pianos and benches

When I was young I desperately wanted to play the piano.  The fact that we didn't own a piano seemed irrelevant to my mind – we knew people who did have one and surely they'd love to hear me practice. Wisely my mother determinedly said no, knowing full well I would likely never have stuck it out.  And I wouldn't have - my fingers are not of the long, elegant variety desirable for reaching the keys. 

But, for Jude's October Bench Series of 'occupied benches' I present these piano benches

here is a woman posing at playing a sculptured piano in Valencia

and these are people playing real pianos for Play Me I'm Yours 

above are two of the 41 pianos in Toronto 

and below one from Stratford (Ont) and another from Glasgow

grave post - Schlee

George Schlee
June 4 1858 - Oct 31 1944

Eva Hallman
His Wife
Aug 18 1863 - Dec 11 1944

George Schlee was one of the more active builders in Berlin (now known as Kitchener) Ontario at the turn of the century. After apprenticing as a stone mason he purchased a construction firm and became the main contractor for building imposing residences and civic buildings, including the original Kitchener-Waterloo hospital and the Walper Hotel and Zion Evangelical Church. Following a visit to the US he returned home filled with enthusiasm for the potential in the manufacturing of rubber footwear and founded the Berlin Rubber Company in 1899 and later the Berlin Button Works in 1906.

This was his house that he built in 

Kitchener

and the cottage he built in Southampton

Built in 1907 by a Swiss couple, George and Eva Schlee, the Daisy has withstood the test of time and the storms that roll in off Lake Huron.  "In 1944, Ruth Van Pelt Runyan, was strolling along the boardwalk when she noticed a for-sale sign in front of a cottage.  It opened immediately on to the sandy beach of Southampton and had a wonderful yard and veranda.  The asking price was $4,000 ... a large sum given the year, but she and her husband, decided to take the leap and purchased the cottage."  Now, 62 years later, the Runyan family is still spending summers in the Daisy.  A wrap-around veranda provides a cool breezeway on hot summer days while the interior and furnishings are reminiscent of days gone by.  "The kitchen floor has a definite slant and the wicker furniture is original," points out Marjorie Runyan, 87.  "I remember a time when the beach was all natural with beautiful sand dunes, but all that has changed.  Some politician, in his or her wisdom, decided to strip the beach of the dunes in the name of progress and now we have the eternal problem of blowing sand that fills every nook and cranny.  I studied geology when I was at university and I can't understand why the beaches are being treated this way."

(source, The Saugeen Times)

This post all started by taking a photo of this bench, and the cottage behind.

for signs,signs
and image-in-ing