Button, Button, Whose Got the Button? ( & Bridal Veils, too!)

1700 Carson Street is the home of a great button store.  It fascinates me-  Parker Button. Boxes and boxes stacked from floor to ceiling.   All colors, shapes and sizes.  Like an artist’s palette.  Shank or flat. Frogs and belt buckles. Ribbon and trim. Spools of thread to sew them all on for utility or ornamentation. My mother had a glass jar full of buttons.  My sister made me the coolest necklace from vintage mother-of-pearl shirt buttons, strung onto embroidery floss. Do you have any clothing missing a button?

The other half of  the shop is Clarissa’s Boutique .   One word to describe the bridal veils, jewelry and accessories for custom headpieces and wedding necessities-  exquisite? lovely? classic? ethereal?  They will create a custom headpiece for you but allow three months.  Feathers, flowers, jewels, or pearls.       Voted the Best of the Knot for weddings 2011.

These Days Buttons are Often a Part of Web Design

Or people push our buttons.
Press the button to call the elevator
or select your floor.
Today’s post is the old fashioned kind.
Two-hole, four-hole or shank.
Metal, plastic, shell or bone.
Beatrix Potter shapes of rabbits.
When was the last time you sewed on a button?

Today marks 500 blog posts and counting!

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Growing up we had a record with the song ( these lyrics are from 1929)

Button up your overcoat, When the wind is free, Oh, take good care of yourself, You belong to me! Eat an apple every day, Get to bed by three, Oh, take good care of yourself, You belong to me! Be careful crossing streets, ooh-ooh, Cut out sweets, ooh-ooh, Lay off meat, ooh-ooh, You'll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum! 

The Carnegie Museum Fountains in Winter

Shooting a color photo that looks black and white is fun.  These pods looked chilly and the sounds of the water splashing gave a shiver right under my wool coat and scarf.

Ever watch kids play in fountains
in the summer months?
Not the day I shot this photograph/
and I doubt kids play in these
or if they do, I’m sure not for long.
Vigilant museum guards would
come out and put a halt to any splashing

February 1st after lunch on Professional Development Day.

Check out Keep or Pitch and vote today!

Steelers’ Family Preparations- Pittsburgh and Beyond

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See Maura two years ago dressed for Super Bowl 43 and now at two years + @ the piano bench,  Steelers hat by her side, ready for Super Bowl 45.              Not my house- the mansion of Fifth Ave. with the huge gold and black banners on the porch at night.

And a friend at work, Ann and I, decided to knit  obsessively and make four Steelers hats. Used a double strand of Cascade Superwash 220.  I mailed mine to the grandchildren but forget trying to get a photo. We had fun trying.  I think.

Sue B made the yellow pepper black olive topped salad for the AFC championship game and the cake was as Black and Gold as I could get it.  No one would eat a licorice cake.  A Brown Mountain cake (recipe) from Farm Journal with classic buttercream icing.    No buttermilk in the house so I soured the milk with a T of vinegar and it tasted fine.

Smiley Cookies are from Eat ‘n Park and they were on the sign-in counter so weren’t consumed by me.

Mark has a Steelers flag to fly in the daylight and a blanket to keep warm and an Official Terrible Towel.

The last shot is the snowfall today.  Hear there has been snow in Texas too. Thanks everyone near and far for the well wishes. And for putting up with the hoopla if you are a diehard Packers’ fan. (luv ya Rob)

A Longest Day

Sunday. Some things to cook.
We’ll wait for the game to begin.
Today a snowfall and weather reports.
I think I’ll knit one more hat!
The act of knitting reduces anxiety.

‘Twas the Night Before Superbowl, Fans Asleep in Their Beds-Visions of a 7th Ring, Float in Their Heads

But not overconfident. Just hopeful.  And the Packers fans are dreaming the same vision I’m sure.  (Actually photographed Thursday night Feb 3rd.)

Settling Down for a Long Winter’s Nap

And then you turn on the TV-
warm up
for the big game.
Have to wait all weekend long.
A two hour delay for Monday–
school, already called!

