dinosaur
circle
square
triangle
concentration

These are at and around the new construction on Beechurst. (Here’s a shot from last April.)

Looking up an unfinished elevator shaft.(I thought these pictures would turn out much worse–I basically held my camera out in the dark and took several pictures blindly.

Unfinished stairwell

Someone had dirty paws after their stroll.

Shadow

Brown

Ground

(this one is kinda pushing it, but I really liked how it looked as I was walking towards the stadium)

Red

New (they’re laying or repairing or doing something with this flexible pipe)

This is all I got for celebration. And it totally isn’t. But it made me happy, so that’s what you get.

shadow
ground
brown
red
new
celebration

I’d love to add “groundhog” to the list but 1) that’s totally unfair and 2) I really only see the flat road-kill ones.

The last three are for the Lunar New Year. Better late than never, right?

Every school I attended has closed. Two of the buildings (St. Francis Elementary and St. Francis High School) were razed to the ground, one (Second Ward Elementary) was turned into an apartment complex (Disturbing: Having someone offer you alcohol while you’re standing in what was your first grade class room), one (Second Ward Annex) was being used for storage (last I checked, anyway, but that was several years ago), and this one–Central Elementary–was abandoned.

These pictures are for Paige and Justine, but I can’t see them truly thanking me for them.

(there are some more pictures if you click through to Flickr)

These were taken around downtown. I have two other sets, both of which need processed: one of campus and… another set.

If it wasn’t obvious earlier, I love windows, and I love it even more when the light is such that they act as mirrors.

Police station on Spruce street.

Warehouse on University Avenue.

Alley off High Street

Building off High Street

High Street. (I know this picture is nothing special, but it’s always fun to stand in the middle of the street.)

Couple more pictures if you click through to Flickr.

green plant(s)
red
yellow
ice
resolution

These are some mighty delusional bulbs–they’re most likely in for a nasty surprise ANY DAY NOW.

Yup. Bricks are red. I also really like that door.

This is far less yellow than it used to be. This is the church where my brother’s boy scout troop met, so I spent a lot of time staring at this and other similar signs.

I was actually surprised to find any ice, but this is a place that gets almost no sun in the winter.

This was taken on my walk home Friday. Poor statue.

So here’s hoping for nicer weather for the next couple days, so make me (and perhaps you) feel like actually playing a game that doesn’t involve one’s butt firmly planted in a chair.

This week’s items to find:

green plant(s)
red
yellow
ice
resolution

OK. I know. Not snow. But still fascinating.

What, you may ask is the Incline?

Well, it’s the Incline. It’s goes up. And it goes down.

It was built in 1877.

And from the station at the top, is a gorgeous view.

(this view was taken going back down the incline–the skies were a little prettier.)

Yesterday, we awoke to an ice covered world, which meant we did not go visit see my niece. But I did get a couple interesting shots of the icy world in which we were ensconced.

I have lots of toys on my desk. Things that give my hands and fingers something to do while my brain processes whatever information I’m currently working on. But–like cats and toddlers–one of my favorite “toys” are these twist-ties.

They’re smooth, and wrap nicely around my fingers, so I frequently end up with one wrapped around each fingertip on my left hand.

They make a lovely tapping sound when I drum my fingers.

(Taken with Samsung Epic 4G phone)

I love being an auntie.

I love this picture of Jules and her Grandpop.

We played with Baby Stella and the rubber duckies and frogs.

She’s at the age where she knows what she wants, and knows she can’t express it, so instead she would grab my hand/finger and pull me towards whatever it was she wanted. In this case, it was to go and see if the cats were at the front door.

I have no idea who got her this shirt, but I LOVE it.

So I did the obvious thing: bought myself two new pairs of boots!

Here’s the first–the second pair won’t arrive until next week.

The recipe is fairly simple:

Krusties
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
2 sticks butter
6 cups flour
1 shot whiskey/rum
pinch cardamom

1 large can crisco, for frying

Mix together all the ingredients in a mixer. Wrap in waxed paper or place in a plastic bag, and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to make, heat solid fat (Crisco or lard) in large frying pan. You’ll need an inch or two of hot oil.

You’ll also want to line most of your work areas with newspaper, or used wrapping paper, or anything else that absorbs oil and sugar, and makes clean up easier.

Find aprons for everyone–this can get messy! We rolled out our batches of dough on floured waxed paper.

Roll out dough very thin, in reasonable batches. If you have more participants than you have rolling pins, the dough can be smooshed flat with your hands before rolling.

Cut the dough into small strips, then cut a slice in the middle of the strip. Twist one side of the dough through the hole.

Once the oil is hot, in small batches, fry the cookies. You’ll need to add more shortening to the pan as you fry the cookies.

Fry in small batches, otherwise the oil will cool down too much, and you’ll end up with greasy cookies.

Drain the cookies on newspaper or the backside of Christmas wrapping paper or anything else that absorbs grease.

Let the cookies cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar

Enjoy!

Look at the camera!

Hug for Auntie Michelle! Awww!

Skies. Tree. Snowman.

Trees. Light. Snow.

Icy snow.

Birds. Lots and lots of birds.

elephant
rainbow
paper
insect
angles

Finally!

I was just busy. Yeah, that’s what I was.

This gets almost all of ‘em! Elephant, Rainbow, Paper, Angles

More elephants and rainbows!

A rainbow of mugs! And look! Some more elephants!

Rainbow whisk and colorful spatulas (and a hidden elephant).

Paper! Rainbow of book covers! Angles!

Insect and crayons (a Pirate rainbow of colors)

Lesson of the Day: You don’t eat clementines the way you eat apples.