Wisteria and Sunshine

If you like “Wisteria and Sunshine.....”

This was the opening line of an advertisement that brought together the characters in the charming British film, “Enchanted April.” If you have not seen the film, consider putting it on your dvd rental list. If YOU like Wisteria and sunshine, do have a look at Florence Lloyd’s lovely pergola spilling over with Wisteria in full bloom.

More wisteria can be spotted in the Simpson/Payne backyard, like a Secret Garden, wisteria climbs the trees of the and graces the door leading to their patio.


CHEVY CHASE TOWN COFFEE:




The Town Coffee hosted by Marcy Forrest on Tuesday May 13th was a well attended morning with several Leland neighbors, as well as, Chevy Chase residents, new-comers and Town Mayor Linna Barnes. Ann Lee also stopped by on her way to an early morning tennis game. Coffee, pastries and lively conversation were a wonderful start to the first day of sunshine in a long while.


ANNOUNCEMENT FOR YOUR CALENDARS:
Bonnie and Charles Duffy are hosting a fond farewell party for Leni and Knut and family as they prepare to move back to Norway. 
An invitation is extended to all our Leland Street Neighbors
Please join us:
A Fond Farewell to Knut*Leni*Mira*Falk
Sunday, May 18 from 4 - 6. 
@ The Duffy Home 4128 Leland Street.


BATEMAN FAMILY:


Here's Annie in the French Quarter during Jill and Annie's recent visit to New orleans and Tulane. She loved it but she's going to Georgia!! And Claire shares a moment with her best friend Leila after claire's recent dance performance at the Kennedy Center.
The Batemans are enjoying watching the lushness of spring  emerge.....Terry has been busy in the garden and is happy to report  that his new organic approach to lawn maintenance is really paying  off with the greenest thickest grass ever!  Claire is preparing for  her end of the year dance performances and both Annie and Claire are  getting ready for their IB exams and GRADUATION!  Jill is still busy  painting and is enjoying her new studio space in the atelier of the  Washington Studio School in the Dupont Circle area.  The family is  hoping Will will be home this summer to work in the Washington area   but his plans are still not finalized.


STENSETH/BERGEM FAMILY;


In 4130 we are trying to get ready for our upcoming move to Norway. But it is so hard to for all of us to leave, and no-one wants to start packing. So we find any excuses to postpone it for just another week. We enjoy every minute of the beautiful summer afternoons in Leland Street. Falk celebrated his 9th birthday with a gang of friends last week- and the highlight of the party was the marshmellow fight.

Having 8 wild boys running around in the house throwing marshmallows at each other might be fun - but the adults in the family have decided that we may opt for something else next year around:-)

Mira is busy preparing for her upcoming confirmation, her upcoming birthday party, her upcoming farewell party and so on.

Melissa and Doug hosted a fantastic dinner last weekend. Excellent food, and superb wines. And lots of fun. We even found our way home in the end :-) Thanx a million for inviting us.

Knut has left for Miami to meet up with 8 friends from his hometown Bergen. After Miami, they will drive to New Orleans, to Memphis and then to New York. While Knut is exploring the South East I will take my parents and kids to Santa Fe, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas next week. So packing is definitely postponed for another few weeks.


BEDELLS:



BOLANDS:



COSMAS:

Farrell and Bill enjoyed having Will home for a weekend. It is always a joy to catch up in person.


MARTZ/DAVIES:



TAPLIN/DELANCY:

The whole family had a wonderful time during a ski weekend at Lake Tahoe.

Vicky and Ben were joined on the hill by long time friends from Marin County, Lenny and Pavla. While Russell and Paul navigated the terrain on snowboards.
The Delancys have just completed a busy season of house guests!  The first wave, which arrived in March, were Vicky's cousin and her family from St. Paul, Minnesota. 
This is the second spring they've come to visit their grown-up son, who lives and works here.  The weather was warm and wonderful when they were here, and they enjoyed touring all the Washington sights.  Coincidentally, another cousin was in town the same week, and so the Delancys hosted a fairly large family reunion for a Sunday night dinner.

Vicky father was the second house guest to arrive.  He was here for a week in early April, at the peak of the cherry blossoms.  He enjoyed riding through Kenwood to see the trees, and also visiting Dumbarton Oaks.  The highlights for him were were watching Charles Duffy's show "Political Pulse" and discussing it over a delicious lunch at the Duffys' house, as well as visiting Woodrow Wilson's house near Embassy Row.  Later on in April, Vicky's 3 nieces from Massachusetts came to visit on their spring break from school.  This visit carried many bittersweet moments, since they just lost their mother in January to cancer. 


Shopping and baking were balanced with sightseeing, a high point being a tour of the Capitol with Senator Cardin's assistant.  Now Vicky is catching up on lots of "old business" that was put aside during these many visits!
Here’s Ben and Paul enjoying a great view and a great game.



DUFFY:

Sometimes the blooms of spring are beautiful until the last petal falls...witness this gift of
Mother Nature at the Duffy home.



This week we made a special trip to the B & O Railroad Museum to see Thomas the Train.
Matthew was thrilled that he not only got to see the "real" Thomas but also took a ride on him.  For those interested - the museum has an interesting collection of old trains.  
Matthew really enjoyed the Easter fashion and festivities and apparently Missy thought it was all a big yawn!



FENDRICK:

The blooms seen here are just a suggestion of the magical azalea splendor of Barbara's garden.


