Mostly drinking from this

coffee7, originally uploaded by crpitt.

My head has been imploding/exploding with college work for a long time now, but now its hard graft time. So I am drinking from my super mug and knuckling down. The words on the mug echo my sentiments about the folks that read and comment on this blog. In your own way you have helped me to do this counselling diploma and I really do thank you for that.

Mumborg should be out this Friday if she continues to behave herself.

(Trying out posting straight from flickr instead of blog, as I want to recycle the millions of photos I have on there)

Union Square and Blogging

 

When I got off the bus by Madison Park, I thought of Reya.

There I was, large as life, reflected in a garbage can.

Reya always has lovely distorted images and a dog.

More of that later.

I met Bonbon Oiseau because we had to discuss Morocco and India.

She has lived in the latter which I recently visited -- and vice versa.

Lots to discuss over tea in ABC Carpet....

which is right by Union Square Green Market.

It was late afternoon so one cannot blame the stall-holder

 having a nap in his splendid red truck.

 

This plump, scruffy dog was sitting patiently near an apple stall -- 

Which brings us to thoughts of dogs. Much scanning of Petfinder.com lately.

Applications put in. Are we fit to be allowed to adopt a dog? Will we be rejected out of hand?

Vet references needed. Luckily our previous dog lived to be 16 and the cat 18.

But even so..... I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, bleeding hearts, pansies and herbs.

Suspension of Disbelief is at times hard to Suspend

Image via Wikipedia

I love science fiction and well any fiction for that matter. I am willing to overlook many things in a science fiction story if it is compelling and well acted with good special effects. However, (and you just knew that however was coming!), there are times I cannot buy what the writers and directors are selling me. For example, there was this episode of Star Trek:TNG called "The Next Phase" where two characters were present on the ship in another phase of matter. They could pass through solid material including humans, consoles, and even walls. There was a "bad guy" in the same phase and a great chase with a fight ended with the bad guy being thrown through the hull of the ship into outer space. I kept asking myself the entire time, "Why don't they fall through the floor!?" Overall, I like the episode and how Ro and LaForge deal with death, but I always remember that particular element about the floor.
Another example of something I really cannot buy is when a character ages due to an illness or diabolical potion or some DNA mutation. The character gets long grey hair, wrinkled skin, age spots, maybe even a hump. Then someone has a magical cure and the aging is reversed. Poof! No more wrinkles, age spots, grey hair! I want that cure please!
Just as bad is when a character mutates into another creature with webbed hands or bug eyes and blue skin, actual cranial and other bone changes. I understand stopping the process but reversing it! The hands go back to normal, the skin is pink, and the bones the way they were, WOW!
Oh well, it is all in good fun!

A Hooter Family Portrait

I noticed an article in the local paper last week about this family of great horned owls living high up in a eucalyptus tree at the lake/reservoir just a few miles from where I live.  So, I ended up making 2 trips to the lake this past saturday, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon. The morning session didn't produce much... they weren't very active and the light was in the wrong direction, too.  I was determined to get a least one decent shot and knew the light would be more favorable near the end of the day, so I went back for another try and spent close to 2 hours just watching and waiting.

After nothing at all for a while, they started to move around and Mama was ripping off bits of what looked like a rabbit and feeding bits of it to the youngsters.. really fascinating to watch, but they don't exactly cooperate by standing up on the edge where you can see them well, and one was completely out of site most of the time. 

I'm not really equipped to do this kind of work properly; this is just at the edge of what my gear can do. These guys are 40-50 feet up in the tree and the tree itself is further up on a hillside with restricted access, so to the naked eye, the nest is just a dark spot way up there in the branches. Even with my 400mm lens which is the longest I have, this is about a 50% crop!  Add in the wind blowing things around and the birds total unconcern about performing for their fans on the ground, and I now realize why I don't do a lot of wildlife photography. I do love animals and I love to photograph them, but in the wild, the logistics of it all are tough and you need extreme patience. 

I was just praying that they would somehow all get together for a few seconds and finally they did, almost like they were saying: "Alright.. here you go. Take your shot and get out of here!" Right after, they hunkered down again and I decided to call it a day.  Since I now know where they are and the best time to watch, I'll probably go by a few times a week to see how they grow.

