Catching Up

The aurora was pretty spectacular here . . . if you looked at it through your phone, took a picture, increased the contrast and maxed out the saturation. Isn't technology great?

Otherwise, it looked mostly like this, which still wasn't too shabby.

At first I thought the white spots were dust on my laptop screen and then I realized they're stars!

I took these photos a little after nine o'clock last night near the rugby field in the Winnebago County Park. If you missed the aurora this time around don't fret, the sun is still active and there might be another chance to see it soon.

Earlier in the day, Ivy got finally got around to decorating for Halloween. This is not an endorsement for Target but they did just bring back some of the creepy John Derian Halloween designs from a couple years ago. Last time they sold out immediately so there was no hesitation from The Crew this time around. Definitely not everything returned, but a lot of the same stuff. Looks like someone may have ordered a few more items than necessary.

Apparently, the plan is to scatter the pillows all around the house, in different rooms. That way, maybe no one will notice that there are too many of them.

So, what's in that big box?

Who else? Well, isn't being scary a big part of Halloween?

Along with creepy pillows, of course.

Then, it was time to get the decorations up.

Ivy decided on a traditional orange and black color scheme for the patio this year with lots of plastic jack-'o-lanterns. She just got the misting one working and discovered it will also water the plants and everything else at the same time. How convenient. Good thing it's an outdoor decoration.

Then Burt decided to add some lights because why not mix electricity and water, what could go wrong?

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

An Afternoon By the Sea

His Madness and I recently got back from visiting our son Andy and his wife Kristin. Unfortunately, I picked up a very nasty bug (probably covid, since it lasted so long) on the way home and haven't been able to keep up the daily antics of The Skeleton Crew this October. Hopefully, they will be back soon before spooky season is over. Until then, here are some photos of an afternoon spent by some foolish mortals at The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. 

Since they live in the Boston area, we drove to Newport, Rhode Island to visit The Breakers one afternoon. It is the largest and most grand of the summer "cottages" where HBO's "The Gilded Age" was filmed. I haven't actually seen the series but now I'm curious. Here's HM and Andy, stoically facing the prospect of having  to look at many fancy rooms covered with lots of marble. Kristin is a teacher, so she was at school.  

 

The guide book states that it is an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo built as a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America. I think they made their point. This is the Great Hall, it's the largest of the seventy rooms and essentially a fifty-foot square, marble-clad cube. This one room alone, is twenty-five percent larger than the average family home in Rhode Island.

Obviously, these people weren't into minimalism.

To describe this place as opulent seems like an understatement.

Looking directly across the Great Hall, into the loggia, from the second floor. It appeared to be a very popular spot. 

Until we showed up and then somehow the whole place was empty, ha!

What a view, though.

Lots of sparkling chandeliers. Wonder how long it takes to clean them?

 

The dining room, with a table that opens up to seat thirty-four guests.

I wonder if the Vanderbilt's considered it rude if their guests spent more time staring at the ceiling instead of engaging in polite dinner conversation?

Unfortunately, the giant fireplaces were all roped off so I couldn't get a photo of HM and Andy standing inside them. You can take a virtual tour of the whole residence here.

"Below Stairs" (aka. the basement), there was an equally large kitchen which was necessary to feed all those dinner guests who weren't staring at the ceiling. It's in a separate wing of the mansion, a precaution that was not unusual at the time, since the original Breakers was destroyed in a fire. 

I suppose all these kinds of mansions have really bougie Butler's Pantries and they're just not open to the public, but this was the first one I've ever seen with a mezzanine. It was accessible from the kitchen on the lower level and the upper area opened onto the floor near the dining room.

Exiting through the Gift Shop was an opulent experience, too. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that it would occupy several rooms and they would have entire sets of china for sale.

Gertrude Whitney was the fourth child of the seven Vanderbilt children. She became a noted sculptor and the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Two of her bronze relief sculptures, "Blinded" and "America at War" were recently installed in the area near the exit of the tour. In 1914 she established a hospital for wounded soldiers outside Paris which made her one of only a few American sculptors to experienced of the horrors of World War I firsthand. 

