Purple Things July 2012

Rainbow Jello made in layers in a Bundt pan.

Reblogged from July 2012 there used to be weekly word challenges. If you’ve followed me for a time you may remember these images.

I enjoyed participating, coming up with photos to match the word of the week.

July 2012-

What I discovered is I shoot a lot of red.

I blurred my eyes to spot purple in the archives.

Yes, I  made the rainbow jello to photograph.  It took 5 hours. I got the recipe from my daughter Laura who found it on the web here 

The one pictured is not spiked and no one ate it either.  It is still in my freezer to slice and photograph with light coming through the jello like stained glass.

Purple views, white balance setting askew but it works for the challenge.

A compendium of purple.

Fellow bloggers links are at the Daily Post at WordPress. (Thanks to Jo I know how to get on the list now.)

and the cake is by Aubrey’s Bakery in Steubenville Ohio for Justin and Vicky’s wedding

Happiest Birthday Ever -2009

Reblogged post from ten years ago -remembering when we could be together (the Elbow Room in Pittsburgh) doesn’t even exist anymore.

“Monday night Steve and I went to dinner at the Elbow Room (Pittsburgh) to celebrate his birthday. I asked him which of his birthdays was his happiest birthday ever. “Last year!” he said. We were out at Mark and Erika’s and the kids helped blow out the candles, eyeballs for the ophthalmologist. Laura had made the cake with the kids’ help decorating it. James made him a shirt with his favorite cat Fred sniffing the flowers. Mark gave him a book about Where They are Buried and Erika found some really nice summer shirts for him. It was a fun party. His best ever! The children really make life fun! Happy Birthday(2009) Steve.”

Happy Birthday Steve.

Pi Day: 3.14 -Reblog from the Archives

3.14.15 9:26:53 CELEBRATING SPECIAL PI DAY AT SCHOOL 

 

A very special Pi Day.  Once in a century.  Tomorrow, 3.14.15 is it.    Get ready!

Celebrated at school today, 3-13-15._ Spearheaded by Mrs. Mihalic.  Creating some spirit!

There were numbers posted all around the hallways on the 800 level to who-knows-what place…..some cool art which I didn’t get to photograph yet.

Eat'n Park Pi Day Cookies

And my neighbor across the hall…. I went in this morning and said “Hey, where’s your Pi shirt?” and then she turned around and showed me!

The librarian, wearing the machine stitched embroidery shirt her Mother, J.E., created esepcially for her.Pi Day Shirt Machine Stitched`

Mrs. Mihalic, math teacher, created a wildly spirited event, complete with Pi Day cookies she special ordered from Eat’n Park 

Eat 'n Park Pi Day Cookie

 

cutting slices of pie

 

In the cafeteria there was a game where students could win a slice of pie. (Similar to a Cake Walk)pies

IMG_9379

Posting this one so you can see how you had to land on a certain number when the music stopped to win a slice of pie.

Photographed by Steve after school Friday the 13th. I’m wearing one of the shirts Mrs. Mihalic created.

IMG_9395A different shirt worn by one of my  photography students.Everyone was getting in on the festivities.

Cranberries Cooked Sauce or Raw Relish?

This post is from Nov 2011

I’m getting the ingredients tomorrow

Do you like cooked fresh cranberry sauce or raw relish? Or neither? Or both? Or the slices of  Cranberry Jelly from a can?

Here’s the 2011 post

ONCE A YEAR RECIPE/RITUAL

The annual making of the cranberry-orange relish. I don’t make this any other time of year.I’ve heard lots of different renditions of cranberries and everyone has their favorite.  My mother used to use a metal meat grinder and screw it onto a table or chair with a woven potholder to keep the wood from being marred. Her recipe was strictly cranberries and navel orange.  I add a Granny Smith and today a HoneyCrisp as well. I used to have one of those grinders and ground relish with Mark when he was a boy in the same manner as my mother.  My friend J from Omaha gave me her MagiMix French Processor when she got a Cuisinart.  That was more than 25 years ago and it still works. It has a European plug so I have to keep a little extra piece to plug it in.  So two bags of cranberries, washed and drained, two oranges, two apples(peel on) 1 3/4 C sugar.

