Monday, July 31, 2017

IN THE GARDENS AT LONGWOOD

Well it was a very relaxing weekend, surprisingly. My dear Mother was in town for the weekend, so I, Ms.Moorecock and the houseboys had to really clean up the acts around here. They were none to happy to be wearing a piece of material,and trust me, my mother was frisked on the way out, to make sure she didn't swipe any houseboys. She is smooth like that. She came to visit because she wanted to see the fabulous Longwood Gardens, where she hadn't been since she got married. I was more than happy to go, so it was beyond beautiful and I love being out of doors in the summer.
If your not familiar with the area, Longwood Gardens is a stunning botanical garden. It consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, outside of Philadelphia. Longwood Gardens has a long and varied history. For thousands of years, the native Lenni Lenape tribe fished its streams, hunted its forests.In 1700, a Quaker farmer named George Peirce purchased 402 acres of this English-claimed land from William Penns commissioners. His family owned it up till no one in his family wanted to be bothered by the land anymore. As the 19th century rolled into the 20th, the family’s heirs lost interest in the property and allowed the arboretum to deteriorate. The farm passed out of the family through several hands in quick succession, and a lumber mill operator was about to cut down the trees for timber in early 1906.This threat moved Pierre S. du Pont, American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent du Pont family to take action. On July 20, 1906, 36-year-old du Pont purchased the farm primarily to preserve the trees. He wasn’t planning to create what would become the spectacular Longwood Gardens, but within a few years, his desire to make it a place where he could entertain his friends transformed a simple country farm into one of the country’s leading horticultural estates and gardens. I understand he and his wife would walk the grounds everyday.

**I warn you now... ton of gratuitous eye candy** 

After Pierre S. du Pont purchased the property in 1906, he began developing the outdoor gardens further, adding the 600-foot long Flower Garden Walk. Over the years he kept adding more and more gardens, built a new "small" conservatory, as seen from above, a stunning water lily pond and more fountains, followed by stunning rose gardens, a huge treehouse and a extensive orchid collectionI took these picture for the Dog's Mother....

Orchids....
This spacious country home Peirce-du Pont House ,  resulted from five major periods of construction covering nearly 200 years. The original two-story brick farmhouse was built by Joshua Peirce in 1730 to replace a log cabin built in 1709. In 1764, a two-story addition was made to the east end of the house and included a new dining room. The house was enlarged in 1824 adding a large addition to the north of the original structure. This building campaign doubled the size of the Peirce's house. In 1909, Pierre du Pont modernized the house with a two-story addition to the north. Plumbing, electricity, and heating were added throughout the house.

While we were there, we had an incredible lunch...they pride themselves on severing "green" and healthy foods, but thanks goodness also offer beer and wines. We also met a tour guide while resting at one spot and he gave so much information to us. We found out, that Longwood has about 400 full time gardeners, and over 800 volunteers. He also said it's only been since the late 80"s they stated charging people to get. Du Pont had left a healthy sum of funds so that all visitors could come and enjoy the garden at no cost. Now a days, it cost around 30 million to keep it running. And they are extremely meticulous how they tend to the gardens. It was fun to watch them trim the hedges. I think even the Queen of England would be pleased. Our day ended with the gorgeous flower walk. The cool part? It starts at one end with yellows and oranges, into the red and pinks, and ends at the other end in blues and purples.

It was a great weekend and pretty cool to hang out with ma. We concluded we needed to just live in the garden permanently and make that tree house home.

THIS MONDAY.....


Buster's only concern was if the neighbors dog, Bella had eaten yet.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

MISSING BUENOS AIRES

In wrapping up our lovely trip and going through almost 1,500 pictures.......it's been fun showing you all a fabulous trip to somewhere I have always wanted to go. When I first was telling friends I was going, they were like oh, noT Italy, or France, or England or a tropical location? Eventually yes...but the remaining two trips left on my list are now Budapest and Nairobi. We shall see. MM#1 Fan is a excellent travel companion, but truth be told I think he enjoys seeing my naked ass in the hotel. Anyho, there is this post left of various sights we saw, but don't really lend to a whole post, but were pretty cool to see none the less.

Iglesia Inmaculada Concepcion

Popularly known as "the round church" or "La Redonda",Another beautiful Catholic church. This church was built in the late 1800. and the inside is a must see
La Boca is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.It retains a strong European flavor, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. La Boca is a popular destination for visiting Argentina, with its colorful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. Other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs and Italian taverns.  Outside this tourist area, be careful... it is a fairly poor neighborhood that had  many regular occurrences of petty crimes we think while we were sitting having dinner.But the place we ate was excellent. 
Embajada de Brasil
This is the residence of the Ambassador of Brazil.

The French Embassy.

Floralis Generica
This was so cool to see. I can't say I have ever seen anything like it. Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas and a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower "is a synthesis of all the flowers and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening."  It was created in 2002. The sculpture was designed to move, closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning.At night the flower closes, emanating a red or purple  glow from inside, and reopens ...is reborn... the following morning.
In one really wealthy neighborhood we walked through, we saw this guy actually polishing and cleaning the wrought iron gate that lined the street. wow.

This church is pure Argentine history, for those who have the opportunity to see it.... a not to miss guided tour. To give respect to the memory of his daughter, Felicitas Guerrero, known as the woman more beautiful of the Republic, his parents donated the construction of this beautiful church.... its architect was Ernesto Bunge and opened in 1876, to remember the fourth anniversary of the death of the young Felicitas. Among  one of my favorite churches and most impressive things, in addition to its Gothic style half mixed with many indefinable styles,
So that was the trip...All wrapped in  a two week tour! If anyone gets the chance or you have considered going.....GO!!!  By far the friendlies people I have ever encountered on my travels, and the culture and food, wine and sangria's out of the world. Another huge THANK-YOU to Adrin-O-M-G for showing us around for a couple days. You were downright so helpful, and kind to meet us not to mention dear...so handsome and sexy, you did have me swooning and tingling!!!! If anyone decides to go, as with any city, it has bad sections too, so just make sure to have a guide one or two days to take you around, or if your venturing out of the city, or take one of the many group guided tours the city offers.

I know I will never forget this trip. Even when departing I was trying to get back off the plane...
💋