Dean's 76th

Welcome to Dean's 76th Birthday blog covering the years since his 70th

Please check out  his previous birthday blogs: Dean's 65th birthday  and  Dean turns 70. He turned 76 on June 22nd.

           Here he is in '23 parading on  New York City's High line for the first time  

A different section of the High Line featuring wild flowers

On that same trip to New York, we traveled to Colebrook CT with sister Lucia where Dean assisted her in creating an espalier for her apple trees in her yard 

Ristoraanted La Castagna high in the Umbriaon hills is now closed

From New York we flew to Umbria where we rented a house for two weeks. It was the hottest summer in many years but we persevered, even with the lack of air conditioning.

During our two week stay in Umbria, we fell in love with Mimi, the feral cat who hung around our patio and renrtal house. Here she is under the table on the stone patio near Dean's legs at dinner time. We did let her in when it rained and she made herself very much at home. We were surprised to learn that she was 17!

We then drove to Florence. Dean wanted an Italian white linen shirt so after a visit to the Uffizi to see all my favorite Botticelli's (among other Renaissance Masterpieces), we took a cab to Boggi where we both found lovely linen shirts. We're posing in our suite at Torre di Bellosguardo high above Forence in the nearby hills. The views of Forence from the hotel are spectacular in both night and day. At night all the famous landmarks are illuminated as shown in this photo

View of Florentine landmarks illuminated in the night sky from our hotel

Here we are on 4th of July '23 on the Nob with Ricki and Dick, glazing a bundt cake that I made called Tunnel of fudge. In my youth we made it from a package version that combined a chocolate cake mix and a package of double dutch frosing mix from Pillsbury, but unfortunately, they stopped selling these products years ago. Now there are recipes on the internet that try to duplicate that chocolate bundt cake with a gooey layer of fudge in the

center. Some recipes come close but they've never succeeded in matching the chocolatey lava center created by the double dutch frosting mix. Checking the internet just now I see Pillsbury has again created a package version of their cake. They explain "This recipe, arguably the recipe most closely identified with the Bake-Off® Contest, it mysteriously develops a "tunnel of fudge" filling as it bakes. Don't scrimp on the nuts, or it won't work!"

Maybe I'll try it this 4th of July!

Dean in his ponytail phase at a Seder at Ricki's. It grew quite long and then he cut it off

Negronis and spritzes on our 17th  wedding anniversary

Here we are celebrating our 17th anniversary on Oct. 30th '23 at the rooftop restaurant across from Campus. That year our big day fell on a Monday and we didn't have much to choose from but  the rooftop venue was just the ticket. we bundeled up and had a festive time drinking and eating.

Seaview Trail in Tilden Park just up the hill from our house is one of our favorite hikes. Here Dean poses on a Sunday with a view of the bay as a backdrop

A  June birthday lunch with Ricki at Wayfare Tavern in the Financial district. They started putting tables outside in the alley during the pandemic and it was one of our favorite spots

London 2024. first stop is Ottolenghi in Sloane Square. We were there visiting my niece Victoria who had been living in London for five years. As soon as we arrived at her house in Chiswick (pronounced Chisick), we boarded the tube and headed for Sloane square where she dropped us at the first Ottolengi location. He now has an empire and many popular cookbooks 

More London:  this time at the cafe in the National Portrait Gallery. One of four fabulous museums we visited on our London trip to see my niece Victoria in Chiswick. Who would guess that Chiswick is a lovely section of London served by the tube's A? line 

Enjoying a beer and a laugh in a Turkish cafe in Chiswick. We had so much fun on that London trip

From London we took the Chunnel to Paris and the next day walked to the Luxumburg gardens, a short distance from our favorite Hotel Sêvre, where I've been staying since the '70s. Dean waited at our entrance to the park while I clicked away. Of course, leaving our hotel we turned the wrong way and it took us three times as long as it should have. No matter, it's always fun getting lost in Paris.

         Paris again, revisiting one of our favorite neighborhoods, the Butte-aux-Cailles

On a short trip to Mendocino in April 2019 we went to the Mendocino Coast Botanic Garden where Dean posed in front of the weeping cherry tree. All the surrounding hills were bright green from heavy rains that year.To see the fun we had just click the link above.

Ocean view from our deck with hot tub

We finally made it to Sea Ranch. The first time we had to cancel due to wild fires threatening to blow over to the coast. This trip  I booked a house with an ocean view, but it was so foggy that there was no water in sight when we arrived. Finally on the third day we woke up to bright sunshine and a beautiful view of the ocean.

