A work of art

For my birthday back in April, my talented friend Mary gave me a marvelous gift, a piece of her original art. I could choose anything I wanted (well, within reason), either something she had already created or a custom request. After much deliberation, I asked her to paint a portrait of our house in the medium of her choice.

Yesterday when we met for one of our marathon lunches, she brought the finished painting, a watercolor:

So, so pretty. My camera and photography skills are totally inadequate to capture the true beauty of this painting; you will just have to take my word that it is a wonderful depiction of our handsome home (and she gave us better landscaping than what we have - bonus!). We adore our century house and I really like honoring it with such a beautiful painting. Truly a lovely gift from a lovely friend.