The Last two Weekends...

Friday July 6, 2018

Today I stopped by the annual Arthritis Foundation Car Show which is held in the Metro Place circle where I work, so we always get a free wristband and parking pass. I’ve never needed either, but it’s a nice benefit all the same.

The highlight of this year’s show was a couple cars from “The Munsters” as well as a visit from Eddie Munster, Butch Patrick,* from whom you could get an autograph and a selfie for a price (E-bay has totally ruined getting anything for free these days).

“Butch Patrick, best known for his role as Eddie Munster in The Musters is coming to the 36th Annual Classic Auto Show and Cruise-In! We are excited to welcome Butch and his Munster Koach and Dragula Tribute Cars, original 1964 Barris/Von Dutch Chain Link Schwinn Stingray Bike, and other Munster props to include Baseball Bat, Miniature Spot, and Street Signs in an amazing display at the show. This is a do-not-miss opportunity! Butch will be available for meet and greet and photo ops at the show and will be selling some of his merchandise, autographs and memorabilia for Munster Fans. Find him Friday and Saturday in the Main Lot at his awesome Munster display and on stage giving out trophies with the CAS team each night.”

https://arthglr.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/2018ClassicAutoShowColumbusOH/AbouttheShow/FeaturedAttractions/tabid/933510/Default.aspx

As I’ve rarely ever seen the show (it’s a bit before my time), I wasn’t too bothered, but I did check out the cars and saw Mr. Patrick posing with a fan.

That evening my husband and I went to see the latest Avenger movie, “Ant Man and the Wasp,” which stars Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, and Evangeline Lilly. I’m glad we streamed the first Ant Man movie, but as we haven’t seen the last Avengers movie where Ant Man helps the other Avengers in Germany, we felt left out on a couple of the jokes, but it didn’t ruin our enjoyment of the movie.

Anyone who enjoyed “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” or “Innerspace” would probably enjoy this too. It’s action-packed and full of humor and sentiment, so there’s a lot to like. I won’t be surprised if there’s a third Ant Man movie, and I’ll definitely be there!

Saturday July 7, 2018

Today my husband and I visited the Worthington Farmer’s Market again with our main objective being to obtain a bucket of blueberries from a vendor who was visiting from Mansfield (which saves us about an hour and a half drive). Luckily we found that vendor and another selling blueberries, so we bought 3 lbs. and have now bagged and froze them. We also bought a couple blueberry flavored donuts that were quite delicious. Most of the rest of the stuff we purchased was various produce.

Andrew bought a tiny (and somewhat overpriced) loaf of Gingerbread Pear bread. It was a booth where the bread was behind large cardboard posters, so we didn’t actually see the size of what we agreed to purchase until it was handed to us. I’m sure it will be delicious (we sampled it), so hopefully worth the cost.

I still hope to get to the Hilliard and Upper Arlington markets after we get back from vacation (when we’ll probably need stuff).

That evening we attended the monthly Short North Gallery Hop (held on the first Saturday of every month). Unlike the first Gallery Hop we attended last year, there were slightly fewer galleries to visit because a couple were closed (which I wished we had known before walking out of our way to visit them). We also skipped browsing in the shops, but did have a nice sit down dinner at the Hubbard Grille.

We saw some nice art and got to chat with a couple of the artists. There were a few pieces I would definitely have liked to purchase, but most were out of my art budget or wouldn’t fit (size-wise) our walls.

Friday July 13, 2018

Tonight my husband and I attended the first ever Italian Heritage Festival in Dublin, which was set up in the same location as the Irish Festival (which is held at the end of the month). However, unlike it’s more well-known cousin, the $$ Irish Festival, the admission cost was an affordable $5, which included a line-up of Italian musicians you could listen to while eating a Stromboli and sipping a shot of Limoncello. I was disappointed that Camelot Cellars weren’t in attendance (due to last minute permit issues I heard), so the only choice of beverages were: lemonade, beer, a shot of limoncello, or a wine and peaches drink. After all, what's an Italian Festival without wine? (Hello, it's one of the things Italians do best next to making delicious pasta and pizzas!) We stuck to our bottle of water and each had a Stromboli and a bowl of gelato.

Like most festivals there were various vendors (some more related to Italian heritage than others). We sampled some really expensive olive oils that were quite tasty, but Andrew didn’t want to spend $20 for a bottle, so we passed on that.  I enjoyed looking at the art by artist, Laura Bova, who designed the cover for the 2018 Comfest program. I bought a print of that and another of a sort of multi-colored face that I thought was interesting.

Next to her booth was a tent advertising the Jubilee Museum located in downtown Columbus. It’s a museum housing various religious art and church-related articles (everything from nun’s clothing to a room full of altars, etc.). They were also selling misc. religious articles, but we both passed on that.

After looking around for a little while and eating dinner, we headed out. We perhaps spent about an hour or so there. My suggestion for next year is to either bring in a lot more vendors, entertainers, activities, etc. or move what you have closer together so it looks like more. Also, maybe move up the festival to June so it’s not so close to the Irish Festival in late July.

Leaving there we headed to the cinema to see Pixar’s latest, “Incredibles 2.” We both thought it was hilarious, and Andrew particularly liked the ferocious raccoon fighting baby Jack Jack. I liked Jack Jack. He’s the funniest animated baby I’ve ever seen (I think they said he had like 17 powers). I felt for the father trying to run the household while his wife was away fighting crime in the big city. I can’t imagine taking care of three kids on your own, let alone three kids all with special powers (in addition to normal kid annoyances). 

Have a great week everyone!

Fun Filled Weekend

This has been one crazy busy weekend, but a good one nevertheless.