A Visit to Tappan

What a sucker I am for garden centers. Bee wrote recently about the same passion.

Books and flowers -- can never have enough of them. At least it isn't crack.

Since we don't have a garden, we choose things for  our son and daughter in law's garden.

Here primulas. We also got snapdragons and cineraria.

Even the names are a delight.

Once old cars get really decrepit, they pass beyond the totally ugly stage

and morph into something approaching art. Well, maybe.

As we returned to the city down the Pallisades in the late afternoon

a curious thing happened. The roads, the woods, 

everything -- was swathed in  a thick, blanketing,

 all engulfing fog the like of which I haven't seen for many years. 

Magical and foggy and not really springlike at all.

Digging into 'Bag of Old Paper'

Many of us have spoken about thrifting and antiquing being a lot like archaeology... Sifting through the remains of the past for golden treasures. Of course, those golden treasures might be something as simple as a missing saucer for a beloved old teacup... Or finding beauty in an antique print. Or uncovering knowledge and adventure, in the guise of hundred-year-old National Geographics.

Me, I'm fond of batches of ephemera. As regular readers know, give me an old cookbook, a 30s magazine or a quaint product brochure, and I am one happy gal.

Fortunately, the indoor flea markets and antique malls know the way to my heart, too.

Both the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg, and the Ligonier Fleatique in... well, Ligonier, PA... have vendors who bundle vintage goodies into bags and sell them as a lot.

This week, I treated myself to...


... "Bag of Old Paper." And today, I thought you all might enjoy exploring it with me!

What was the clincher in the purchase of "Bag of Old Paper," for me, were these beautifully-designed certificates of graduation from Sunday School in the 1920s...



Just look at the detail on this!...


Sherman Dietrick is the name, and the date is 1924. Little Sherman went on to earn this next one in 1926, when he was promoted to the Junior Department of his Colorado Sunday School...


I loved the soft pinks and greens, the tangle of roses, and the central portrait...


By 1927, the Certificate of Promotion was smaller-- about the size of a postcard, versus a full 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. But it was full-color and equally ornate...


Here's a closeup of the figure here...


So who was Sherman Dietrick? Hard to say, exactly... But, if grouped properly-- I wonder if he isn't the fellow in this photo from "Bag of Old Paper"...


If so, this would be Sherman 20-some years on, in 1945. The same couple are found here...


Sherman's trying a bit of a Gable moustache here, I believe.

And again, if we can assume the Bag of Old Paper was owned by just one person, it would seem Sherman and his wife did quite a bit of traveling! We can assume two people went (Sherman and his wife above?) from the two copies of the same brochure included in the bag. And it appears like the Dietricks went to... Washington D.C.!...


Plymouth Massachusetts!...

(Love that 50s Massachusetts brochure-- we may come back to that some day for a Virtual Vacation!)...

And it appears that even Miami, Puerto Rico, Upstate New York, and Thomas Edison's home in Ohio was on their travels.


Like I said, we may take a more detailed look at individual items in future posts, but I thought it would be fun for you all to have a chance to dig into "Bag of Old Paper" with me today.

Before you go, I would really like to thank everyone this last week who took the time to respond to Sunday's post and share your own interests with me. I've found it very helpful, and it's given me some terrific insights into what tickles your fancies, and what fun things I can share with you in the future.

I'm serious when I say, I feel extremely lucky to have you all along for the journey with me each week.

Don't forget to pop back for this Treasure Box Wednesday, if you get a chance, because I think there will be some goodies that you'll enjoy seeing.

Cheers, folks!

Digging into 'Bag of Old Paper'

Many of us have spoken about thrifting and antiquing being a lot like archaeology... Sifting through the remains of the past for golden treasures. Of course, those golden treasures might be something as simple as a missing saucer for a beloved old teacup... Or finding beauty in an antique print. Or uncovering knowledge and adventure, in the guise of hundred-year-old National Geographics.

Me, I'm fond of batches of ephemera. As regular readers know, give me an old cookbook, a 30s magazine or a quaint product brochure, and I am one happy gal.

Fortunately, the indoor flea markets and antique malls know the way to my heart, too.

