Sunday, January 19, 2014

Natural History Museum, NYC

John and I love the Natural History Museum, but it's been years since we've visited.
We started on the top floor where we were greeted by this Mastodonsaurus giganteus, a giant relative of our frogs and salamanders.
These visitors seem in awe of this Rauisuclud dinosaur.
For good reason! Yikes!
Much cuter were this Protoceratops couple guarding their nest.
The skeletons were accompanied by small models of what the creature might have looked like. This is of course the fabulous Stegasaurus.
John and another visitor admired the huge skull of a Triceratops.
Another display compared skeletons of Mammoths, Mastodons and modern Elephants.
Another oversized early mammal, the Megaloceros with its impressive antler display.
The huge prehistoric sloth, Lestodon armatus.
This local mother and daughter group probably have museum memberships. Looks like they dropped in during a morning jog in Central Park.
Another family group looks cornered by this juvenile Barosaurus.
John checking out the Barosaurus on the prehistoric timeline display.
The Central Park West entrance features a Barosaurus rearing up in front of a hungry raptor.
One floor down we encountered the dioramas of African mammals.
We love the dioramas in this section. Here ostriches protect their nest from marauding wart-hogs.
Two antelope seem to gossiping about us.
Just what are these hyenas so interested in?
John caught me and a soaring vulture.
Feeding time for birds of prey
and leopards. Yes, that's a peacock they've captured for lunch.
Herons, Ibises and Swans.
Loved this family checking out the owl display together.
We'll end our visit amid the displays of Native American artifacts.
Woodland tribe apparel.
How elegant is this stylish otter decorating a drum.
We'll end with a gorgeous feather headress. There is so much to see in this museum. We must come back more often.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Island Thaw

Last weekend John and I had arranged to help our friends Q and H hang pictures in their Ward's Island home.
 Toronto was experiencing a January thaw so the harbour was shrouded in fog
 and the ice was beginning to break up.
 At the mainland dock we were fascinated by the eccentric devices that Wards Island residents create to carry supplies to their homes
 and by the colourful costumes of some of the passengers as we boarded the Onigara ferry boat to Wards Island.
 It began to rain as we landed on the Wards Island dock. Note the gleaming ice between us and the yacht club.
Delightful snacks greeted us at our destination.
 We got right to work. Here I tested positioning a painting right over the stove under the critical eye of Q and H .
 The yummy root vegetables went into the oven while we worked.
Nancy Woodruff's watercolour landscapes went up next
 with one of her large drawings and a seascape by H's great grandfather.
H and I made some adjustments to the frames.
 H caught John holding the wall position whilst measuring the distance for the next nail.
By the time most of the pictures were up Q served a delicious dinner of baked salmon, roasted root vegetables and green beans followed by a lemon tart for dessert.
 When we headed home, John caught this shot of the treacherous ice and puddles along the path back to the dock
and this night-shot of the cityscape across the harbour.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

We're sooo excited!

John and I watched Almodóvar's frothy, new comedy last night with great pleasure. Let's get excited about 2014!