Holiday Happenings

Well, Star Night was a big success. I was gratified to hear six-year-old Cornflower announce, in a tone of perfect contentment, "Everything is wonderful!" That was five minutes out of the driveway. After seeing the first spectacular light show, she yawned and said, "It's after 9:30. I want to go home and get into my bed. I'm going to be cranky tomorrow, you know."

She managed to stick it out like the rest of us, however, and we saw some pretty fun houses, including three that were synchronized to music on a low frequency radio station. My thanks to the ladies on our local moms' list for cluing me in to the best places to go!

Today we went to an art museum and saw a private collection that is currently on display, of paintings spanning the Renaissance through Post-Impressionism. Mariel's favorite was this portrait by Goya. (Look at her eyes.) Triss' favorite was the beautiful yet somewhat dire "Roses of Heliogabalus" by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. (The painting on the link is much pinker than the real life painting.) Cornflower most appreciated "Le Printemps" by Tissot, because it has three girls in it and she gets to be the one leaning against the tree since she's youngest. Mr. Honey found a Renoir that reminded him of one of his sisters when she was a little girl. (Mariel says she has sad eyes.) I really liked a still life of a vase of peach tree blossoms that was painted by an artist who lived just barely on the cusp of the beginning of impressionism, yet painted traditionally. I retained all that information but not the artist's name, unfortunately, so I will instead link to this William Waterhouse that was my second favorite.

The next three days will be full of family gatherings, and I don't know if I will post anything, so~

Merry Christmas!