Thai Cuisine on Liberty Ave at Pearl Street in Bloomfield
When I got home from school, Steve asked me if I wanted to go eat at the Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Bloomfield. Bloomfield is considered the Italian section of the city and I have blogged the Italian Festival and scenes from the Bloomfield Bridge.
On Liberty Ave at Pearl Street, across from the Bloomfield Laundromat,there’s delicious Thai food in this wonderfully Italian neighborhood.
I was so tired when Steve suggested going out to eat, I thought about lying down and taking a rest instead.
Fortunately, I decided to take him up on his offer and am I ever glad I did. He’d brought home take-out from this restaurant before but had never dined in. He told me how nice they were to him and always remembered his name.
It’s BYOB. They have a vegetarian menu,too. The service -friendly and nice, the food fresh and perfectly prepared. Very tasty. The decor and ambience clean and comfortable. Love the cloth napkins.
We enjoyed our dinner tremendously.
We ordered two dishes to share and the brown rice. There are curries and appetizers, soups and salads and desserts. Spicy Basil Fried Rice seems to be a favorite in the reviews. The YELP reviews = overall four out of five stars. The Urbanspoon seemed quite favorable and highly recommended by the City Paper Critic, too
Ginger Roots Onions, Black Mushrooms, Broccoli, Carrots, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Snow Peas, with Chicken
Classic Shrimp Pad Thai
The view from my seat in the front window booth.
And the high gloss lacquered table reflecting formerly St. Joseph’s Church
Our server rolled all the silverware in wonderful cloth napkins- stacked and ready to go
And Steve took a shortcut down the alley to get us home. Love being a passenger so I can photograph with the good old iPhone camera. Did not take my regular camera to dinner.
Cars Driving Uphill Have the Right of Way
….and so when I leave school and I’m driving down Parkfield Street (AKA the Cow Trail) and someone’s driving uphill, the road’s so narrow you have to pull over to the curb and allow the uphill car passage. Even pulled over it can be a tight squeeze.
Wouldn’t you know it, I got lucky on Monday afternoon and as I’m at the curb I look out the passenger window and see the neighborhood of Carrick and St. Basil’s Church up at the top of another hill. One shot with the window down and then I put the camera back in my school bag and take my foot of the brake and head down the hill as the uphill driver gives a wave of thanks.
Looked up St. Basil‘s story, too.
This shot shows Pittsburgh topography. Hills and more hills.
The trees are full of leaves now. Shot with the Canon 70-200mm lens as I was headed to the Girl’s Softball game.
Divertido – If you Need Russian, Chinese, Hebrew, French or Greek Building Blocks
Divertido means fun in Spanish.
Saturday afternoon I drove down to the Lawrenceville neighborhood to photograph this fun shop on Butler Street. I’d met the owner, Mary Ellen, when she attended the Christopher Jones house concert at my home last October so this had been on my “to do” list for a time. I knew visiting the store, photographing it and blogging it, would be a good project. Six months can fly by before you know it, though. I needed a college graduation card, too, so what better time to go shopping and blogging? The greeting cards are definitely out of the ordinary and this was a special one for my friend’s daughter.
I loved the Uncle Goose wooden building blocks with the different languages- French, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew and Greek were some of the languages represented.
Everything about the store is fun! The front windows with the swim noodles and inflatable swim rings as well as the trophies in aqua displaying the jewelry in a case are designed by Sean L. Miller.
The turquoise trophies took on a life of their own, like an installation art piece.
I took the window designer’s business card from the counter which has the words imprinted -Think Outside the Box. He definitely does and gets you thinking that way, too. The eye catching colors and design were so inviting.
Mary Ellen wasn’t sure she wanted her photograph taken but she graciously consented. Here she is in front of the counter with a cool, antique door on the front.
Thanks Mary Ellen. Another shot for my People at Work series.
You might have visited the store when it was down the street but Mary Ellen has been in business for nine years. And if you live out of town, no worries, she has online shopping at her website and you can LIKE her on the DIVERTIDO page on Facebook, too.
Steak Hibachi Dinner at Ginza
It was Steve’s idea that we should try the new Japanese Restaurant. He brought home a menu that said Grand Opening.
