Month: April 2011

FDNY- Ten House Across the Street from World Trade Center

There's a plaque on the face of the engine house with the 9/11 fallen heroes faces and names in bronze.

“Still Standing”.  The Seagrave Truck made in Clintonville, Wisconsin has an amazing story on the Ten House website.  On the side of the building is the Bronze 9/11 Memorial Wall.  The garage door was open part way.

You see the new World Trade Center rising high out of the construction site.
There must be a hundred cranes.
Around the corner the 9/11 Memorial Wall.
Mary said someone from Hawaii must have been there-
a dozen leis dangling from the tripod that held a wreath.
Lots of people from all over the world,  taking photos.
It started to rain.
by Categories: Light in the City, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Zest of an Orange

Used a kitchen plane to get the zest of an orange for an orange walnut torte.
The scent of the freshly grated rind is familiar and refreshing.

You don’t really need to see the photo when you read the title

cause you can imagine a scratch and sniff-  zest of an orange!.
(First time posting directly through the phone.)

20110419-120650.jpg

by Categories: Cooking and EatingTags: , , , 9 Comments

Foot High Tower of Onion Rings

The  last couple of days has been lovely eggplants and inviting mangoes still-lifes.  Time to shake things up.  Cowgirl Restaurant offers a FOOT high tower of onion rings on their menu.  Mary suggested it for a starter. The party of 5 at the adjoining table ordered one, too.  The tower is reminiscent of the kids’ game Ring Toss or those stacking towers of graduated size doughnut rings on the white base. When it’s brought to the table, other diners can’t help but stare and there’s an audible response as they watch it served.  There are healthier choices available- corn chips and blackeyed peas salsa or the “made fresh twice daily” guacamole with onions, garlic, cilantro and lime juice. Someone had a birthday celebration and you should have heard the giant triangle being stuck repeatedly to get everyone to sing.  No room for dessert- no peach blueberry cobbler , no lemon meringue pie  but one of their specialties is

Cowgirl’s Original Ice Cream Baked Potato 
vanilla ice cream shaped like a big ol’ spud, dusted in cocoa and topped
with loads of hot fudge, chopped pecans, whipped cream and a little pat of butter (frosting.)


by Categories: Cooking and EatingTags: , , , , 10 Comments

Mangoes Ripening Still Life

Waiting for just the right moment.  Going to be mixed with fresh strawberries and served on Orange Granita.

Ripe

A simple bowl.
Tiles from Turkey.
Placed on a wide window sill.
Three mangos/mangoes sit.
The produce man asked,
“When do you want to eat them?”
as you make your purchase
on a Monday
at the stand.
“These will be ready
by Friday” he says
with authority.
(Almost.)

by Categories: Cooking and EatingTags: , , , , , , , 8 Comments

Eggplant Still Life

Three varieties. White. Striated and regular.  They are going to be roasted at 500 degrees for 45 minutes. The insides scraped out after they cool.  Four pounds worth.  Then the oven reduced to 350 and the flesh mixed with 2 eggs, 8 0unces of feta cheese and one cup of grated Gruyere, 5 T of sunflower oil and a bit more for the baking dish.  4 T of matzoh meal. Mix together and bake for an hour.  Drizzle top with a bit of the oil.  The recipe from the New York Times Food column by Molly O’Neill March 30. 1997, Almodrotoe de Berengena (Turkish Eggplant Flan)

Aubergine

The names of color.
Apricot, peach, claret, sky blue.
Lavender, eggshell, all names of a hue.
Four pounds of eggplant, waiting to be roasted.
by Categories: Cooking and EatingTags: , , , , , , , 8 Comments

I Used to Live on a Tree Lined Street

Lucille tells me farmer wisdom says “You have to have a really good reason to cut down a tree.” More than 100 years old and felled in less than two hours.  I thought about avoiding the stump, the empty space.  But I felt it important to pay my respects. The “Gentle Giant” has retired all right.  (click to see the tree before the removal) Chopped up in the chipper in no time flat.  A sad day for Heberton Street.  A loss of shade, beauty and grace.  A life. Another living thing, come to the end of its life. With help from the tree men, the city and the diagnosis of canker.  Beth reminds me that we all become soil or dust.  It is part of the cycle of life.  Here was my reminder today.

