to see one of my favorite stores closing, but excited to get these dishes.

My salad looks so much better on a Heather colored plate. I also got this 'Liz Claborn' placement.

I didn't find all the pieces - just dinner plates, luncheon plates, mugs, and 2 bowls.

I bought dinner plates in these beautiful colors: Cobalt blue, Heather, Evergreen, Shamrock, & Peacock. I found mugs in Tangerine & Sunflower also.

Since they were such a good price I have service for 20 or so... I'm ready for a party now!

The Wisdom Ring - Morikami Gardens, Delray Beach, FL

I went to Morikami and listened to the audio tour for the first time. I learned that our favorte photo spot is called 'The Wisdom Ring'. It is a replica of a stone lantern (ishidoro) in Delray Beach's sister city in Japan, Miyazu, the birthplace of George Morikami.

The original Wisdom Ring (chie no wa) stands on the grounds of a temple dedicated to Monju, the Buddhist bodhisattva of wisdom. This replica was given to Morikami in 1997 by the citizens of Miyazu to commemorate the museum's 20th anniversary.

The beautiful tree next to it is a Parkinsonia aculeata, Jerusalem Thorn. Here's a picture of it in late April.

While the audio tour was interesting, it only talks about the history, and not about the plantings in the garden.

I'm looking forward to everyone coming to visit and havung their pictures taken by the Wisdom Ring!

Wellington Garden Club Flower Show - Post Time

Here's some more of my favorite pictures from the flower show.

The first division was for Horticulture. You could either enter a potted plant or a cut specimen.

All plants are labeled with their botanical names and families. This is Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Brunfelsia latifolia in the solanacaea family). It got its common name because at any one time there will be white, lavender, and purple blooms on the same plant, and the color changes each day.

The plants with the colorful leaves are ti plants (Cordyline terminalis). I brought one of the cuttings home after the show, and inserted it into the ground. Thats all you need to do to

propogate them.

A beautiful display of cuttings from flowering shrubs. The blue flowers are from the Blue Butterfly bush, Clerodendrum ugandense. The flower is shaped like a butterfly.

The second division is for floral design. I always enjoy the table settings. The show had an equestrian theme - this class is called 'Lunch at the Corral'.

I'd like to eat at this table. The red flower is anthurium. I have them growing by my front door.

Check out those peppers - just like the ones I grew this summer.

'Polo Grounds Party Luncheon'

Here's one of my favorite designs - 'Polo Fever' - a design featuring orchids

This was so cool - a woven coconut palm leaf. We all want to learn how to do this.

My neighbors and good friends, Christine & Phil, pose by Christine's design 'Tall in the Saddle'.

Christine just joined the garden club, and this was her first Flower Show entry. She won the blue ribbon for her class, the Tricolor Award for best design in the Section, the Award for the best use of color. and Design Excellence Award for the best design in the show. Go Christine! Its great to have such talented friends - maybe I can learn something from her ...

There's also a Youth Section. Here's some of the entries from our Junior Gardener's club.





The show opened with a VIP Preview Party. There were edible arrangements. We ate them - they taste as good as they look.

One of the member's made this edible arrangement which was sitting on the table with the drinks.

This was the first time the Wellington Garden Club put on a standard flower show. Over 500 people came to see it. Wow!