Maxwell's Arts and Treasures

We went to hear music and poetry and attend a party at a venue that was new to us, Maxwell's, and VERY INTERESTING. Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I only got these two pictures. The place is full of stuff, old books, antiques and art, all for sale, and I mean FULL! There is a stage for music and poetry and a kitchen to serve food to parties and it's BYOB or BYOW. The party was rocking and the music great. It was a kickoff party for Renaissance City online.

The yummy food was just outside these doors, the music, poetry and stuff inside.

More Transitions

Now we are seeing three seasons, winter, fall and summer. Winter in the Santas, fall in the colored leaves (at St. Paul's Church, along Lakeshore!) and summer in the fact that we still have flowers blooming OUTSIDE--but probably not for much longer!

More contrasts (dismal, hope clings)

I took this picture this week, at Lakeshore (Lake St Clair.) Pretty dismal!

BUT there are still flowers in bloom outside--not just chrysanthemums, but clematis, roses, pansies, etc.



This is a detail from an art piece I did yesterday (by Detroit Artist Mary Taitt, LOL!), with markers, in Ander's Moleskine Sketchbook. If you would like to see the whole piece and learn more about it, click here.

Bittersweet and Dead Apples

Yesterday we had lovely apples, today it is dead ones. Though most of the leaves are gone from the trees, the old apples are still clinging. And the bittersweet brightens the dark sleeping forests.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

For those who celebrate--have a great Holiday! For those who don't, have a wonderful day.

To make a pie from SCRATCH, you must first invent the universe!!! (See Carl Sagan video!)

Go to Detroit's famous EASTERN MARKET. Shop for apples (and get some nice pomegranates, too!) Cut them up and bake them in a shell, 3/4 cup sugar and some cinnamon. MMMMmmm!

And record the images in art. That's always fun! (Paintings by Detroit artist Mary Stebbins Taitt. (That's me, LOL!)

I hope your day is filled with love, friendship, happiness, health, safety and GOOD FOOD! Mmm!

Nashua Creek in late November

Ah, remember Nashua Creek--the lovely fall colors and their reflections that looked like paints? All that is gone now. It is sober and quiet.

I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! (Card art by me. Feel free to copy it and send it to your loved ones! it gets much bigger if you click on it--if you want to copy it).)

It rained yesterday, it's raining today, and is supposed to rain tomorrow--but it's good weather for baking pies.

Art--Heidelberg Project

I always LOVE to go to the Heidelberg Project and see the latest art installations! I want to go again soon!

If you click on the Heidelberg Project label below, you can see more pictures from there.

Stoney Creek Metropark

Tamaracks in their full autumn glory! And a few leaves left on the birches, too!

Transitions

Our local garden store is ambivalent about the season. Is it late summer, fall or winter? Which holiday are we celebrating? What you can't see here are all the pumpkins and gourds.

Abandoned Detroit III

In Detroit, many houses are abandoned. Also many industrial buildings, stores and schools. Whole neighborhoods stand empty like ghost towns.

Skywatch Friday: Clouds over Detroit

In the 1967 riots, much of Detroit burned. Great sections of the city are now open space. No buildings have been built in many of the fire-ravaged areas.

Abandoned Detroit

Detroit is full of abandoned houses, and with the hard times and auto company layoffs, things are getting worse, not better. Once a house appears to be empty, thieves come in and strip away everything useful. Sometime squatters move in, but often, the abandoned houses burn.

Here is my newest sketch of BB, done last night at dinner:



Click it to view it larger.

Road Show, Hamilton, last spread

Well, we're home! Lots to catch up on. This will be our last spread on Hamilton. But I may include some single Hamilton shots in upcoming posts.

A few highlights from Hamilton:

1)Sherman Falls: Because the Niagara escarpment runs through Hamilton, there are many waterfalls, all of them worth a visit.

2)Old Mill Falls--the old Mill restaurant is just beside this falls (there are two falls here, but one is walled up. The restaurant looks good, btu we didn't get to eat there.

3)The Egg and I; our favorite spot for breakfast. Baranga's on the Beach, our favorite dinner spot, was sadly closed.

