Louise's Daughter

New Design

2012-01-30T22:33:00.005-05:00

This is a new 2012 version of our original Lena figure. She originally had a straight dress, but now she has more movement!

Lena used to look like the picture below.

Believe it or not, the above picture was a drawing for a large Lena figure we mounted on a door for a customer's guest room! Below - the piece laid out on the door before we painted her.

Why do we destroy beauty?

2012-01-25T22:04:00.003-05:00

In 1965, we (Rochester, NY) tore down this New York Central Train Station.- Postcard above, and photo below.

It was replaced with the building below!

Why do we do these things?

Mom and Dad

2012-01-23T20:48:00.005-05:00

Where to start? My plan was that beginning with the new year I was going to try to get back to daily blogging. I really enjoy blogging, and was looking forward to trying for another run of over 100 daily blogs? As the old adage goes, life is what happens while we make other plans? Or something like that?

January 1st, I took my Dad to the hospital. Our neighborhood hospital is right up the street ... my Dad likes to comment that "we can see Highland Hospital from our kitchen window". He had been complaining for a couple of days about a minor cold, but mostly about just feeling weak and out of breath with the slightest effort. We had decided to call his doctor after the holiday, but when Cheryl came over to their place that afternoon, she said - "Call the doctor NOW!" The ER at Highland was wonderful, and within about 50 minutes we had our diagnosis, and treatment was underway..... pneumonia and congestive heart failure. A subsequent visit to his heart doctor a week later added that his long standing atrial fibrillation was probably the main factor. To make a long story short, Dad spent a week in the hospital, followed by two weeks of rehab at the Episcopal Church Home - also right down the street, and he is now home, and doing quite well thank you.

The "rest of the story" is that for almost three years, Dad has been the primary care giver for my Mom who has been dealing with slowly advancing dementia of unknown origin. Recently her memory problems have been getting worse. With Dad in the hospital, I (with a lot of help from Cheryl) spent full time with Mom because she is totally unable to cope alone. Bless her, she so badly wanted to help take care of Dad, but had no idea of what to do or how to proceed! The above picture is of them holding hands during one of Mom's daily visits to his room on the heart care unit.

On January 6th, Mom went into "transitional care". She is in a special unit with 24 hour a day care, and is on the waiting list for the "memory care" unit of another neighborhood institution - Kirkhaven nursing home. Also on January 6th, Dad was transferred to the rehab unit mentioned above, and worked very hard at regaining his strength and stamina. His best prognosis however is that while he can probably function fine on his own at home, he will never have the ability to handle the amount of care and constant attention that would be required to continue to have Mom at home with him.

We had been asked to not visit Mom for a while because it would make it harder for her to adjust to the change in her life, and while it was difficult, we did not see her for about a week. I did go visit her about a week ago, and she seemed to be doing well given her circumstances. Dad and I went to see her today.... first time Dad has seen her in two weeks. We stayed about an hour, and it went quite well. She was very quiet and sort of "spacey", and while she seemed glad to see us, and knew who we were, she just sat quietly and held our hands. Leaving was not as difficult as we thought it might be.

Lest you think me heartless, the advice to not visit her was good advice. Several other people confirmed the difficulty people with dementia have dealing with changes, and that visits from friends and family actually make the process a lot harder.

Mom is doing as well as can be expected given her level of dementia. Dad is doing quite well, and looks the best he has in quite a while, because he can actually sleep through the night, and Don is feeling good too, because Dad is doing well, and Mom is getting the best possible care under the circumstances. While I still carry my cell phone 24 hours a day, and sleep with it on the nightstand, I probably won't be getting the regular emergency "help" calls from Dad. Dad and I are sleeping more soundly now.

Many heartfelt thanks to all the folks at Highland Hospital, Episcopal Church Home, and Independent Living for Seniors!

Thus the missing first 22 daily blogs from 2012!

Spelling????

2011-12-29T08:37:00.003-05:00

I'm not commenting on her skills with kids, but don't hire her to teach your kids anything!

And, while I missed getting a picture, I saw a car driving away from the Wegmans parking lot with a plate on the front that said

LICENCE

December assortment

2011-12-27T09:08:00.007-05:00

Haven't posted in a while, so here goes an assortment of December 2011 stuff.
Above - a bottle tree Mom and I found in Fairport, NY on one of our Tuesday "just wander around and take lots of left turns" drives. Actually, this particular Tuesday drive had some method in the madness. I wanted to see if I could get Mom to confirm some information I had about places she lived in Fairport many years ago. We couldn't confirm anything, but we had a great time. We hit some streets that I had never been on, despite living in Fairport area for pretty much all of my childhood! As we sat looking at this bottle tree, I spotted a cemetery behind the homes on the other side of the street, and we then drove around and found
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Civil War Monument in the cemetery.

Above - CJ at the diner, and below, Maya trying a violin at preschool.
Grandchildren are an important part of any month!

Below our 2011 Christmas ornament of the annual holiday party at the Palmeri home.
This year a top that doubles as an ornament! Not a great picture, but I loved that spinning the top in the lid to the cookie tin yielded a view of the other color on the bottom of the top!

Below, a creche puzzle created by our friends Russell and Sue Greenslade graces the mantle at the Sams household! The missing palm tree piece on the left has since been found!

Happy New Year!
Maya - always on the lookout for a project to do - wants to make a bottle tree!
Past Bottle tree posts...
Bottle tree in the neighborhood and Bottle Bush

Old Whistle made by The Toycrafter

2011-12-11T10:01:00.008-05:00

Maya's preschool teacher found this among some old Christmas ornaments, and was very excited to show it to me the other day when I was there to work with the kids. The date on the side is 1979, but may have been made at any time over a number of years as I never changed the copyright stamp that we used on these whistles. This one illustrates very nicely the design system I used in designing this and 5 other whistles -- all based on the basic "police" whistle. Mentally remove the upper portion of the music note, and you have a classic metal (or plastic) pea whistle. We used actual cork balls just like the originals. Blowing on the whistle causes the cork pea to rotate around inside the chamber, with the whistle noise stopping each time the pea passes by the opening. Check out the video/audio below.

I won't go into all the details, but the first designs of "pea" whistles that I did all utilized the same basic blank to create two whistles from each blank. We could create a few hundred blanks, and then later cut out whatever style we needed..... music note, Zwiggle (see picture below), bird, etc. (I can't make my memory bring up the other designs right now) Also shown below is a Saguaro Cactus whistle that I made for my Dad who lived in Arizona for a number of years, and loves all things Arizona!
We usually used the yellow nylon cord loop on the whistles as shown in the music note picture at the top, but for a while we tried using a key chain hook, but these did not sell as well as we had hoped. Below, you can see the opening in the whistle that is the key to the whistle. The whistle is a very simple musical instrument, with air blowing over a hollow space creating a tone. The size of the hollow space determines the pitch. If you take the lower portion of the music note above, and mentally place it over the Zwiggle body, you can see that the exact same whistle blank can be used for both pieces. More about Zwiggles

Below is the Saguaro Cactus I made for Dad!
Also from the same basic whistle blank.

