Hmmm...looking for clues in your post...postage stamps?...bells?...watches?...pillows/feather beds?...no? Oh well, waiting for clues. :)

What is up with the weather everywhere? Earthquake? Wow!

47,000 went missing in Germany alone, before conquest of neighbouring nations. AAhh, Cyn, you noted that there was a clue in my rantings. Hmmmmmmmm......

Nancy.

Didn't feel the earthquake here, in fact I didn't even know there had been one until this morning. Pondering today's trivia, haven't come up with anything yet.

Annette

I wish I knew what I knew! Haha.

Cynthia

Only one, the smallest which was called the 'passing', was left in each village.....

Nancy.

I am wondering if this refers to stamp meters.

Actually, something has rung a bell with me, so I don't think I need clues...if I am right, of course.

Just heard that my district has closed school for Monday AND Tuesday. No need to adhere to any bell schedules for at least two days-joy, joy! Time to get back in my jammies. :)

Cynthia

Woo-hoo, Cyn - good for you!!

Nancy.

No stamps, Bobbie!!

Nancy.

Post offices?

Annette

Is nothing ringing true for you, Annette??

Nancy.

Arrgghhhh!!! Telephones?

Annette

Bells. I know that many bells were taken to be melted down for the war effort. I think passing bells refer to the bells that ring when someone has died.

Hi all. I've been away for the last five days helping a friend move back to Michigan from Woodbury MN (Hi Bobbie!) We rented a 16 ft truck which turned out to not be big enough, so we ended up totally stuffing the truck, a 5 x 8 trailer, and two vehicles, leaving just enough room for the drivers and one big dog. One ten hour drive later we are now home. A two hour drive today will get everything to its final destination. Whew!

Trivia-wise, I do kind of remember this one, and I think it was church bells.

Off to eat breakfast and hit the road.

TM

Well yes, there you have it!! The story of the destruction of art in Nazi Germany---the paintings that disappeared for decades or forever, the artists maligned in the Nazis' Degenerate Art exhibition---is familiar to many. Less well-known is the story of the art destroyed to aid the war effort---metal church bells and statues melted down to make munitions. Saint Mary's University(Halifax) history professor Kirrily Freeman's PhD thesis focused on the topic of melted statues in France, but it was a graduation gift that led her to her current area of research.
{{gwi:614628}}
Bells awaiting their fate

The exhibition Silence and Memory: The Lost Bells of Europe is a collection of plaster casts of details of the decoration on German church bells that were melted for metal by the Nazis during the Second World War. The bells come from the 12th century to the 20th. The Nazis melted down thousands of church bells across Europe in occupied countries, but only for German bells did they hire art historians as advisers and made casts to preserve some of the imagery, the German bells being tied to the sort of "authentic" German culture the Nazis pushed.

Even the evidence of the lost bells was lost for many years. A Canadian bell expert, Percival Price, was sent to Germany by the Allies at the close of the war to discover what had happened to the country's church bells and find out if any had survived. Price met with Nazi art historians and found the casts, returning home with 127 of them, which sat in his office and were bequeathed to Ottawa's Museum of Civilization upon his death. One of these casts came into the possession of a friend of Freeman, who gave it to her as a graduation gift, along with one of Price's books on bells. This was not the first instance of bells going to war efforts in Europe - during the French Revolution, over 100,000 bells were removed, and were melted down into coins or cannons.
The plaster casts were spirited out of Germany as 'enemy technology' - otherwise, their fate was uncertain. And yes, Bobbie, the Passing Bell is just that, to note someone's passing. It is usually the smallest, so the only bell remaining.

So, for Cyn, Bobbie and TM:

Sorry, maybe not enough clues, Annette?? Better luck next week!
I attached the 2nd part of the documentary here, if you are interested, and you can link to Part 1, which is more 'Canadian' oriented!
TM, that was quite the odyssey you were on!! Glad it all worked out.

Thanks to all for playing, and yes, I am home. I didn't sell anything at the 'new' job last week, so out I went. Oh well, had that not happened, I wouldn't have picked up on a dream job posting, so fingers crossed, everything happens for a reason. See you next weekend!

Nancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bells & Whistles

Thanks for the stars, Nancy.

Hope the job news turns out to be good.

Is Sandy supposed to affect you? We are seeing the development of the worst case scenario talked about last week. The storm is coming ashore between Ocean City Maryland and southern New Jersey which means we get slammed. 70 mph winds expected overnight. Hoping all the trees come through unscathed-well a little natural pruning of dead branches would be okay. On the bright side, I am enjoying images of a brand new master bath and maybe slight expansion of the house paid for by insurance if our leaning tree comes down on the house! ;)

Cynthia

Well you can't win them all LOL. Stay safe Cyn it sounds like you're in for a nasty one.

Annette

We are supposed to get hit with high winds and lots of rain tonight. Storm surge is expected in the shores of the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence and Gaspe. Gov't has done their typical warning, be prepared to care for yourselves for 72 hours, yada, yada. I have bottled water, etc. Municipal water, so I should be OK for the rest. CBC said a storm surge of 3 metres or more was heading for NYC - yikes!! Wouldn't want to be them!!

Take care, Cyn - all jokes aside, I hope you are spared much damage. Than again, a new master bath, maybe a custom walk-in closet....

Nancy.

Ha-I was thinking walk-in closet, too, Nancy. The pictures of NYC flooding already are incredible. Hoping for no damage, but have to admit, I am sort of enjoying watching the awesome power of nature.

I will keep you posted!

Cynthia

Rain started here about 45 mins. ago. Luckily, library called a couple of hours ago, and my loan of Ghost Rider, Travels on the Healing Road came in - I really need to stop and eat!!!

Nancy.