Ivy With Heartsong And Friends

Benefit Concert for Kaleidoscope Youth Center

Sunday, November 23, 2025 - King Avenue UMC

Good music, good friends, good vibes. - Anonymous

Just a few highlights... 

You don't always have to go to the symphony to hear beautiful music.

Out Under the Sky: Pam Springer, flute. Iris Velasco, piano

Left: A Caribbean Christmas: Handbell Choir and Percussion

Right: You Make It Feel Like Christmas: Brett Gambill, Linda Guyton

Why does music sound better late at night?

Left: I Wish You Christmas: Emily Moore, soloist. Iris Velasco, piano

Right: Christmas Time Is Here: Andy Burns, Trumpet. Iris Velasco, piano

Heartsong And Friends

It wasn't just a concert, it was an experience.

Do You Have Good Eyes?

Optical Illusions 

Here are reader responses and my comments on last week’s Elephant And Lamb Legs:

AVH: 4 elephant legs

Absolutely correct! Logic dictates elephants have four legs, even if it appears  in the drawing that the elephant has more than four… which made ITV wonder.

ITV: Do elephants have eight legs? 

On lamb legs:

AVH: 40 lamb legs if you count the ones that can barely be seen 

I see 36 legs, more or less, either attached to still-headless lambs or loose. But AVH’s response is acceptable because the illusion- foto wasn't great.

This was actually part of a 32-item order from a writer who is promoting her upcoming, book, The Christmas Lamb Mystery, about a "lost lamb" with an accompanying lamb toy.

That feeling when you've

finally finished your work...

The premise is that the story will be read by/read to the child. In the morning, the latter will see the lamb outside the door. It is lost no more.

Delivery of lamb goodies to book author Annetta Dellinger. November 16, 2025

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For this week, try this optical illusion.

Can you read this at first attempt?

Please email your answer (send to me only).

Comment on responses in the next blog.

Elephant And Lamb Legs

 Optical Illusions 

Comments on last week's blog, What Do You Read Here?

Thank you, faithful readers. Some people will read, EVIL, but some will see, GOOD. VEV was discerning enough to see both.

VEV: Good is black. Evil is white. Should be the other way around.

ITV saw GOOD plus something else that I didn't expect. She saw COOL, maybe because she's a cool person.

ITV: Looks like GOOD and COOL. 

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Now, for this week's optical illusion.

This has to be one of the most famously mind-boggling illusions that appears in lots of brain teaser books. How many legs can you see in this picture?

Here’s another teaser for you.

How many lamb legs do you see?

Please email your answers (send to me only).

Comment on responses in the next blog.

What Do You Read Here?

Optical Illusions 

Comments on last week's blog Now You See It, Now You Don't:

ITV: Wooden vs. upholstery? Is the yellow chair new? 

Thanks for responding. You’re right. 

That was my old, ten-year-old something Goodwill wooden, rocking chair buy. The spokes that were coming off had been super-glued. The hardwood seat had been softened by throw pillows. Despite all that, my antique rocker had served me well, giving me a reliable spot for viewing a wondrous backyard vista.

But now, time for something new. An upholstered Wayfair buy, using part of my Bubbly Hall craft sale monies. I love its vibrant yellow color and how my Cinnamoroll throw pillow from Five Below and Keroppi, inherited from Frat Boy, keep me company.

Continuing on to this week’s Optical Illusion…

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Read not only between the lines, but also what is not written. - Vijay Kedia

What do you read here?

Please email your answer (send to me only).

Comment on responses in the next blog.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

 Optical Illusions

Everyone has two eyes but no one has the same view. - Anonymous

Someone said that life is all about how we see things.

Interesting... and intriguing.

So, I'm thinking, why don't we explore this thought in this series?

For starters, can you spot the difference in these two sets of pictures?

Photo (bottom right): V.E.V. Columbus: October 31, 2025

Please email your answer (send to me only).

 Comment on responses in the next blog.

Halloween All Things

October To-Do List

 And finally, time to Halloween all things.

Neighbor's Garage Door Decor.
Photo: V.E.V., Columbus, OH: 2025

The dead rise again.

Bats fly.

Terror strikes and screams echo, for tonight, it's Halloween.

Ghosts and goblins come out to play.

It's a night full of frights and a bag full of delights.

Door decor of  skeletons and lit pumpkin. Columbus, Ohio: September 15, 2023

Too cute to spook!

Left: Halloweens Past: First Grandson's Toothy Smile. Right: Guess Who This Is? Honolulu, Hawaii: 2017, 2022

Black cats growl and pumpkins gleam.