Community Puzzle with Maya's PreSchool Class

2011-12-07T21:05:00.003-05:00

Grandpa Don took some Community Puzzles to Maya's Preschool class... morning and afternoon sessions.

Above - the Community Puzzle partially completed during the morning session.

Below (and below that) the completed puzzle toward the end of the afternoon session.

Somewhere around 20 years ago, I created The Community Puzzle. I subsequently sold the product to a friend, who has since sold it to someone else, etc., until it is now owned and distributed by California Paper Goods Company.

Maya and Grandpa made one at home a while back.

Frost

2011-12-04T11:07:00.003-05:00

Just in case you thought frost was something simple?

Click pictures above and below to embiggen - not as big as they used to be, but still pretty cool - Get it?? Cool???

Pharmacist?

2011-12-02T10:55:00.002-05:00

Designed and made a while ago.

2011-11-29T00:30:00.001-05:00

The main odd thing about my new Samsung Android Charge is that the pictures taken with it automatically rotate 90 degrees, and cannot be rotated back to vertical in the camera. If you rotate them in a photo program on the computer, they seem to show up rotated when I try to use them on the blog, but this one - while rotated on the phone, and rotated on the computer reverets to correct orientation when I use it here on the blog!!! ???

Anyway, the piece above is a wooden menorah with wooden "flames" that can be removed and replaced as the days of Hanukkah go by, without involving younger folks with open flames? This one is sold as of today, but contact me if you simply must have one. We also did a Kwanza Kinara version if you'd like one of those?

Found and shared as it evidently has been for at least 114 years!

2011-11-28T09:30:00.000-05:00

At a dinner for law alumni of New York University in 1907, Walter Lloyd Smith of the New York Supreme Court read “the most remarkable document that ever came into his possession” — the will of an inmate of the Cook County Insane Asylum at Dunning, Ill.:

I, Charles Lounsbury, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do hereby make and publish this, my last will and testament, in order as justly as may be to distribute my interest in the world among succeeding men.

That part of my interest which is known in law and recognized in the sheep-bound volumes as my property, being inconsiderable and of no account, I make no disposal of in this my will.

My right to live, being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but these things excepted all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath.

Item: I give to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments, and I charge said parents to use them justly and generously, as the needs of their children may require.

Item: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their childhood, all and every, the flowers of the fields, and the blossoms of the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the customs of children, warning them at the same time against thistles and thorns. And I devise to children the banks of the brooks, and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, and the odors of the willows that dip therein, and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I leave the children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the night and the moon and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at, but subject nevertheless to the rights hereinafter given to lovers.

Item: I devise to boys jointly all the useful idle fields and commons where ball may be played; all pleasant waters where one may swim; all snowclad hills where one may coast, and all streams and ponds where one may fish, or where, when grim Winter comes, one may skate; to have and to hold the same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows with the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof, the woods and their appurtenances, the squirrels and the birds, and echoes and strange noises, and all distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures there found. And I give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night, with all pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to enjoy without let or hindrance and without any incumbrance of care.

Item: To lovers I devise their imaginary world with whatever they may need; as the stars of the sky; the red roses by the wall; the bloom of the hawthorn; the sweet strains of music, and aught else by which they may desire to figure to each others the lastingness and beauty of their love.

Item: To young men jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous, inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength, though they are rude; I give them the power to make lasting friendships, and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively I give all merry songs and brave choruses, to sing with lusty voices.

Item: And to those who are no longer children or youths or lovers, I leave memory, and I bequeath to them the volumes of the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and of other poets, if there be others, to the end that they may live over the old days again, freely and fully, without tithe or diminution.

Item: To our loved ones with snowy crowns I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep.

The original, it turns out, was written by Williston Fish in 1897 and published in Harper’s Weekly the following year. He had intended it as a poetic trifle, but newspapers around the country had picked it up and run it as fact, often embellishing the language, until, Fish wrote in 1908, “this one of my pieces has been translated into all the idiot tongues of English.” Charles Lounsbury was the name of an old relative of his — “a big, strong all-around good kind of man,” but not, evidently, insane.

Opportunity

2011-11-26T17:51:00.007-05:00

Anyone want to buy a classic ice cream stand! And this one comes with miniature golf, bumper cars, go-carts, driving range, and an arcade!

I've always dreamed about owning one of those classic 1950's tourist trap places. A roadside ice cream stand was always high on the list, but the closest I ever came was actually talking to the owner about buying The Teepee on Route 20 in New York State just west of Albany in the Cherry Valley area.
Click on this link for some great pictures of The Teepee, and some of the classic 1950's stuff for sale therein.

The Teepee is just down the road a piece from the Petrified Creatures Museum

For your chance to own a classic near Batavia, NY (On Route 5 - sort of kid sister to Route 20) - below is the For Sale Sign on the ice cream stand plus!

If you buy it, you owe me 4 cones - Grandpa, Grandma, Maya, and CJ!

Only one of many people and things to be thankful for!

2011-11-24T09:21:00.003-05:00

It would take me all day to blog about all the things I'm thankful for, so I'll let this picture represent all that is good about my life!

Grandpa and CJ on the occasion of his 2nd birthday party!

Seeking a little quiet time amidst all the hub bub of the celebration!

Life is good!

Art with Maya!

2011-11-22T00:30:00.000-05:00

I can't figure out why this picture rotated, but after about 7 tries, I can't get it right.. However, since the pieces Maya and I made are round anyway, who cares! Chipboard 7" discs, and some spirals and stars that I saved from making a big stencil to decorate a dress on one of our big dancers. For some reason Maya settled on an orange crayon to color the pieces. The picture isn't great, but in keeping with the orange theme, grandpa suggested adding pieces of tangerine skin, and art history was made!

Opal & Twig

2011-11-21T09:42:00.003-05:00

Earlier this year, a new customer came to us looking for a container for her magical potions. Who wouldn't enjoy designing a carrier for Goblin Snot, Troll Sweat, and Mermaid Tears? I can't find the pictures I took quite a while ago, so these are borrowed from the new Opal & Twig web site.

Who are Opal and Twig? Go to Opal & Twig to learn more, and to find out what magical powers there may be in Troll Sweat?

Got a product you'd like some special container for? Call us, e-mail us, snail mail us, (fax still works, but is so 20th Century!) Right now I'm working on a three pack of some great salsa/tomato sauce flavors!

Rattlesnake Pete

2011-11-18T20:27:00.002-05:00

While hunting for something else, I found these pictures I had filed away of Rattlesnake Pete. Peter Gruber was an entrepreneur of the most eccentric sort in Rochester, NY in the late 1800's - early 1900's. Fascinated by snakes from an early age, A native of Pennsylvania, Rattlesnake Pete located his restaurant, bar, and museum in downtown Rochester after being turned away from Pittsburgh and Buffalo where mixing drinks and snakes was evidently frowned upon!

Rattlesnake Pete provided food and drink, and a large collection of snakes, 4 legged chickens, etc in the finest sideshow tradition, but in a permanent location..... our own local P.T. Barnum!