Turns out it opened at least a year ago, but they had a lot of menus printed up with that on the front.
So we headed over for dinner on Saturday night. A clear soup, salad, Steak Hibachi with vegetables and rice added up to $13-
The food was fresh, nicely prepared and delicious.
The server told us there was a bad review on YELP but I checked it out and they are mostly favorable, especially about their Sushi.
Lunchtime meals are about 6 bucks. Really reasonable.
It ‘s a BYOB but we had no B to bring tonight. We are planning a return trip to explore the menu. It’s in the Italian section of the city, Bloomfield.
iPhone shots of the exterior and my dinner below.
Ky Started Yo-Yoing at Age Eleven
I stopped into the old fashioned/classic toy store in the neighborhood of Shadyside on Ivy Street. The cool toy store is around the corner from where we lived when we first moved to Pittsburgh. This is the same store my three kids would browse in for the longest time on the way home from school in 1989-1991.
Two floors of toy store! Filled with LEGO® and Playmobil®, knights, puppets, trucks and trains, dolls and puzzles. Everything you can wish for as a child. You might see some items you yearned for as a kid but never received.
I was buying a gift for a friend.
And while I was there, the young man came from behind the counter and started yo-yoing. I mean yo-yoing extraordinaire! His name is Ky.
There was nothing else but to stop my shopping and watch in amazement. All I had with me was the phone camera. With a phone memory too full, I had to delete pics to take a few shots. (too much phoneography for challenges?)
Wowee Wow. I don’t know how to describe it -but I was mesmerized. And then he put down the yo-yo and picked up a kendama. Yes, we have an old wooden one but I never knew what it was called. Or that it was of Japanese origin. He was smooth and skillful at both the yo-yo and kendama!
If you want to learn how to yo-yo like Ky you can head on over to Shadyside on Sunday at noon and practice how to put your yo-yo into a “sleep” so you can attempt the tricks like Ky was demonstrating. Learn “looping”. Ky will be there teaching in the Yo-Yo/Skill Toy Club at S.W. Randall’s. I think I need to return with a video camera and you can understand how you had to keep your eye on Ky and the yo-yo or Ky and the kendama. Do you have any yo-yo tricks?
If You Need a Polish Platter
At the end of the Bloomfield Bridge, when I sat at the red light, I saw the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern in the snow.
The Polish Platter “Red” consists of
Pierogi, Kielbasa, Golabki, Haluski,
and Kluski
Open Mic Acoustic Night on Tuesdays at 9PM
I Drove Home in a Snow Globe
and of course, returned to the park. It’s just blocks from my house. And the light was low, the visibility poor. A stark and magnificent beauty in the midst of the storm.
What were the trees doing today? One day winter, one day Spring, one day freezing and dark, one day a warm sun but a chill in the wind. I wanted to see the branches outlined in snow. The dark branches highlighted with the new fallen snow. Actually, falling snow.
I was rewarded with a stunning winter scene, just before dusk.
It had started to snow while I was at school. The sky heavy and gray. Big big flakes. Melting on the street as it was 38 degrees. I drove home in a snow globe.
Oh yes, today I got out of the car, scared off a squirrel and photographed the snowy park bench and my favorite tree. The sounds muffled by the new snow, barely sticking to the road but highlighting the curved lines.
these are unretouched color photographs
Two roads diverged….
Home to tea. Homemade spaghetti and cheese, steamed broccoli. Leftover fortune cookie and a mandarin orange. Winter.
Winter Sun on a Chain Link Fence
The neighborhood of Bloomfield. 
Dog Walker and a Snowy Tree
Scroll down for the crop with the dog walker and his dogs in the distance. Didn’t see him when I shot the photo.
Another color photograph that looks black and white. Shot with a EF Canon 50mm 1.2L Lens- 500 ISO f/16, 125 shutter. Wish I had tried a few more settings at the time but wanted to get home.
Thursday the temperature is to be in the 50′s. Unusual fluctuation- one day twenties and snow and ice, another day about zero, now up to sixty?
Something feels off.
