Lloyd Library

I've walked past the Lloyd Library at 917 Plum Street in Cincinnati so many times and always wanted to take my book club (the Book Babes) there. Becky Shundich, who paints with us every Thursday, told me she'd taken hers to the Lloyd, Mercantile and other libraries in Cincinnati. So I called to schedule a tour and I think everyone was delighted by this "hidden jewel" in our city.

The current show in the museum was Flora Mania and the botanical illustrations and typography in the books being displayed were breathtakingly beautiful to me. Christine Jankowski's stories of the local Lloyd Brothers and their forays into botanical medicine, mycology, and their pharmaceuticals business come alive for us.

I was thrilled to see a copy of a medical journal published in the 16th century. Intrigued to learn about the inventor of Benadryl, George Rieveschl. And having just read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, the story about the cancer drug made from the bark of yew trees really resonated with me. They had to find a way to make it without destroying hundreds of thousands of trees in the Pacific Northwest.

Gardening is not my gift but several of those with me are avid gardeners and there were lots of books we could peruse on subjects they were interested in. If the program "Building Your Herbal Library" were not already sold out, we'd all have wanted to go to learn what herbal remedies we could be growing or stocking up on at home.

The next exhibit is "Pick Your Poison" opening May 31. I started laughing about how Rhoda and I thought the "yellow wisteria" at Blarney Castle was so pretty: we kept standing under it and taking pictures. Later we found out the flowers gave off spores in the air that were poison and people kept their children away from these flowers for that reason. The garden we were in at Blarney was clearly marked "Poison Garden" but we were oblivious. Typical! ha ha

 

Oglebay, Wheeling WV

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The Mansion: worth the tour!

The Guest House

All the nutcracker decorations reminded me of my nephew, Grant, who collects them

First room of the mansion - dining room

I loved this old French hand-painted wallpaper

Mouse kings by the fireplace “Say Cheese”

The crystal chandeliers in every room were beautiful

More beautiful old wallpaper

I want a wallpapered ceiling.

The Pioneer Room

Forgot that WV seceded from VA to be Union instead of Confederate 

Several rooms had wallpapered ceilings which I liked. This was the sewing room

Thought this ceiling medallion was beautiful 

More beautiful wallpaper scenes of the Middle East, Egypt, India?

View of the nutcracker decorations from the front door of the mansion

This Mother Ginger looked like she came from New Orleans Mardi Gras!

Before driving around Wheeling and touring The Mansion at Oglebay, we had Rhoda’s cousins “best pizza in North America” for lunch

I’ll never forget Dennys heartfelt testimonial about a successful business depending on hiring great employees and treating/paying them well.

Colleen’s Christmas cactus was blooming so profusely then I noticed them everywhere around Wilson Lodge after we checked in

The Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations were so pretty and gift shops the kind that made you happy to look around in even if you didn’t buy anything

Loved our table in the window for the Holiday Buffet Dinner before taking Trolley through the Festival of Lights

Photos don’t do justice to the light show

Played cards by the indoor pool and had a hot chocolate while enjoying live music. Ray Stevens’ Guitar-zan, a melange of the Judds’ Love Will Find a Way with Bridge Over Troubled Water and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (Christmas version)

Glenda’s Christmas card photo taken here last year so Rhoda and I took each other’s pictures in the Santa chair

I look forward to returning in warmer weather to see a concert, play golf, and enjoy walking around this beautiful land. There’s a gentility and graciousness here that I appreciate.

Very interesting glass museum and glass blowing demonstration.

Worlds largest glass punch bowl sat outdoors in a cemetery under its makers monument for almost 75 years before this! The horizontal piece in front is just one of the prisms that used to hang around its rim: amazing!

Birthday 2022

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This has been a very good year! And by the time you’re this age, you know not every year will be, so I am filled with gratitude.

Many thanks to my dear friends who brought the party to our studio during Final Friday, including champagne and the best chocolate cake!

I’ve listened to the Hamilton soundtrack so many times that I almost know the whole show by heart but had never seen it on stage so treated myself on Sat night for my bday

Ate dinner at a new French restaurant called Royce on Fountain Square before the theatre.

Some good wines by the glass, an heirloom tomato appetizer and trout amandine for Joanne and beef tartare and quark boutelle for me (very delicious vegetarian entree with salty ricotta cheese dumplings, grilled sweet corn and mushrooms.

The crème brûlée, an Abbott (McLean) family favorite was the standout dish of the evening. I liked how they affixed one birthday candle to the plate with the candle wax and lit it!

I had never seen Hamilton and loved it! This was early - every seat was filled with an enthusiastic audience. I cried three times during the show. Even though I knew every word by heart because I’d listened to the soundtrack so many times, the staging, movement, lighting and acting added even more to how the music moved me in telling this story. So much more than the 800-page Ron Chernow book did.

Woke up Sunday morning and drove to Louisville to visit my nephew and his boyfriend. A beautiful fall day! 

We loved the St. James Court Art Fair and I enjoyed seeing Central Park and the architecture of the homes in that neighborhood just as much!

Zoomed with my best friend when I got home and received this great card from her. Our parents were friends in college and we’ve known each other since we were born so she knows me well. What a great gift to have a lifelong friendship like that!

Tomorrow is my actual birthday. Best reason to be on Facebook! It is so great hearing from people who you’ve crossed paths with along life’s journey, especially those you don’t get to see F2F or talk to very often.

And I have more celebrating planned with my besties tomorrow night and Tuesday, when it may even be nice enough to play golf. After not being able to play for so long and always playing with a bad knee before that, this summer has been the most fun I’ve ever had golfing.

Watching TV outside is fun! When DWTS is airing, we pick who we think will win and get together on Monday nights with potluck to watch it, buying a chicken dinner for the one who picks the winner correctly after it’s over.