Pete's exhibit included a stuffed horse, hundreds of arrow heads, the first harpsichord in the upstate NY area, a pipe supposedly smoked by John Wilkes Booth, the battle flag used at Custer's last stand, jars of pickled brains, the weight used in the gallows mechanism from the last hanging in Rochester, the skull of General Sheridan's horse, and an ax used by a wife murderer, and much much more!

Who wouldn't want to stop by for dinner, drinks, and a chance to see cages full of writhing snakes!

He sold snake oil, as well as snake skins, skunk skins, etc. Today we know snake oil as a term for any bogus cure, but Rattlesnake Pete actually extracted oil from snakes and sold it as a cure. Below he is shown practicing his goiter cure - wrapping a black snake around the sufferer's neck. Oddly, the constrictions of the snake actually massaged the goiter, and may have provided some temporary relief.

Rattlesnake Pete was bitten by rattlesnakes or copperheads somewhere between 29 and 33 times depending on the account, but lived to the age of 75! 1857 to 1932.

Patriotic Sales Technique

2011-11-16T09:21:00.003-05:00

I won't add much to this, and will keep the event where I saw this unidentified, but food (or candy?) for thought!

My Dad the Sheriff!

2011-11-13T07:41:00.006-05:00

I have to start out by telling you that I have great difficulty picturing my dad as a cop. Of course I remember moments of childhood punishment when the word sheriff might come to mind, but basically my dad is a very gentle kind sort of fellow, and guns were never a part of our life even though we lived on a farm, and a 22 might have come in handy for woodchucks?

I have of course seen a couple of pictures of dad in the uniform of a
Pinal County Deputy Sheriff ,
but that part of his life was in Arizona, and the one time I visited him there, he was working in a gas station. That's dad (in uniform - sans hat) and my mom, the day they got married the second time 39 years ago. There is another classic pose with the hat, with his foot up on a log, leaning on his knee - I think there is even cactus in the background. But I still didn't entirely believe.

Until dad showed me a story in the Casa Grande (Ariz.) DISPATCH Wednesday, June 13,1973. I had heard this story before of course, along with lots of other classic dad stories about various incidents in his life as a deputy sheriff, but here it was in the newspaper! Dad had googled himself after hearing about doing that on a TV news show, and was amazed to find this 38 year old newspaper article. I've posted the copy below because the PDF file at the link above is not perfectly clear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
San Manuel Man Faces Three Felony Charges

A San Manuel resident was to be arraigned in Mammoth
Justice of the Peace court today on three felony counts stemming
from a disturbance at his home Tuesday night.

A tear gas grenade was needed to force Jesus C.
Borquez. 42. from inside the house after six Pinal County
sheriff's deputies and two officers from the Mammoth
Police Department were summoned to quell a family
fight, deputies said Borquez was in custody in lieu
of $20,000 bond pending his arrignment on charges of obstructing
justice and two counts of assault with intent to commit murder:

Investigators said they were called to the home after
receiving a report about 10:05 p.m. that the suspect was
fighting with a son, Chuie. They said the family members
had left the house and Borquez locked himself, inside
when the officers arrived Borquez appeared from a
window with a 30.06 rifle and 12 gauge shotgun and fired two
shots, deputies said. That fire was returned by Deputy A.T.
Richards, who fired one- shot to knock out a porch light. Later a
second deputy lobbed the tear gas inside and Borque appeared
outside about 10 minutes later, deputies added.

Deputy Mel Olney received a slight eye injury when he was
struck while attempting to apprehend Borquez, investigators
said. He was treated and released at Magma
Hospital in Mammoth. There were no other injuries.
Borquez was placed in custody about 40 minutes after
officers were called, authorities said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
My dad!
Injured in a gun fight!
Not quite, but shots were fired!

132 posts in a row, but I missed 133!

2011-11-11T22:12:00.006-05:00

The picture and the story of the missed blog really do go together.

That's myself, and my dad, Mel. above.

My hat purchased at the Specialty Shop at Strong, a tiny little shop that seemed to mostly sell breast feeding supplies in the lobby of the University of Rochester Medical Center. I'm not sure why this little shop is separate from the larger gift shop, but as we walked by on our way out of the hospital, I spotted a hat in the window that looked very much like my favorite winter hat. Turns out they had several and the little shop was run by a friend who was at our wedding many years ago! The small assortment of men's hats ???? For guys doing chemo. We always hear about the women and their wigs, scarves, hats, etc, but it turns out men have the same things to adjust to! Anyway, I got a new brown hat, and Dad, on a lark, wore my old gray hat home... picture taken with a timer outside our neighborhood diner!

Why were we at the hospital? Dad was getting an electronystagmogram (ENG) which measures involuntary rapid eye movement. And why an ENG? Dad has suffered with vertigo for years. Lest you think vertigo is that queasy feeling you get as you look over the edge of a bridge, as a medical problem it is a lot worse. The feeling is similar, but a lot worse, and you can't just step back from the edge to make it go away. Recently Dad's vertigo has gotten worse and more frequent, so we have been consulting various folks looking for a cure. The ENG is a test that tells the people who know - something about what may be causing the problem. Below you can see Dad in the goggles they put on him, and the picture of his eyes on the computer. The little box on top of the goggles holds two video cameras that show the computer his eyes from straight ahead..... note the little 45 degree one-way mirrors on the front of the goggles. Then they do various things that simulate conditions that might cause vertigo, and measure the involuntary movements of the eyes. The computer measures and graphs the eye movements, and somehow this tells them something but we don't know what yet!

Anyway, thus the trip to the hospital, thus the hat, and thus the missed blog entry, because Dad had one of his worst vertigo attacks yet, or at least the longest, a couple of days later. I went over to Mom and Dad's place about 5am yesterday, to help, and did not leave until about 1 pm today. Maybe I'll figure out how to blog from my new smart phone (so far I'm lucky to have a phone call go smoothly!). I know I can do Facebook entries - but I missed doing my blog thing yesterday. Maybe the pressure is off now, or maybe I'll try for another run of daily blogs.... I really do enjoy doing this!

I am pleased that this my 813th blog!

A great idea.

2011-11-09T00:30:00.001-05:00

I've got no idea where this originated, but it appears to have gone viral, and I'm glad to support the idea by passing it on here. Forgive the Christmas theme, but I guess it really is about Christmas, because it appears to me that our friends of other religious persuasions seem not to have any such crazily consumer oriented holidays. (I'm willing to be corrected on this.) I did not write this, but with minor adjustments I concur!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods—merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year can be different. This year Americans should give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It’s time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone, EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the American Dollars on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants—all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn’t about big National chains—this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom ? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

Perhaps someone’s computer could use a tune-up. There must be some young person who is struggling to get their repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of lights, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.

THIS should be the new American Christmas tradition.

This is another way of caring about each other, and isn’t that what Christmas is about?

And please remember to wish everyone a Merry Christmas instead of saying Happy Holidays!

---------------------------------------------------

Again, I don't know who first wrote this ---- I do know I found it posted on a blog from 2008 among a lot of other places, so it isn't terribly new ----- but it does seem to ask for some thought, and maybe even some action?