View of Homestead Over the Mon

Heard Giant Eagle was packed and fans are loading up their carts with salsa, ribs and Tostitos and chips.   Iron City and Yuengling, some Penn Pilsner at the Beer Distributor– you can’t purchase beer in the grocery store in Pennsylvania.  Fans are careful to follow rituals and are aware that their actions might jinx the outcome. Some can’t stand to watch.

By the (Ominous) Dawn’s Early Light

On the way to school, a bus stops. Traffic stops. I take a photo of the scene. One streetlight on, one streetlight off.

A massive cloud–
a golden light
The school bus’s red lights
Everyone stops.
The dawn reflected
in street signs.

Groundhog Sports Black and Gold Beads

Happy Groundhog’s Day. A friend sent an email of a groundhog finding a Lombardi trophy as a shadow.

You can click here for all the serious information from the official website in Punxsutawney PA.

I hear there are some competitors around the country but Phil lives close by ….   “If Candlemas be fair and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.”       or this poem from Wikipedia “In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

not sure about the shadow. Will find out in the morning. Spring or more winter?
One year(1990) my sister and I went to Punxsutawney to see Phil the groundhog. Pre-Groundhog Day movie.

Nike the Service Dog, Named For Greek Goddess of Strength, Speed & Victory

A gentle spirit, kind eyes.
She travels to nursing homes
makes people smile. Feel better.
Especially Ms. P’s first grade Friday!
Ms. P’s class had a visitor today.  The Art Room is just across the hall. Lucky me!
Email Kirk Sciarretti to arrange a visit- kasciarretti@live.com

Whose Chairs?

A recurring theme around the city as I travel between schools-  I see chairs.  The chairs make me wonder about the owners, their usual occupants.  Somewhere in my hard drive I’ve a photo of a high chair near the curb, waiting for pick-up.  Chairs have a personality of their own. I love to hear the names of different types of chairs, each evoke an image- wing chair, ladderback, Windsor or Eames. Lawn chair, rocking chair, lounge or arm.  High chair, club chair, captain chair, molded plastic, patio or kitchen chair.  School chairs are not particularly comfortable. Kids love the rolling ones on wheels. Folding, stackable, side chair or throne.  Where do you sit?

Everyone has a chair.
Some more comfortable than others.
What kind of chair do you prefer?
As always,
Two yellow chairs and a gray one on Evaline Street. Yellow curb peeking through the snow.

Peter King to Open for Jeffrey Gaines-Feb 26th-7 PM-Club Cafe Pittsburgh

Peter King on guitar at the coffee/ice cream shop on Saturday afternoon.

Aspinwall Beans “N” Cream was the scene last Saturday.  Cool decor, lots of record album covers and posters and photos and Beatles memorabilia adorn the walls of the coffee house. Fun to watch a lava lamp in the corner.  Peter added an expertly played instrumental combining three classic jig and reel tunes, complete with an occasional foot tap that made one want to get up and dance along to the beat. Peter invited harmonica player Marc Reisman to join him onstage for a few numbers and the two paired nicely.  Peter will open for singer-songwriter Jeffrey Gaines, whom the Chicago Tribune calls “extraordinary and timeless,” at Club Cafe on Feb. 26 at 7 pm. Check out  Peter King website and see the photos I shot for his latest CD cover.   For tickets write to info@peterkingmusic.com ($13 in advance). If you live locally, Peter teaches guitar lessons privately and at Chatam University. You can contact him and sign up now to learn to play away the winter blues.

How About this House for Steelers Madness?

Some dedicated fans live here for sure!

Sunday night’s game was a nail biter.  On the way to Cj’s house to watch the game I saw this house across the street.  Monday morning everyone will be happy at work.  The excitement will build over the next couple of weeks.  Many will be superstitious about a wide range of rituals-not shaving, items of clothing worn, with many fans feeling responsible for the final outcome dependent on their action or inaction.  It is quite a phenomenon.  Thanks for all the good wishes from friends far and wide.

And congratulations again to Dr Beth P. who won the Blog Giveaway of the photo print of her choice, which she is going to donate to the    National Kidney Foundation’s Annual Gift of Life Gala!