  

The gardens surrounding the mansions are nice but the view of the ocean is the star of the show. Somehow we always miss out on the fall foliage in New England but there were a few colorful trees here and there.

The Cliff Walk National Recreation Trail runs along the shoreline in front of The Breakers from Easton's Beach to Bailey's Beach for three and a half miles. Unlike the mansion, it is free.

It was a beautiful day so we explored about half a mile of the trail. There are parts that are wheelchair friendly and some that are closed for repairs but we were on a less accessible part of the path and even that was an easy walk. It was a fun and entertaining little day trip.

Thanks for stopping by, The Skeleton Crew will be back soon for some silly spookiness.

We are keeping all our friends, family and all of those affected by Helene and Milton in our thoughts.

Hope everyone made it through the storms safely.

Shopping for the Sparrows and Pumpkins

A flock of sparrows turned up at our pond a couple weeks ago and have been having the best time ever. In spite of their bad reputation, they don't seem to be bothering the other birds, even the pair of cardinals, who barely tolerate us humans. 

As soon as anyone takes a step out of the patio they all fly away, so all these photos were taken through a screen, with various degrees of success.  

The sparrows were enjoying themselves so much they were falling into the pond and had to be rescued. Burt and Kib decided the pile of rocks that made up their "island" needed an upgrade to a larger, more smooth surface.

This was also a good excuse to check out the Halloween stuff at Target. His Madness, wondered if he might look good in this full body skeleton costume. Others thought not.

However, everyone agreed that this unbelievably, seasonably appropriate, marble pumpkin was the perfect addition to Sparrow Island.

Burt volunteered to hang around to make sure it stopped the birds from falling in.

Which it did.

Meanwhile, in another part of the backyard, the real pumpkins were having problems of their own.

There's no shortage of culprits. Something, either chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, possums or probably all of them at one time or another, have been sampling our future jack-'o'lanterns.

Not to be outdone by Burt and Kibitz, Ivy found a gnome (and her doppelgänger) to bring good luck to the pumpkins or, more likely, scare the guilty parties away. Whatever works, it's another garden problem solved. Let's hope it will it be as effective a solution as the marble pumpkin. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

Pumpkins

 

It's the end of summer and it's time to see what the garden got up to while we were ignoring it.

First of all, the pumpkins launched a complete takeover.

They were joined by some of their uninvited relatives.

Aided and abetted by the very creatures we gave up a somewhat orderly garden to protect.  

At least we didn't have to mow the lawn.

Elsewhere, new, non-pumpkin vines appeared out of nowhere.

Between the mild winter and a hot, rainy summer even the older plants grew beyond normal.

Fortunately, it is possible to make it down the path without losing any arms or legs.

Next year, the tomatoes are going to be planted in pots.

Ones that can be moved far, far away from the pumpkins.

Best wishes for a safe and happy Labor Day weekend to all those who celebrate.

 See you soon, and thanks for stopping by!

Heat, Rain & Stars in the Garden

 

So how is everyone's summer going? It's been hot and rainy in our neck of the woods and we're getting a little bored with being inside all of the time. At least the AC is working.

The flowers seem to be very happy.

Ivy's loves the hot weather so she's been camping out on the patio, researching ideas for this year's spooky season. Halloween is only 96 days away and will be here before we know it! 

Burt's been practicing his scare techniques.

The pumpkins are still trying to attract pollinators.

On one of the vines there is a tiny pumpkin starting to grow. Unless the seeds got mixed up, then it might be a squash.

His Madness and I went out for a walk last night to look for the northern lights. We didn't see anything resembling the aurora borealis but we did notice about a dozen meteors! There's one in the upper right hand corner of this photo, the white streak that looks like a backward comma.    

Looks like Ivy has forgiven Burt for interrupting her shopping. Maybe they should try looking for the northern lights tonight, visibility is supposed to be best between 2am and 4am. I'm definitely going to give it a pass. 

Thanks for stopping by!

See you soon.