Birthday tops again!

2011-11-08T00:30:00.002-05:00

Those little pieces vibrating around yesterday were chocolate chips! Above - painted a nice dark brown! Below - painstakingly glued into the appropriate holes in the cookie base.To maintain balance for a nicely spinning top, I did 1/4 of a cookie complete with three chips, and an uneven edge. Then I rotated that quarter three times to complete the cookie, welded the 4 images together, and there you go! A perfectly balanced chocolate chip cookie spinning top. My favorite detail? The chips are made of slightly thicker wood so that they stick out from the surface a bit!

Below - CJ absent mindedly spinning his top!

Oddly, the cookie monster theme for his birthday was based on his strong dislike of cake (or ice cream). Deanna baked a large chocolate chip cookie for him, but when it was served cut into wedges, he refused to even taste it, and ate three tangerines while the rest of us got fat!

Happy Birthday!

2011-11-07T00:30:00.003-05:00

We often use a vibratory sanding process to clean up and smooth smaller parts. A small motor mounted on the bottom of a hard plastic bowl has an off center weight clamped to the shaft. Since the bowl is mounted on springs, this results in the bowl shaking the parts around, smoothing them very nicely! I love this picture I took of some small pieces as they vibrated around.

And Happy Birthday to CJ.
My grandson turns 2 today. I'll show you what these little parts are later, after CJ gets his birthday tops!

Main Street Armory - Rochester, NY

2011-11-06T00:30:00.002-04:00

Exterior of our old armory - built in 1905
picture by Matthew D. Wilson

They don't build them like this anymore!

I think this is the second nicest bathroom I've seen. Number one is still at The Madonna Inn. Picture below - guys pee in the waterfall at the right, keeping in mind that women may come in at any moment to see this unique urinal!
Back to the Armory.

We went to the Mayday Underground Indie Crafts & Art Show this afternoon!
Bus man's holiday!

Some quite interesting and creative things. As old timers on another era of craft shows, we noted that there were no booths with any walls - even people with paintings or photographs had them propped up on easels on a single table. Only about 6 booths made any attempt at lighting! It certainly would make set-up and tear down a lot easier, but for people used to a different style, it would take some getting used to. I think that next year, I'm going to try some of these local venues with my mechanical pieces. Will do on weekends when Cheryl is not away at some of the "bigger" shows, and see what happens. Lower cost, less travel, probably lower sales, but possibly a better percent return on the time and $ invested?

Black Hearts and Bearded Ladies

2011-11-05T08:23:00.003-04:00

The Wayland Cohocton Central School Drama Club presents Black Hearts and Bearded Ladies A wonderful comedy wonderfully presented by my nephew Wyatt Olney, and a large supporting cast of fellow students! Seriously - they are all great, but of course in my view Wyatt stands out. If you are a relative or friend of another student in the cast or on the supporting behind the scenes cast, feel free to comment, and I will readily agree that your relative was great too, because they all deserve kudos. You still have a chance to get there to see it tonight at 7PM.

Thank you to the universe for all the great kids coming up to take over our troubled world!

Anniversary

2011-11-04T07:57:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty sure my brother Dave would have "liked" this picture. Although when he was alive, liking was something you did with your mind, not with a mouse! Although I guess you could like a mouse?

Thank you Dave!

The perfect moment!

2011-11-03T00:30:00.001-04:00

On the way home from the playground!

New Roof - Day One!

2011-11-02T19:38:00.005-04:00

Before - above.

Below - By noon it looked like this!

Another view -
I was a bit concerned that I could see through to the sky on the other side!

The view through the attic window (below) was particularly disturbing!By the time we got home after the day with the grandchildren, they had fully covered the roof with the sheathing and the tar paper or whatever the next layer is.... Only the shingles to go? And even if it rains tonight, we are dry!Oh, and around noon, the yard looked like the picture below.

Tonight the place looked swept clean!
Tomorrow they will be back making a big mess, and cleaning it up!

New Roof

2011-11-02T00:30:00.001-04:00

Guaranteed to last about twice as long as I will. I'll have to let Casey and Deanna know - they will be in their mid eighties when it needs replacing???

Truck arrived this morning with the ingredients for our new roof! I'm guessing that truck held about 1/4 of the total cost of the roof?

The dumpster they delivered (below) looks like it would hold pretty much the whole house? Looks to be about 8 feet high, about 7 feet wide, by about 24 feet long. I think that works out to about 50 cubic yards? That's a lot of stuff! And the crew will have to remove all that from the top of our house, haul it to the dumpster which has 8 foot sides, carry all that plywood, rubber, shingles, ridge vents, etc. up there, and install it. I'm thinking that Highland Contractors will earn their money. We'll be paying it off for the next 5 years.

These guys put a roof on Mom and Dad's garage in two hours from arrival to driving away. I'm not sure how the math will work out, but based on the cost, they should be done by Friday night???

They will insulate the attic sometime after that.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T00:30:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Great Grandpa Mel above.

What more to be said? Halloween is a great event in our neighborhood. Pretty much never any "tricks". Lots of kids.... lots of families..... lots of bigger kids - I really don't mind the big kids.... my favorite tonight - three young men, maybe 16?? - with no costumes, but with the presence of mind to roar very loudly while receiving their bounty! I love it!

Our front porch above!

CJ from the back and from the front!

Wonder Woman Maya.... little does she know how true it is!

And our neighborhood (across the street) magical pumpkin carver is back after a few years retirement! (see below) She and her next door neighbor set up a magical and very scary back yard! Every few minutes a new batch of kids come screaming out the driveway, watched by the kids on the sidewalk still trying to work up the nerve to check it out. Most decide they aren't scared! , and venture back, only to come screaming out a few minutes later - usually when a kid in a scary costume comes bursting out of the skirt of the huge witch statue standing in front of the garage!

Below video of one of the two clowns guarding the backyard of horrors!

124th daily post in a row (4 straight months) if anybody but me is keeping track?

Work table filled with small figures!

2011-10-31T00:30:00.000-04:00

Collection of a good many small wooden figures for use on our annual job of creating several arts awards to be given by our local Arts & Cultural Council to local arts related folks.

I've lost track of how many years we've been making these awards, but it is gratifying to know our work is used to honor many of our local artists and arts organizations, as well as other businesses that support the arts!

Just like the arts help create a lively community, this collection of colorful wooden folks will help create a recognition of the part the arts play in our daily lives.

I love the quote that has been going around the internet lately ----

Without art, the earth is just "eh"!

Mini African Violet "Oscars"

2011-10-30T10:51:00.007-04:00

Now that the NYS African Violet Society Convention is over, I can show you the little 4" tall "oscars" that I made as table favors for the big dinner. Above - the final look. Below, sitting on my bench before the gold paint stage! The theme this year was "Violets at the Oscars"

My personal favorite in the main showroom was "Harmony's Little Stinker" (below) shown by Paul Kroll of East Aurora, NY. I didn't get to meet him, but he is evidently a multifaceted fellow, also being a breeder of Japanese Bantam Chickens, and Dark Brown Leghorn Chickens. In addition to being a member of his local and state African Violet Society, he is also a member of Buffalo and Western New York Poultry Association

I find that my favorite African Violets tend to be ones with interesting leaves.

