Whitehouse and The Mall

No trip to Washington is complete without a look at The Whitehouse and a walk along The Mall.

This is a front view of The Whitehouse, notice the U-haul parked out front,lol.

We saw this interesting sign involving Canada on our walk back to The Mall from The Whitehouse.



The Lincoln Memorial at the end of the reflecting pool.



Inside the Lincoln Memorial. It was way bigger than I had imagined!

Brittany and I with the Washington Monument in the background.

This is the view from the Lincoln Memorial over the Potomac River. On the other side of this bridge is Arlington National Cemetery.

Along The Mall are the various Smithsonian Museum buildings. We toured the Museum of Natural History that has the largest gem and mineral display I have ever seen. Here Brittany and I look at one of the displays:

And a photo of the Hope Diamond that doesn't do it justice at all!

And still more trip highlights to come!

George Washington Masonic Memorial

Another stop on our recent Washington trip, that was inspired by Dan Brown's the Lost Symbol, was the George Washington Masonic memorial. The temple was built in the 1920's and is located in Alexandria where we were staying. It provided an interesting look into how the Masons expanded from Europe to North America and the involvment they have had in the construction of the many iconic buildings in North America.

We toured each of the floors in the tower of the Memorial. The first couple provided background(with memorabilia) on George Washington and his evolution from a private citizen to president as well as his involvement with the Masons. The next few provided information on various organizations in or associated with the Masons one of which was the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.



This is the view of Alexandria from the observation level of the tower.



A view of the grounds leading up to the Memorial as taken from the observation level.



In the entry hall of the Memorial is this large bronze statue of George Washington wearing a Masonic apron.



And not at the Memorial but at the Smithsonian, here's another statue of George Washington also referenced in Dan Brown's book. He is sculpted in the image of Zeus:



There was a bit of an uproar when the sculpture was revealed and it was never displayed in the Capitol as intended. If you are interested, here's a bit more info.

More trip highlights to come!

Anniversary Flowers

Thanks, Mom, for the beautiful anniversary flowers!




DH and I have been married 22 years today! Wow, time does fly!

Such a Beautiful Girl

Its been awhile since I've played along with some challenges but this week I dug into my stash to create this card based on Heidi's sketch at Caardvarks. And as it has a tag it also meets this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge.




Thanks for looking!

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 45 - A Photo Card

Happy Wednesday! Time for another Little Red Wagon challenge and this week it is my turn to set the theme.♥

I've decided to go with an idea I saw on a blog(not sure where now) a few years ago and am just now getting around to trying, and that is to use a photo on your card.

I often take pictures of the garden but don't know what to do with them all, so I used a few to create these cards:





I've made mine thank you cards but I think you could adapt them to any event.

I hope I've inspired you to use your photos on your card creations and please join us over at Little Red Wagon this week and show us your cards! We love to see what you create! Be sure to stop by and see all the other terrific cards too!

Arlington National Cemetery

One of our first stops on our Washington vacation was Arlington National Cemetery, it is so impressive.

It was rainy the day that we visited but through the mist, in the distance, you can see the Pentagon.

There were rows upon rows of headstones honouring fallen members of the various armed forces.

This is the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice which honours those American who served in the Canadian Armed forces and lost their lives in WW1(and subsequent wars as well).

The Tomb of the Unknowns (also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels(all volunteers). Here they are about to change the sentinel.

The next three shots are of the very impressive Memorial Amphitheatre completed in 1920. It is completely constructed of marble.

Interestingly, President Woodrow Wilson placed its cornerstone on Oct. 15, 1915 in which was placed a box containing:
The Bible
The Declaration of Independence
The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Flag (1915)
Designs and plans for the amphitheater
L'Enfant's map design of the city of Washington, D.C.
Autograph of the amphitheater commission
One of each U.S. coin in use in 1915
One of each U.S. postage stamp in use in 1915
1914 map of Washington, D.C.
The Congressional Directory
Boyd's City Directory for the District of Columbia
Autographed photo of President Woodrow Wilson
The cornerstone dedication program
The Evening Star newspaper account of the ceremonies, and the campaign to build the Amphitheater




For more info on the cemetery click this link.

OLW 18 - Trees

I'm feeling blah today....maybe its the rainy,cool weather and the realization that summer is really going to end...sigh.....

But creating often cheers me up so I decided to create a card to play along with this week's one layer challenge to use a tree.



I find that Papertrey stamps really lend themselves to cleaner cards and I found the tree I used in their Boards and Beams stamp set. It is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and PTI Ripe Avocado with a bit of cardstock trim also in ripe avocado.

Fresh Tomatoes with Basil Vinaigrette

I think one of the best things of August and September is all the fresh fruits and vegetables available at our local markets.

We recently went to the market and purchased a lovely basket of fresh, ripe tomatoes. Nothing beats a tomato allowed to fully ripen on the vine in the sunshine.

When I found a recipe for basil vinaigrette, I had to make it, then drizzled it over fresh sliced tomatoes. With a bit of freshly ground pepper, this makes an awesome accompaniment to any meal.



The only thing that would make this even better would be to layer in some sliced buffalo mozzarella cheese, and voila, a caprese salad!

Here's the vinaigrette recipe from Simply Recipes( a blog I regularly read):

Ingredients
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup roughly chopped basil leaves
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil

Method
1 Place the salt, sugar, mustard, shallot and basil in a blender or food processor. Pulse several times to combine. Scrape the sides of the blender down with a spatula. Add the vinegar and pulse again.

2 Turn the blender on low and take off the cap in the center of the blender’s lid. Slowly pour in the olive oil. It may sputter a little out of the open cap, so hold you hand over it to minimize splashing.

3 When the olive oil is incorporated, turn off the blender and scrape the sides down one more time. Cover and purée everything for 1-2 minutes.

Store covered in the fridge for up to a week.

Makes a little more than one cup.

Enjoy!

Washington Capitol Building

I thought I'd share a more detailed look at some of our Washington trip destinations over a few posts.

First up is the Washington Capitol, a truly impressive building of neoclassic style.


The interior of the dome features some impressive art work.


And if you're read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, you'll appreciate this photo of the Apotheosis of Washington painted on the ceiling of the dome.
A couple more pics.

For more history on this building, click here.

August Garden

Well it is September but here's a few images from garden taken just a few days ago when it was still August!

Love this hydrangea, its loaded with blooms so I did cut a few to dry inside.

I'm not overly happy with how my planters are looking, but am enjoying the coleus, like the yellow green colour of this one:
And the bright colour variation of this:
And the deep wine cololur of this one:
Black-eyed Susan's are always lovely.

What's blooming in your almost autumn garden?

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 44 - Paint!

Wednesday again and the first day of September! Time sure does fly!

And its time for another Little Red Wagon challenge, this week Regan choose paint

So I decided to paint a background on which I layered embellishments:



I used Papertrey's Just the Ticket stamp set and die to create the tickets on this card, love it!

Please join us over at Little Red Wagon this week and show us your painted creations. We love to see what you create! Be sure to stop by and see all the other terrific creations too!