Wish you were here - to see the Museum! :)

That was me who just posted Oliver's 'Volume 111' - and I hope he won't mind... I know that he hasn't finished it yet, and after Jonny's recent criticism, Oliver planned to make his next entry a book, but I thought that if I posted mine, then he came home and posted his, you might never get around to reading the little entry of mine that would be at the end :)

And he should be nice to me, because I feel dreadful. Not from guilt or anything, for publishing his personal entry (well maybe, just a little), but sick dreadful. Can't breathe, and I really kind of mean that, dreadful. Am struggling for breath, and hoping that Dad will know if I brought a 'puffer' along. (I'll ask for a blessing when they get home too. One must be able to breathe :) And what do I do with my remaining perhaps few moments in time here on earth? I stay home from church, where I really wanted to go, (but didn't want to inflict myself on everyone), mind Dad's lamb pot-roast on the stove, and write to you :)

But enough of the chit-chat... It seems days since I really filled you in on the details of our recent jaunts. I'm not sure how far I'll get before I peeter out, but here goes...

Meeting Brecken and Justin, and Reuben and Simeon was great. We wanted to get together with them again before we left, but I messed it up by getting sick. They are lovely :)

I shopped. Dad held parcels. And practiced patience. (As if he needed the practice! :)

Things here are so cheap! Many things are about half the price. A few items are, inexplicably, about twice the price or more what we have at home. - Christmas decorations, for one. I planned to get each of you one tree ornament from Macy's, in NYC, (remembering several lovely old Christmas movies), but bombed out, I'm sorry. The selection wasn't great, and the prices were horrible! I can't tell you why this exception to the general rule, but there you go...

(You don't suppose Dad willed me sick, to escape from all the shopping, do you? It just occurred to me... No. .. He wouldn't do that... Would he?)

Dad told you that I stayed in bed on Friday morning, feeling yuck, and that we decided that he should carry the sight-seeing torch for both of us that day. Which he did very bravely, considering there was a little chill in the air. (I finally 'get' why people like to visit NYC in Spring, Summer or Autumn :)

I arose at lunchtime, cleaned myself up, and caught a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
(As a side note, I have really enjoyed chatting with our various cab drivers. My favourite was.. I don't remember his name, but he's from Jamaica, and we chatted about reggae and universities and all sorts of things. Other drivers were from: Korea (he and his three brothers have seven sons and no daughters between them. !! He goes back to visit twice a year); from the Carribean; from India... Some are more chatty than others. But all of them want to retire back to where they came from! Interesting :)

Dad had told me that the museum would close at 4.30pm, so I didn't have very long, I thought. Actually, it closed at 9pm, and I managed to stay until almost the end. It was stupendous. Splendiferous. I loved it, it was just amazing. I was rushing past one door, (towards the end, in the last couple of hours, I was just trying to see as much as possible), when I suddenly saw one of my favourite portraits by John Singer Sargent, 'The Wyndam Sisters'. It's a large painting, more than two by three metres in size, and when I saw it my jaw just dropped open and I stood there in the doorway like a stunned galah, thinking, 'you need to close your mouth Sandra', and then I burst into tears. I hope nobody was watching! It was overwhelming to see so many originals of what I only have in books at home. I saw the original of Van Gogh's 'Vase of Roses', that we have on the lounge room wall at home! I saw wonderful originals by Mary Cassat, Memling, Renoir, Monet, Rembrandt, Reubens, Gainsborough... so many. I even saw a Picasso that I really like, (unlike some of his). I was near tears several times. I also managed three separate guided one-hour tours - European Masters, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and Museum Highlights. I also loved the statuary, and the French Period 'Rooms', and everything :) Loved it all!

'They' are home now from church, so I'll try to catch up a bit more later, or Dad will. Tonight the entire Hampton family are coming over for dinner - sixteen adults and four kiddies, plus two babes - for a lamb pot-roast dinner, starring DAD as the cook, and AUSTRALIAN LAMB as the (less willing! ) meal. Supporting roles by chocolate mousse for dessert, by me, and fresh breadrolls and a beautifully set table, by Renae!

HOW ARE YOU ALL?????

LOVE YOU!!
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo