Mom

Mom is not a big fan of my picture taking, but I'm a big fan of our weekly rides around the area while Dad does the grocery shopping. Mom is a big fan of our rides too - remembering them when other things sometimes fade from memory! Thank you Mom!

Neighborhood Party!

We take Maya and CJ to our neighborhood park / playground most every week. Yesterday we had a great dish to pass picnic for the whole neighborhood! It was great! Lots of friends, old and new. Above, our new neighborhood sculpture - a pear tree, sculpted in steel by our friend Craig Wilson! Below, some neighborhood kids planted a real pear tree. Why a pear tree? The site of this park was originally part of a huge tract of land that was the Ellwanger Barry Nursery - one of several nurseries located in Rochester, NY in the early days! They sold nursery stock all over the country and world - including a huge variety of pear trees!

Below - our friend Dave Halter - sort of unofficial Mayor of our neighborhood!

Below - a kid more interested in drawing pictures of the events than in the events themselves!

Maya and CJ - with Deanna and Casey - arrived later, but by then my camera had frozen up and was unwilling to try anything! Below my friend Jeff Peden entertains the kids! Somebody suggested he juggle a favorite stuffed rabbit, and Jeff did it! Below, a still from a video on my new Kodak Play/Touch video camera!

And a neighborhood dog catches a ride!

Anybody know what this is?

Fruit from a medium sized bush - maybe 7-8 ft tall in a neighbor's yard. Fruit is more green than this with smooth skin that looks like a pear? Fruit is about 2" long.

Elephant Ear

Just wanted to share this image of part of an Elephant Ear plant leaf from my back yard!

Maya & CJ on Vacation

If you aren't old enough to have grandchildren yet, just wait! They are the best thing ever..... even when they are screaming and yelling and won't take a nap?

Tomatoes!

Largest single day harvest so far - 13! Some Vintage Wine, and some Mortgage Lifters!

A gift from a friend!

I'm not adding things to my spinning top collection very often these days, but my friend Rick Shannon found this in a friends basement. Those folks on the upper end of the age scale will remember the cardboard cylinder tube repair kits. The little punched holes in the lid to rough up the area around the hole in your tube, the little tube of rubber cement with its distinctive smell, and the little pieces of rubber to glue over the nail hole? This tube repair kit has it all, and a real spinning top in the graphics! My favorite things are always what I call top related items. Nothing spins here - except maybe the repaired bicycle tube - but while many products use the word "top" in the logo, name, etc. very few actually use a real top! This little piece has it all! Thanks Rick!

And - a side note on the English language. We seem to have a lot fewer words to learn, but the reason for this is that we use the same word over and over for very different things! I've always thought the word "top" was one of the most over utilized - try Googling "top"? Not many results will have anything to do with spinning! However, try writing a blog entry about a cardboard tube containing a tube of rubber cement that is all part of a tube repair kit! Tube sort of means the same thing every time, but not exactly!

Another larger mechanical design

Move the lever at the upper left back and forth to make her dance gleefully across the stage! This piece is also about 14" across. Video below. Come see us tomorrow or Sunday to see the new pieces at Booth 449 - Clothesline Art Show!

New larger mechanical design!

Unlike my previous small business card sized pieces, this one is 400% larger - i.e. about 14" across. Turning the wheel at the top or bottom of the piece rotates the propeller on this old bi-plane! I especially like the tread detail on the tires - below! Check below that for a video!

Temporary price = $100 plus shipping & sales tax - Order here

Beth's Green Beans!

The title says it all .... well not quite all .... the picture helps .... but I can't begin to convey the fresh picked taste!

Vale of Rest

Cemetery located just down the road from my great great great great grandfather and grandmother's house and mill in Avoca, NY. ! No stones seem to be related to my family, but the one below, located almost in the exact center of the little cemetery, tells a very interesting story.