4)At The Royal Botanical Gardens--another favorite spot.

I hope I get out for a few shots of Detrot, now that I'm home--but I'm so busy catching UP!

Road Show, Hamilton, a strange story

We left the hotel on Centennial in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and drove across town to Spencer Gorge, just west of Hamilton. We hiked first to Webster Falls.




We were sad because we were unable to hike to the bottom of the goarge for a good view of the falls because the trail down was closed. We stepped over the chain and started down anyway, but there were workmen working on the landings of stairs. We had to go back.



We then hiked along the top of the gorge, with cliffs --big cliffs--falling away below. We went to Tew Falls (second picture), the largest of Hamilton's many waterfalls. Take a look at these cliffs! The Niagara Escarpments runs 700 miles through Canada and is very impressive in Hamilton.



This last picture is in lieu of a series of pictures I did not and could not take. We hiked from Tew Falls to Dundas peak, the point at which the escarpment is highest. When we arrived, these dogs were posed for a photo on the wall above the cliff. The dog's owners (from Illinois) mentioned a cop car (van) parked along the railroad track and as were petting the dogs, we looked down and saw two cops walking along the tracks. We had to use binoculars to see them, the cliffs there are that high. As we were watching, more cop cars arrived and a firetruck, and we heard sirens behind us as well, and then three cops came to where we were standing and asked us to LEAVE. I asked them if this was a drill and they said, "Unfortunately not."

The sweatshirt on the wall by the dogs was there when we got there and did not belong to the folks form Illinois. On the way back to the car, we speculated sadly (and humorously) about what might have happened. We were afraid someone may have jumped (suicide) and that that may have been their shirt which all of us inadvertently touched as we were petting the dogs. But that was only speculation--we have no idea what really happened. We do know that TV crews and newspaper reporters and photographers were arriving--and the cops were cordoning off the area and not letting them in. And turning back other hikers.

An ambulance came, but did not have its siren on. We worried that that was a bad omen. Eric, in the comments below, has given a link to a story! :-( (Thanks, Eric!) And another related link. More 11/18. (Thanks, Stine).

Dundurn Castle, Hamilton (Road Show)

It looks like a pretty little chapel--but it's not. It's a cock-fighting arena found on the grounds of the Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (Note that there are still trees with leaves on them!)



This is the mansion (Castle) to which the cockfighting arena belongs.



And this is the man, Sir Allan Napier MacNab, who had both built for himself and his family.

We are "on the road" and may be behind on commenting.

Sulphur Springs Depot (Road Show, Ontario)

We're up in Ontario, Canada visiting Hamilton and surrounding areas. This is the trail-head building (an actual old train station) at Dundas Valley Conservation Area, just west of Hamilton.

I will catch up with commenting when I get home. See in BW.

Black River

Along the Black River in November, north of Detroit. I like the lighting on the grass.

Skywatch Friday: Cranbrook

The sky over Cranbrook as seen in the pond across from the art museum. We are driving to Hamilton today and were away yesterday as well. We will be back Tuesday. (P.S.: YES, we still have leaves in some spots--some very brilliant--though most are gone. Many of the trees (big trees) in this picture are evergreens.))



The second picture is an archive picture from a previous trip to Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) taken at the same time of the year. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to post new Hamilton pix. Remember, we'll be away. May not be able to post or comment.

The Black RIver in November: Let's Hear it for Erosion

Erosion is doing a number on the bluffs above the Black River. Erosion also created the river valley. We rode our motorcycles up there, north of Detroit. It's lovely at this time of year--or any other, but some hunter yelled at us for "scaring the deer." We were in a public area.

We are leaving tomorrow for Hamilton, Ontario, Canada for our annual Veteran's Day weekend waterfall and escarpment tour. I may or may NOT be able to get on-line while I am gone and if I do, I may post Detroit photos or "road show" photos, depending on if I have time to download any new photos I've taken. We'll be be back Tuesday, have a great weekend!

Wild Nashua Creek

Nashua Creek and the surrounding woods are at points very wild and almost impenetrable. You would not know that you were in a large urban area--if you were wearing ear plugs. You can hear the city even when you can't see it.