British Visit

President Donald Trump‘s three-day state visit to the U.K. to meet with Queen Elizabeth and other members of the Royal Family, as well as celebrating the 75th anniversary of D-Day, brought KEYT-TV anchor Beth Farnsworth to Maison Mineards Montecito for an interview in my cottage garden.

The visit by Trump and his willowy wife Melania saw them attending a white tie banquet for 170 at Buckingham Palace with a torrent of tiaras and a mountain of medals and decorations on display.

Just 24 hours later the president hosted an equally grand black tie dinner at Winfield House, the American ambassador New York Jets owner Woody Johnson‘s residence in Regent’s Park, which was built by Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton on 12 lush and priceless central London acres.

The events signified the still-strong ties between Britain and its former colonies.

Grants for Films

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is taking it for granted!

The movie event has just received four grants in support of the fest and its affiliated educational program.

The National Endowment for the Arts has given $20,000, as well as $15,000 for Film Camp, an annual summer film program for underserved youth, now in its fourth year, which takes place later this month.

And the California Arts Council has awarded two awards totaling $26,440 – $14,400 of which goes towards the festival’s year-round educational screening program Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies, and $12,040 towards Film Camp.

The 35th edition of the festival takes place January 15-25, 2020.