At the Grocery Store in the Meat Department. You Tell Me…..

The grocery store was packed and sales brisk, everyone stocking up on water, milk,bread. Batteries. Toilet paper.

Lots of shoppers dressed up from church and all the store workers sporting black and gold for the Steelers game that was about to start.  Carts filled with chips and dip for the football game today, in addition to preparation for the impending storm.  The high winds are to start tomorrow.

The power not affected yet.

Later at the gas station I saw a man at the next pump filling huge gas cans for his generator.

BUT    as I walked through the meat department looking for the rest of my family, this is what I saw on the floor.

There was no one to ask what this was or why.

A display gone wrong? Deflated?  Someone practicing balloon art on break?  You tell me.

Music Makes the House Come Alive

 

 

 

 

Saturday night, Christopher Mark Jones accompanied by David Hart on Mandolin.Expert musicians played two sets to an appreciative audience.  Their music made the house come alive.

Laura and James came in from Columbus to help host. I couldn’t have done it without them.  We made a Gourd Tree on the cupcake stand my friend Joanne sent last birthday. I baked a New York Cheesecake, the kind with no crust where you start at 500 degrees then turn it down to 225 and let it bake undisturbed into the night after you turn the oven off.

L said it was the best house concert she had ever attended!  Everyone seemed to be in agreement that it was a wonderful concert and lively evening.  Friends and neighbors joined in singing a few choruses with the sing along portion and the house lent itself  with a warm, welcoming spirit and ambience.

They left their umbrellas at the door.  The threat of five days of rain with Sandy coming up the East Coast didn’t prevent anyone from coming.

It was a lovely, musical event.  Thanks to Christopher and David!   The candles provided a warm glow.

Autumn Postcard from Guernsey County Seat – Cambridge Ohio

I’ve been told some of my photographs look like postcards.  I don’t think that is a good thing when they tell me but I don’t mind.  I like postcards.

Another view from the National Road- along Route 40.  Have you ever seen a Cambridge Glass Turkey?

 

Cambridge is best known for  Cambridge Glass 

and the museum     The National Museum of Cambridge Glass is located on 9th Street in Cambridge, Ohio.
Open April thru December
Wednesday – Saturday 9:00am – 4:00pm
Sunday: Noon – 4:00 pm
Closed Easter & July 4th
Additional appointments or tour groups by appointment.

Fall Colors Along the National Road- Route 40

When  I was a kid we piled in the car in NJ and drove to Illinois every summer.  This is the route we took.

I drove it home to Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago on my way back from Columbus.

Route 40 The National Road.  I pulled over to catch the autumn hues in the background hills along the way.

There were interesting and quirky scenes but this is the one that stayed with me for the time since I drove along this highway instead of the interstate.

Laura has a Mumkin on her Front Porch

When I visited last week in Columbus, Laura had a Mumkin on her front porch. (James,too)

A pumpkin decoration with the top off and filled with a chrysanthemum plant. Do they have mumkins where you live?  It was new to me. I guess you could turn it around after Halloween for Thanksgiving time so the Jack-o-Lantern face is in the back. I thought it was cheerful.  

When I googled the word Mumkin,  I came up with a totally different definition from the Urban Dictionary.  

Anyway it was cute and the mums were all still buds. Maybe it has since bloomed. I will have to ask.  What will they think of next?

 

Piano Recital Played from an iPad

Shot with my iPhone after the piano recital, no camera with me tonight-

The music filled the beautiful church, St. Andrew’s in Highland Park.  Pianist Linda Morgan-Ellison played Haydyn, Liszt, Schubert and Debussy Saturday evening. I can’t imagine the number of hours and weeks she had to practice the complicated pieces. She played expertly.

The concert was dedicated  to the  memory of her friend, Bernadette G. Callery who passed away a few months ago.

At the reception in the Parish Hall was a photo of her friend, propped up under a gorgeous bouquet of dark red roses.   I was told the name of the color of roses was Black Magic. Lots of candles flickered in the window sills as some form of bubbly spirits was poured into stem glasses.  There was cake, cheese and fruit to share after the recital.

We were talking afterwards and my friend V recognized the first musical piece by Haydyn as the opening and closing credits for the 6 Part BBC Mini-Series Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.

After the concert, several members of the audience gathered around the piano to try to figure out how she was playing from the iPad.

Ahhh, there was a foot pedal to scroll to the next page of score.  Her husband told me it was an app you could buy for $4.99, called forScore app.  Amazing!

We met another pianist, Henry Spinelli,  who will play a recital at St. Andrews on March 16th at 3 PM.

Friends of Music and the Arts at St. Andrews sponsors many free musical events throughout the year.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

The wordpress weekly photo challenge is Silhouette.  When I hear that word I think of the little black paper cut- outs of children’s profiles mounted in a black oval frame.  They used to be popular and hanging in homes.  But yesterday I was photographing this display of bras created for October- Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The wind was brisk and it started to rain.  The bras hung on a metal tree sculpture at American Eagle campus on the South Side, Pittsburgh, were blowing like flags.  This photo is unretouched and is in color but looks black and white without any adjustments.

Last year there were thousands of bras strung across the adjacent Hot Metal Bridge which I posted.

A reminder to schedule a an overdue mammogram.

A time to think of all of those who battle this disease, family and friends we know and love.

And a snippet of video to show the wind and rain effect on the scene…

Bras in the Wind