It’s good to be home! We had a great time seeing old friends and making new ones at Breyerfest. Kollean at Stone Wolf Creations dropped off beautiful painted micro minis, we had dinner with Will and Sheri Rhodes and their daughter Alyssa from Mountain View Studios, got my requisite hugs from fantastic artist Candace Liddy, and hung out with Maggie Bennett and Heather from Mirror Bay Farms. I always feel so overwhelmed by all the beautiful artwork at Breyerfest. How does anyone take it all in?
We went sight seeing in Lexington and toured Mary Todd Lincoln’s house. I am not a fan of Mrs. Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln yes, but Mary Todd Lincoln, no. John says she reminds him of Hillary Clinton. I do see the ambition behind both women but there the resemblance ends. I think Hillary is tough as nails and although I dislike her politics, I do admire that about her. Mrs. Lincoln always struck me as a spoiled little rich girl who was very weak. The tour guide went on and on about her tragedies – yes, she lost sons and had her husband murdered. Horrible stuff. But then we toured Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, the great statesman. I compared Mrs. Clay, whom I admire after learning about her, with Mrs. Lincoln. Mrs. Clay gave birth to 11 children. Out of those 11 children, all 6 daughters pre-deceased her. Of her four sons, one died during the Mexican-American war, and one had to be put into a mental hospital due to mental illness. That left two boys alive. Can you imagine that? No, she didn’t have to see her husband murdered, but she certainly didn’t fall to pieces. For that I admire her. I know that everyone is different, with different levels of strength. I’ve read a lot of biographies about Lincoln and Mary Lincoln is just not someone I can admire.
At Ashland, the Clay Estate, I spotted a toy cannon in the gift shop and bought it. It’s just about Breyer Stablemate scale, and I have a plastic draft horse to pull it. John and I researched Civil War cannons and artillery and I will need to build a limber, the cart that carries the cannonballs, and a harness. I want to try to paint and sculpt some figurines to make a little Civil War dioramma. This could be a fun project for us both!
The chores never end so I have to sign off. The pet hair in just four days is ridiculous. And the weeds have once again taken over the garden.
Enjoy your day as I will enjoy mine!
Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.
