#ThursdayDoors | Visiting A Carillon, Learning About Said

June 7, 2018July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 99 Comments

Today I’m joining Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton, so that I can share with you the following door + gate photos– and a bit of information about carillons.

I took these photos at Dogwood Park in Mariemont, OH. It is a village east of Cincinnati, OH, and is one of the nation’s first planned suburban communities. The park is charming and within it is the Mariemont Bell Tower, a carillon with 49 bells.

Carillons are musical instruments that contain at least 23 cup-shaped tuned bells. Often, as is in the case of this particular carillon, the bells are hung in a belfry and are connected to a keyboard. When a musician hits the keyboard, using his or her fists, each bell rings, creating a pleasing loud sound.

There are only 166 traditional carillons in the United States, and many of them are on university campuses or in city parks, like this one.

Here’s what I saw in Dogwood Park on a sunny summer afternoon. The whole place looked like it belonged on a Hollywood movie set– that’s how perfectly maintained it was.

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GATED DOORWAY into Mariemont Bell Tower.

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Looking up at Mariemont Bell Tower while standing in front of it.

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DOOR to restroom within Mariemont Bell Tower.

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Side of Mariemont Bell Tower as seen through trees.

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GATE [open] to the park that surrounds Mariemont Bell Tower.

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No Stories Here, Only The Remains Of My Inspiration File

May 8, 2018August 23, 2018 / Ally Bean / 68 Comments

It’s spring and you are on a tear to clean out your inspiration file. You have a vague idea about writing something about four cute images but you can’t get your head together to write anything.

WHAT’S A BLOGGER TO DO?

Well, kids, may I suggest that you put together a post about the stories that you couldn’t figure out how to write, add the cute images– and call it a Tuesday.

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One

I took this quiz and got 11 out of 12.

NO STORY HERE… just something fun that you, too, might want to do if you’re curious about how much you remember about baseball in the TV shows you watched as a kid.

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Two

This is the color that Zen-Den painted our home office walls– and ceiling.

NO STORY HERE… other than to say that this a lovely warm gray color that when natural light reflects off the golden oak floor the walls look gray with a slight aqua cast to them. Me likey.

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Three

I did a screen save of the emojis that I use the most.

NO STORY HERE… except that it seems like there should be a story here in which my inner-most self is revealed through my use of emojis. But, alas and alack, my inner-most self remains a mystery.

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Four

This is a tweet in which I shared how to kill a scorpion.

NO STORY HERE… because I’ve only seen a scorpion in the zoo– and even though the zoo sells alcoholic beverages, those zoo people are fussy about visitors not murdering the zoo residents. Go figure.

#ThursdayDoors | Visiting Fort Pulaski [Not Moultrie], An American Civil [Not Revolutionary] War Site

February 22, 2018July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 49 Comments

PLEASE NOTE: It’s been brought to my attention by my husband that these photos are from Fort Pulaski, south of Savannah, GA. I had my forts wrong. However, considering that Fort Pulaski is named for a Revolutionary War general my idea of posting these pics on George Washington’s birthday still makes sense.

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Today, in honor of George Washington’s birthday, I’m joining Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton, so that I can share with you the following door photos + a little bit of American ~~Revolutionary War~~ history.

I took these photos last April ~~when we visited Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan’s Island, SC~~.

The fort is named for a Revolutionary war general, who, on June 28, 1776, defended Charleston, SC, from the British. Since then the fort has been rebuilt a few times and gone through a few more wars. At the ~~end of WWII the fort closed.~~

The day we visited Fort ~~Moultrie~~ Pulaski the weather was sunny and mild, lending an unexpected peaceful vibe to the entire well-kept large complex.

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Outer perimeter of Fort ~~Moultrie~~ Pulaski, surrounded by a moat, with visible cannon ball damage on the brick wall.

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DOOR leading into interior of fort.

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DOORS on one small part of the storage area that forms the perimeter of the inside of the fort.

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DOORS in a row leading to storage areas shown with people walking above the storage areas to give a sense of scale.

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DOOR into stairwell that goes up to the area where people were walking.

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DOOR into officers’ quarters.

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Photo of lighthouse ~~in Charleston Harbor~~ as seen from Fort ~~Moultrie~~ Pulaski.

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3 True Confessions Because You, My Gentle Readers, Need To Know

February 15, 2018 / Ally Bean / 102 Comments

One

It’s entirely possible that I’m not going to be an Instagram star.

Since November I’ve tried to get into my Instagram groove by posting three photos a week, usually all at once (because I forget to post them when I take them). Also, I’m following a few people there because social media is, after all, social.

HOWEVER, easy and sweet as I think Instagram is, it isn’t calling to me. For some reason its charms have yet to woo me. I like it, I enjoy glancing at the photos posted there, but I’m vague about why it’s a thing– and why/how someone becomes a star.

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Two

I’m enjoying the Winter Olympics this year because they are Bob-Costas-free.

Sure, some people somewhere must have liked Bob Costas as the host of the Olympics, but I was not one of them. To me he combined Alex Trebek’s know-it-all-ness with Tom Cruise’s smugness– and I did not like him because of it.

HOWEVER, NBC’s new Winter Olympics host, Mike Tirico, is delightful. He reports on what is happening in a pleasant, informative way that does not make me want to yell at him. And guess thee what? Because of him I’m not changing the channel away from the Olympics when the host is on the screen.

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Three

I’ve increased the size of my font on my computer.

There is no surer sign of impending decrepitude than the size of the font that one uses. Tiny font, great eyes– young. Medium font, okay eyes– middle age. Large font, lousy eyes– one foot in the grave.

HOWEVER, on the flip side of this depressing thought, I have to admit that seeing the words clearly on the screen has encouraged me to sit up straighter, thereby improving my posture. And that, Alas, poor Yorick, might be enough to keep my other foot out of the grave… for a while longer.

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