Magical Farms are running up to their annual auction in October. The pictures of the event in past years look amazing. They always have a theme and decorate the place accordingly and this time it is alpacas that are ‘out of this world’. Around 1,000 people attend and they expect all 88 lots to sell – wow, pretty impressive. The huge barn which the office overlooks is transformed with a wooden floor, drapes, a stage and there are lots of seminars, workshops, farm walks and no doubt free food and drink.
After spending a bit of money we drove to downtown Cleveland for dinner and the next day went down to the university circle which has huge green spaces where all the museums are. It was so quiet with lots of big oak trees and plenty of parking. The Cleveland Museum of Art has a brand new wing that has some European art – the usual suspects Matisse, Tissot, Cezanne, Picasso, Gaugin, Mondrian, Magritte – plenty of pictures that you see and then say, oh so that’s where it is. There was a room of Rodin, three walls were glass, which had a splendid version of The Thinker and a monumental head. The atmosphere was very relaxed, people were taking photos and talking on their mobile phones. There were guards but not noticeable ones and if anyone moved too close to a sculpture or painting, usually children, there was a high pitched sound which made their parents give them a good telling off. We moved into modern day-ish with a stunning Pollock and a Rothko that I loved but didn’t turn Chas on. The Marilyn Monrose prints were there…well over an hour and a half had gone by and we were full as it were and had to retreat for coffee and banal chat to recover.
Then to the beach where there was an enormous air show going on with thousands of cars parked on the edge of the lake. The weather was perfect and as it was a holiday weekend there were lots of families sunbathing and boating. On the park area back from the beaches there were municipal barbeques. It looked as if you just tipped up with your charcoal appropriated one and got on with it – fantastic idea.