Old Trees New Trees on a Winter Path
After school I drove into Highland Park, right near my home. I’d taken a series of black and white photos for a film class years ago in this same spot and still have a print on my wall.
With the new snow today, I thought it might look interesting but the light was low and the sky thick and gray.
Found some new trees planted along the path, though.
I plan to return in the Spring.
There weren’t many dog walkers or walkers or runners or any activity in the park. The Super Playground deserted and covered with snow and ice. No bicycles. The fountain turned off. The reservoir a layer of ice. The sounds muffled with the snow, but barely a car driving around the circle today.
It’s in color but almost looks black and white.
Snowy Friday Afternoon in the City
It was snowing and really cold. I actually pulled over,got out of the car and took this pictureI. I was headed home from school on Friday.
The idea of going to the regular grocery store was out of the question although the larder was fairly empty. Had to stop somewhere.
I was in the Bloomfield neighborhood and decided to shop at Groceria Italiana and pick up some essentials.
When I got home I cooked the sweet and hot sausage and added the house sauce I had purchased. (Chicago John avert your eyes- if you click his name you get a recipe for homemade meat sauce)
A little fresh grated cheese and a glass of organic wine. Glad to be in a warm house and it tasted just fine! 
Snow in the door mat!
December’s Electric Bill?
Columbus Ohio. About two miles from Mark and Erika’s house. Erika drove the kids to see the lights. I propped the camera on the window and was able to catch it but a tripod and cable release would have been useful. Must be a lot of work to take down all the lights and decorations. holiday
City Rooftop Horsey
I’m sure there’s a great story behind the placement of this molded plastic creature, dangling from a wire frame atop a building!
You might remember, depending on how long you have been following the blog, that my friend Sally said that things come in threes.
And the day before that there was the horse of a different color. The post the day before that one was The Old Gray Mare (or stallion).
There was the steed left by a cowboy in an Arlington neighborhood alley, just like the one Chicago John rode as a kid.
And here is the latest one I caught yesterday as I sat in traffic in East Liberty and happened to see it up on the roof.
“Found” rocking horses or rocking horse heads in the city are a theme without my even realizing. Maybe someone is going around the city and placing them for me to find!
Here are the aforementioned horse sightings in the city cause let’s face it- who has time to return to old blogposts?
There are at Least 14 Ways to Spell It!
And here is an article explaining the most popular and the second most popular way to spell- Hanukkah or Chanukah? The Festival of Light.
Tuesday- the fourth night.
I was invited for potato latkes and the lighting of the Hanukkah candles at my friend’s house. We taught together these past 6 years until I moved to the high school this year. The first photo is her beautiful Menorah on the mantle. Her kids are grown up and out of town, too. She and her husband and I sat by there fire and then she lit the fourth candle. It gets dark so early now as we approach the shortest day of the year. The warmth of the fire and the glow from the colorful candles was lovely.
After we ate the latkes(served with sour cream and or applesauce) Ann lit the fourth candle.
We left for an adventure, traipsing around Squirrel Hill, Murray Avenue and Forbes. Up and down trying to decide where we should eat! At least it wasn’t raining. We had a nice evening, catching up on our families and school and mutual friends. When we walked by the Giant Eagle supermarket and a young man asked if we were Jewish and she said, yes and he asked if she had candles. Then we saw the table set up in front of the market with another young man cooking latkes on a griddle. They had applesauce available and their organization had a big sign on the Menorah. They told me they were “spreading light in the world.” I asked if it would be okay to blog them and they gathered to gather for a group shot. Pulled out the cell phone camera. Yep, my camera was back by Ann’s house in the back trunk of the car.
Thanks Ann for including me in the candle lighting and for taking me on a good healthy walk around the neighborhood to find the best dinner.
At the Grocery Store in the Meat Department. You Tell Me…..
The grocery store was packed and sales brisk, everyone stocking up on water, milk,bread. Batteries. Toilet paper.
Lots of shoppers dressed up from church and all the store workers sporting black and gold for the Steelers game that was about to start. Carts filled with chips and dip for the football game today, in addition to preparation for the impending storm. The high winds are to start tomorrow.
