Monday, March 30, 2015

Falling Water Gardens

Do I, Sweet William The Scot, have a Pansy on my nose?
 
Every Spring most people who live in Cincinnati go to the Spring Flower Show at the Krohn Conservatory.  This year it was called Falling Water Gardens.
Right inside the door was this lovely Easter Lily Tree.
A path of Lilies lead you to the wing where the  Falling Water Garden was displayed.
You could hear the sound of water dripping and running as you walked along the path.
The display had every color of Pansy you could imagine. 
Beautiful Hydrangea.
All with the ever flowing water.
The water had become a wishing well for people.
You walked over bridges with water running under you.
Pebbles, water and flowers.
Lee loves the little Viola.
Well lets see our yard has the tiny pebbles and water puddles from all the rain. 
Guess two out of three is not to bad.
 
Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off 
Sweet William The Scot
 

Just for Kismet!
According to British folklore, picking black pansies is not without risk. If picked on a sunny day, it is thought to bring a storm - but if picked before the dew dries on its petals, it foretells the death of a loved one.

Monday, March 23, 2015

The Climb A Pilgrimage

See the church at the top of the hill.  Last Spring Lee took this picture and entered it into a local photo contest.  There were over one thousand six hundred entries.  Only one hundred were chosen for the show.  We made it into the one hundred but did not even get an honorable mention. 
The limestone church at the pinnacle of the hill was built in 1859, just before the American Civil War.
Now these pictures were taken on Sunday the 22nd.
The Immaculata Church has served since 1860 as a pilgrimage church, where on Good Friday the faithful ascend 85 steps to the church's front door from the neighborhood below while praying the Rosery. An additional 65 steps start at the base of Mt. Adams, with a pedestrian bridge over Columbia Parkway connecting the two paths. The steps were originally made of wood, but in 1911, the City of Cincinnati helped the church build concrete steps.
We are not of the Catholic Faith but come climb the steps with us.
At 12:01 A.M. each year on Good Friday, something extraordinary happens. People begin to gather at the base of the steps leading up to Holy Cross-Immaculata Church, preparing to take part in the tradition known locally as “Praying the Steps.”
The earliest mention of the pilgrimage in Immaculata Church records is 1873.
Higher and higher you climb.
Finally you reach the top. Look how high we climbed.
These plaques show pictures of down below how it looked and of the faithful climbing the stairs.
The Mt. Adams Steps.
We have reached the pinnacle.  What a beautiful skyline Cincinnati has.
The interior murals were painted by Johann Schmitt.
Well here I, Sweet William The Scot, am at the front door. 
Let me hold the inner door open for you.  And remember to be quiet.
Lee always tells me to remember to be quiet!
The Mt. Adams Preservation Association raised enough funds to commission the restoration of seven paintings by Johann Schmitt. The paintings were mounted over the main altar and side altars between 1863 and 1870.
$44,000 was raised to have the windows reinforced, enlarged with an 18-inch ring of additional glass, and ultimately set into the Holy Cross-Immaculata wall behind a layer of strong, protective glass.
I believe there are twelve old stain glass windows in all.
And between the windows hang the wonderful wood carved painted murals.
Over the door where we came in is the old pipe organ in the balcony.
One last look at the magnificent side alter before we leave.
We can see our car parked down below.  This community and church has very few places to park for most of the streets are narrow one way and the home owners park in front of their homes.
The hike down is a lot easier than the hike up!
Truly this is a buns of steel hike.
In other years it has taken us about one hour.
This year Lee had to stop several times to rest and it was a four hour walkabout.
 So as we go down the steps we are wishing all of our friends, whatever their faith a wonderful Spring.
 
Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off 
Sweet William The Scot
 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is the day fer the wearin' o' the green.
Today is the day when the little people are seen.
Today is St. Patrick's Day, so if ye'r Irish me lad,
Join the celebratin' fer the grandest time ta' be had.
 
 Don't I make a cute leprechaun?
One Minor Detail ~ I Don't Have A Pot Of Gold!
 
Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off 
Sweet William The Scot

Psssss ~ My Lee is starting to drive slowly again. So next week I, Sweet William The Scot, will be giving you another tour of a Cincinnati Easter tradition.
 

The Ohio River is higher than it has been in ten years.
Our car was parked by the entrance on March 9th when Lee shot the picture of me in the roadway for our blog. 
This is the road I, Sweet William The Scot, was sitting on.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

"Beware the ides of March"

Alchemy teaches us that the great and the small, the high and the low, are linked and influence each other.
 Beware The Ides of March for on that date it served us up three Scot.
Macdui, Stuart and Ranger you three Birthday Boy are the stars of Blogville today.
So I, Sweet William The Scot, with my own paws baked you a cake!
Got to do a taste test.
Would not want to serve them a bad tasting cake.
The cake recipe I used sure is yummy.
Do I have cake in my beard?

Whoops!
I ate the whole cake.  I know what I will tell Macdui, Stuart & Ranger
 
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again, oh noooooo

Yep that is my story and I am sticking to it. 
 
Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off 
Sweet William The Scot

 

Monday, March 9, 2015

What A Difference A Week Makes


Well since last Monday I, Sweet William The Scot, have had twelve hours of straight rain. 
 Then the snow came again with another eight inches and the rain had not melted all that we had before.
 Then came the negative zero temperatures!
Then two days later we hit 40 degrees.
We're having a heat wave
A tropical heat wave
The temperature's rising
It isn't surprising.
 Now you probably guessed what happened!
The Ohio Rived came out of its banks.
Road Closed!
High Water
 Road Closed!
High Water
  Road Closed!
High Water
Oh yep, you might recognize the school in the background I showed you in my post
Road Closed!
High Water
See me way off in the distance.
Pray Lee does not leave me here on a sit and stay.
Why I could get wash away with the Rising Waters.
Hope I can find a road home.
Oh that is Riverbend Music Center in the distance.
May 17 ~ Lady Antebellum with Hunter Hayes and Sam Hunt will perform.
It will be cleaned up by then.
In the foreground sits Coney Island Pool filled over with the Ohio River.
Lee has had tickets at Riverbend for shows that were cancelled due to flooding.
Oh well "This too shall pass".
That idiom dates back to the 11th century so it has stood the test of time.
 
Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off 
Sweet William The Scot