Oscar Mayer

Pure silliness (sort of) today. Our old neighbor - he was the little kid next door then - Matt Mitchell, drove by in the Weinermobile! I had read about his new job, and thought it was very cool, but here he was in person - in the Weinermobile! - link to a video of Matt and some folks trying the song

He stopped and gave me a whistle, but had to move along because of traffic! And Yes - the Oscar Mayer song was playing as he drove off into the sunset!

Cohocton is for thistles

Last spring somebody thought they would clear some land and cut down about 4 nice trees. Two of them thought better of the idea..... below is one.
About 4 feet away were the beauties below...... Cohocton is definitely for thistles!

Still Life WithTomatillos and Plums

Self explanatory?

More Maya and more NITBY

Here is Maya at 40 days, and a friend we met walking back home after visiting Maya!

Tall stuff in the back yard

I've mentioned before that Dad and I like to grow stuff. Doesn't have to be important .... just fun to help things grow. This year Dad got a pretty tall hollyhock that sort of sneaked into the edge of the watered area of the garden, and he has a gladiolus that is also taller than he is. Dad is not short by the way! Also a mysterious plant "volunteered" in the flower bed, and like usual, Dad didn't have the heart to just pull it up..... "I think I'll wait and see what it is? Looks like corn?" Now that it is bigger, we're pretty sure it is some variety of sorghum - probably left over from the winter's birdseed?

Ordinary weed, or fancy restaurant?

Looks like an ordinary goldenrod or something similar, but get in close, and it is a gourmet restaurant, with probably 200 or more patrons busily consuming their lunch --- see a few below. A wasp, a yellow jacket, and a male lightening bug gathering some glow for tonight?

Nature in the back yard along the canal!

Lots of snails were heading somewhere today. I had to ride carefully on part of my ride to avoid crushing them. They were all heading in the same direction. Crossing hot dry ashpalt to get there. I took their picture, and now a couple of them are on the world wide web. They probably planned on just going to whatever place that is, and now a couple of beautiful but annonymous snails have their pictures viewable by people in Germany, or Nigeria, or Texas? I can do that, but I have no idea where they were going!

How many points was that?

This buck seemed very unconcerned about me. He did go back off the trail a bit after I met him on the bike path, but looked as intently at me as I did at him. Without my bike rides I sure would miss a lot...... Animal Planet on TV isn't quite the same!

If the deer wasn't so central, those two verticals with the crossing horizontal line would be downright fascinating! I didn't even notice them till now. (_)]

Sustenance

You get hungry after several miles on a bike......................

Friends?

What an opportunity! Either of these creatures alone would be a great picture. Both in the same frame is wonderful. Add that to them both on a thistle - in blossom this late in the season, and you've got heaven! (and just for the record, I'm not good enough at Photoshop to make this up!)

Paper and Water

A couple of great images today. The pattern created by a box full of smaller boxes.

And odd little plastic "stickers" found glued to the curbs along one of the streets I ride on my bike rides. Not at all sure I see the point, but it did make me look! Go to http://H2Ohero.org/

16 years, 24 days, and 15 years

My neice's 16th Birthday, my granddaughter's 24th day, and 15 years that my Aunt Rowene has been gone. A great weekend. Pictures of my neice and nephew with my granddaughter, and a picture of a sign that I made about 18 years ago for my Aunt Rowene's Christian retreat center on the old family farm. On the way home from the Hill family reunion on Saturday, Dad and I stopped to check on the old place, and it still looks pretty good 15 years after Rowene's death. The farm has passed on to others ---- the Family Retreat is returning to nature, but the new owners are remodeling the old house, and life seems to go on.

Moment of relaxation

Just a moment of relaxation while waiting to go into the restaurant for dinner..... Cheryl seems all well with the world!

Thistle and Taughannock

Another view of Philadelphia --- a very hardy bit of grass growing out of a wall about 10 feet off the ground.

Below, a thistle with a great view of Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, NY. After a very dry summer, there is just a small ribbon of water going over. For some other thistle views besides this one, and the others below, check out http://www.myspace.com/thistelle

Philadelphia again

Well, we're on the road again. This time for wholesale to our gallery friends. We've got quite a few new things, and we are among friends..... old craft friends, old and new gallery friends, Walter and Christine, and others! We got our first cell phone message from Maya ---- I suspect Dad helped???? And, we took the train to and from the show today. A simple everyday thing for many, but a very different view of the city than our usual! Life is good!

Below - picture of the booth this week.

Picture of a new friend at the Chinese restaurant in Consohocken tonight below.
Another friend - from the backyard at home as we were leaving.