another stickwork sculpture

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Larisa and Katie ~ 3.21.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

For the first weekend of spring we decided to fly down to North Carolina to see Katie and her parents. Old man winter sent us off in the middle of a storm, a wintry mix that required de-icing of the plane. But we made it safe and sound and spent a relaxing Saturday hanging around the house.

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Katie’s favorite toy ~ 3.21.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Katie was happy to see us, and I like to think she remembered us since she had just visited us the previous weekend. Her parents have lots of weddings to go to in Connecticut this year so we will be having Katie staying with us for quite a few weekends!

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Katie ~ 3.21.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Saturday evening, a friend of Dima & Larisa introduced us to a cooperative game, Hanabi. It’s a new genre to us. Our family loves playing all kinds of games, but a game without competition is a delightful idea to me.

Cooperative games contain one simple concept… all players work together to attain a mutually desirable goal. Strategies, resources and decisions are shared. The challenge and enjoyment are in the teamwork and the story and setting of the game.
~ Suzanne Lyons
(cooperativegames.com)

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3.22.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Sunday we had a great brunch at Kipos Greek Taverna in Chapel Hill, and then we were off to a game store in Durham, Atomic Empire, to pick up our own set of Hanabi cards. While there we also found a cooperative board game which we are looking forward to trying out at home.

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North Carolina Botanical Garden ~ 3.22.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Later in the afternoon we went to North Carolina Botanical Garden to see Patrick Dougherty‘s stickwork sculpture, “Homegrown.” Some readers may remember that Janet and I visited one of his installations at the Florence Griswold Museum back in October 2011. This one was just as fascinating.

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3.22.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Another pleasant evening was spent playing Hanabi and then Monday morning Dima took us to drop Katie off at daycare and then dropped us off at the airport. It was in the 50s that morning. When we got back to Boston it was 22°F! Brrr… (But I still love you, New England…)

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3.22.15 ~ Chapel Hill, North Carolina

stickwork sculpture

10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut
10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut

Brushing my teeth with my left hand is getting very old. Although my right hand, which was injured so badly on October 1st, is making a lot of progress in its healing, I’m still waiting for new skin to completely cover the worst/last spot on the edge of my palm. And while I can use most of the fingers now, my pinkie still winces when I put any pressure on it. But I did manage to chop an onion on my own and drive the car a couple of days ago.

10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut
10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut

Been feeling very frustrated and lethargic this week, and spending way too much time watching TV. I think I’ve caught just about every news conference our governor has called to update Connecticut residents on the very slow progress the utility crews are making restoring power. As of this morning, 200,000+ customers are still without electricity, seven days after the storm. A couple of times Gov. Malloy has said that the last time we had a storm like this in October was never…

10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut
Janet ~ 10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut

Janet and I spent an afternoon at the Florence Griswold Museum a couple of weeks ago – it seems so much longer ago – and I will resume posting pictures of the fairy tale birdhouses soon. But for now I’m sharing a few pictures of a stickwork sculpture that was also on the museum grounds. The artist is Patrick Dougherty at Stickwork. His website lists other places he has installations. We were enchanted! (I wonder if it survived the storm!)

10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut
10.26.11 ~ Old Lyme, Connecticut