Sad/Happy

Some things over the Memorial Day weekend made me sad, like this little mansard buddy near Ohio and Sidney in St. Louis near St. Francis de Sales.  It's owned by Stanfield Investments and delinquent in taxes.

But the remainder of the weekend was filled with visually pleasing things.  Our girl scout troop had planned to go to the Junior Jamboree at Forest Park.  That event was cancelled due to low registration likely due to the fact the Girl Scouts had no publicity for the event, especially when compared to the PR overkill they are doing on the Big Day for Girls on September 22.  We are probably skipping the Big Day for Girls.  The 100 birthday bash was traumatizing and I am not sure I can handle that kind of crowd again, especially on a precious Saturday. 

Back to the picture.  Our troop (now Juniors!) went to Forest Park anyway with absolutely no plan.  And it was a good day.  We fed the ducks, played on the playground, took the Metro bus around the park and hung out at the History Museum where low and behold we had a campfire in front of a VW bus.  

And lots of other good stuff- bike racks, hydrangea, digging rocks.

These bike racks have been popping up everywhere.  I think they are handsome.

OMG.  Is there anything better looking than this year's hydrangea?  I have NEVER seen them this colorful.

BBQ at the neighbors where the local kids ruined a lovely landscaped garden by digging rocks to haul around in dumptrucks.  Sorry Jen!

Hot mansard

It's hot here in St. Louis.  94 degree high today.  It was sunny with a nice breeze and seemingly low humidity.  All makes for a great Memorial Day weekend.  Perfect for hitting the pool.  

I hope this Benton Park mini-mansard has a better way of staying cool than the screens and teeny-tiny box fan.  All-brick houses in this heat are like pizza ovens and give off heat even after it cools down.  To test the effect, try walking by the brick wall on Broadway near the Anheuser Busch brewery.  It jumps about 10 degrees near the brick wall on a cool night.  

Lighthouse Dentist Office

I think that about sums this up.  A lighthouse dentist  office bad mansard.  It is called Lighthouse Dental.  This beacon of light is in Washington, Missouri.  Their tagline?  "We light up your smile."  

Was it built to look like a lighthouse, or did it have its origin as another business? Might it have previously been a Kindercare?  Or a Long John Silver? 

   

Sunny Side of the Street

A sunny day made more delightful by the discovery of a sunny mansard with a bad green top and then a trip to the zoo with my favorite 5th grader and preschooler.  

Children #1 and #4 were on a zoo field trip together.  The 4/5th graders are 

'buddies' to the little ones in the Montessori preschool classrooms.  With 2 of my kids going to the zoo it was clearly one of those field trips I was going to be chaperoning.  I tried to cram in a million errands before reporting to school by 9 for driving duties.   As I made my way down Pestalozzi I spotted this yellow and green disaster.

I am getting a little sad this special school year is coming to a close.  It was neat to have a 1st year preschooler, a kindergartner, a 3rd grader and a 5th grader.  I'll never have that line up again.  

Sunny Side of the Street is one of my favorite Pogues songs.  It's even a little cheerful.  Click here

Mimi (in jumper) and her friend Beatrice.  I call them Miatrice.  Some trivia for you- B's sister is also a Mimi (her real name is Mildred whereas my Mimi is a Magdalena).  B's dad and I went to law school together and my father in law (Mimi's grandfather) went to grade school with Beatrice's grandfather at Holy Redeemer in Webster Groves.  

Another backside

Another party, another mansard backside.  This one is a favorite Soulard mansard we visited at a last minute BBQ arranged by our neighbors.  I tell you what- our little intersection of 12th and Sidney in Soulard is where all the action is happening.  When we moved into our house 10 years ago there were no kids in any of these houses.   But alas, we now have enough for a sizable party.  The count at the BBQ was 14 kids, age 11 or under.  I'm glad we could all get together.  Next time remind me to stay away from the knock-me-on-my-ass margarita mix.  It sneaks up on me every time- 1 can limeade, 1 can tequila and 1 can beer.  

Gonna get Derby

My friend Sarah 's Derby Party (or, as Gus calls it, a Dirty party), is what I like to call a triple threat. Sarah and I went to undergrad and law school together. She also lives in the same neighborhood as many of my friends and thus I have three groups of fun people to mingle with. Here we see the backside of her neighbor's mansard.

Mimi in a jockey cap.

Audrey and her friend G.

Gus going for more of a Cinco de Mayo theme.  Kay at age 11 was all like "totally bored mom.  I want to go home and don't take my picture.  "

Tres froid

Very cold!  Certainly I am not the only one who's every noticed how cold the corner of 8th and Olive is.  I've worked downtown since 1995 and it seems that corner has always been about 10 degrees cooler than the streets around it.  Why?  Some kind of cooling or ventilation system from the Paul Brown , Frisco or Laclede Gas Building?  The sewers?  Or a ghost.

Here is a picture of my husband John.  Last week we went on a tour of the Schlafly taproom.  But that's not when this picture was taken.  It was about an hour later when then tornado sirens went off and the folks in the restaurant were evacuated to the Schlafly basement, including a wedding party. Pretty good emergency location.

Back to mansards later this weekend.