Month: October 2018

Halloween in Ohio

This morning it started at Halloween Storytime at the Clintonville Whetstone Library.

Charlie wore his astronaut costume and after the songs and stories the kids got treats from different stations in the library. The first was at the RETURNS slots. Stick you hand in and get a treat!   I thought that was so creative.  Then you had to know where to find the Shark books.  There was a shark passing out festive Snoopy and Great Pumpkin pencils.  There were so many cute and creative costumes but I try to not photograph children I don’t know so it looks like Charlie was on his own which was not the case.

 

 

 

Later Charlie wore a BumbleBee Transformer costume his Dad created from cardboard and duct tape. It was a lot of hard work but came out great.   It was fully operational and folded so Charlie could transform from a car to a Bot.  The neighbors had a mask Charlie could borrow.  Laura passed out the treats.  Their neighbors dog, Hudson sported a HOT DOG costume.

 

At 6:30 I got in the car for the 15 mile drive to Mark and Erika’s to photograph my four grandkids. It was dark and rainy by the time I arrived.  Michael was inside the house taking a break….scary mask.  And then I found Maura the unicorn her friend, a deer and and tried to capture them Trick or Treating.  No flash to be had.  Anna was at swimming practice and didn’t get home until after 8.  Jack was a soldier and all the kids gave me their Almond Joys cause they aren’t keen on them and they know I like them!

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Maura Made an Ohio Welcome Just for Me

Tuesday morning I drove out to Columbus to visit the family.(ies) Halloween I’ll split my time between both families so I can photograph everyone in their costumes. We won’t let the predicted rain prevent the photography.

Here’s what I found when I arrived.

Maura collected the sock monkeys (I didn’t make the giant one or the ones sporting Ohio State or U of Florida hoodies)

And all her knitting projects and yarn AND a jumbo size box of Cheez-its. Mmmmmm. My favorites. (No judgment please)

My grandma name is Froo Froo Ruthie thanks to Anna now 15.

Thanks Maura for the festive welcome. Love that you created this happy scene for me to find upon my arrival. Xxoo❤️❤️❤️

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Pittsburgh Mourning

One minute video of a flag flying at half-mast in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania today

Corner of Baum Boulevard and Liberty Ave.

Remembering the eleven congregants who died at Tree of Life Synagogue.

Praying for those injured, that they may heal and recover.

Grateful to the brave men and women who responded, risking their lives to save others.

Hopeful this tragic event can somehow strengthen our community spirit and encourage us to be kind to all.

From Google search to see whether it should be half-staff or half-mast

“Half-mast or half-staff refers to a flag flying below the summit on a pole. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salute. … The tradition of flying the flag at half-mast began in the 17th century.”

I do remember the flag is raised to the top of the flag pole and then lowered down to half way. At then end of the day it is to be raised to the top of the pole again and then lowered. For more information about when and how to fly the flag

click U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

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Attention Knitters: Tree of Life Afghan Project

Pittsburgh at Night

Although I took the above photo in July.  I read that our beautiful city is bathed in blue light tonight, remembering the eleven victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. The city is grateful to the first responders and everyone who gathered in to help.

Tonight there was an Interfaith Memorial Service.  There aren’t words to describe the emotions experienced in response to this horrific tragedy. Many friends and family around the globe have written or called to express sympathy and concern. Lighting candles, praying, keeping us in their hearts.

Attention Knitters –

Reposted from Yarns by Design-  

“In the aftermath of the horrors at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh many of you are wondering how you can help.

Our instructor Vanessa has started a Tree of Life Afghan Project. Over the next several weeks, she will be knitting and collecting squares to assemble into an afghan (or 2, or 20) to give to the Tree of Life Synagogue.” 

click link for Tree of Life Pattern to knit a square “To make the square, I took one of the tree twins from Nikki Epstein’s Tree of Life Afghan and framed it in seed/moss stitch.  I will include the chart here and the pattern errata I encountered.  That said, feel free to do your own thing.  There are plenty of tree of life designs available on Ravelry.  Leaves, hearts, or expressions of the Jewish faith would also be lovely. If you are a beginning knitter, plain squares in a color that speaks to you would also be very welcome.  The only restrictions are the square size mentioned above and the yarn weight, so the afghan forms a consistent fabric.  Each square needs to be 9 in horizontally and 8.5 in vertically.  Check your gauge!