We made the most of our clear day and drove to the adorable hardware store within the Sea Ranch complex, and from there someone guided us to the Sea Ranch community garden, which was impressive. We wandered around and conversed with members who were gathering produce from their plots for an annnual banquet. They welcomed us though we found out the garden is actually for members only. There's Dean at the back of a long row of chard.

                                                        Poppy

One of the biggest  events of these six years was  the acquisition of our new cat Poppy. When Our beloved calico cat Allie died in 2023, I quickly planned a three week trip to Italy in August and another trip to Kauai in October '23. Immediately upon our return, I looked online at the Berkeley Humane and spotted a darling gray tabby named Peanut. We went down there to check her out and Dean fell in love with her sweet face gazing at him from her cage. I decided that I liked her but didn't love her, but he wouldn't leave without her. The staff stated that she would do best in a home without children or other pets. That was us, so away we went. At first she tore around the house examining every inch including the deck and enjoying her freedom to the max. Then she retired to a hole in the closet and stayed there for two or three days, coming out only to pee, drink and eat in the adjacent bathroom.

Soon she emerged to be part of the family and we renamed her Poppy, though she still responds to Peanut. She's never lost her sweet nature and we adore her.

More Poppy

One summer day we had lunch with an ambitious wine tasting at Fort Ross Winery high in the hills above Jenner. We stayed in a house on the Russian River, so the winery was a perfect side trip. We totally recommend this little known winery.

During the spring of this year, Dean was appointed unofficial gardner and weed puller at our friend's John and Jill's house in Walnut Creek. They have a beautifuul garden and an impressive new pergola in back.

 More weeding in walnut Creek. He has also done a masterful job planting in our garden in Berkeley. Dean definitely has a green thumb!

Steph Curry in a contemplative pose

                                  And then throughout the years, there was Steph

Paris Street Style

 

Ah Paris! Les bouquinistes on the banks of the Seine, Notre Dame in the background, the  stylish young shoppers, the café culture....

Photos courtesy of My French Country Home

                    

Danish Tree House

 

I covet this Danish tree house featured in The New York Times T Magazine a few months ago. How do you climb up into it?

Les Distractions de Dagobert by Leonora Carrington

 

Mythical, mystical, frightening, and gorgeous, Les Distractions de Dagobert (1945) is Leonara Carrington at the pinnacle of her abililities. Carringtoon was born in in London in 1917 and moved to Paris to be part of the art scene in the 1930s where she befriended Max Ernst and surrealist artists Salsvador Dali and Remedios Varo among others.  She then moved to Mexico and continued to paint with her fellow artist Remedios Varo. This painting is loosely inspired by the decadent life of Dagobert, a 7th-century Merovingian king (located in modern-day France), who was known for his amorous exploits. The painting includes several simultaneously unfolding scenes that seem to be the imaginings of the monarch. It’s a dizzyingly layered composition

The art Museum of Philadelphia is currently hosting a major exhibition called Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 which includes Carrington's painting. I was lucky enough to see a similar surrealist show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in September 2024. I'm still marveling at the fantastical art works I saw there, alongside viewers from around the world.

My two favorite works in Paris were also by women artists - American  Dorothea Tanning and Spanish born Remedios Varo. Both of these surrealists were well represented in the Paris exhibition, though unfortunately the Carrington painting was not included.

Dorothea Tanning. Birthday, 1942

Pappilla Estelar by Remedios Varo, 1958

Lining up for the Surrealist exhibition at the Centre Pompidou 2024

R-Evolution Green Bin Liner

 

My kitchen green bin fitted with a newspaper liner

Dean has been making origami newspaper liners for our kitchen green bin since 2012. We got the idea from the SF Chronicle and never went back. Per my directions, he folds a section of newsprint in such a way that a colorful photograph faces out and entertains me as I cook. The link below contains the full instructions, as outlined in a previous blog post. The liner featured above shows a  photo from an article that reports on an immense art installation in San Francisco's Embarcadero Plaza. We seldom go to San Francisco these days, but we happened to travel to the city on Bart and disembark at Embarcadero station the  very day the statue was unveiled. The massive forty five foot construction that greeted us was an awesome sight and we marveled at it along with a few other sightseers. We didn't learn the whole story until we heard the news a few days later.

