George and Martha's Place...and a few favorite things

Hello, friends. Still struggling with camera and loading pics. Did get a card reader but it's a bit more complicated to work with so I've avoided it. Also having trouble getting into PicMonkey... It's all fun and games till you mess with a senior citizen's tech knowledge...or lack there of!

Today I'm posting about a trip to Washington, D.C. we took a few years ago. We're headed back there soon. One of our favorites sites...Mount Vernon...is on our to do list. If you have never been, put it on your bucket list...and yes, it's open, it runs purely on donations. 

The above pic shows Annie beginning to melt down. It was toward the end of the day and she was spent. Since Annie had her hamstring injury, and we purchased her "buggy", she has enjoyed our trips more and gotten much more out of them. It was a struggle for all of us before she had her wheels. I'm hoping she will enjoy our upcoming visit to D.C. more than the last.

George and Martha welcoming us to their home.

The beginning of the day and Annie has already had it with all the walking. But, walk she did...all over the estate.

We will be there again during early spring.

The grounds are wonderful.

The new museum is the absolute best! So many of the artifacts now at Mt. Vernon I remember seeing as a child at the Smithsonian. Glad they have come home. 

Springtime in Virginia.

She will enjoy it so much more with her wheels.

I can't wait!

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Christmas came and went and I never got any pics posted. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Ours was quiet and cozy.

We visited one of our favorite hotels and admired their huge gingerbread house.

Annie and mom had tea in the lobby while listening to a wonderful pianist play Christmas carols.

We said goodbye to our Bar family and headed home to welcome Christmas.

Our Agnes was softly lit by the candlelight from our "Thomas Jefferson Lamps" a special edition from Waterford from years ago. She's never looked more radiant. Candlelight is always flattering to mature ladies.

We went small with the tree because mom is getting old and tired.

We decorated with favorite things. Our "Martha Washington Bowl", again the American 1776 Collection from Waterford, was filled with holly. The white slipcovers stayed on and not one single Christmas box was brought down from the attic this year. Did I mention mom is getting...well, you know.

Annie added some familiar faces to keep her company.

And of course, a few more of our favorite things.

We welcomed a few new friends. It was a wonderful Christmas...Annie said so..."The best Christmas ever"!

Hope 2019 finds you all well, healthy and happy!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,

My camera recently met it's end. After a bit of research, I replaced it. Upon arriving home I was unable to load my photos. I needed a card reader ??? to load my photos. I have yet to make that purchase. 

My blog posts in recent years have been few and far between.  I will try to do better...or fade away altogether.  

In the mean time, the folks at Mugwump Cottage send you warm thoughts, good cheer and wish you and yours many blessings on this Christmas morning.

Enjoy the day,

Robyn, Mr. Mugwump & Annie

God bless us...every one!

R.I.P.

I took the above photo years ago at the United States Supreme Court. This chandelier hangs in the private room where we attended, with our Board of Governors family, a private breakfast reception before the swearing in ceremony of our group. 

This impressive source of light reminds me of our 41st president...George H.W. Bush. His "Points of Light" endeavor was, and continues to be, about volunteering service to America. 

What a fine man we lost this week...a statesman, a patriot...a true source of light. 

Peace...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Original watercolor by Lori Brechlin

Wishing friends and followers a blessed Thanksgiving. Peace...

Enjoy the day,

Robyn, Annie & Mr. Mugwump

Thomas...

...a wordsmith of great skill and importance. 

Words matter. Then...and now.

Thinking good thoughts...

Keeping all our friends and family in the path of Michael in our thoughts and prayers. Stay safe. Keep your head down Tallahassee!

Take care Pensacola, Panama City and Apalachicola!

 It's windy and rainy here...we're catching a few of the backside bands. Looking forward to seeing our Florida Bar BOG family later this week in Amelia Island, after the storm.

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

HOPE...it's all I got!

Annie sends her love!

About a half a million years ago, I use to spend Saturday mornings at Georgetown Prep...the elite Maryland school filling the headlines these days. An old beau was the Assistant Headmaster/English teacher/Swim Coach. Swim meets were held on Saturdays, and I was often enlisted to time swimmers in their individual lanes. I spent many hours at this school...sports events, social events with the faculty...a visit to my old beau's office. It is a beautiful school.

One of my memories centered around a swim meet. I was sitting in the bleachers, after the meet, waiting for my old beau to finish up with his team in the locker room. Back then I would have been around twenty two...and could have been mistaken for sixteen. On that Saturday morning, I was, indeed, mistaken for a "student". An affable young fellow...a student...approached me and sat down for a chat. He was well into the top ten on his list of openers when he spied the Assistant Headmaster/Disciplinarian  coming our way. He put two and two together and by the time Mr. Headmaster was taking my hand to help me down the bleachers...well...he was babbling about having to be somewhere and making a hasty exit. Imagine...caught in the act of making a move on the Headmaster's girl...by the Headmaster himself. Pretty benign goings on compared to what we are hearing these days.

I write this on this last day of summer. Perhaps a metaphor is in order. Every day an old memory is laid waste by ugliness. Places and institutions that I grew up with have become vestiges of their former selves. The ruins have left me reeling. Summer is, indeed, over.

Because I am home with Annie, I spend a lot of time watching news unfold in real time. Natural disasters, shootings, political vitriol...I'm there. And I'm tired of it. The ugliness that has seeped to the surface in America has become too much for me. But, as a citizen, I am obligated to be informed. I can't just stick my head in the sand and pretend all is well.

I always knew that there was a seedy underbelly in this great country of ours. When I was a teenager, on a family trip south to Florida, I saw a billboard that denounced "Negroes, Catholics and Jews" sponsored by the local KKK. It terrified me. I have seen, with my own eyes, a burning cross surrounded by men/women wearing white hooded robes. That was in the 1970's, in a field not ten miles from this very house... a field that is now a strip mall with no knowledge of it's sordid past.

The ugly that once lay beneath the surface is now, in some cases, brought out into the sunlight to be nurtured and encouraged. In some cases exposure is welcome. In some cases it shouldn't be. It should be used for good to dismantle backward thinking and push us toward enlightenment. Exposure is a double edged sword.

I don't know what has provoked me to write this today. They are just my thoughts as they pop into my head. Not meant to scorn or admonish. Mostly just looking for something to hang on to as those with power lay waste to the rules I grew up with not so long ago.

I feel adrift these days. I'm a worrier. I see a lot of good out there that is often overshadowed by the not so good. When I was growing up, a lie was a lie. What is it today?

I plan on doing something fun this weekend to get me out of this funk!  A walk in the woods is in order. And maybe a sunset.

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

P.S. I often recall that horrendous billboard  I saw as a teen...especially when I am in the company of two of my dearest friends. We are the personification of all that that hateful sign was against...an African American, a Jew and a Catholic...good friends. As for those that hold any sort of affinity for the ignorant sentiment expressed in those four foot letters...you lose.