Yarns by Design, local knitting store, in Oakmont is sponsoring a Tree of Life Afghan Project  (Click for link to pattern)   It is posted in the Forum tab –  Yarns by Design Group on Ravelry.

Drop off  or mail to store
Yarns by Design 622 Allegheny River Blvd
Oakmont PA 15139

Local yarn store Yarns by Design  has generously agreed to host this effort and will be collecting squares and donating their time and experience to help assemble the afghans.  You are more than welcome to drop your squares off there, as well.

If you have any questions, please let me know; 
Attn: Vanessa 
instructors@yarnsbydesignpa.com

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Wash Separately Even After Six Years

Wash separately even after six years. My six word Saturday post.

These are handknit socks I made at least six years ago and they still turn the water pink every time.

 

 

When I was a kid, my mother called a red flannel nightgown that bled in the wash “a sinner”.

Have you ever had a laundry disaster with a color item that ran onto light items?

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Bloomfield Halloween Parade

A gallery from Thursday evening’s Halloween Parade in the Bloomfield neighborhood, Pittsburgh PA.  One officer said they expected a crowd of ten thousand lining the parade route down Liberty Avenue.  It was chilly.  The little ones dressed up in costumes, so cute, thrilled to catch candy and treats thrown from the convertibles and others walking. I saw lots of unicorns!  All sizes.

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A Bodhi Wind Original

Here is my friend Vincie in my living room, holding a Bodhi Wind original portrait painted in 1965,  She had just picked it up from the framer’s where Jennifer Panza had helped her select the frame and matting. Vincie brought it in and we unwrapped it so I could admire the framed portrait.  I’d gone with her to help get it framed, weeks ago.

It’s a really good story.

Five years ago last April, I posted about the Extraordinary Art of Bodhi Wind  

In that post I wrote about my friend Steve reading an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette by Joe Smydo about what to do with the artwork of an artist who had passed away. When he read the article, he kept asking me if my friend Vincie knew Bodhi Wind since he’d graduated from her alma mater, Perry High School.  After a couple of weeks of him asking if I had checked with Vincie if she knew Bodhi Wind,  I finally remembered to ask her.  “Vincie, Steve has been on my case to ask you if you knew a Bodhi Wind who graduated from Perry High School who was an actor in LA”.

Steve had mentioned the murals Bodhi Wind painted for the Robert Altman film 3 Women  No, she didn’t know him.

(Here is a NYTimes article about The Man Who Painted Robert Altman’s 3 Women by Jennifer Dunning. )

So a few days later the three of us are in the car and it comes up again.

Steve is determined.  Asks Vincie himself.  Turns out I messed up by asking about an actor when I should have inquired about an artist.

When we got home, Steve got on the computer upstairs and called Vincie to come and read the article.  And there was the missing clue.  Bodhi Wind had changed his name.  For more information it said to contact his mother Mrs. Kuklis.  Vincie said, yes, she knew him.  Yes, Vincie and Charles (Chip) Kuklis not only went to High School at Perry together but they were classmates in elementary school.  Steve was insistent that she must have known him and not only did she know him but they were very good friends in elementary school, too.

This past August, Vincie and her friend Maribeth were attending their 50th Perry High School Reunion. Over the reunion weekend, the two of them went to visit Mrs. Kuklis at her home.  Her granddaughter helped show them her Uncle’s artwork but before they looked at the work,  they sat in the living room.  Vincie said that Chip had painted her portrait when they were in high school.  Mrs. Kuklis said “I have it.”

Not only did his mother have the portrait he painted of Vincie in high school,  Mrs. Kuklis had set in out on a special chair for Vincie to see, and Mrs. Kuklis asked Vincie if she would like to have it. Oh my!

What a gift!

Vince wth the original portrait of herself, painted by her childhood friend- Bodhi Wind/Chip Kuklis.  You can see his signature and the date 1965 

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Guest Blog “Ruth at Work”

I received the loveliest email from a nice knitter from Texas whom I met in Norway.

We traveled together on the Arne and Carlos Knitting Cruise.  She attached a photo of me on the deck of the M/S Finnmarken, shooting the Norwegian coastal  vista with my phone. Norway is a beautiful country.

I didn’t even know she took it. Turns out she’d also checked out my blog site when she got home and saw the People at Work series from last July’s show.

So she titled it “Ruth at Work”  Thanks Becky.

Photo by Becky Weaver 

NorwegianCruise

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