That is all there is to it. Refreshing and tart and sweet simultaneously.  And thanks to Susan K for the Turkey towels.  Very festive.

Happy Thanksgiving.  I will put the bowl in a cardboard box so it doesn’t spill and drive to dinner at the other Grandma’s.

 

 


Almost Six Years Ago

Reblogged from Nov 3, 2013

Keeping Tabs  A Holocaust Sculpture Dedication

Sunday afternoon was the official dedication of the Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt  Keeping Tabs- A Holocaust Sculpture at the Community Day School at the corner of Beechwood Boulevard and Forward Ave.   The sculpture is a maze in the shape of the Star of David, created with glass blocks which are filled with six million pop tabs which took almost five years to collect , each tab representing a human life lost in the Holocaust.  Many people contributed time, money and effort to the creation of the sculpture and the  beautiful surrounding park.  Walking into the maze, one is struck by the magnitude of the horror of genocide, the number of victims is hard to fathom but the pop tabs in the glass blocks are a reminder of the millions killed.

The resident artist, Elena Hiatt Houlihan has been with this project since 2002.  Pop tabs were being collected since 1996 and Mr. Walter the History Teacher at Community Day School had aquariums filled with them when Elena arrived to help the student teams design the sculpture. Their original artist statement was read by her at the dedication ceremony today.

Elena had been a resident artist at Greenfield Elementary when I was the art teacher there and I remember her talking about the ongoing work of this sculpture and then funding and other circumstances delayed the completion.

It was a beautiful Autumn afternoon and there were speeches and prayers and an 8th grader played the violin.  A chill wind and shadows gave one a shudder and reminded those present of the significance of the memorial sculpture.   Never Forget.

Keeping Tabs Memorial (1)

I went up earlier in the day to photograph the memorial sculpture before all the people arrived.

Keeping Tabs2

Keeping Tabs close up

program

Violin Player

Bill WalterReceiving a standing ovation,  Mr. Walter comes to the podium to speakElena and Mr. WalterArtist in Residence Elena Hiatt Houlihan and  Social Studies Teacher Mr. Bill Walter who started the collection of the pop tabs when he was teaching the Holocaust to middle school students at Community Day School.

bill walter on Channel two

Elena and friends and family (1)

Article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the Keeping Tabs Memorial Sculpture Dedication, this time including Elena Hiatt Houlihan’s name

Keeping Tabs Memorial

One of the many many stones and bricks donated,
One of the many many, memorial stones and engraved bricks. each representing the accumulation of many donations, small, medium and large. I chose this one to photograph because for the inscribed words about “generations never born”- that message struck me.

Pop Tabs in Glass Blocks

filling the last blockThis block will be used for educational presentations.  I put a tab in and then asked the next woman if I might photograph her doing so and she agreed.

Throwback Thursday – January 29,2010

This Pink Toilet Waiting in the Snow was my post on January 29, 2010.

There wasn’t a single like clicked on it all those years ago. Was the “like” button feature not in place then?  It’s there now with a big zero.

I used to see a lot of toilets in odd places when I’d drive to school.  I guess in retirement I’m not driving around much in the early morning before garbage pick up.  If you’ve followed me since the beginning you will remember this one, I know.

Front Porch Still-Life at Dusk

Reblogged From March 2010 -if you’ve followed since the start, you remember this photograph 
Old seltzer bottles, a birdcage, the texture of the wicker, some stained glass at dusk.
J’s front porch with the sun sinking behind. Condensation inside the old glass, the metal tops. Artists usually arrange inanimate objects to create a still-life to paint or draw. This was already there, waiting.

But then it is an artist’s house.
Still Life, a grouping of inanimate objects arranged in a pleasing composition
  
Setting sun through old turquoise and plain glass seltzer bottles