The power not affected yet.
Later at the gas station I saw a man at the next pump filling huge gas cans for his generator.
BUT as I walked through the meat department looking for the rest of my family, this is what I saw on the floor.
There was no one to ask what this was or why.
A display gone wrong? Deflated? Someone practicing balloon art on break? You tell me.
Sculptor Paul Roger-Bloche Mother and Child Statue
On the way back from getting coffee with a colleague last Thursday, before the evening session of Open House, S. showed me this statue. Today I returned to photograph it in the sinking October sunlight.
As I drove home, I was thinking about a mother’s love for her child after spending a little time photographing the sculpture.
One block from school - Paul Roger-Bloche bronze sculpture,
L’Enfant,
created 1899.
Overbrook Boulevard and Ravilla Street intersection.
Here’s a link to the story about how Boy Scout Troop 224 rediscovered this statue beneath vegetation, when just the head was showing through. 
Art Car Show in Garfield on Penn
Friday night I read about the Art Car Show in an article in the Post-Gazette. At this show, there weren’t any cars like the Art Car in Columbus OH I posted a couple of years ago.
Steve and I ventured out Saturday afternoon and what started out as a gray, dark day became perfect
First, we met George and his 1973 VW Thing. He came when the weather was good as his vehicle has no roof! Made in West Germany and customized in Redondo CA, he bought it in Indiana and told me his goal is to have every car he thought was cool when he was a kid. He has five cars and I should have asked him what the other four were but that question will have to wait for the Oktoberfest Car Show at the old VW Factory in Westmoreland next Sunday, October 14th.
Jason Sauer of Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery was the host of the event and showed me his demolition car named DOA and “that’s what it is” he said,”Dead!” That is why it was covered with a white sheet!
Parts of it have been torched out of the body and grace his Art Gallery walls and there is even a car pieces wind chime hanging from the tin ceiling of the gallery. He was the host for the day. He was at an event in Texas and had Xerox Most Wanted signs and people posed for the piece you see on the gallery wall. All the photos are on the trunk of a car, hanging on the gallery wall and the participants tagged themselves on FB.
Sam Thorp posed by the van she painted.
Steve bought a psychology book at Awesome Books a few doors down and he pointed out the giant sleeping cat in the front of the bookstore. We had fun in Garfield Saturday afternoon.
City Pumpkins and Bicycles
Lots of people head to the farm stand or the farmer’s market or even the Giant Eagle to get a pumpkin.
A bit rainy today but what a colorful surprise to see pumpkins on display on Carson Street in the South Side. School had a day off for the observance of Yom Kippur so I made good use of a midweek vacation day. I was on my way to see my printer, Tom, so couldn’t stop but swung around and parked briefly, got out and crossed the street. The bus with the bicycle was a bonus in one of the shots. I liked the double yellow lines and the bumper converging and the repeat of the bicycle on the bus AND in front of the Hardware Store. Next time I am going in the hardware store but I had a lot of errands to run so didn’t make time today. Next time!
About to Pop and Professional Wrestling on Grant Avenue
You might remember the post where I wrote how I knew I should ALWAYS carry my camera with me. ALWAYS
Friday night Steve asked if I wanted to grab a bite to eat. It was a long day at school. Sure.
We drove down to Park Brugges and the line was out the door. Plan B. We drove to BRGR and at least a 1/2 hour wait. Spoon, no reservation? A table might open up at nine. Okay.
Plan C. Let’s drive to Millvale and eat at Grant Avenue Bar.
We got to the front of the place and it was Millvale Days! Who knew? There was a wrestling ring and ropes and a referee and oh my goodness a Ferris Wheel and games and booths and bands and people. People all over the place. Snack stands and cotton candy trailers and NO camera. Well the phone.
We walked around and of course, I’d left my camera in my school bag. At home. Oh no.
These were shot with an iPhone with about 13% battery left.
I Swear This ’57 Chevy Has a Face
(At least I think it’s a 1957 from the images I could find on google.
If you think I’m wrong, let me know)
You can see why they made the Pixar movie CARS. Two eyes and a nose and a mouth are perfect and lend themselves to being humanized, animated and given the ability to talk.
