What I'm Reading

I haven't been very timely in adding to my Books Read List.  As I write this I see I've got 5 more books to add there.

"The Only Woman in the Room" 

By Marie Benedict

A story about the actress Hedy Lamar during WWII.

"Racing the Devil" and "Hunting Shadows"

By Charles Todd

These are the last two of the Ian Rutledge series

I'll have to watch to see if that mother/son writing team writes more in the series.

"Jane Eyre"

By Charlotte Bronte

Haven't read this for many many years and after reading Wuthering Heights decided to read all the Brontes' books.  I have another on reserve. 

"His Blood Project"

by Graeme Macrae Burnet

Not sure why I stuck with this one.  It was short and I kept expecting a twist to the ending that never came.

Currently reading:

"The Clockmaker's Daughter"

By Kate Morton

It's wonderful so far!

End Gun Violence

Today is Wear Orange Day to End Gun Violence.

Why you may ask?

Well, look at these graphs that were in this article today in The Washington Post.

We are not even half way through this year and more people have died from guns than died on D-Day!

And look how we compare to other countries since 1990.

We must elect a president and members of congress who are committed to standing up to the gun lobby to reduce access to guns.

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.