The Bradford pear trees are blooming this week (at least I think they're Bradford pear trees, but I have been known to misidentify plants), and for once on the first official day of the season it actually seems like said season.  Just in time for all this, there's a new book from the University of Virginia Press: Historic Virginia Gardens: Preservation Wo

A few items of possible interest which I've decided to throw all together in one entry, as my lineup of Things to Blog About is getting longer and longer:

Here's something exciting for the foodies among you:

Just crossed our desk from our neighbors at the Fluvanna County Historical Society:

Tuckahoe Plantation, boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson, is offering candlelit Christmas Tours of the house on December 13 and 14 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Cost is $10.00.  Click www.tuckhoeplantation.com for more details (select Christmas Tour for information on the tour and Contact for directions).

At the recent Virginia Library Association conferenece, we were honored by the presence of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, or at least their Washington Nationals "Racing Presidents" incarnations.  I was pleased to link arms with these august personages, and I was most impressed by their ability to navigate through low door frames and under-and-around light fixtures!

...and who doesn't, really? Well, this is the museum exhibit for you: "Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005" kicked off just this past weekend at Winterthur Museum.

Recently on a weekend trip to D.C. I stopped in at the Library of Congress to visit the Thomas Jefferson's Library exhibit.  This reconstructed library of the books Jefferson sold to Congress in 1815 was unveiled on Apr 12 this year as part of the new Library of Congress Experience, exhibits that allow users to interact with primary sources from American history.

Thought our loyal readers might be interested in some other Jefferson-related events coming up soon:

September 13, 2008
Accuracy and Elegance: How Fry and Jefferson Made a Better map of Virginia
Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA

The next program in the Virginia Heritage Resource Center's Mining the Treasure House lecture series will be held at noon on Tuesday, 16 September 2008 in the conference rooms adjacent to the lobby of the Library of Virginia at 800 East Broad Street in downtown Richmond. The speakers will be J. Jefferson Looney, Editor-in-Chief of the Thomas Jefferson Papers, Retirement Series, and Lisa A. Francavilla, Managing Editor of that series.