Going, going, gone

On August 24 wrecking crews started tearing down this house on Fort View. It took 40 hours and especially tricky because the space between it and the adjacent gray house was only 6".

So now the owners (adjacent homes) are going to landscape this lot.

This last picture is of the sewer construction going on at the corner of Hatch and Carney. Only compounding the difficulty of demolition crew. Update: I just found out something interesting about the picture above. The contractors cut into the street and inserted a plastic liner then forced steam into it to expand against the old lines. Also learned that Cincinnati is finally separating our sewer and stormwater runoff lines.

Orchid painting

Dianne finished the painting of the orchid for the dining room and brought it over Thursday at noon for us to see. We both love it. In this picture she is holding the unframed painting on the wall we initially thought we would hang but we all agreed it should hang on the adjacent wall. Anyhow, she and Frank took the other orchid painting (also painted by Dianne) that we bought a couple years ago to match the frames.

Someday we will buy one of Frank's for the stairwell to the 3rd floor. He has an idea of a suspension bridge. Frank paints in oils and his style is more romantic. Dianne paints in watercolor and her paintings are more scientificaly accurate.

Instead of weeding I took a walk this afternoon

Today the weather was an unseasonably cool 75. So even though it was a perfect day to work in the garden and cut the grass (John has to work this w/e) I decided to put that off until tomorrow and take a walk around the neighborhood instead. And now I'm glad I did. On my way out I walked through our garden. The black-eyed susans in the courtyard look really good right now. The caladiums are doing so well. Both of us like the color they add and the fact they come in as the hostas fade out.

The brunnera loves this slope. According to what I have read brunnera likes a lot of water (but well drained) and will curl if not watered enough. Apparently this spot is perfect as we have provided no special care.

The switch grass on the lower slope seems to be doing well. I think I may need to cut the yucca back but I keep forgetting to ask Lesley (outside horticulturist @ Krohn) if this is necessary. This next picture from a distance does not show how much this area needs to be weeded but it does. Hopefully I will get to that tomorrow.

I took the route around the Playhouse and the pool to go to the Art Museum.

The pool house entrance. The pool closed to the public 2 weeks ago. Dog day at the pool was last weekend.

The baby pool.

The overlook behind the pool of the Ohio River, the old reservoir wall and the water pump station (the brick building). If we find out when the pump station was built (should be easy) we can estimate when indoor plumbing was added to our home which was built in 1874.

Walking up to the art museum.

Art Museum landscaping. I love the Chihuly in the front entrance of the museum.

Egyptian hall off the main entrance.

Sculpture garden (this area was under construction when we were married in 2002)

I love this Japanese painting of trading at a silk market.

This is a painting in the Folk Art section that I don't remember seeing before. Apparently this one and another of Yosemite have stumped art historians for some time on it's origin and inspiration and interestingly they were both discovered in Over the Rhine in the 1930's.

An interesting exhibit I did not have enough time to see before the museum closed this day. I will have to come back with John sometime before it closes on September 6, 2009.

The sculpture below from 1896 is titled A Young Mother. This picture (lifted, from the Art Museum's website) does no justice (in my opinion) to this exhibit called Outside the Ordinary. It is an exhibition (1st time) of a private collection (Cincinnatians Nancy And David Wolf) of contemporary art in glass, wood and ceramics. We are lucky that Aaron Betsky, the art museum director has added so many interesting and different exhibits like this one. Another new item is the fascinating doll house.

Here is the description:

Germany

Toy Kitchen Late 18th C.

This toy model of a kitchen is generally classified as a "Nuremberg" kitchen because so many details, especially the chicken coop, point to German manufacture, an d Nuremberg was generally accepted as the toy making center of Europe from 16-19 C. The stove with it's separate baking oven was modeled after a type developed in France about 1738. Other details are also exact, including the chicken's real feathers and a soot stain on the wall behind the stove.

Primarily a toy, the kitchen also served to instruct young owners to become competent in things domestic. It is so exact that today it serves as a record of architecture, social history, metalworks form, ceramics and glass.

A wedding party taking pictures in the main hall (where we had our reception in November 2002).

Another picture of the entry hall with the big blue Chihuly chandelier. The case next to the gift shop has Chihuly pieces for sale for $4,500 - $9,000.

On my way out of the museum, walking past Seasongood I saw a Vow Renewal (according to the sign) in progress. Interestingly the renewal participants were wearing tux's and yellow coordinating attendant gowns.

Since I needed cash to buy wine for dinner (John was cooking spinach linguine with shrimp) I next headed to the ATM by the tower. This next picture shows the amazing view from Ida Street Bridge. This picture does not actually show how beautiful the sky looked to me in real life... but my camera really isn't that great.

The ATM I was walking to is next to The Rookwood. I just noticed the sign on the building today that said they were starting ice cream socials on Wednesday's from 5-10 PM. Seems kinda late in the season but hope it works for them.

After I got money I walked up the back steps to the monastery. Here is a picture of the date this building was built.

I love this hippo art in the pond near the Monastery entrance

I had planned on buying a bottle of wine at the Wine Bar but there was a wedding party there so I bought a bottle of Chardonnay from UDF. It wasn't bad.

Here is a picture of the bench outside the chiropracter's office on my way home. Next door to the chiropracter is the bar and grill. On one side of the entrance to this restaurant is the waitress sculpture plaque (notice the pencil tucked into her hair). The chef is on the other side.

The flag above the piper's house... beautiful sky.

Lake District Trip

Plane tickets are purchased. Pet Nanny appointment confirmed. Time off from work is approved. And as of this morning our hotel accomodations are confirmed. This grey stone building below is the Beatrix Potter Gallery...

...which is next door to the Red Lion Inn (white stone), where we are staying the 1st 3 nights. This B&B is in Hawkshead which is also the town where William Wordsworth was born and spent his childhood.

The Red Lion's 15th C. pub is the oldest one in Hawkshead.

Wray Castle is within walking distance. According to http://www.wraycastle.com/ it was not a real castle but a private home built (Gothic Revival style) in 1840 by a retired Liverpool surgeon who used his gin heiress wife's money to finance construction. Apparently his wife took one look at it when completed and refused to live there. The architect H.P Homer drank himself to death. Dr. Dawson died in 1875 (at the age of 96) and left this estate to his nephew Preston Rawnsley. In 1877 Preston's cousin Hardwick Rawnsley took an appointment as Vicar of Wray Church (also built by Dawson). Beatrix Potter's family rented this home in 1882 when she was 16. Now it is the National Trust Headquarters. The grounds are open to the public and sometimes the insideis available for tours. Wary Castle exterior

The drawing room. The library.

The Morning Room.

The view looking up to the 1st floor and the Music Room.

This Mulberry Tree was planted by William Wordsworth in September 1875.

Last is a picture from Wray Castle of Derwent Water Lake.

Beatrix Potter's family rented this property in 1882 when she was 16.

The last 3 days in the Lake District we will stay at Howe Keld, a B&B in Keswick. My brother and sister-in-law stayed here in the 90's and recommended it.

Keswick is near Derwent Water Lake.

A picture of downtown Keswick Our last 3 days will be spent with the Birkholds at their home in London.

We have found some podcasts that seem like they will be helpful walking guides. I love my ipod and all the free podcasts you can access online. In my opinion it is better than almost anything on tv, including most news programs.

So our plan is to travel really light for this trip. Only carry on luggage. This won't be a challenge for John but will be for me. I'm going to use Rick Steve's packing list but also planning on bringing my laptop. Should be interesting. This will be my 7th trip to Europe but 1st time traveling without checking luggage. I'm thinking of this packing light adventure as practice for our trip to China.