Inside Maryland's State House

The Maryland State House underwent renovation a few years back.  It's looking very good these days.

Here's the current Senate chamber. It's in the part of the State House added on in the 20th century.

A Tiffany glass feature in the hall ceiling.

The House chamber is bigger but with similar marble features.

In the 18th century part of the State House are lovely columns,

arches,

and the inside of the dome.

The old Senate chamber has been restored to what it looked like when Washington resigned his commission.

The old House chamber was restored to the Victorian age decor.

The ceiling in there was gorgeous.

More to come on the Maryland State House.

WW - Annapolis - Maryland's State House

Photos from inside on a future post.

A Worthwhile Cause

Last Friday I attended a luncheon giving to honor those of us who supported a school child in Haiti last year through Community Coalition for Haiti.

My sister, Marie became very involved with this charity first as a volunteer, then as a part time staff member, and now as a full time staffer.

I signed up again this year to support the same little girl who will now be attending kindergarten.  She was a preschooler last year.  My $360 donation will buy her books, provide a nutritious meal, pay for a uniform and school fees.  This is especially important because as in many developing countries, sending girls to school is not a high priority.  If a family has the money, boys attend school first.

CCHaiti has three primary objectives: improve health care, support education and community development.  Read more about these here.

If you too want to support a child, it will be money well-spent.

Click here.

And the flowers?  They were the centerpiece at the table I sat at and I got to bring them home.

Saturday Morning at the Library

I got to the library this morning before the 10 o'clock opening time to pick up a book on hold for me. It's a popular spot on a Saturday morning as evidence by the crowd waiting outside for the doors to open.

As you can tell by the architecture its a fairly new building.  It's one of many branch libraries here in Howard County, MD.  Central Library which is walking distance from me is undergoing renovation.  Can't wait for it to reopen.

Moved In!

Tuesday was move day, though we got the keys and started moving ourselves before dinner on Monday evening.  Then after dinner with friends at the Columbia lakefront we finished moving all the closets.  Movers did the heavy stuff.  It was all done by 1 pm.

Here is how it looked this morning.  Since taking these photos I've been hanging pictures.

Here's our front door which opens on our foyer.

To the left is the kitchen, dining room and living room.

To the right are the two bedrooms and two baths.

My desk is in our bedroom again.

Dan's is in the 2nd bedroom we call the multipurpose room.  There's a balcony on this side too.

A view on the kitchen again.  That refrigerator was exchanged today for a larger one, and the cabinets were installed over top it.

Here's the balcony off the living room.

We can see Wilde Lake which I love to walk around.

We can see the other wing of Vantage House.

The Columbia Mall is in the distance there.

Looking over the rail is the garden.

Lots of organizing yet to do but its feeling like home.

What's This? (18)

Haven't posted a "What's This" in awhile but when my brother shared some of his photos with me from our trip to Europe I had to show you this.

What is it?  Can you guess?

The photo was taken in Melk Abbey.  Go to the Wikipedia site to see if you can find a photo very similar to this one identifying what it is.

Dan and I didn't take this excursion from the cruise ship to see Melk Abbey.

Other photos of our trip start here if you missed them.

Random Offerings from the Files

First my parents.

My dad would have been 98 on September 12th, they would have celebrated 76 years of marriage on the 14th, and Mom left us 3 years ago on the 26th.  Dad died in December of 2007.

On a vacation to Lake Ontario we drove up to see the St. Lawrence and take a boat ride tour.  Here's our first view of the river from the street.  Town name has escaped me.

On board the boat with a view of some of the houses in the 1000 Islands.

This is a lighthouse on the St. Lawrence but from another trip there.

And from Landsberg, Germany this past June here is where Dan and I had lunch.

 Notice the shawls on the chairs?  I thought someone had left one behind then realized all the chairs had them.  The air could be cold as we sat there and I was glad to have the shawl.

Above a tomato and cheese sandwich on a baguette and pizza below.

Unlike any kind of pizza we've had before.  Good though.