Yar-ing Up the Joint

Keen-eyed observers of certain pictures in the last post--especially those who have been at White House recently--will have noticed that we have finally hung something permanent-looking over the mantel.  For well over a year, what had been hanging there was an enormous sign reading, "We love you Mommy!" that the bambini had made on butcher block paper with Ted's help when Julie was away on a day trip last spring.  We'd hung a good number of pictures not long after we moved in and painted all the walls, but had been struggling with the big space over the mantle, the first wall you see upon entering through the front door.  But recently, some art that had been hanging in Southold arrived, and a cocktail party was in the offing, so we decided to revisit the artwork--old and new--that remained unhung.  A eureka moment resulted in the four black frames going over the mantel with boating pictures in them after we'd hung a metal sailboat sculpture across the way.  (Longtime readers will no doubt recall Julie's affection for all language nautical and the idea, at least, of sailing.  And of course, Ted can sail and she adores him.) Our Fans who knew Southold might also be interested to see the harbor scene painted by one of Grandpa Tom's patients, now reframed and cleaned, and hanging in the pass between the kitchen and dining room here at White House.