If you are interested I think the image below is a picture of the type of chicken Paul raises.
I love the way the internet takes us off on tangents!

Oh - by the way - As illustrated by those little oscars, we love to do custom stuff. If you have an event, fund raiser, special gift you need, etc. Contact Us about how we can help!

Post #800! - Another Dreidel Design

2011-10-29T00:30:00.002-04:00

My 800th post!

Another dreidel. This one is made from some old leftover parts from my days as The Toycrafter - namely the natural wood stem, and the colorful wooden "cone" bottom/point. The blue and yellow layers are laser cut and etched with the dreidel letters - spins easily and nicely, but not too long!

Video below.

Go to Shopify to purchase this and other dreidel designs. Wholesale inquiries invited for larger quantities.

Tops in the New York Times!

2011-10-28T00:30:00.002-04:00

Title of the article -- "All That Authenticity May Be Getting Old" (?) Question mark mine. It seems to me that authenticity is never out of style!

The article mostly discusses items made to look handmade, or possibly handmade by hundreds of pairs of hands in a Chinese factory, and sold in huge quantities. I guess that might get a little old!

I don't know how long it will stay on-line, but here is the article

Tiny Nature In The Back Yard

2011-10-27T00:30:00.001-04:00

Found this little guy last night on the bird house Maya gave me for Father's Day!

Osage Orange

2011-10-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

What is it? Too bad I have already answered that question in the title to this entry.

Cheryl and Maya found this wonderful Osage Orange on the ground of the Museum and Science Center where Maya's pre-school is located. Smells wonderful according to some - Grandpa couldn't smell much!

Also known as a "hedge apple" for its tendency to grow in hedgerows especially in the midwest. Below is a picture of what the wood looks like. The Wood Database reports that the wood is prized for turning..... see image at the bottom.

Wooden bowl turned from Osage Orange.

Also prized by young children for rolling about on the floor as a generally delightful play thing!

Surprise

2011-10-25T00:30:00.001-04:00

I was downtown (Rochester, NY) today to pay the taxes, and did some wandering. The Executive Building is right on Main St. Years ago we used to go to a print shop in this building to get price sheets, newsletters, etc. printed at Print It. There is still a print shop in the same spot, but print shops are a lot less common now that we can just sit at our desk and create price sheets and then click on the print thingy to make as many as we want! And, in this building and at the print shop that I met Bruce - who worked for me at The Toycrafter for 11 years, and who bought The Toycrafter from me when I sold it. Bruce is still a friend!

While wandering through the building, I noticed 4 pieces of our work over the entrance to a hallway that goes out to the parking garage. (below)

Sarcasm - a special post for my sister-in-law!

2011-10-24T00:30:00.001-04:00

These were collected over the past few weeks from various sources.

And especially for Anne, my other teacher / educated friends, and my student friends.... I think that covers pretty much everyone??

Guest Photographer - Maya Louise Sams - Part 2

2011-10-23T00:30:00.001-04:00

More pictures by Maya Louise Sams - this time some of the people in her life - again from the perspective of a shorter person - age 4! I've always sort of wondered what people look like from down there!
Above - brother CJ - the only close person in her life who is shorter!
Below - Mom - Deanna Sams.

Above - Grandpa Don
Below - Grandma Cheryl

And - last but not least - self portrait!

Creative Hue show at Williams Gallery

2011-10-22T09:38:00.004-04:00

The Creative Hue show at The Williams Gallery has been up for a while, but we had a very nice and well attended opening last night. These pictures aren't my best - gallery lighting is designed to highlight the work, not photography - but you get the idea. The Williams Gallery is at the First Unitarian Church on Winton Rd., Rochester, NY.

Creative Hue is a collective of artists of color who do a wide variety of work from felting to bead making, from photography to painting, and from creative matting to whatever it is we do? The tags next to our work called it "Wood Collage". I'm not sure that is what I would call it, but Cheryl and I both still stumble and mumble a bit when somebody asks what we do, after almost 15 years!

Check it out - The show is open until November 14th!
Most of the work is for sale.

African Violets!

2011-10-21T00:30:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow and Saturday, you have the chance to go see some wonderful African Violets - right here in Rochester.

The New York State African Violet Society Convention is being held at

The Holiday Inn - Rochester Airport
911 Brooks Avenue
Rochester, NY 14624

As I read the schedule, the showroom is open to the public from 1:30 to 5 on Friday, and from 9:30 to 3:45 on Saturday.

Below are some pictures of my African Violets. These are not award winning, so check out the convention if you want to see more! Later I will post pictures of the neat little African Violet Oscars that I made as favors for one of the convention dinners!

You are also cordially invited to our monthly local meetings on the first Wednesday of each month - 7PM on the first floor at St. John's Home. Contact me for info on how to get there - I've managed to find the room on the first try for the last two months in a row!

We'll have a local show in the spring, but you really don't want to miss this weekend if you love African Violets, or Gesneriads, or just like to grow stuff!

Guest Photographer - Maya Louise Sams

2011-10-20T00:30:00.001-04:00

Maya spent some time with Grandpa's camera Wednesday afternoon. For this post - some things around the house from a 4 year old point of view. (later - some portrait work)

Above - a nice old push button light switch near the front door!

Below - their doll house - hand built by the photographer's great grandfather for her mother!

Below - a kid's eye view of the kitchen table!

Below - a view out the kitchen window adorned with stick on fall decorations!

And below - Salad

Not a bad eye for an 4 year old, and while these were picked by Grandpa Don from a pretty large batch of photos, who of us hasn't thrown out all but 15% of our shots, or if we were honest - should have! Coming soon, some views of the family members from about 4 feet off the floor!

The closing of yet another craft gallery.

2011-10-19T00:30:00.001-04:00

Cheryl and I went to the "renewment" party at The Creator's Hands on Sunday afternoon. That's our friend Carleen Wilenius standing between Cheryl and I. She has been operating The Creator's Hands for something like 30+ years. Carleen has always displayed a collection of fine quality American made art and craft items, including items from The Toycrafter, and Louise's Daughter. But like so many of our friends, both makers, and sellers, she has reached the age of "renewment" as she calls it, and has shut the doors. A great many of our customers have similarly closed the doors. The economy hasn't helped any, but all three components of the craft industry are reaching or have reached the age of "renewment". Most of us "Craft/art makers" are around the age of 65 - give or take a few years, and of course there are exceptions, but the "most of us" part of the equation stands. The same line can be repeated two more times, substituting "Gallery/shop owners", and "Craft/art buyers". Around this age, we all think about changing direction, renewment, downsizing, etc. and simple demographics are changing our "industry". The "makers" are getting too old to keep on working this hard, and the "gallery/shop owners" are in the same boat. Our customers have just filled their homes with wonderful things, and just don't have room for more!

