Coppery

The copper beech tree at the museum finally leafed out!  Later in the season, the leaves will take on a darker red-brown hue, but I love its early spring rosiness best.

Anti-Cubicle

I love this forsythia bush.  It doesn't belong to my museum but rather to the house next door.  I imagine they planted it to hide the chain link fence between the properties, but I don't care why.  I care that every spring, it lights up my western office window.  I posted about it last year, with a lower-quality photo, but the sentiment of that post still rings true.  I'm a long way from the cubicle life . . .

Getting Outdoors

A sampling of images from my work week:

Blue Bells in the (Colonial Revival) 17th century garden

Lunch in the sunny courtyard!

The 200 year old copper beech tree.

Afternoon sunlight on the side of one of my 18th century houses.

#exhibitinstallationisabitch

A few scenes from the process of installing a traveling exhibit over the last week or so:

The panels arrived last Friday in 7 large boxes.  They had to be unpacked and any damage issues noted on a report due 48 hours after the panels' arrival.  Hence, working all day last Saturday.

Working on exhibit labels later in the week.  This cryptic and silly note refers to a label for a small portrait of a gentleman's third wife (the second to be named Frances and nicknamed Fanny).

Took this shot just an hour before the exhibit opening!

Goodbyes

Back to my old museum today for a one-day appearance running the April school vacation workshop.

The kids at the workshop built this planter with junk bricks from an old courtyard.  They raked the courtyard, bagged leaves, built the planter, planted perennials in it, and scattered wildflower seeds in the back portion of the courtyard - all in less than an hour.  Go them!

Going to miss this 1710 space.

New Environment

Movin' on up!  This is my new desk at the museum where I recently become Co-Director.  I've worked here for three years, at another desk about ten feet away, but this feels like a nice change.  My new desk is in an office that I share with our bookkeeper  who's only in a few hours a week.  My old desk was in a general area at the top of the stairs that everyone walks in and out of all the time.

The curator, who's also my counterpart as Co-Director, recently ok'd plants in the non-museum part of the building, i.e. the office addition.  So I went a little nuts - I bought 7 plants for the three office spaces and moved her dying spider plant into a sunny window situation.  Having greenery all around has been lovely!

I don't have a window, which I did want, but as you can see from the photo above, the mirror above my desk reflects the light from the window opposite and I have a lovely view of a copper beech tree framed in in if I just look up.  Hooray for new spaces and new beginnings!

Opening Up

Almost open for business! Traveling George Washington exhibit on loan from Mount Vernon begins 4/26!