Change

My friend T says the only guarantee is change.
And lots of it.
Takes time to familiarize oneself
to the constant in our lives.
Change.
Maybe as I get older
it’s harder to accept?
Or I notice an increase in the amount.
Steve knows about planetary motion.
Explained how fast we are traveling
each second
as earth rotates and orbits around the sun.

Ouch. Just makes me sad.
by Categories: PhotographyTags: , , , , , , 9 Comments

How to Get Kids to Look at the Camera Lens

Before last night I’d never even  heard of a Shutterpal, nor did I know I needed one!  I think it is going to be great!    I have four grandchildren 2-7 years old and getting their attention simultaneously is tricky.  I think this monkey dangling from my camera lens is going to be key in getting some fun photos.   Using a Beanie Babies® Socks the Monkey ($4.99), I created a Shutterpal. (click to see the B is for Boy Blog Tutorial with more detailed directions and photos by a cool mom)   Won’t need to jingle keys or squeak a squeaky toy to get the baby to look at me when I want to photograph. Laura sent me the  link on how to do it but I did it the easy way, without a sewing machine. I did use the suggested seam ripper and a pair of really sharp sewing scissors to open the back seam and empty the stuffing and beans from the torso section of the little guy.  I cut out the entire circle of the lens cap right up to his seams all around the torso section.    Then I stitched all around the circular hole.  Added a red potholder loop as stretchy binding to finish off the raw edge and stitched it on with buttonhole thread.  Now I need to go and visit the grandchildren and try it out!! True you don’t always want them to look directly at the camera but with the four grandchildren I am thinking this will be a good solution.  Maybe I can do a fun monkey voice.  It is always great when the other grandmother is there to get their attention when we are doing the more formal posed ready-for-church-dressed-in-our-best shots.

The camera lens goes right through the monkey!
Here you can see the empty torso with the potholder loop sewn around

This is not for Everyone

Won’t work with a point-and-shoot
but Laura sent me this DIY link.
Saw it and thought of me.
She knows how frustrating it can be.
For the times when you want to capture
a baby and/or toddler’s attention.
She  inspired me to be creative.

by Categories: Childhood, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , 8 Comments

Can Someone Explain Lawn Balls?

Photographed with the iPhone A Neighbor's Lawn Ball

I can see myself photographing the lawn ball, in the lawn ball’s reflection.   When I “googled” origin of the Lawn Ball it insisted I was asking about Lawn Bowls and Lawn Bowling. Not.

Maybe I don’t have the correct  terminology for this yard art, garden ornamentation, lawn decor.  There must be something about them that draws me in.  I’ve been thinking about who made the first lawn ball and how the idea came to him ( or her).  Placed on a pedestal, watching the clouds roll by on the curved surface.

Amy writes it is a Gazing Ball   Going to look it up. See her comment below for the lnk.

also called a Yard Globe or a Gazing Globe


Adding to Nature’s Beauty

A statement,
a center piece
placed on a pedestal.
I stare at it
photograph it.
Wonder how it came to be.

by Categories: Light in the City, PhotographyTags: , , , , 10 Comments

Paints in Muffin Tins- A Still Life

from the archives Click here and checkout the Royal Wedding Towel from 1981 on Keep or Pitch today

Paints in Muffin Tins

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Thanks for the well wishes
and emails. I’m coming along.
Today is one from the archives.
Reminds me of an abstract painting
on a museum wall.

by Categories: Art, PhotographyTags: , , , , , 8 Comments

The Ceramic Squirrel Family Made Freshly Pressed Page today

Exciting to be selected as one of the top ten blogs today on Freshly Pressed (by WordPress)  Click to see what all the fuss is about

The Ceramic Squirrel Family- Everyone says PITCH!!
by Categories: photo of the day, ThingsTags: , , , 1 Comment