FORREST:

Arthur and Marcy along with six neighbors enjoyed a  sumptuous dinner and  fabulous evening at the home of Melissa Peppe and Doug Gibson.  We all benefited from Melissa’s silent auction bid on a gourmet meal served in their home.  The dinner  was prepared by Culinary Institute of America Alumni, Vincent Muia, Chef/Owner of Sage     (www.SageFineDining.com 240-478-7234) Vincent was assisted in the preparation by his wife, Veronica. The five course dinner was complimented with a different wine for each course and champagne with dessert. The Chef’s task was complicated by kosher restrictions of four guests and the vegetarian and allergy concerns of another.  It was a flawless evening in every way.

Marcy recently traveled to Laguna Hills, California for a visit with her mother, sisters and brother at her mother’s home.  We enjoyed lovely beach weather watching pelicans diving into the surf, sunset cocktails along Pacific Coast Highway and long hours of looking over vintage family photos. Marcy brought her mother back to Maryland to see the beautiful spring blossoms.  The homes of our neighbors here on Leland Street present a wonderful garden tour every time we drive up the street.

Nicole just returned from a busy  weekend in Kenosha, Wisconsin with boyfriend, John Tenuta for  the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to his father by the Italian American Foundation.  The Tenuta family  is well-known for over fifty years as owners of Tenuta Italian Specialty Food Store.  Nicole was sent home with paninis, meatballs and cannolis.

Zak and Chad continue their documentary work with Stars of the Lid. It has been a grueling 10,000 mile journey in Zak’s Volkswagen Jetta. In just three weeks they have driven from L.A. to San Francisco then across the northern states through blizzards, rain and sunshine, past lonely prairie land, small towns,  major cities and crossed the border into Ontario and Quebec. 

The bonus of the  concerts in Canada is that Zak was able to visit with Ashley at her school, Concordia College in Montreal. Now they head south with concerts in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Yea! We get to see him too. Then they drive west to Texas.


HOROWITZ/KAZIN:

Kazin-Horowitz: Maia had a major role in the high school musical at Maret, playing the Little Girl in Ragtime. She’s looking forward to a summer of volunteering with the Landmarks Program and getting a paid job somewhere in our area.
Michael spent three long but rewarding days in Indianapolis, campaigning for Barack Obama. People of all ages were there from all over the country, and everything was in bloom.
Beth traveled up to Boston to see close friends and is looking forward to hearing Itzhak Perlman play his fiddle this afternoon at Strathmore.
Danny is in the middle of writing term papers and studying for finals at Columbia so please don’t bother him, unless the Nats and/or Orioles go on a winning streak.


LANNOM:



LEE:


Ann's father planted these tulips many many years ago...most tulips only last a season or two, some tulips bulbs can last up to seven years, but somehow Ann's tulips continue to reach for the sun and bloom year after year.


LIPPOLD:


LLOYD:




PATCH:


The Cherry tree and plaque dedicated to Susanne Steinam Patch has been installed in front of the Patch residence. Sue would surely appreciate the happening occurring in the full bloom of spring when her azaleas are blossoming to welcome the Cherry tree. The tree and plaque were made possible through the kind efforts of Leanne Boland and the generosity of the neighbors of Leland Street who remember Sue Patch so fondly.

SIMPSON/PAYNE:

We had a great family vacation in Jamaica. The weather was lovely so the kids sailed, swam a lot, went tubing and played tennis. You can't beat those direct Air Jamaica flights out of BWI -- inexpensive and convenient!


Our niece from France will be going to AU in September and she is visiting this weekend to check out the university. Having never lived in the States she is very nervous about her Freshman year!
Can't wait for all the azaleas to bloom around Chevy Chase and for the weather to warm up so we can begin enjoying how beautiful Leland Street is in the Spring. And we are looking forward to meeting our new neighbors across the street!

STUART-PROCTOR:


KARASIK/RUBASHKIN:



SOLOMON:



STROTHER:



VICENTE:

While everything is popping up and blooming, there are a few places where nature’s cycle has come to an end. Such was the case at the Vicente home with an old oak tree.

It was quite a show, if only Mark and Peter had been home to witness the men swinging from trees, ropes, claws and chipper trucks.

WOLFE:

Lotte stopped by her long time home on Leland Street to collect a few last items. She says they are loving their new residence and it has opened a whole new world of opportunity for them. Marty is just five minutes from his office and they are within walking distance of their favorite Georgetown restaurants.

DANIELS/WOLFF

Larry and Miriam are excited to report that Becky Wolff, who is graduating from Johns Hopkins this month, has accepted a job offer from Microsoft's marketing division and will be moving to Seattle in September.  She will spend the summer at home.   In the meantime David has begun teaching music to pre-schoolers and voice to teen agers at the music education company Bach to Rock in Bethesda, Mclean and Gaithersburg. 
Larry and Miriam celebrated their 28th  anniversary  with a trip to New York.  We saw a new play, "August:  Osage Country," which we recommend.  We also took  a 20 minute train ride from Grand Central to Bronx Botanical Garden where we enjoyed thousands of tulips.   
We are taking advantage of spring opportunities for walking, biking, and hiking.   David hiked up Big Devils Staircase near the Blue Ridge with a friend for a wet but beautiful experience.   Larry and Miriam biked down the Capital Crescent trail to Fletchers boat house, and Miriam and Toby went walking on the Canal and in Rock Creek.  Larry joined an Audobon Society group in Rock Creek and saw hundreds of copulating toads!  The grass at home is growing and the flowers bursting with color.
 
Miriam's 91 year old father, who still works 10 hours a day, is returning to Chevy Chase after spending the winter in Sarasota.
We want the thank the  Peppe/Gibsons for a wonderful dinner at their home last Saturday evening attended by three other Leland Street couples.