Flowers....part 1

Well, you know a special wedding when you see it....

The planning, the colors, the elegance are all evident on the happy day!

And flowers are certainly part of the picture---

Adding that fresh and festive touch!

So, it was natural that tee and lu offered to do Crispins flowers!

And this morning was the day Crispin, Teresa, crispin's aunt Debbie, Laura, Jeanne, Kateri, Bash and I drove to Potomac wholesale flowers like the intrepid adventurers we are:

We arrived at the nondescript warehouse at the end of a nondescript road in a nondescript neighborhood off Georgia avenue north of DC.  (Even though it was a bit of a rough area, we noticed that everyone waiting at the bus stop was wearing green! Yay for St Patrick!)

During the hour long drive, everyone tried to get a clear idea of what the bouquets, center pieces, boutonnières, corsages and flower arrangements would look like...

ok maybe it was only a vague idea....

But vague or not,  we were on our way!

And soon we were immersed in a flower fantasy

So much to choose from :-) 

Sweet peas

Stock

Roses

No flowers prettier than this one 

But with so many decisions for Crispin to make....

.....Jeanne and I took the kiddos outside to enjoy the sunshine and a little grassy spot at the end of the parking lot.  

We collected sticks, stones and acorns etc and Jeanne used everything to build a little fairy house

After about two hours...

Two racks were purchased

And

And believe me, there was not an inch to spare in the van on the way home!

Veil rehearsal

Earlier this week crispin stopped by to work on her very lovely cathedral length veil...which Charlotte was Very Pleased to try on:

It goes well with the dress, don't you think?

Quite satisfactory!

Flower crowns for flower girls

Admiring their reflections

At the garden gate :)

Odds and ends

The other day, Teresa took her littles on a  field trip to Merrifield Nursery.  

They enjoyed seeing the antique pickup truck:

Soon they were in the cab...  quite exciting! ( also, it was amazing how tiny the cab was!)

I think Kateri is looking ahead about 13 years,  Mom:

And Sebastian is not too far behind:

From there we visited the many beautiful flowers...

And enjoyed the Free Popcorn....

...very, very much!

We loved examining the flower displays, fairy gardens, fish and statuary.

I asked Kateri to pose like this garden statue:

You know, demurely and all that!

No thanks, granny, I'd rather enjoy this yummy popcorn.

So I did a very inexcusable, ornery thing, especially for a grandmother.....

 (I'm sorry Kateri!)

I took.away.the.popcorn.

"Please, Kateri, just pose like that statue and I will give you the popcorn right back! I promise!"

She thought about it....

wanting the popcorn....

not wanting to pose.....

And did NOT like the idea ONE BIT!  Here is the moment of conflict:

Look, Kateri, Bash is doing it:

Can you do both hands, please?

Pop corn returned promptly (along with her pretty smiles)

We got home and had a visit with lu and her littles...

And everyone wanted to snuggle with buddy

But no one snuggles as much as bash...

Who truly enjoys the big guy...

Favorite seat in the house

 And reading corner.

Later everyone tried out the new bed

Even Jeanne

A few days later Laura and her littles made the trip up to falcons

Aunt Betty aka Mormor aka Belladonna Took (that adventurous lady) suggested to Charlotte a entirely new use for the luggage rack

I think Mormor and Charlotte must be kindred spirits

In other news....

Mid winter, low tide, one day, Johnny:

Not a bad haul!

just odds and ends, 

and, as usual, Periwinkle wonders what the 'point' of it all is....  :-)

some pictures from Anne Merwin's visit to the book club

This familiar profile portrait of St. Elizabeth Seton was one she never liked...

She and her husband were wearing wigs for the sitting!

I was trying to find a better resolution of this painting of lower Manhattan from Governors Island in the early 1800's.

Can you see the 3 masted boat in the center of the picture?

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton lived in a house beyond the right end of the boat,

to the right of the long tan brick building.

The building on the right with the white columns is just to the right of the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

All of the shipping families lived right along the water's edge at that time.

After leaving NYC, St. Elizabeth went to Baltimore and lived on the grounds of the seminary with her family in this house on Paca Street.

Interestingly, after they moved to Emmitsburg, no other family lived in the house.

Instead, the priests used the house to store food supplies.

The only "upgrade" that has been made to the house since the Setons lived there is a new floor to replace one damaged by forgotten potatoes.

This is the seminary church in Baltimore.

Anne told us the Sulpician Fathers ran out of money before statues could be placed in any of the arches.

The arches remained empty until 

 a seminarian jumped up one time and posed as a saint.  

The picture was brought out again when he was ordained recently. :)

St. Elizabeth made her first vows in the lower chapel of the seminary church,

and here she was called Mother Seton for the first time.

Anne Merwin's love and esteem for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was inspiring!