Special July Scenes

 Here are photos from two special days in these last weeks of July.

One of Erie's famous painters was Vitus Kaiser. His landscapes, of all four seasons, were stunning and greatly sought after locally. One of his unique attributes was that he painted on site, outdoors whenever possible. Last week I ventured down to Presque Isle one afternoon and while I was reading and enjoying the beauty of Presque Isle Bay, doesn't this artist come along and begin to set up her easel and supplies and start painting. I thought of Vitus immediately, with gratitude for his lovely representations of our area, especially Presque Isle State Park.

Then a few days later we held the July Silent Peace Walk on the other side of the bay, the city side. This was the first time I had a chance to see the new ERIE sign. It was erected recently right along the trail that runs a mile from Peach St to Chestnut St. along the ridge overlooking the Bayfront Highway, the various marinas, and the whole scene of businesses and hotels along the bayfront in the downtown area. Here's one of our novices, Sister Jacqueline, leading the 20 or so walkers on a beautiful summer evening. 

Trading shale for cement

Those of you who know our place, either by personal visit or through one of our online pieces, may remember that we have a four-sided inner courtyard/garden area that is surrounded by administrative offices, a long hall and the entranceway to the monastery. The courtyard itself has a curved shale surfaced sidewalk going through it which adds to a very picturesque scene with the many flowers, bushes and couple trees. 

Yours truly does a lot of the gardening work in it and it dawned on me that I haven't shared any pictures of it this summer. So here are a couple from this afternoon--with commentary.

This is a new flower to the garden this year. I'm not sure of its name, 

but it has the most interesting stems. They look like little pearls in-waiting.

A reader comes through: Lucifer Crocosmia.

This must be a lily family member. Very large flowers and very pretty.

I believe this is a calla lily. We have a number of them and they are simply gorgeous.

And here is our statue of Mary. The small hydrangea bush has turned into a monster.

The flowers were beautiful this year, but have taken a beating the last couple of weeks

 as we've had rain, rain and more rain. Many of them are hanging quite low now, 

but they are a hardy bunch!

Behind her is a pretty climbing plant, light purple or mauve. 

It is just beginning. In a while it will be full of the blooms.

And, finally, what drew me to this idea today, we are in the middle of taking out the heavy shale and replacing it with a cement walkway. This will enable all of our sisters, whether they walk or are being pushed, to visit this private garden area. Guests, too, can use it, sit and read or just relax. 

If the rain ever stops long enough and lets the ground dry out, we'll get the cement added!

Seldom Seen

Now you may think I'm greatly mistaken when you look at these photos and the title of today's blog..BUT surprise, these are not the oft photographed windows in our chapel (the south wall). These are from the north wall and it's only at this time of year, when the sun can still be quite bright at 7:00-8:00 pm when it finally gets around the chapel, that we get these views of them.

So, here they are: the full set of eight, a couple individual ones WITH their reflections on the adjacent ceramic walls and, one of my favorite shots, the floor with the window colors shining brillantly.

Just a little picnic for 60!

 

Patriotic colors decorated the tables. Even our resident Aussie/Kiwi felt at home 

as their colors are red, white and blue, also.

Our griller made me wait until she straightened the hotdogs! Two minutes before this shot they were just willy-nilly all over. "I don't want them to think I'm a bad cook," she insisted!

If you look carefully you can see that everything is magic-markered--

really, as if we don't know cheese from tomatoes...well, on the other hand!

A dressing for everyone!

It is summertime for sure!

What's this hidding in the big bowl, under the wet towel?!