Rosa O. Tucker, wife of A. O. Tucker, died 18 days after the birth of her daughter R. (Rosa?) Lillian Tucker. Rosa was only 17 years, 1 month, and 11 days old. Lillian passed away less than 2 years later at age 1 year, 9 months and 12 days! Two way to short lives!

Note: Marrying at age 16 was not that unusual in the 1870's

Maeve will know this is a joke!

We parked next to this pick-up truck at the doctor's office the other day, and knew Maeve had to see it! I'm a big supporter of her vegetarian diet choice, but love to tease! Also note that this sign is on a big hulking pick-up truck that obviously hasn't seen any dirt this summer, and has a nice clean plastic cover over the "cargo bed".

This picture also turned out to be a great example of my love of reflections, light and shadow, etc. in photos!

Visit to site of Nathaniel Olney's grist mill!

On Sunday, Wyatt and I visited the site of my great great great grandfather's grist mill! (Wyatt's 4th great grandfather!) Wyatt was not as impressed as I was, but I thought it was very cool to be right there where Nathaniel and Mary lived. I don't know the whole history of their lives. I do know Nathaniel and Mary owned this site between 1871 and 1883. I know Henry was born in Avoca, NY, - I think in 1838. Nathaniel died in 1883, or at least his estate is listed as owing the taxes in 1883.

Side note to those who care - Nathaniel Olney (possibly this is Nathaniel Olney's father?) lived in Nunda, NY in 1870. The 1870 census lists him as living with Recinson (sp?) Olney (age 39), his wife Launes (sp?) (age 26), daughter May (age 4) , a domestic servant - Kate Holeran (age 45), and L.L. Bogart (age 60)

Above - top - picture of the site of the mill, and current structures there. Above - middle - a view of the Cohocton River at the site. Below - an ariel view of the area - black arrow points to the site at the end of Cross Road, Avoca, NY

Latitude and Longitude reading from my GPS below - they differ from the latitude and longitude readings listed by Google maps for this location???? Modern day address is 4815 Cross Road, Avoca, NY 14809
+42.25540
-77.26214

Guest Artist - Maya Louise Sams

Granddaughter Maya seems to have a pretty good ability to balance and pile things!

Detail below.

Can't wait to see the sand castles from Rehoboth Beach!

Traveling Art Show Booth!

This guy at Wedgestock in our neighborhood last weekend travels quite green! I missed getting a shot of that trailer fully loaded after the show. His rig is totally created by him, so there is no place to order one!

Stuff we made!

Three of our figures on the wall at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Yep - I asked the same question, and the original hospital did float! Established in 1894 by Rev. Rufus Tobey, at a time when many believed in the therapeutic value of sea air, The Floating Hospital for Children was located on a ship! The original ship was replaced later, and in 1933 when the second ship burned, the hospital was moved to land where it remains to this day!

Sports

This African Violet is one I grew from a leaf of a "Rebel Splatter Kake" violet from The Violet Barn. A sport is a violet that does not grow "true" to the original. The flower on the right is what the flowers on a "Rebel's Splatter Kake " is supposed to look like. The one on the left is quite a bit different! Both are on the same plant - I think that is pretty cool! It may be common, but I never saw such a thing. While taking the picture, I discovered that the petal on the right side of that bloom (about 3 o'clock) is actually is half one color pattern and half the other with an almost perfectly straight line between the two halves! (click on the picture to embiggen it for a better view) The actual flowers are more purple than these pictures show up on my computer.

A plant with two different patterns in the flowers, and two different patterns within one flower!

Interesting

The woman carrying this bag at Wedgestock yesterday was quite excited that I asked about her bag. She actually didn't know anything about the copy on the bag, but just said she saw it while on a trip to China, and just had to have it! Minutemen, Meatpuppets, Descendents, and Angst are Punk Rock bands who often have performed together. She didn't seem like the Punk type?

If you know Chinese you might be able to order one of several styles here. Not sure if the little punk rock teddy bear comes with it?

