ajmatt blog

Yesterday Matt and I drove 6 hours to the Outer Banks in North Carolina in an enormous (rental) SUV that had six cupholders accessible from the front seat. Really, what more do you need in life? (Maybe also to average more than 15 miles per gallon.)
Along the way we passed:

The Stonewall Jackson Shrine
A hitchhiker with [...]

I have been waiting and waiting for the tree in front of our house to bloom, but all trees on our street remain stubbornly dead, even during cherry blossom week.
Instead, I present you with another wonder of nature from ajmatt blog’s postage stamp back yard: the resting squirrel.

Have you ever seen one of these things [...]

I spotted a cardinal this morning on the light post outside my bedroom window. While the pictures of him didn’t turn out great (darn screen), it reminded me of a bird Matt photographed about a month ago.

This bird was huge, had giant claws, and sat on our back fence for close to an hour. It [...]

The lunar eclipse tonight was as amazing as we expected. While I was in class, Allegra braved the below-freezing cold and snow flurries for over an hour and a half attempting to get pictures with our high-zoom camera and telephoto lens. Needless to say, once class was finished, I dashed home and took [...]

…is ajmatt blog? I’ll give you a hint: it’s cold.

Give up? We’re in Montréal!
Why Montréal in the dead of winter? Matt enjoys giving the gift of surprise travel. He’s been tormenting me for weeks now with dead-end hints about where we’re going. Pack warm clothes… but maybe we’re going to the Caribbean. Leave your car [...]

After our delicious Christmas dinner, Allegra and I decided to take a walk through Hyde Park. We weren’t the only ones with the idea, particularly as the weather was so enjoyable.

We ended up in Knightsbridge, admiring the lights on Harrods.

On the following day, Boxing Day in the UK, as is our usual fashion, we [...]

I realize I used this title for Thanksgiving, but… that’s what they say here, especially the proper Brits who greet us on the elevator at our hotel. The abundance of politeness soothes my soul.
We had a lovely Christmas day, complete with a secret Santa, lots of food and champagne, and a long walk through Hyde [...]

Yesterday was a shopping day for most of us in London. Matt and I braved the Christmas Eve crowd at the Knightsbridge Harrods, and hit an alley of bookstores. And by that, I mean the entire alley was lined with bookstores, almost entirely used, and many of them rare/antiquarian.

We all went to dinner at a [...]

While Allegra and Grandma Price were off to Chawton, Grandpa Price, Pop-Pop, Mom, Dad, and I braved the typical London fog and headed to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum. We headed to the London Bridge station and caught the overground train for a quick 7min ride to Greenwich.

After [...]

And so much more:

[Click photo to see the big version, which reads: "Jane Austen lived here from 1809-1817 and hence all her works were sent into the world. Her admirers in this country and in America have united to erect this tablet. Such art as hers can never grow old.]
Matt’s grandmother and I visited the [...]