The name of the statue is R-Evolution, and you can read all about her in the following link:  R-Evolution. The presence of this towering, breathing creation has caused some controversy, and for me it's a relief to opine about the place of art in public spaces as opposed to focusing on more ominous matters.

How to make origami Greenbin Liners

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025

 

For more winter bird fun please click this link  Winter Treats for the BIrds

London/Paris Sept. '24

First stop was Chelsea and lunch at the original Ottolenghi Bakery, where his empire all began.

We had just landed in London, but surprisingly we had the energy to accompany my niece Victoria and her daughter Alexis to Chelsea where we stopped at Ottolenghi's original location and picked out some salads and their fabulous brownies. Too bad the salads weren't equally fabulous. Because it looked like rain, we scored a table outside on this busy Saturday and sat down to eat and watch the passersby in this posh district.

Notice my Teva's, the only shoes I could wear after breaking my pinky toe before the trip

We woke up late to a warm, drizzly Sunday. We headed for the Chiswick Farmer's Market by bus, not far from Victoria's house in Chiswick, London. Luckily she and her family keep lots of umbrellas on hand. This is England, after all!

Weekly Sunday Market

The annual  Chiswick dog show was going on in the park so we stopped and watched the judges award the best costume to this smart fellow. The costumes were based on the show So You Think You Can Dance with Mel Giedroyc introducing all the Doggy contestants. I recognized her voice from her role in The Great British Baking Show. She's a faithful supporter of this event

People and dog watching at the show was a blast

Chiswick house and Gardens (pronounced Chizick)

Here's Victoria leaving the Sunday market with chard for our dinner. Baggy jeans are fashionable in London now. That style hasn't caught on in the US yet, or maybe never. After the market and dog events we wandered around the lovely neighborhood and I had a SIM card installed in my phone so we could access the internet while on the go. We didn't realize how important that would be! At our ages we needed all the help we could get. Fortunately Londoners couldn't have been more helpful when our Google maps failed, which was often.

           Monday morning we felt well rested and ready for some serious Museum-going

First, the Tate Modern which was  featuring a major exhibition on the Expressionist painters centered around Wassily Kandinsky in Munich and Bavaria in the early 20th century just before the First World War. There were  paintings by Kandinsky and his partner Gabriele Münter, as well as Paul Klee, Franz Marc and many others. We loved it and felt so lucky to visit during those dates. Also worth mentioning: most museums in London are free.

After finding the museum with some difficulty, our first stop was lunch at the café looking out at St Pauls across the river. All the museum cafés in London were surprisingly good, serving fresh, healthy options as you can see above.

From our table we could see St Paul's Cathedral across the Thames. It survived the bombings of London during WWII and became a symbol of resilience for the British during those dark years

        

                                     On to some favorite paintings from the exhibition

Tiger in the Jungle by Franz Marc

Lady in Moscow by Wassily Kandinsky

I didn't take note of the artist, but I love the painting

Milliner's Shop by August Macke

Kandinsky's painting of his dining room.  The thick application of paint was striking

Kandinsky sitting at the Kitchen Table by Gabriele Mûnter

                                       Back to reality and home to our Turnham Green Tube Stop.

The next day was clear and cool so we took the bus past Shepard's Bush to Portobello Road and Notting Hill, about a half hour's ride on the upper deck, of course.

We wandered around Notting Hill for a while and then stopped for lunch at a typical english pub which turned out to have an excellent chef.

Lunch at The Duke of Wellington on Portobello Road 

Somerset House, home to the Courtauld Gallery

The Cortauld Gallery with its excellent collection of impressionist paintings was on my list of museums

to visit. Somerset House is imposing and stony but the galleries within are modern and welcoming. For an informative and humorous overview of the museum, google the actor Bill Nighey's video on the Courtauld, one of his favorite museums in London where he lives. I wasn't able to import the video here but it's easy to find on Google.

      Three of my favorites by Paul Cézanne viewed in the Courtauld Impressionist Wing

Man with a Pipe by Cézanne

Pot of Flowers and Fruit

Lac d'Annecy

Exiting the massive building was so complicated that again we had to ask directions to the nearest tube stop from a guard outside. As a lifelong Londoner he couldn't have been more friendly and helpful. We had actually exited from the wrong side of Somerset House, so he accompanied us to the back of the building and sent us on our way to a stop on the Victoria Line.

We were so bushed from tromping around all day that we made a joint decision to skip our evening at The Old Vic where we had tickets for Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing. Instead, we had a relaxing evening at home with my relatives and never regretted our decision.

To be continued...