Union League Lincoln Bicentennial Open House

090212_04lincoln_plaster
Originally uploaded by lb_philly.

I wanted to take some pictures of the Union League Lincoln Bicentennial open house, but I couldn't!

We had almost 1,600 people come for tours in one four hour period. I barely had time to take a sip of water between groups, giving my spiel at the Sully portrait and the grand staircase. We usually do tour groups of 10-15 people, but on this day we had to take 40 people or more to accommodate the crowds. With no mikes, the tour guides and stationed docents were pretty much hoarse. We pressed all kinds of folks into service to serve as tour assistants, keeping this mass of humanity moving.

But it was a pretty wonderful day. We docents are still higher than kites on the positive energy from the public -- or maybe from the drinks we all had in the Old Cafe after our visitors had left. Roy joined the frolic as a tour-herder, and we agreed this is one of the nicest Valentine's Days we ever had.

First bloom

090215_01hippeastrum
Originally uploaded by lb_philly.

A flower opening from the first seedling hippeastrum to bloom. So far, it's looking good.

It took an awfully long time to go from sprout to bloom, though; six weeks. And there is no foliage emerging from the bulb. I wonder what will happen next.