June 14, 2021 a thought for today, Maturity comes from wisdom not in the passing of years. Persian Proverb

I have the bulletin done up to the pastor’s information. I also got to “face talk” with my great grand children for a while earlier this morning.

The photo theme for yesterday was “leaf”. As I moseyed through the park in my car, I passed by one of the small gardens. I found this leaf. I like the lines and shapes. The background was a bit of a sticky wicket for my purposes today so, in the "darkroom", I separated the leaf from the background then used the motion blur filter to obscure those shapes. Then I added the poster edged filter to make the textures and character of the leaf more prominent. 

I visited my new great grandson and his brother yesterday. So I have had a great start to the week. 

Those visits helped calm my nerves after my car was robbed while I slept two nights ago. They made a mess throwing things around. They took some change I had in a container and my handicapped placards. The car was parked at the back of my drive way that extends from the street too almost the alley. 

I watered the plants on the front porch that aren’t near the soaker hoses. That hose needs a washer at the connection and was spraying all over me. I will need to fix it or wear a rain coat when I use it. 

The refrigerator really needed cleaned out so I got that out of the way too this morning. Well, almost, I need to reload the dish washer and get it started. 

This Ohio weather offers a surprise every day. Today there is no rain at least not in this part of the state. The sun is bright and it is hot outside. They are saying we are supposed to be getting something cooler in a couple of days. 

The word for today is affection.  Surrounded by all the members of my dear family, enjoying the affection of numerous friends, who have never abandoned me, and possessing a sufficient share of all that contributes to make life agreeable, I lift my grateful eyes towards the Supreme Being and feel that I am happy. John James Audubon.  Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection. Pindar. Love is not to be purchased, and affection has no price. St. Jerome.  Talk not of wasted affection - affection never was wasted. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment. George Eliot.  We were never intimate mother and children while she was our mother - but... when she became our child, the affection came. Emily Dickinson. The great model of the affection of love in human beings is the sentiment which subsists between parents and children. William Godwin. The paternal hearth, the rallying-place of the affections, Washington Irving. The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence: it understands the language of its country and obeys orders, remembers duties that it has been taught, is pleased by affection and by marks of  honour, nay more it possesses virtues rare even in man, honesty, wisdom, justice, also respect for the stars and reverence for the sun and moon, Pliny the Elder. If we lose affection and kindliness from our life: we lose all that gives it charm, Marcus Tullius Cicero.  Simplicity is the intention, purity in the affection; simplicity turns to God, purity unites with and enjoys him, Thomas a Kempis. 

The photo challenge for today is “books”. When this was the subject a while back I think I mentioned
that I don’t have many books around the house anymore because I use the library’s ebooks now and google information or data pages for my reading. But I do have a few so I rounded up a few for this shot. 

This article is a bit of some more history for our place in the world concerning the Kelton House. The article said that there hidden lessons in history. One hundred and fifty years ago. The Kelton family moved out of “the city and moved to the country for a quieter, safer place for the children. That “country home” is now squarely in the city at 586 E. Town St.” It once became a stop on the Underground Railroad. The property was willed to the Columbus Foundation in 1975 with the stipulation that it would be preserved and used for educational purposes. Many of the “artifacts” on display are items “of the period”. The oldest piece is a grandfather clock that was built in 1790. The formal parlor still has the original ornate ceiling medallions, moldings and trim. There is a velvet sofa and fourteen fireplaces in the house. The ceilings are thirteen feet high. Part of the house can be rented for weddings and one of the most historic such events was Martha Hartway and Thomas Lawrence nuptials. Sophia Kelton had a pool table moved into the parlor to keep her sons out of the “Downtown billiard halls”. There are artifacts of her time there, needlework, glasses and a sewing kit, a marble topped table and chairs for playing games. There is a gift shop in what use to be called the morning parlor. In one of the upstairs bedrooms there are toys of the era showing the “utilitarian side of family life in the 19th century”.  The article said the girls were not just playing but learning to be mothers with these toys. I learned from the article something that makes sense and that I never gave much thought to as for the use of curtains in particular. “Lace curtains were not just pretty, they kept bugs and dust out during the summer.” The bedroom (“master suite”) is a step back in time as some of the other items have suggested. The room is filled with trunks, letters from husband to wife, a dresser with castor oil and other potions sit. At the end of their lives they each died in that bed. There is still standing at the rear of the property a former carriage house which overlooks some of the gardens. Besides tours of the house there are teas and lectures. 

We are having cube steaks in gravy and mashed potatoes for dinner. 

Joy 

Outside the tennis court.....