Claret’s Neighborhood

Continuing on from Lincoln's Cottage we wandered into an area that we might not have been authorized to enter given we did not have visitors passes....    The Old Soldiers' Home. Written under the clock is SHERMAN

The Old Soldier's Home was founded in 1851 when it was called the Armed Forces Retirement Home.  At that time the US Congress legislated a "military asylum"  for invalid and disabled soldiers of the US army.   The Soldiers' Home was officially recognized as being of historic significance in 1974 when four buildings built before the Civil War were designated National Historic Landmarks.    The Soldiers' Home is the last remaining example of three original military asylums established in 1851.

The entrance to the Home is guarded by miniature cannons:  

    We saw things we might not meant to have been photographing (Yes, it was fully operational).   The grounds are really lovely:    We found an amazing tree propped up on one side     A WWII  vet out for his morning stroll asked where we were from (this is when an Australian accent comes in handy) and talked to us at length about this tree which he called a Missouri Hedge Tree (though I couldn't find such a tree in a quick Google search).  After telling us it was the largest hedge tree around he wandered off:    We found an interesting tower:   -  the sign says DO NOT USE LADDER We then left the grounds and walked to the nearby US National Cemetery which will be the final resting place of many of the men in the Old Soldiers' Home:     So many graves: 

Our weekend walk was a little damp as we wandered along Rock Creek Church Road: 

to President Lincoln's Cottage at the Old Soldiers' Home.
The site is 3 miles north of the White House and Lincoln used this as his summer retreat from June-November in 1862-64. I have to say that living fairly close to this cottage I have not noticed a noticeable difference in temperature between downtown and home but still Lincoln enjoyed the "cool breezes" on the hill.  He "commuted" from the cottage to the White House daily and enjoyed the relative peace of the cottage during the Civil War.    Lincoln's route took him right past our street: 
On July 7, 2000, President Clinton declared the Lincoln Cottage, and 2.3 acres of surrounding land, the President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument.  This was in honor of the site's notable role in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

The recently restored Lincoln's Cottage with the beautiful Old Soldiers' Home in the background: 

There is a tour of the interior of the cottage -  we intend to go back and do that -  but this time we went through the small but interesting museum.  

Next I need to sort my Old Soldiers' Home photos and its history......

I read about these in the Omlet forum and I thought they looked delicious.  I looked at a recipe online and realised I could make them relativley fat free (certainly a LOT less fat than roasties so I had a go.  I was very pleased with them.

• 

  prepared potatoes
  Place potato on wooden spoon
• Slice down at 3 to 4mm intervals - being on the spoon will stop you slicing right through
• Line a roasting tin with a piece of bake o glide (or don't if you want more washing up!)
• Sprinkle with sea salt
• Spray with spray oil - 2 sprays per potato
• Cook for 40 mins on second set of runners in the Aga roasting oven (200 in standard electric oven)

 

Serve with whatever topping you choose - I just sprinked over some grated cheese - they were delicious - crispy and perfect and not at all mashy.  I'd never heard of them before but when I showed them to her in the annexe she said she'd cooked them before and they used lots of oil - well not like this - a new favourite methinks!

To blog!

Mille is settling in wiht us beautifully - in fact as I type her head is on my knee and lovely and warm it is too!  This is her last night on the sofa - soppy old thing.

 

 

Whilst we've been out and about we have met a local (rather rich) chap who owns lots of our village, he has just bought the disused pub a couple of hundred yards up the road and has been down there with his digger clearing and securing the property.  He lets James drive his digger and dropped me off this amazing stump for my garden.

 

 

Of course when we are out walking Mille is around - she rather likes a stick to run around with too.  Just think we wouldnt' have had all this fun if we hadn't adopted Mille.  She is a total star, captivates everyone who meets her and Mum is now wondering why she resisted dog ownership.  We've even arranged for our regular pet sitter to look after her when we go on holiday so she doesn't have to go to kennels.  Interestingly her breed - Lagotto Romognolo - is used to hunt truffles in Italy - there are probably a fair few around here growing under the many oak trees - here James snuggles into a root hole on one of the smaller oaks!

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So, what do we do for Halloween?   Well, we had some friends over after lunch, and now we sit here filled with dutch courage, waiting for the assault on our door.   

This is our second Halloween in the house.   Last year I bought candy though I didn't have any idea if kids actually braved the 'hood to come out trick or treating.   We got about 30 kids before we ran out of candy. 

This year I bought more of the nasty stuff (that just means that it is candy I will not eat - Reese's cups, tootsie rolls and some sort of Hershey multi-packs).    It is drizzling with rain;  I hope kids still come otherwise the manservant is going to be whacking on some weight - and that would be a horror!    :-)

Some of our neighbours have decorated their houses: 

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My laptop has had to be airlifted to intensive care....   over the weekend just after I had downloaded my photos from the Arboretum it developed some very weird hieroglyphic type scribble over the desktop.   I have a mac which is almost 3 years old and have never had a problem with it till now....  luckily it is still just within warranty!   Usually when things breakdown it is a couple of weeks after a warranty expires. 