Cheryl and I love to design and make things, and will undoubtedly go on doing so! Carleen will enjoy her "renewment", and Shelly Carithers - the woman on the left in the photo - will take up the mantle of "The Creator's Hands". She is looking for a new space, and "The Creator's Hands" will re-open soon. Our friend Chris Maxson - once our biggest gallery customer - is enjoying her retirement in California. Our friend George Landino - fellow artist and craftsperson - has downsized a lot due to some health concerns, but continues to teach children, and make lots of great stuff. I could go on all night, but you get the point. Life and business changes, but creativity goes on.

Guest Artist

2011-10-18T00:30:00.001-04:00

My granddaughter Maya made these for me for my birthday!

Thank you Maya!

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

2011-10-17T00:30:00.002-04:00

This is a paper dreidel I did a few years back. Parts cut from card stock with our laser. Above the basic paper dreidel assembled.

Above - pieces of soda straw added to strengthen the stem and the tip.
Below - a closer view of the bottom showing the folded tabs that hold the letter panels in place.

Below - a dreidel made from parts made quite a while ago during the days of The Toycrafter. I found some of the blue printed parts, and glued stems in them today that I had also saved for quite a few years. Only about half of the 50 parts I found were printed, so I'm lasering letters into the side panels on the rest of them. Will post pictures of them later. These are a bit under 2" tall.

Below - video taken today of the above top, complete with "The Dreidel Song."

Below, what I call a bead dreidel - a frame made out of laser cut wood parts, with a silk screened wooden bead in the center. I can go on making these till I run out of the round wooden beads - also saved from The Toycrafter days! This dreidel is a bit under 3 inches tall.

And below - another video - also taken today - also with The Dreidel Song.

We do have some dreidels available, so order early. The yellow bead dreidel is on Shopify, but I haven't posted the blue dreidels yet.

There is another larger laser cut dreidel on Shopify here. This one is basically a wooden version of the paper one shown at the top of this post.

The bounty of Anne's Garden

2011-10-16T08:47:00.003-04:00

Back in mid August I posted about Anne's garden It is now mid October, and this is the result!

Sixty Six

2011-10-15T20:36:00.005-04:00

I may have turned 66 today, but I still love to play, and teaching the grandchildren to spin tops on the top of ketchup bottles seems like the perfect way to celebrate. Luckily for me, and for them, Maya and CJ had fun with the concept without going crazy. I'm going to send in this one to my top spinning forum group. We're collecting a bunch of pictures to create a photo collage for International Top Spinning day.

Below, I'm intrigued by the phrase "Status terminates on 10/15/19" on my temporary driver's license renewal card. I guess getting another 8 years would pretty good, but I was sort of hoping to be more like 2/3rds done! 99 would be a good goal!

Maya's First Art Show!

2011-10-14T00:30:00.001-04:00

Maya has been very interested in the concept of the Art Show for quite a while. Her visit to our booth at the Clothesline show was a big influence, plus a lot of our work is to be found around her house, and around our house! She has been suggesting to Cheryl that she would like to go along when we do a show.... Cheryl has (hopefully wisely) suggested waiting until she is 8 years old. Maya will of course remember that, and will be ready to go to the first show after her 8th birthday!

Above is an example of the work she created for her first show. I was amused that the first step in the process was making the price tags! She used a percent sign rather than a dollar sign, but remember - she is 4! Step 2 was making the artwork, which commonly utilizes scotch tape these days... I think she finds it takes too long for glue to dry?

She then proceeded to tape her work to the wall, but a "gentle" suggestion got the tape off the wall. She did not like the idea of leaning the work against the wall on the table under the TV, but found the couch a perfectly acceptable "wall".

As I looked over the work, she told me --- "You might not want that one. It is quite expensive."

We may need to work on her sales technique? On the other hand I like her idea of making the price tags first. A lot of us artists/craft makers, tend to make pricing an after thought instead of perhaps the most important part of the process!

My old Cornell apartment mate!

2011-10-13T00:30:00.000-04:00

Just got a phone call from one of my college roommates! Kim Howell lives in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and has been a professor in the Department of Zoology and Wildlife Management at the University of Dar es Salaam since not long after we graduated from Cornell together in 1967! We've been in touch some by e-mail over the past few years, and he is in the states now visiting his father, sister, etc, and we got to talk by phone a bit. First conversation since 1967! Kim is going to talk with our other apartment mate - John Day - later tonight, and maybe I'll get to talk with him soon too? Last time I saw John was about 15 years ago in New York City while I was there for the gift show. Thanks for the call Kim, and safe trip home, and continued health and creative work to do!

Information below gleaned from the web.

Kim M. Howell

Professor Kim M. Howell has been a staff member of the Univesity of Dar es Salaam since 1970, where he is currently a Professor in the Dept. of Zoology & Wildlife Conservation. He has broad interests in the ecology and distribution of small mammals, birds and reptiles and amphibians and is the author of numerous publications and several books. His field work in Tanzania's biodiversity hotspots has yielded shrew and frog species new to science.

Academic Qualifications

BSc Cornell University, Ithaca New York, 1967;

PhD, Univ. of Dar es Salaam, 1976

Teaching

Undergraduate courses in chordate biology, Mammalogy, Herpetology and Ornithology; Environmental Impact Assessment

Research

Monitoring small vertebrate biodiversity; Environmental Impact Assessment

Biodiversity Monitoring Techniques; Taxonomy, biogeography, ecology and

conservation of small vertebrates; Biology of bird and mammal pest species and their

control; Management of the live animal trade; The use and maintenance of specimen

collections and electronic biodiversity databases as research, management and

educational tools. Currently I am, with Prof Alan Channing of University of Western

Cape, completing a book on the Amphibians of East Africa.

Most important publications:

Harvey, W.G., and Howell, K.M. 1987. The birds of the Dar es Salaam area. Le Gerfaut 77: 205-258.

Broadley, D.G. and Howell, K.M. 1991 A checklist and key to the reptiles of Tanzania. Syntarsus 1: 1-70.

Howell, K.M. 1993 Chapter 9. The herpetofauna of the eastern forests of Africa.pp. 173-201. In Lovett, J. and Wasser, S.(eds.). The Biogeography and Ecology of the Forests of Eastern Africa.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Poynton, J.C., Howell, K.M., Clarke, B.T. & Lovett, J.C. 1998. A critically endangered new species of Nectophrynoides (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Kihansi Gorge, Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. African Journal of Herpetology 47: 59-67

Spawls, S., Drewes, R., Howell, & Ashe, J. 2002 A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, London. 2nd printing .

Consultancy:

Major consultancies include environmental baseline surveys and environmental impact studies for three gold mines (Bulyanhulu, Ashanti-Geita, and Tulawaka), the Lower Kihansi Hydropower Project, and Songo Songo Natural Gas Pipeline. Other consultancy has included Biodiversity Baseline Studies for the Usangu Wetland (SMUCW project) and Rufiji Environmental Management Project (REMP) and others, as well as a programme designed to reduce bird hazards and bird strikes to aircraft at Dar es Salaam International Airport.

