Back to normal

You get used to situations. It was nice to have William visit. Seems strange now but we have things to do.  We neglect things when we have grandsons with us.

Why are there so many ants everywhere. And they love my two hummingbird feeders and will not leave them alone. Can you see the (rather large) ants which try to steal what is not meant for them. If I am not fast enough to replenish the water in the well which the sun dries away fast ... grrrr!

Otherwise we have a lot of joy seeing our flowers doing well this year since we have to be home and James waters faithfully.

We discovered our front patio again. Early in the morning and late in the day there is shade and is very nice seeing neighbors walking past.

Another 'dose' of grandsons. Sarah asked whether I could accompany her to IKEA. It's one and a half hour each way. We decided on the Norfolk one hoping the traffic was better than the Woodbridge one. 

I tried to keep the boys socially distant while Sarah did her shopping. They had been promised a stuffed animal each and the choosing took (luckily) quite some time. 

The IKEA restaurant was closed so we got something from a drive-through and found a shady place for our lunch.

No, no naps on the way back. 

Friday July 17 

We decided that we actually had a bit of cabin fever. We are members at the VMFA (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) and didn't want to miss the special exhibit. Members only, with tickets and mandatory masks it should be safe. It was so interesting, well done, awesome... Imagine two cities ending up in the Mediterranean Sea, forgotten and found in 1996. Yes, awesome! Here just a few photos of things that impressed me most. 

After a while we had brain overload. We sat a while in the shade looking at the pond. 

Sunday 

Another first. We went to the 8 am service on our church parking lot. Bring your chair. Masks mandatory (by the bishop but we would do it anyway) and no singing, sharing of the peace or communion. But it was so nice. We felt totally safe and will do it again. 

(Stole these photos from the church' facebook)

And on Monday we got hair cuts again. Thank you, Sarah! It is sooooooo hot right now that all that 'wool' on my head was uncomfortable.

Before:

After: yeah!

Chihuly in Richmond, VA

Several years ago Dale Chihuly's work was exhibited in St Louis' Botanical Garden. My friends raved about it but I didn't manage to go and see it there. So when he came to Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Garden we went to see it. That was in July 2010. I wanted to refer to the pictures I had taken but it was before I had started this blog site. Its a shame because the exhibition there was so different from what we saw this time.

We are members of the Richmond's VMFA. Every so often there is a new special exhibition and we try to see it. It's free for members so it is not a loss if we don't like it.

We were again very pleasantly surprised.

Title: Fiori and Float Boats

In Nashville this actually floated on the lake.

This is the "Drawing Wall".  Dale Chihuly began to draw after loosing his left eye and dislocating his shoulder to communicate his vision and design to his team.

Title: Persian Ceiling

Lots of his glass creations (leftovers?) are laying on top of a glass ceiling between two rooms and you can walk underneath it. It is really quite stunning and interesting.

The next room was dedicated to his huge collection of Native Indian blankets and baskets. In this series Chihuly tried to capture "the grace of the baskets' slumped, sagging forms".

I remember this from Nashville. It was on water too.

A close-up.

And another.

When you see James next to it, you can imagine the size of the sculptures.

Yes, quite impressive.

And if you want to know more, you can go to Dale Chihuly's website.