HOLIDAYS, DECEMBER 2015

Happy New Year!

It was a memorable holiday season.  My mother spent a full week with us, Sunday Dec 20th through Sunday Dec 27th.  It was her first visit to our newly remodeled home.  I think she had a good time.  We certainly did. 

We kept a busy, but fun schedule.  We toured multiple museums, played many games of scrabble, shared laughs and meals together.

Monday we toured the Natural History Museum as well as the Museum of Tolerance. 

The Natural History Museum featured a special exhibit, Mummies, New Secrets from the Tombs.

We viewed hundreds of ancient mummies, mostly from Egypt and Peru.

We didn't allow enough time to see everything the museum had to offer, but we did take a tour of the gardens.

My mom, after a brief stroll of the NHM Garden

Tuesday, we returned to the west part of L.A., near UCLA to visit the Hammer Museum.  It was a cold and drizzly day, perfect to spend a few hours looking at Armand Hammer's fabulous art collection, which included the works of  van Gogh, Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Cezanne, Degas and others.

A unique chair was also on display.  Gerry couldn't resist a "spin."

 

Later, he was reprimanded by Nideha Akunyili Crosby, the Nigerian-born artist with a temporary exhibit in one of the galleries.

"Gotcha", she seems to scold.

Wednesday was a picture-perfect day, ideal for a visit to the Getty Villa.  We took advantage of two 45-minute docent-led tours:  the architecture tour and the garden tour.  We also attended the spotlight tour, a 30-minute talk with an in depth focus on one specific piece of art.

Harpist, early Cycladic II (ca. 2500 BC)
This was our focus piece on the spotlight tour 

The villa is a reconstruction and adaptation of the ancient Roman Villa dei Papiri, built outside the walls of the city of Herculaneum on the Bay of Naples.  It is believed to be one of the largest villas ever built in the Roman Empire.  It was buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.

The gorgeous details in the ceilings and floors were pointed out on the architecture tour

My favorite tour was the Garden Tour.  We were fortunate to have a well-versed exceptional docent, as well as a beautiful day to enjoy the lovely grounds.

Mom stands at the side of this spectacular fountain in the garden.

I join her on the marble bench for a few minutes.

Christmas Day we walked from our backyard over to Fern Dell, (Griffith Park.)  It was a 3 mile walk, and a good way to kick off the holiday.

The three musketeers - Coors Light, the Silver Bullet, and Coors Beer - enjoy Fern Dell

After our walk we exchanged gifts and ate a delicious brunch.

A festive egg bake, with tomatoes, spinach and cheese and roasted potatoes, plus english muffins.

We took a few more pictures to record the day later in the afternoon, shortly before sunset.

In front of our house, with the focus on us.

In front of our house, with the focus on the house!

In the downstairs patio in front of our prolific orange tree.
Fresh picked oranges with breakfast each day.

Chef Gerry roasted a small turkey on the Weber Grill for Christmas Dinner.  The feast included rosemary roasted potatoes, green beans, and cranberry-orange relish.  It was delicious!!!

We are about to begin a very tasty meal. 

It was a fine week.  Plenty of museum visits along with many games of scrabble.  In the photo above, the red box on the chair at the top left is a scrabble game.  Below it is a scrabble dictionary.  I think we used them both every day.

Happy New Year to my dear family and friends.