wordless wednesday

mum festival

This weekend was the City of Barberton’s mum festival, so Pat and I went. Barberton is just west of Akron. It was once the match making capital of the world. It now seems to be the mum capital of at least Ohio. The displays have thousands of mum plants. If you count mums by the flower, there must be bazillions. Walking through the displays overloaded your visual senses. There were vendors selling goods, services and yes, funnel cakes.

All the local schools made displays from bottle caps. Boy, that is a lot of pop.

I stand in awe of sand sculptors. Their talent amazes me.

Pat and me with Ohio Columbus Barber (that is his real name). Mr. Barber was a noted mum admirer. Or at least someone thought it was a good idea to have him holding a basket of mums during the festival.

See! Funnel cakes are everywhere.

ingenuityfest

This Friday Pat and I went to ingenuityfest in Cleveland. Ingenuityfest is a celebration of art and technology. This year its venue is the lower level of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Street cars used the lower level of the bridge back when cities had street cars. The rise and fall of street cars mirrors the rise and fall of Americas’ cities, but that is for a different blog or a whole separate class.
The lower level of the bridge is almost a mile long and crammed with bands, artists, displays, performances and people, lots and lots of people. Every nook and cranny was filled with something to see. The coolest display was a waterfall from the top of the bridge, falling into the Cuyahoga River. The bridge walk had some of Cleveland’s best views. Food and drink vendors were set up in food courts at each end of the venue. There was even a funnel cake trailer, giving more credence to my belief that funnel cake trailers are everywhere that people gather. Last, but not least, there’s a garden in front of the West Superior entrance.

Gardens and art, what a fabulous combination. Come to think of it, gardens are art.

Cleveland's only food truck.

Finally, a use was found for smartboards.

You can still see the streetcar tracks.

Powerpoint comedy, the intersection of art and technology.

garden surprises

I know it’s autumn, but the temps have been in the 80’s the last few days. Tomorrow it’s supposed to get in the 90’s. Some plants still think it’s summer, early spring even. A lone liriope flower poked its head out of the pumpkin patch (oh yeah, the liriope got buried early on). In the back yard a marsh marigold is blooming. Day lilies I cut down a month ago have buds.

Pat and I planted three zucchini plants in the front bed when the pumpkin plant was still small, really, really small. I thought we could manage all the vines; after all, how big could they get? As we watched the pumpkin plant take over the yard, we figured the zucchinis were goners. Well guess what we found today? Zucchinis! The plants survived. Pat says that next year we need to manage the vines better. I thought we did OK. Her reply was “if you mean the vines didn’t eat the car and the house.” Next year, I’ll work on better vine management.

Now this looks like autumn, next years flowers.

Wordless Wednesday

a garden adventure

Our friend Sarah brought her three girls over for snacks and a garden walk. It was wonderful seeing the amazement in the girls' eyes as they explored the garden. The paths led from one new adventure to another. How magical the garden must look through the eyes of 4 and 5 year olds. The rabbits that we placed around the yard took on a new life through their eyes. It was a contest to find them all. They would rush this way and that each time a new rabbit was discovered. Everything in the garden transformed into a magical wonder. It was a joy to see the girls explore.
After snacks, everyone got to pick their own pumpkin. There is something about little kids and pumpkins that’s infectious. All the cares of the world just melt away in an orange glow.