So, until that comes back I am in a form of timeshare on the manservant's machine...... 

Luckily I had not quite deleted my Arboretum photos from a memory card as there is no guarantee they are going to come back still on the laptop and that would've been very depressing!    So here is the rest of Sunday's outing.

We left the Ellipse where the Columns are:  

And headed further down the road:  And then went down a track which was muddier than it looks:  And just took in nature:  Then it was time to head out of this wonderful place:
Get well soon little laptop - I miss you! 

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We rented a car so that we could get  to a friend's place way out in the 'burbs of Virginia last night.    When the manservant brought the car home he said that he had had to park it "way down near the park"  and that it was pouring with rain.  

I said:  Oh well you'll have to get it and pick me up (I melt in rain).

15 minutes later it was time to go and he left the house while I locked up and then walked out. I trudged through puddles to the park looking for a manservant sitting in a car -  a colour and type not known. I came across a car idling at the kerb and when I bent down to check if there was a manservant inside some ladies on a porch shouted at me in Spanish.  I'm not sure they were being polite!   (Spanish is on my list of things to learn before I die).

Confused I go past the park and to the end of the block  - cars have gone along the street all the time so surely the manservant would've recognised me even under the umbrella (???)...... I trudge back towards the house and see a bright red Kia double parked at our place. 

Its horn is blaring.  As I get closer the manservant is getting out and as he sees me he shouts in exasperation:  God,  you really are a damn Princess!!

I catch the eye of an elderly man on the footpath and we smile like co-conspirators as I say:  "Looks like I'm in trouble"  and he says:  "Girl, I say you might be"        

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This morning the rain was gone; the sky was blue, the sun shining and the temperature was right for a walk.  We drove the rental car to the National Arboretum -  a wonderful "park"  established in 1927 by an act of Congress to be a living museum where plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.  It is 446 acres with 9.5 miles of winding roadways.  There are many "bush" tracks from the roadways into the wonderful collections of trees & bushes & ferns. 

We parked and walked up to the National Capitol Columns which were originally on the East Portico of the US Capitol in 1828.   The columns are set on a foundation of stones from the steps that were on the east side of the Capitol.   Old identification marks from the quarry are still visible on some of the stones.  Acanthus leaves are carved into the design at the top of the columns.  

Here are some shots taken from the Ellipse where the Columns stand:      

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Who would've thought that a post on matching shoes to a dress would garner such interest but then I never thought choosing between the two pairs was going to be so difficult until I put them on!   

By posting my question here I thought there would be a clear "winner"  but the numbers are so close:- 

Silver: 12  Black: 10   (Either: 3)

I checked the information on returning a pair and it says that as long as I have the original packaging (and the shoes are not worn), I can return them anytime within 365 days.

Well, at the rate I am dithering around I will be carting both pairs to Australia and making a last minute on-the-day decision. 

I must put the boxes and receipt in a "safe place"......   

Photo taken at Howard University.

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In about 7 weeks time I am going to be a Mother-of-the-Groom.  Now, while I realise this position is not as important as Mother-of-the-Bride, or even the Bride herself, I will be on display more than I'm used to and, as such, open to some fashion critique. 

So ....  I bought the dress - tea length;  slip style:  

Then it was shoes....  I found some on Zappos.com that I liked and bought a pair in black and a pair in silver intending to choose between them and return the unsuitable pair. 

So,  this evening I came home from work with the shoes.   I put the dress on and put a black shoe on one foot and a silver shoe on the other.  

I called the manservant in to help with the decision... ....   So,  how helpful was he? 

"Oh, how lovely you will look"  Blah, blah, blah.. (He said all the right things to say to a wife)

Me:   Really?    Can't you see that I have odd shoes on? 

MS:  Oh, well, I was looking at the dress.

Me:  I told you that the exercise is to choose the shoes!

MS:  Oh well the silver one looks goofy. 

Me:  Goofy??  Goofy??  What do you mean goofy? What sort of word is goofy to describe a shoe?   If I thought it was goofy I wouldn't have to make a choice! 

Manservant backing out the door -   "Oh". 

Me:   I wish there was a girl living here!   

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So, let's see if you can be more helpful.  

I happen to like both but only want to keep one pair. The dress does have a bit of silver thread through it which doesn't show up in the photo.  I would probably get more future use out of the black pair.  Keep in mind that I will also have very white ankles and feet by December - but I will have a lovely pedicure! 

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This morning a little boy, about 6 years old, very well dressed and with a miniature back pack, got on the train with his mother and baby sister.   He sat down and clasped his hands neatly together and began curiously looking at people around him.

I watched his little eyes as he examined:-

The guy with a du-rag and hoodie who looked as though crime might be on his schedule today.

The woman in a micro mini which she might have looked good wearing 30 years ago. 

The young lady with barely enough material to stretch across her ample bosom.

The young guy with incredible, intricate tattoos extending down to his fingernails.  

The woman wearing flip flops even though it was barely 40 degrees and raining!

 Each person was subjected to a full scope with wide eyes.   As  I watched him I wondered what he was thinking.  As children are less judgmental than adults, he probably saw very different people to those I was seeing. 

 

 

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