Just in case you need a little something to keep you busy on weekends.
It’s only a mile from my house and I keep seeing her look at me when I drive by. Cars are female, right? Like boats? (Except in the movie CARS there are a lot of guy cars) But do you still hear comments like, “She’s a real beaut!” or ” I got her up about seventy on the straightaway.” when referring to a car. How did boats and cars get designated female and is that something old fashioned that is totally out of style? Here’s some debate I was able to find on the subject at English Forums.
Shammy and Sean at the Corn Festival
Last Saturday I went to the Carrick Corn Festival at Phillips Park, across the street from the high school where I’d just started my new position (digital photography teacher) the day before. Our principal had invited us to attend and get to know the community plus it was a chance to see the Marching Band perform and shoot some photos of the event. There were Irish Step Dancers and Bhutanese Dancers and I’ve quite a few views of the corn being shucked and boiled, dripping in butter but this is the photo of the day.
At one of the booths, this man was writing people’s names and telling their meaning. I asked if I could photograph his dog (Shammy) who was by his side with a bowl of water on the grass. Sean told me that I should have seen her at the St. Patrick’s Day parade and he shared some snaps of her in her outfit. Here he’s picked her up for another pose. Even though I was short on cash, this generous gentleman wrote the meaning of my name Ruth (a friend to all) on the back of a prayer card, using a calligraphy pen in neat writing.
Not just any prayer card but the patron saint of photographers.
He’d asked me if I knew who the patron saint of photographers was and I ‘d no idea.
He told me the story of St. Veronica and her capturing the image of Jesus’ face in the cloth she offered to him.
Receiving this unexpected gift felt like a special blessing at the start of of the new school year. Thank you Sean.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wrong
A flag in tatters. Montclair, New Jersey. Corner of Claremont and Valley Road. A revolutionary marker at the site commemorating George Washington’s Temporary Headquarters.
Parking on the wrong side of the street, going the opposite direction of traffic. Some neighborhoods ticket for this offense.
No Cardboard (you may have seen this one before)
No Parking in New York City. Just over the line.
Looks like the light is red but perhaps it was flashing
Green Eggs. And other interpretations for this week’s photo challenge may be seen here
Classic Cars – Grand Parade- Kick Off St. Raphael’s Bazaar
A police car. The Bomb Squad. A trolley. About 8 classic cars. Catch some candy and Mardi Gras beads. The Boy Scouts marched, then a Bagpipe and Drum group, the Morningside Cheerleaders.We had a lot of fun watching the parade in the Morningside neighborhood, not too far from home.
We went to the festival and the man in the information booth was a colleague from the first school I taught in the city -1989. Small world. We had a lot of fun and the grandkids loved the spin art and crafts in the Kid Zone. They loved jumping the bouncy house.
On the way home we drove to Giant Eagle and got ice cream and cones to eat at home. Fresh berries. Summer!
Scroll down for the slideshow.
I Begged My Mother to Buy It When I Was a Kid
My mother was into homemade whole wheat bread with wheat germ added. She’d scald milk, boil water, crumble a cake of yeast. Knead and knead, place it in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel, let rise, punch it down, rest – then shape the loaves.
Let them rise again. this time in battered aluminum bread pans covered lightly with waxed paper.
The aroma filled the house and after it was baked we’d eat a slice with butter and honey when it was still warm.
What I would give to have my mother make a couple of loaves again, turn them out of the greased bread pans. Saw off a slice with a serrated edge.
But when I was a kid, I saw a big white truck with red and yellow and bright blue balloons all over it. WONDER BREAD. I wanted my mother to buy WONDER BREAD. I’d eaten it somewhere and was fascinated you could roll it into a ball! Hard to believe but true. I begged my mother to buy WONDER BREAD. Oh how I longed for the colorful balloons on the wrapper.
Embarrassing to admit, but true.
She never did.
I saw this sign by the abandoned Wonder Bread Bakery in Columbus OH. ( click to read about construction of Wonder Bread LOFTS that started four days ago)
You can see the height by the telephone pole and building top.
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