Beth's Birthday Tops

2011-10-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

Our friend Beth still hasn't turned 70, but our local birthday party was held waaaaay early so it could be a surprise, and her family birthday with her children and grandchildren was held last weekend in Northern Virginia. These tops were made early, and smuggled into Bert's luggage? or hidden in the spare tire? for the trip to Virginia, and can now be shown because all the birthday parties are over, and the last surprise for this year is revealed???

Thanks for all the years of friendship Beth, and keep spinning always!
See below.

Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival - part two

2011-10-11T00:05:00.002-04:00

More about the Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival --- Check out part one if you missed yesterday's pictures and comments.
Above - "Honoring" the military and patriotism is a big part of the festival. I'm sure that the person who put these on their front sidewalk meant well, but these guys are not exactly my taste. And below, a double tent full of a lot of hand made things, including the wooden flag under the tree to the left.

I'm not sure why this little sign (below) was leaning up on the back of the German Food truck, but on the other side was a tent of German Food served by folks in lederhosen and all the matching stuff. (I double checked on Google, and I did spell that right despite my dictionary wanting to change it to "leaseholder"?????)

Below, a nice exhibit of fresh local apples right on the corner of Main and Park! As the end of the festival was approaching, the vendor was hand writing signs on cardboard - "Bushells $10.00 each - any kind" Even if spelled badly, that is a great deal!

And - below - The Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival is sort of a mini Sturgis. I would estimate that about 10% of the folks there probably came on their motorcycles.

And - Thanks to my family - Anne, Wyatt, and Maeve - residents of Cohocton - their house is about 150 feet from that lovely exhibit of apples, and across the street from the motorcycles! Thanks to Anne for the lentil soup and the wonderful cookies - I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy eating! (She saved me from needing to get one of those deep fried pickles!) Thanks to Maeve and her friend Jared for coming home from college to visit! Thanks to Wyatt for spending a little time with us in between hanging out with his friends. The Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival really is the highlight of the social year here! And thanks to Mom and Dad for coming along and making sure a good chunk of our family got together again! I wish my brother Dave could have been there with us - I'm sure he and I would have chuckled over many of the same things. I did wear my Merlefest shirt as I usually do when I want to bring my brother along. I miss you Dave.

Coming soon - pictures of the bounty of Anne's garden!

Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival - part one

2011-10-10T00:30:00.001-04:00

The Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival is sort of the essence of small town America. I probably wouldn't even know about it if my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew hadn't chosen this small finger lakes village to move to a few years back. They have everything from a tractor pull - cancelled this year, to a rubber duckie race on the Cohocton River - we got there after the "catchers" had netted all the strays, and were standing around with wet pants. Folks from far and wide set up tents to sell everything from maple syrup to apples, fudge to kettle korn, sausage sandwiches to deep fried pickles (at least there was something vegetarian!). There were at least 6 "bouncy houses", and a couple of places to buy a custom made Amish shed for your back yard. At least one tent sold pretty much anything tie dyed - see above. Below, my friend and "sort of former relative" Darlene was helping a friend sell Nunda Mustard. Pretty good mustard actually. Note: I find a recurring theme in my life of losing relatives and friends as other relatives and friends get divorced and move on with their lives - usually a good thing for them, but a lot of other people who had no problem get separated too!

Below - some folks actually make a living charging people 50 cents to keep bouncing little rubber balls into bins with bingo card thingys at the bottom until somebody gets a BINGO and wins a $2 Chinese teddy bear?

Below - probably the most creative product I saw - Bird houses on pitch forks????? Does one inherit a bunch of pitchforks from an eccentric collector relative and have to figure out something to do with them? Or does one spend their weekdays wandering from flea market to antique store looking for pitchforks?

Certainly a couple of steps better than the Redneck Wind Chimes shown below on a Red, White, and Blue stand! Those cans are actually rather nicely pre-rusted. Is there a quick rust system or chemical available, or do you just collect a lot of cans and set them out in the back yard for a few months? So many questions come to mind wandering around the Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival.

More pictures and commentary on this event tomorrow. I'm oddly fascinated!

Let's start a "Bring Back Buttons" campaign!

2011-10-09T00:30:00.002-04:00

We don't see as many buttons as we used to. I remember wearing several each day, and I remember a large collection of buttons pinned to the headliner in one of my old vans! These days I wear my handmade wooden Obama 12 pin most of the time, or one of my other wooden political pins - "Yes We Can", "Mr. Obama", or "That One" ..... The "Mr. Obama" design was born the first time I heard him called that on the radio - it turns out that NPR has a system - "President Obama" is used the first time he is mentioned in a news story, and "Mr. Obama" is usually used for subsequent mentions of our president in the same story.

"That One" is a reference to the time when John McCain in the October 7, 2008 debate with Barack Obama referred to him as "that one." John McCain was referring to Barack Obama's vote on an energy bill in the senate. McCain said it was "loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one." McCain pointed at Obama as he said the words "that one."

I think we should "Bring Back Buttons". They are a good way to start a great conversation. We don't need to agree with each other's buttons, but we do need to talk to each other! Maybe bring back bumper stickers too?

100 posts in 100 days!

2011-10-08T00:30:00.001-04:00

In some bizzaro world sort of way I think these two items go together. Above - an actual book from 1818! The story below --- “For Children Three Years Old,” is from Lessons for Children by Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Philadelphia, 1801

There was a naughty boy; I do not know what his name was, but it was not Charles, nor George, nor Arthur, for those are all very pretty names: but there was a robin came in at his window one very cold morning — shiver — shiver; and its poor little heart was almost frozen to death. And he would not give it the least crumb of bread in the world, but pulled it about by the tail and hurt it sadly, and it died. Now a little while after, the naughty boy’s papa and mamma went away and left him, and then he could get no victuals at all, for you know he could not take care of himself. So he went about to every body — Pray give me something to eat, — I am very hungry. And every body said, No, we shall give you none, for we do not love cruel, naughty boys. So he went about from one place to another, till at last he got into a thick wood of trees; for he did not know how to find his way any where; and then it grew dark, quite dark night. So he sat down and cried sadly; and I believe the bears came and eat him up in the wood, for I never heard any thing about him afterwards.

Below - an oddly similar sentiment?

Just a couple of things to think about???

Follow-up on the new top cart and first top show using it!

2011-10-07T00:30:00.001-04:00

Above - the the new top cart stocked with the items transferred from the old top cart. I couldn't believe the extra stuff that had accumulated over the years in the old cart. I pared the collection down to items that I actually show people, and got rid of all the duplicates and unused stuff in the original cart. I could not include the tall top that I have always ended the show with, because it won't fit in the new lower bin, but I added a great old top that has a short pencil for a tip, and traces a wonderful spiral as it precesses! It used to be part of the show. I don't remember how it got moved out of the cart, but it is back now!Above - me showing the magnetic Swirlaround top.

Below - spinning a German top that works with an external plunger.

Below - Maya wanted to feel what my magnetic peg top felt like spinning from the metal ring on the end of the string.