Both the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg, and the Ligonier Fleatique in... well, Ligonier, PA... have vendors who bundle vintage goodies into bags and sell them as a lot.

This week, I treated myself to...


... "Bag of Old Paper." And today, I thought you all might enjoy exploring it with me!

What was the clincher in the purchase of "Bag of Old Paper," for me, were these beautifully-designed certificates of graduation from Sunday School in the 1920s...



Just look at the detail on this!...


Sherman Dietrick is the name, and the date is 1924. Little Sherman went on to earn this next one in 1926, when he was promoted to the Junior Department of his Colorado Sunday School...


I loved the soft pinks and greens, the tangle of roses, and the central portrait...


By 1927, the Certificate of Promotion was smaller-- about the size of a postcard, versus a full 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. But it was full-color and equally ornate...


Here's a closeup of the figure here...


So who was Sherman Dietrick? Hard to say, exactly... But, if grouped properly-- I wonder if he isn't the fellow in this photo from "Bag of Old Paper"...


If so, this would be Sherman 20-some years on, in 1945. The same couple are found here...


Sherman's trying a bit of a Gable moustache here, I believe.

And again, if we can assume the Bag of Old Paper was owned by just one person, it would seem Sherman and his wife did quite a bit of traveling! We can assume two people went (Sherman and his wife above?) from the two copies of the same brochure included in the bag. And it appears like the Dietricks went to... Washington D.C.!...


Plymouth Massachusetts!...

(Love that 50s Massachusetts brochure-- we may come back to that some day for a Virtual Vacation!)...

And it appears that even Miami, Puerto Rico, Upstate New York, and Thomas Edison's home in Ohio was on their travels.


Like I said, we may take a more detailed look at individual items in future posts, but I thought it would be fun for you all to have a chance to dig into "Bag of Old Paper" with me today.

Before you go, I would really like to thank everyone this last week who took the time to respond to Sunday's post and share your own interests with me. I've found it very helpful, and it's given me some terrific insights into what tickles your fancies, and what fun things I can share with you in the future.

I'm serious when I say, I feel extremely lucky to have you all along for the journey with me each week.

Don't forget to pop back for this Treasure Box Wednesday, if you get a chance, because I think there will be some goodies that you'll enjoy seeing.

Cheers, folks!

Shadow Shot Sunday/Spring Almost

Spring has sprung -- at least in Macy's Windows.

34th Street and 7th Avenue.

On Saturday afternoon I went looking for shadow to join Heyharriet and the gang.

Starbcks at 8th Avenue and 19th Street.

A pretty townhouse between 8th and 9th Avenues in Chelsea.

Down at Chelsea Market, they are re-doing the big space that used to be a florist.

Something exciting going on with the floor.

The macaroons at the new French patisserie on 23rd Street

are wearing spring dresses.

Some Wine Country Colors

No special subject comes to mind today, so here is a simple scene I caught 5-6 years ago while on a morning walk in Napa Valley. I'm sure almost everyone in the world knows that this is California's premier wine growing region (if you throw in Sonoma and Mendocino, which are both adjoining counties) although there are many other smaller regions also making wine these days. Even here in southern California we have quite a few wineries. However, it's very tough to beat this area north of San Francisco for sheer beauty and rural atmosphere. Different than Europe, but very attractive in it's own way. Sonoma and Mendocino both run up along the rugged coastline and Napa is a bit more inland. There are many nice B&B's to stay in, excellent restaurants and great wine to sample everywhere you go. This shot, I believe, was taken in early December, after the harvest but before real "winter", if you want to call it winter at all around here. Not to be missed if you ever visit California.
Not really the best image quality here; I remember I shot it hand-held but don't recall what camera I had with me at the time... I've always liked this scene, though.

Quiet New York

There is so much going on in New York

 and so many people rushing about  doing important things.

In the late afternoon Susanna and I reached the relative calm of

the beginning of the Central Park. 

These serene faux-medieval maidens haunt 53rd Street....

...looking very peaceful indeed.

Climbing a staircase at Moma -- 

where a gazillion people eagerly drink in art.

The models in Bergdorf Goodman's windows who

 inhabit a rarified world of elegance and butterflies.