Hillwood House

Another trip courtesy of Vantage House where I live.  It's nice to have someone else do the driving.

Hillwood was the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heir to the Postum Company (think Post cereals like Grape Nuts) which later became General Foods (think Birds Eye frozen foods).

She lived from 1887-1973 and was among the wealthiest women of her time.  Besides having a hand in business she focused on collecting French and Russian art.  She was quite the philanthropist too with her support of the arts particularly in Washington, DC.  Here in Columbia where I reside we have the Merriweather Post Pavillon, a music venue, due to her generosity.

When she purchased Hillwood she renovated it with the thought it would be her residence and a museum for her art collection.  She lived here in Spring and Fall.  Winters were in Florida at Mar-A-Lago (now owned by someone infamous) and summers in the Adirondacks at Camp Topridge.

Take a tour with me of the inside of the home.  My photos don't do justice to its magnificence and I didn't capture everything.  If you are in Washington you'll have to make a point of visiting this splendid house.

Catherine the Great gets prime billing on the grand staircase.

Gorgeous pieces of French furniture abound.

Looking in either direction down the hall you see rooms set aside to display French (on one side) and Russian (on the other side) porcelain.  Many are complete settings.

The French drawing room has more display spaces

including this glass topped table with an assortment of small items.

The room was renovated to feature the tapestries and furnishings once belonging to Marie Antoinette.

A very special desk with 45 different drawers.

In the Russian porcelain room is this double headed eagle on the floor.

Another room features two Faberge eggs.

A Faberge clock.

The dining room was huge.

She was known for her entertaining.

We even got to see the kitchen.

Upstairs were more rooms to view but I skipped the bedroom having seen that before.

One room was set aside as a gallery to showcase more Russian art and treasures.

This gold chalice commissioned by Catherine the Great in memory of Grigory Potemkin, her favorite courtier.

And this nuptial crown worn by Alexandra in 1894 during her wedding to Nicholas II.

The room was very dark but I think you can tell how dazzling this was.

I took a walk in the gardens and will share those photos another day.

The Vagaries of Wind

Sunday morning I walked to one of the lakes nearby.  I came across these remnants of a downed tree.

On my return trip I realized that the tree that had come down was a healthy one.

Why did the wind choose that one to fall?

We have had two tornadoes in the space of a week in Howard County.  No one was hurt either time but lots of tree damage for both. Though the tornado didn't make it to where I live, the storm did both times.

For the first one neither of us got an alert on our phones.  An announcement was made over the PA system for us to get away from windows and lower the blinds.  Afterward there were new precautions issued that should there be a warning we were to go to the halls.  

When the second warning came on Thursday of this past week, the alerts came on our phones from the weather, text alerts from the staff here, and then announcement over the PA system.  We all gathered in the hall never knowing how bad the storm was to our west.

This poor oak tree felt the brunt on the storm.

But why didn't these dead trees get taken?

After church we took a drive on Sunday to see where the tornado had hit.

This is the Highway Dept headquarters where trees were snapped off but not at ground level.

It crossed this road.  No major house damage that we could see.

Tornadoes are rare here in Maryland.  To have two one week apart is really rare.

For better photos go here.

Must See!

Here are two videos you need to watch about Trump and the laws he has broken that if we had done this, we would be convicted of a serious crime and serving prison time.

First from Project Democracy

Video Here.

Now from Republicans for the Rule of Law.

Video Here.

To read the article by Post writer Jennifer Rubin go 

Here.

Please share these.  We must educate the American population especially Trump supporters who are in denial.

Critters at Wilde Lake

This is Wilde Lake near my home.  I enjoy walking around it.  

One Sunday morning on such a walk I walked passed this critter without seeing it because two women were walking toward me and I moved to the right so they could pass.  Only when I heard they exclaim did I turn and see what I had passed by.

 These geese announced their progression across the lake.

When I got to the other side on my walk I encountered the geese close up.

This one looked like the last one to leave its egg - it was the runt if there is such with eggs.