Left: First Granddaughter: "Put the treats in the bowl and nobody gets hurt." Honolulu, Hawaii: 2024

Right: Second Granddaughter and friend: "Smell our feet. Gimme some catnip treats or we'll pee on your feet." Columbus, Ohio: 2021

You know what they say...

You're never too old to trick or treat.

We don't need no body! Honolulu, Hawaii: 2023

Dino Trick-or-Treater: "Rawr! I've come for your soul. There is nothing you can... ooh, is that chocolate?"  Columbus, Ohio: 2022

Sticky fingers

Tired feet

One last house

Trick or Treat!

Have a spooktacular Halloween!

Go Leaf Peeping!

 October To-Do List

I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift. – Dodinsky

How best to do that?

By taking the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad excursion.

The restored vintage railcar is an operating diesel-electric and steam-powered excursion train between Akron, Ohio and the greater Cleveland area.

The air had a cool crispness to it as we drove toward the old Rockside Road.

But first, lunch.

Chimichangas, “lobster” taco, and to-go churros. Cozumel Mexican Restaurant, Independence, Ohio

A slight shower had started when we arrived at the Rockside depot which was our primary starting point for the trip.

Autumn rain, autumn wind.

Forty degrees outside. There was no gap in the clouds for the light to shine, but we stayed cozy inside.

Latrobe Inn

Time to savor the sight up close and personal.

The view didn't disappoint. Right off the bat, every leaf spoke bliss, fluttering from the autumn tree.

Japanese maples with stunning red, gold, bright green, orange, and yellow foliage dotted the landscape. Photo: V.E.V.

Leftmost: Profuse red, orange, and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers of the Esperanza vine lent a tropical ambience.

Left: Basswood yellow leaves contrasted with black branches.

Attractive bright green leaves and showy pink-purple berries of coralberry bush bordered the landscape.

I would love to live like a river flows,

carried by the surprise of its own unfolding. 

– John O’Donohue

 

The Cuyahoga River, whose name is believed to mean crooked river, wove through constantly refreshing and changing scenery.

Then, it all came to an end.

How best  to conclude a trip, but with homestyle comfort food.

Grilled tilapia and trout, apple streusel pie a la mode. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Sunbury

The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.

But now, to our favorite destination at the end of every trip – home.

Celebrate Aflak's VB End-Of-Season

 October To-Do List

Volleyball is life. Everything else is just details. – Anonymous

Aflak’s Gahanna East Lions Volleyball Team hustled.

Hit.

Never quit.

Together, they stood and made it into the Gold Bracket with a record of 12-3.

Then, made it to end of season. And that’s worth celebrating.

Girls just wanna have fun. Flanagan’s Pub. Blacklick, Ohio: October 21, 2025

Do I want BEER?

a) Yes

b) a 

c) b

Pizza is better eaten with friends.

Congrats, Aflak, on your hard work and dedication!

Thanks for believing in us, Coach!

Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork: 7th Grade Gahanna Lions East Volleyball Team 

Today was good.

Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one. - Dr. Seuss

Flaunt My Harry Styles-Inspired Cardigan

 October To-Do List

Leaf me alone, I'm feeling fall today. - Unknown

Do you know Harry Styles? This week, I'm featuring my hand-crocheted Harry Styles-inspired cardigan. 

Cute and colorful, this sweater taken from a British label Spring/Summer 2020 Menswear collection, had sparked a Tik Tok craze. At that time, like everyone else, I had been in lockdown because of Covid, but I resolved to make my isolation time productive by crocheting a replica of this checkerboard designed design.

YouTube was helpful.

You crochet 72 granny squares that are afterward laid out (see pattern, leftmost) and sewn together.

Many years later, my creation was finished at last.

What year is it?

 It’s fall, y’all.

Keep calm and stay cozy.

                                                   October 5, 2025

Decorate Beau's Home For Fall

 October To-Do List

How about adorning your pet's house/cage with fall-themed decor?

That's exactly what I've done for Beau Bean - my adopted, inherited-from-Second-Granddaughter gerbil.

Use red and yellow color ceramic dishes for his daily ration of frozen green peas, carrots, corn, lettuce, blueberry, bit of Brioche bread, and pumpkin seed.

Hang gourd on door. 

Atop, arrange a sprig of maple leaves and mini orange balls.

It is simple and rustic. Southern Living calls it "an easy wow."

Finally, add a wooden stand-up glow-in-the-dark Boo ghost. 

Right: Bobo eyes his favorite Queen of Greens Premium lavish sweet baby green lettuce.