Olney Road, Italy Valley, NY

Beer Delivery

Just in case you thought your local pharmacy was there for your health, and in case you missed the junk food department twice the size of the pharmacy department and over the counter department combined, here is a picture of the beer delivery coming in the back door. Three guys with trucks rolling cases of beer in the back --- I only managed to get two in the picture - the third one is inside. Well over 100 cases stacked outside, and several hand carts of 8 cases each rolling inside in the couple of minutes I was there. Just trying to maintain the customer base for the pharmacy department?

25 years!

Just about 25 years ago, I made some very special whistles. Chery and Casey and I were going to become a family officially soon, and for our invitations we sent out wooden whistles made by Don's business - The Toycrafter.

I have always kept one on my key chain. Little did I know that 25 years later I'd have a granddaughter who would love blowing on one of those whistles!

Another mini mechanical!

Another mini-mechanical / automata / kinetic business card. See video below - rotate gear on left end of this piece, and both spirals rotate! I'm having way too much fun with this!

Go here to buy one of these or one of our other mechanical pieces!

Hill Family Reunion 2010

Why is it a Hill Family Reunion rather than an Olney Family Reunion? Actually we are all related to Sarah Hill Olney and Henry Cadmus Olney. More specifically we are all descendants of just two of their 11 children. About half trace ourselves back to Edward Barton Olney - second oldest son of Sarah and Henry, and about half trace ourselves back to Omar Addison Olney - oldest son of Sarah and Henry. Since Sarah started the reunion way back when, it is still known as the Hill Family Reunion! Click on the link to the right for more info on Henry and Sarah!

Dad couldn't make it to the reunion, so we set up my laptop and a Skype connection so Dad could say hi to a bunch of family. That's Brian Olney below, his wife in the background, and Dad on the computer screen!

First Tomato of the season

This spring I planted a total of 17 vintage variety tomato plants in containers around the yard on our small city lot. The plants grew quite large with faithful watering and staking. Below is a picture of my favorite and "first" tomato hiding down in the foliage.

This particular "Vintage Wine" specimen was the first to ripen, and while I didn't know exactly what this variety would look like when fully ripe, I went ahead and picked it yesterday, and with great hesitance I sliced it open, and was rewarded

with bright red meat and absolutely perfect four minutes off the plant fresh taste. Cheryl and I would have eaten it sooner, but I needed pictures!

Dad and Mom - I'll have one for you this weekend, with a lot more developing! I'm especially looking forward to the "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifters"!

I think this might be my favorite song -- Home Grown Tomatoes by Guy Clark

Their, There, They're

A birthday present for Maeve, with a nod to Wyatt, Anne, Jes, Richard, Kristel and all my other friends who find grammar, spelling, thinking, and other intellectual exercises worthwhile!

Told You!

If this isn't about the best Mom picture ever, I don't know what is! Taken on our Saturday drive while Dad did the grocery shopping! By the way, Mom is recovering from the dental surgery work, and is doing a lot better after a couple of very rough days!

35 good years!

We were asked to create a special piece for a 35th anniversary! We worked from an old photo.... came out rather well I think!

Sherrie and Cheryl

For some strange reason, people often confuse these two beautiful women with each other! At shows people will ask Cheryl for her wonderful sauces, mustards, etc. and they will also ask Sherrie where her colorful wooden figures are! Not sure why the confusion? All they have in common is unbelievable creativity, room warming smiles, joyous beauty, and they both hang out a lot with ugly old white guys - Hugh and Don! Sherrie and Hugh were here to visit the other day, and Cheryl and Don got a quick refill of wonderful friendship!

Avon Bargin Outlet!

My niece Maeve and I drove by this place a while back, but I did not get a picture of it at the time. Friday I went through Avon agin ;-) and stopped to record this for posterity!

This one is for Maeve, Wyatt, Anne, Jes, Salena, Richard, and all my other friends who think spelling is important! Grammar too!