Kong of the Hill

And voila! Just like that, the snow is gone. Our garden is completely green once again, and the plants don't seem too battered, though I did spend part of yesterday morning staking up the remaining daffodils. They'd all been flattened. Dave said they'd probably resurrect themselves, but I figured I'd help them along. With no freezing nights in the forecast, I even moved the fig and our geraniums back outside.

Dave and I went to Sir John Soane's Museum yesterday. It's the home of Soane, a famous Victorian architect, on Lincoln's Inn Fields, and it apparently hasn't changed since Soane's death 180 years ago. It's definitely a quirky place. The rooms are tiny, the hallways narrow, and yet the place is crammed with paintings and sculptures and architectural drawings, stained glass, period furniture and other relics of Victorian life. The art includes a Turner, some Canalettos and some Hogarths. There's even a huge Egyptian sarcophagus, of pharoah Seti I. I've long heard that this is a remarkable museum so it was fun to see it first-hand.

I was most impressed because Soane, who tore down the original houses at that address before building his own, used skylights extensively. He was obviously serious about taking advantage of natural light. He'd be amazed with today's window-wall technology!

Also, he and his wife clearly loved their dog, Fanny. They had her portrait painted and even erected a tall marble monument to her in one of their courtyards. (I suggested to Dave that we do that for Olga, though admittedly it's a bit premature.) Apparently the Soanes weren't so crazy about their own sons, who declined to take up their father's interest in architecture -- one eventually caused a rift by criticizing Dad publicly. Scandal!

Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in the museum. So you'll have to settle for a picture of a bench dedicated to British women's and children's advocate Margaret MacDonald, located in the park outside.

After we came home, I took Olga to Fortune Green and the cemetery for a run. We discovered a large, mysterious pile of dirt on Fortune Green, and I put her Kong on top. Eventually I was able to get a photo as she scrambled up to retrieve it, but it took several tries -- she usually got to the top of the pile before I was ready to take the picture. When the Kong is involved, she moves fast!

Scanning the list of Oscar winners, I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I haven't seen "The Shape of Water," so I can't opine on that one, but I loved Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell in "Three Billboards" and I'm sure Allison Janney and Gary Oldman deserve their awards because they're always great. I think it's a shame "Call Me By Your Name" didn't win any higher recognition than best adapted screenplay, given how much that movie affected me, but it's better than nothing.