The weekend started a bit early on Thursday when my family (and my brother-in-law’s family) gathered to celebrate the twelfth birthday of my nephew, Carter. Carter, although a bit shy, is a great kid with a variety of interests. His latest project involved the assistance of my husband, Andrew, who helped Carter choose the components for and then build his first computer.

For Andrew, this was his third time around doing this, so he felt reasonably confident it would be a success, and it was. I imagine Carter will enjoy many happy years with his new technology, so I am grateful we could help him out.

Friday night Andrew and I enjoyed the latest installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, which was called “Jurassic World.” Since it’s now been 25 years since the first movie (based on the book by Michael Crichton) was released, it does feel like Hollywood is milking it for all it’s worth, but thankfully the movies haven’t been too bad. I tell everyone to go in with low expectations. That way you might be pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be a halfway decent movie. Through some clever writing, state of the art cinematography and sound mixing, they somehow still manage to keep us on the edge of our seats a quarter century later.

Saturday my parents joined my husband, sister, and me on an outing to the new Dublin Farmer’s Market which is being held on Saturday mornings on one of the streets in the new development near the river. It was a good choice for location as the road was reasonably shady, so quite comfortable for walking around on a day with a heat advisory.

In the hour or so we were there we had plenty of time to peruse the offerings of each vendor (including some rather unusual ones like the guy pitching compost bins for $20 where you keep bringing back your full one in exchange for an empty one and he takes care of dumping your refuse). Good plan for those who perhaps live in an apartment or who are environmentally minded but don’t have the time or money to invest in their own compost maker (like the ones where you turn the crank to mix up the contents periodically) or compost pile in their backyard. We used to compost, but made more than we needed, so we scaled back to now just keeping a small container in our refrigerator which we usually dump in the trash once a week. My neighbor informed me he’s going to start a compost pile again in his backyard, so we’re welcome to come over and dump our fruit & vegetable waste there. Thanks Dick!

Since it was the first time my parents had attended a Farmer’s Market, or at least one down here, they seemed to have mixed reactions. My dad enjoyed the free samples, but refused to spend $3 on a cookie, not being used to how much things cost on the open market (from both vendors and food carts). I wonder what he thought about Andrew and me spending $7.50 for this:

raspberry cruffin

Yes, a bit pricey perhaps, but since Andrew was also drooling over it, he quite happily agreed to me buying it to later split.

My mom enjoyed the few produce stands there were and purchased a zucchini and some other vegetables to take back with them. I bought a head of lettuce and a tomato, so those were my healthy choices. Here’s Andrew and I enjoying our mid-morning snack:

My sister, Karen and I went together and bought the same shirt in a price reduction deal for buying two. Since I was also still in the middle of eating my PB & J popsicle, I didn’t have my hands free to get a picture of the two of us with them, so here’s me wearing mine at home:

Andrew and I also purchased a jar of vanilla pear jam and a jar of honey.

My favorite booth was the one selling ceramics, mugs, and miniature mug pendants. Being a “Gilmore Girls” fan, the Luke’s (Diner) mugs caught my eye.

Although impressed, since I already have a “Gilmore Girls” mug (and a full cupboard at home), I opted for one of the necklaces instead.

My rating of this Farmer’s Market: a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Not many produce vendors, and really not that many vendors overall. Even though it’s close by and convenient, I can’t see visiting too many times because there just isn’t the variety. Hoping to get to Hilliard’s and Upper Arlington’s before the summer is over.

My afternoon was spent at a nearby art store called Dick Blick’s learning how to create and bind my own book. Even though I had already learned basic bookbinding skills in another art class there (taught by my friend, Amy Flowers of Shrewd Art), it had been many years, and the example book sitting by the cash register was pretty impressive, so I decided to sign up. There were five of us, four ladies and the daughter of one of them, so we all squeezed around a six foot table for the next two and a half hours while our instructor, Mikayla (an employee and design student at OSU), instructed us in the process.

Since I had done this before, I didn’t find it too difficult. The hardest part was attaching the book to the cover so it laid flat without any bubbles, but with ample flexibility. I ended up with some wrinkles from not flattening it properly with my bone press (or laying a heavy object on it to keep it flat). Still, I was pretty happy with the finished product and certainly feel more capable of making more books in the future.

Later in the evening after Andrew had returned home from helping Carter build his computer, we attended the first Gallery Hop of the summer in Grandview. The name is really misleading since there are no actual galleries on this “hop.” The art aspect comes in with the various vendors that line Grandview Avenue each vying for a sale from all the hot and sweating attendees. If you want to browse galleries it’s better to attend the Short North Gallery Hop held on the first Saturday of every month year-round (which we attended once last year). Of course these things are as much about food and drink since food trucks also line the streets and the bars usually have patrons overflowing out into the street.

At the Gallery Hop in Grandview there were tents selling beer in exchange for a set amount of tickets, so you had to queue up twice, which was two times more than Andrew was willing to endure in the 80+ degree heat. Lots of people apparently didn’t mind since most of the crowd seemed to be holding a plastic cup of booze.

There were a decent amount of vendors to peruse, so it probably took us best part of a couple hours after enjoying dinner from a food truck. Plus, we also popped into a couple shops and stopped by St. Christopher’s parish festival, (who were also using the ticket system, even to sell baked goods).

I wasn’t surprised, but a little disappointed there was such a long line at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, so we skipped that and instead opted to split a strawberry smoothie from Stauf’s. Though I doubt Andrew will be in a hurry to attend another Grandview Gallery Hop, I wouldn’t mind going again in August, but I think I still prefer the Short North version.

Have a happy Fourth of July everyone and stay cool!