So there! Chirp, chirp, purr.

Home is home, be it ever so humble.

Eat Tacos on National Taco Day

 October To-Do List

'Tis the season to be fall-y. - Unknown

The air gets a little crisper, the leaves go full-on fireworks, and you live in your favorite sweater-weather pullover. For sure, it's also the perfect excuse to jump into your fall to-do list.

Why not?

There's no shortage of ways to make the most of this magical month.

Let me share with you some of the things that I plan on doing.  

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I want someone to look at me the way I look at tacos. – Unknown

Celebrate National Taco Day. It rolls through on October 4.

I know it’s early, but I’m already thinking tacos. My head says, Take a morning walk, but my heart says, Tacos.

If you want homemade tacos, you only need to grab some tortillas and stuff them with savory fillings such as the traditional carne asada, cheese, tomato, lettuce and sour cream or with more exotic delights like fish and chorizo.

Or take advantage of the many freebies and value deals that abound.

Taco Bell is pulling out all the stops to make sure it’s top of mind for the occasion. The chain will offer $1 tacos throughout the day, as well as delivery deals. Also, starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time, a limited number of customers will receive an exclusive National Taco Day T-shirt.

Starting at 11 a.m., it will offer Cantina Chicken Soft Tacos for $1 every other hour. At 7 p.m., 100 customers will receive $160 gift cards for a year’s worth of Taco Tuesday orders.

October 3 to 7, El Pollo Loco’s Loco Rewards members can get any three chicken tacos for just $5, offering a mix-and-match deal featuring the Chicken Taco al Carbon, Chicken Avocado Taco, and Shredded Chicken Taco.

7-Eleven is celebrating National Taco Day with BOGO lunch tacos and 2 for $5 El Gran Tocino Breakfast Tacos.

Just ahead of National Taco Day, Del Taco has released a new Del Dorado Chicken Menu, including Del Dorado Chicken Tacos, among other items.

Or head to Chuy’s on October 1 and October 4 for all-day taco and drink specials. Add a ground beef taco, crispy or soft, to any dine-in entrée purchase for just $1!

Have a taco costume laying around? Dress like a taco when you go, post your photo on social media with #ChuysTacoDay to get a free, dine-in entrée of your choice that day.

Navajo Taco Delight. Chile Verde: October 8, 2025

And how about a Navajo Taco (a personal favorite) - an authentic flatbread topped with jalapenos, black olives, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, and a signature sauce at Chile Verde?

Es muy delicioso!

What are we waiting for? Get a taco. Eat a taco. 

After all, life is like a a taco. 

Well, not really… I think I’m just hungry.

Summer's Wave Goodbye

September Vibes 

By all these lovely tokens, September days are here

With summer's best of weather, and autumn's best of cheer. - Helen Jackson

I see it. Fallen leaves everywhere. Summer's wave goodbye. 

Beautiful days that intersect perfectly with the start of fall.

What happens if you swallow a whole corn on the cob? You get corn-stipated. Hot Times Community Arts and Music Festival: September 12, 2022

Mornings that dawn clear and cold.

Walnut Creek sits atop a 200-foot high ridge and is part of the Tuscarawas River watershed. Photo: I.T.V., Holmes County, Ohio: September 9, 2023

And, most importantly, a wondrous birthday celebration of a very especial person...

Left: Train Ride To Zanesville. Southeast Ohio: December 18, 2022 

Right: Ciao! Italy: July 11, 2023

... Enjoying moments in her life because in life, there are no rewinds, only flashbacks.

When life gets complicated... I wine. 

Christmas celebration with Columbus police: December 21, 2023 

... Enjoying the little things, for one day, you may look back and realize they were the BIG THINGS.

Walking can bring the soul back home. Niagara: July 27, 2024

... Taking the moment and having fun being yourself.

I'm water-falling for this place. Wild, beautiful, free, and wet at Niagara Falls: July 27, 2024

Beer Makes Me Hoppy! The best beer is free. The second best beer is cold. The third best is personal preference. Toronto: July 27, 2024

Nobody's perfect, but my September-born is pretty close.

Birthday Brunch. Original Pancake House. New Albany: September 28, 2025

Just remember, you're older today than yesterday,

but younger than tomorrow.

After-Brunch Walk. Taylor Farm Park, New Albany

Walk towards the sunshine,

and the shadow will fall

behind you. - Mary

Engelbreit

And, as Aflak says, Look at the stars (even if they're covering zits). 

See their beauty and in that beauty, see yourself.

Happy birthday, sweetheart!