Hillwood Gardens

Life is getting a bit crazy with things to attend to in preparation for our move to New Hampshire next month.  Before that move we travel to Buffalo to deliver some items to daughter Sarah and see their new house.  When we return we'll likely be in quarantine for two weeks and will use that time to do the serious packing and staging for the movers on July 14th.

So I'm going back in time to repost blogs from my past.  I'll still be reading your comments.
This one appeared one year ago today.


I wrote about my visit to Hillwood a couple of days ago.  Scroll down to see it.

The gardens there are lovely.  If we'd timed our visit right we may have seen the azaleas in bloom.  But they were gone.

Here is the Japanese Garden.

And here is the Russian garden house, a dacha (?).  This was the only spot where an azalea was blooming still.

At Random

Today is my oldest daughter's 39th birthday.  Happy birthday, Emily!

Lately I've been focused too much on the news - always ever hopeful for good news.  And there is good news out there.  The protests are making a difference and there are events in the streets that bring tears of joy: a 16 year old youth in Detroit who calmed the protesting crowd and brought the protest to a close at curfew time; a musician in Washington who got the crowd to hold up their iPhone flashlights and sing along to "Lean on Me" (hope I got that song title right); and members of police forces who take a knee, raise a fist, and/or engage in conversation in support of the protests.

Now for something totally different.

1) the perennials I have to dig up and transport to Buffalo in two weeks. Bleeding heart, heuchera, lily of the valley (hidden), iris, daly lilies and black eyed Susan.

2) Dan's cousin has a 50th wedding anniversary.  I made this card for them

3) Sunsets have been spectacular of late.  We will miss our exposure once we move, both from the 11th floor and looking in three directions.  We will be on the 2nd floor looking north in NH.

4) Saturday we went on a nice walk in Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area.  It was a gorgeous day.  This is the largest remaining serpentine ecosystem in the eastern United States.

Making a Difference ...

... one tiny step at a time.

Another petition to sign HERE. Color of Change is the organization recommended by Obama Foundation.  See other organizations to support HERE,

Dear Marcia, You recently joined 12 million people in the call for justice for George Floyd. Your signature adds another voice to the nationwide call for action in response to the horrific murder of an unarmed Black man.  Then you did something incredible: you contributed your money to spread the petition even further.  Here’s the deal: + You are driving real change in Minneapolis and around the country; + Change.org uses your contribution to amplify the petition as widely as possible; and  + Kellen, the petition starter, is ready to take this petition to the next level, and you can help decide how. How is this petition driving change? Contributions like yours are part of the reason more than 12 million people have joined in – making it the biggest petition ever on Change.org.  That’s why it has been featured in thousands of media storiesfrom Seventeen to USA Today and been endorsed by dozens of celebrities like Beyonce, Lil Nas X and Janelle Monae. Together with movements and activism around the country, that ramps up the pressure on DA Michael Freeman to charge all of George Floyd’s murderers. And it’s working. Right now it looks likely that the DA may finally charge the other three officers involved in George Floyd’s death. Kellen, with your support, will keep the pressure up until those officers, and Michael Chauvin who was already charged, are held accountable. How is Change.org using contributions to spread Kellen’s petition? It’s pretty simple. People like you who sign petitions on Change.orgare always given the opportunity to promote petitions they care about, increasing the chance that they win. Change.org already emailed the petition to more than 40 million people, and has advertised it to more than a million people visiting our site every day.     People like you keep contributing, so we’re taking it a step further to amplify the call for justice.  Your contributions are driving: + 118 digital billboards like the one above. They’re all over Minneapolis where the DA, the Mayor and the police can’t ignore your voices, where George Floyd’s family and community can see your solidarity. And they’re in New York, where most national media is headquartered -- they won’t be able to miss them. + More than 100 additional billboards on top of taxis in New York City, calling on people to text in to sign the petition. + Ads all over social media to put the petition in front of people who care about racial justice, all across the country. What’s next? Victory is going to take more people adding their signatures. It might be the biggest petition ever on the site, but until those police officers are found guilty, it’s not enough.   So we’ll put this petition in front of millions more people – both on our site and in creative ways – to inspire them to add their names too.  Click here to give Change.org your thoughts on where, and how, we should put this petition in front of more people. Thank you for using Change.org to support the causes you care about. P.S. Change.org is a public benefit company with a B Corp status. Our mission is to empower everyone to create the change they want to see, which is why we provide free petition tools to people around the world. Learn more about our vision by visiting our site, and read more about promoting petitions here.

Here's a link to Change.org if you want to add your voice and make a commitment.