I wonder what this job would be like? I wish I had purchased a wood carving but the one on display was so large. This is from a summer visit to Croatia. As I remember this village was in Istria but I can’t remember which one it was.
Walking along Carson Street on the South Side, a slight movement caught my eye. I stopped. The man on the phone looked up.
I “asked” if I could take a picture with mime-like camera, he gave a nod yes, went back to his phone as I fumbled in my bag for my real camera, not my iPhone. Had the settings wrong, took another one quick. Got his attention and acted like I was typing, conveying I would email it as I hurried back to my car across the street. I was thinking about the cookie jars in the second hand store across from the post office but I felt this was the shot of the day!
Time for a new oven…..
And stove. (from Perla’s Appliance Plus Maytag Repairman statue post yesterday)
It was time! Past time. It actually went kaput the day before the cookie bake off in December. Fortunately Erika’s Uncle and Aunt own the appliance store and they came right over to deliver on a SUNDAY!
This model certainly livens up the old kitchen. And matches the range hood.
I felt a little sad about discarding the one my parents had bought when we moved into this house in ’91. But it wasn’t reliable anymore. Who knows how many meals I cooked for the kids on that one. A lot!
This one looks “high end” to me. But it’s not. (Well, from afar it does to the untrained eye)
The stainless finish is an update from the white enamel and black top. Those burners seem so flimsy compared to these cast iron ones.
My sister had just given me an oven thermometer after her visit here in the fall. She knew something was wrong. My signature cookies had to be pitched as the insides weren’t baked.
This is my justification for the splurge. I think it will inspire me to cook more!
Not sure why all the blue reflection but took this with the iPhone as I made breakfast. Seemed worthy of a post as it is what is happening in my life these days. Now to learn more about a convection oven.
There’s a bronze statue of an unemployed Maytag repairman in Newtown Iowa where they manufactured Maytag washing machines. Here is another view of the same statue in the snow. I was in Perla’s Appliances Plus Store in Swissvale, picking up a grill plate for my new stove they delivered last week and saw this statue of the lonely Maytag repairman. Turns out there are other figurines of the same theme in existence and are popular collectibles. I asked to blog it and they said fine by them, thank you! Do you remember Jesse White the character actor who first played the Maytag Repairman in a commercial in 1967?? There is a Youtube video of a Maytag Museum in Eaton CO if you want to see the collections of washing machines, some powered by gasoline and one actually has a meat grinder attachment. Wringers, rollers, drums, agitators, tubs, automatics and rack and pinion gearing, motors and spin cycles. But since the Maytag needed so few repairs, their authorized repairman was taught to carry a deck of cards to play solitaire as he was called so infrequently! 
Just when I thought the Weekly Photo Challenge was over as 2011 ended….it’s NOT! This shot from my 2010 archives. No flash. Taken with morning’s available light, in the family living room. His mom is getting out of the way as she has just taped up the flaps.
Launch conjures up outer space in my mind, a launch pad– although I feel proud all three of my children and grown and launched.
Here’s Michael, patiently waiting for lift off. He sure loves empty boxes. The costume a Stormtrooper from Star Wars (Clone Wars?) but in this case it’s an astronaut. You saw Michael just after Christmas in another empty box (here if you missed it)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1……………..
And if you go to this link you can see other bloggers’ responses to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Launch
Their links are in the comments section plus you can see the example photo of hot air balloons shown to inspire our responses to the challenge. Always an interesting variety of interpretations to the challenge and many excellent photographers’ work.
From the archives. Three Magi. Apple boxes. Found the apple packing and storing company listing.
Was reading about the dismantling of the Christmas stuff at my son’s in Ohio and knew it was Twelfth Night and the end of Christmas. This photo came to mind. The three kings, Epiphany. Bearing gifts. Traveling so far.
These are the big wooden boxes used when the apples are picked in the orchard. You can see them stacked up in tall piles as you drive around this part of the country. You get a new appreciation for the effort it takes to grow fruit. These three apple boxes were just placed like this along the path where we’d walk the dogs.
Wylie Avenue view of the city skyline in my mirror. I was pulled over to the curb.
The last of the light on our first real winter afternoon- snow, icy roads, dropping temps. I was headed home.
Read Guest Blogger Theresa of Third Hand Art –
Flat Ruthie/ Cardboard Me Travels is in Independence Missouri click here to see her photos
Sunday, a beautiful box of homemade molasses cookies was left on my doorstep. My friend Steve brought them into the house. The sugar on the cracked tops is the fancy kind. I drove back from Ohio Monday night. Ate a couple with some hot tea. Mmmmmmmmm! Reminded me of the cookies my mother used to bake.
I have called three friends to ask if they are the one who dropped off these delicious cookies. My friend V said that another friend came to her mind when I told her I didn’t know who made them. I called.
Wasn’t her either!
Most people knew I was away with the family. But maybe they thought I was driving back Sunday night?
As I look at the yearly summary, I found that only four of the most hit upon posts out of the top ten were actually posted in 2011. I am not sure what this means except there are a lot of searches for disco balls, burnt almond torte, furry convention and city rooftops at night.
1. Wordpress sent out a report on my 2011 year in Blogging and my top post of the year was the one I posted for my son’s birthday. He’s a grown up man, married with four children of his own(see Zoo Lights post if you didn’t already) but when he was a little boy he had a wish that remained unfilled until last May. I can tell by his expression how surprised and delighted he was when he opened his gift. Sometimes parents can’t realize how important certain things are to a child and I certainly felt bad when I would hear occasionally how he ALWAYS wanted this Millennium Falcon but didn’t get it, usually when he and his brother were together and they reminisced about growing up.
If you want to read the rest of the story click here
Thanks to Phil, who owns Where The Toys Are Canonsburg PA! 
2. The second most viewed post this year is those furries that show up every year for a big furry convention in Pittsburgh. I just happened to stumble upon them when I was going to a gallery in a downtown hotel. This post was first posted in 2010 and yet it gets hits every week.
3. And the disco ball image. Go figure. Almost EVERY day someone hits on this disco ball/mirror ball reflection. I shot it at wedding (the couple now has a darling baby girl) and it looks retro but is not. Here is that image. Should I be concerned that some of my top hits are from different years than 2011? This is from 2009! Why do people search for “disco ball“?
4. And the next most popular every week is New York City Rooftops at Night.
This was posted in 2009 as well.
5. The Pug Guard Dog in a Shadyside store got linked and hit from Tina (Pug owner/lover) at Carrots ‘N’ Cake blog
6. Copy Cat Recipe for BurntAlmond Torte gets weekly hits and adds up to the 6th most hit upon for the year
7. The Bookshelf (most controversial on reddit.com) single most hit upon in one day over 18,000 hits!!!
8. And the Tenth Street Bridge lit up at night for the Tom Cruise Movie
9. The ninth most hit upon post in 2011 is a tribute to my cousin Lori Lynn Baur Meli. She touched a lot of lives as her name still comes up in searches. She fought a valiant battle with breast cancer. Her husband Fredi just became an American citizen recently.
10. The tenth most hit upon post from this year was
Open Letter to Shiny Buick Man