As usual, even with all the things I removed from the top cart collection, I had at least another half hour of tops to demo and tell stories about when the time came to cut if off and move on!
After the show, the kids all made a couple of tops to take home. Interesting patterns made with markers or crayons.... many of the kids made one for themselves, and one for a sibling. This included Maya making one for CJ! Below, I glued the stems in place, and the kids used one of my old whirligig presses from The Toycrafter to push the stem in.

Many thanks to the teachers at Maya's pre-school. They run a great place! I'll be going back soon to do the afternoon class top program!

I love my new top cart! Even with figuring out where things were, I think the show went quite a bit better than usual, and the lower level of the top spinning tray was perfect for little folks sitting in those short chairs! Low enough for them to see easily, and tall enough for the old man to not have to bend over too far!

#777

2011-10-06T00:30:00.001-04:00

I don't even remember what it was that I wouldn't do that CJ wanted today, but he maintained this look for about 10 minutes figuring I would give in! I didn't give in, but I did figure I needed to save this moment!

I remember his dad using this very look on many occasions!

Post # 777!

Working on a new cart for my top show!

2011-10-05T00:30:00.001-04:00

My old top show cart is a Sears tool box / work bench thingy. It has served well, and has helped me entertain and teach a lot of kids of all ages about tops. Click here to check out my web page about the top show, and to see a picture of the old top cart. When I was younger, hauling around the bulky and heavy cart - getting it in and out of the car, etc. was no problem. As an older person, I've begun to find I need to go find help with loading and unloading, etc., so yesterday I went out looking for options. Long experience with shopping for specific things has taught me that having a clear idea of what you want is not an easy way to shop! Contrary to all expectations, I found the Stanley Fatmax rolling tool box above.

My first step was to get rid of the Fatmax logo on the front --- imagine the snickers when I rolled into a classroom with that! Next make it my own with the same graphic of me spinning a top, that graced both ends of the old cart ..... this one has one on the front. Later I may put something on the ends of this new cart.

This particular rolling tool box sort of unfolds by stepping on the bottom, squeezing a latch, and rolling the top backwards - as above. Now I needed a place to spin tops! At first I was going to carry a small adjustable table with me, but after a couple of attempts, I created a wooden shelf that sits inside the folded out lid, held in place by some cleats that fit into the lower side of the open lid.

A panel wedges at an angle against the wheel axle below, and fits into a groove in the bottom side of the open lid to support the playing surface level and steady. I'll probably add some graphics to the front panel later, and make it larger or even shape it like a top? The only problem I foresee is if kids get in close and lean on it! Generally I keep kids back a bit because when some squeeze up front, the ones in back can't see. I anticipate this new cart working out nicely in one particular way.... the spinning surface is quite a bit lower, so little kids should be able to see better!

Now to fill it with tops, and give it a try at Maya's pre-school on Thursday morning!

I'll let you know how it works. The main problem will be adjusting my brain because I've been using the old cart for about 20 years or so???

This new cart weighs about 25% of what the old one weighed, so I anticipate being very glad to adjust!

One Of A Kind!

2011-10-04T08:20:00.006-04:00

Cheryl loves to create figures from scraps and leftovers, and these are some of those. Never to be repeated, so I took some pictures. These range from about 12" tall to around 18" tall. Come to the show this weekend in Northampton, MA to meet them in person, and add one or more of them to your collection!

Click here for more info on the Paradise City Show

October 8, 9, 10 - Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!
Mention this blog entry, and get a free tiny angel!
No purchase necessary!

Ride on the other side of the canal!

2011-10-03T00:30:00.002-04:00

After many bike rides along the canal, and some blog entries from there (search for "canal" at the top of this blog), yesterday Cheryl and I got to go on a great canal tour on the canal on the Mary Jemison. While it was a cold and rainy day, it was great fun, and I got to see the canal path from out in the water!

Because of the cloudy day, and the rain, most of the pictures weren't too good for posting here. Above - a cool hatch cover near the bow of the Mary Jemison.

Above - Cheryl!
Below - a colorful view of the bank near one of the many railroad bridges we went under - usually I ride over!

Below - the beginnings of fall color!

Many thanks to our friend Shalom who treated us to this lovely gift for our anniversary!

Feeling a little political today!

2011-10-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

Click the image above to read more easily.

Two License Plates to start October

2011-10-01T07:46:00.003-04:00

Above - wine lover picking up kid from pre-school, and below - our insurance agent!

Beginning of 4th month of daily blog entries! ( one entry got posted on the wrong day when I set the post options wrong, but I have posted 93 times in 93 days.) I'll try for 100 a week from now, and then see where it goes from there!

Neighborhood Bottle Tree

2011-09-30T00:30:00.002-04:00

Found this "bottle tree" two blocks from my house yesterday. The wine bottles form the wall of a raised bed of soil around a tree with flowers planted in it..... a very nice variation.

Click here for my previous bottle tree entry.

First visit to the studio!

2011-09-29T00:30:00.001-04:00

Grandpa Don took Maya to the studio for the first time today! I promised last week that we would do this today, and while I forgot, Maya did not! Before leaving for preschool, Maya asked me what the laser looked like, and proceeded to draw a picture.... I said there was a computer next to it that helped run it, and she added that. The final touch was adding the electrical cords running to an outlet on the wall! When we got to the shop after I picked her up at school, she immediately walked over to the laser and wanted to see it run. She asked for one of our figures so she could draw a face on it! (She has often commented that our figures needed faces!) Grandpa pulled up the file and very soon she was watching the laser cut out her figure.... she actually laughed out loud!

Within a few moments after I handed her the figure, she asked for my pen, and added a face! We added a dad to her collection, and again she added a face immediately. I had no idea how concerned she was about the fact that most of our figures don't have faces.

My favorite moment of the day was when she asked me how the computer was connected to the laser ------ that is one sharp 4 year old!

New Top in my collection!

2011-09-28T00:30:00.002-04:00

Lots of stories for this top! A gift from my friends Salena and Eddie -- direct from Italy! But like all things - Made In China. But as my friend Salena said in her letter... it is from Italy, and it is a Pinocchio top and Pinocchio was carved by Gepetto, an Italian woodworker in a small Italian village. And it may hold the record for distance traveled in my collection - Made in China, shipped to Italy, flown to the USA, and then (and here is the exciting part) it has ridden around in Salena and Eddie's truck for most of a year as they travel all over the US, delivering and picking up all manner of things .... and always with this little top tucked away in a corner of the "sleeper" (actually a small apartment). Check out The Daily Rant for lots of stories and pictures of where my little Italian / Chinese top has been! This one is going in the top cart to have this story told as part of my Spinning Top Show. The next show will be October 6th for my granddaughter's preschool class! I'll try to get a picture for you Salena! Thanks!

Soccer days!

2011-09-27T00:30:00.001-04:00

We went to watch Maya play soccer on Saturday morning!

Great fun, but Maya seemed easily distracted

The picture below was my favorite shot of the day - not Maya, but her name is Maeve!

Bottle Bush

2011-09-26T00:30:00.003-04:00

I've long been fascinated with bottle trees. Click on the links below to see a couple of web articles about bottle trees. You can buy them all pre-made from steel rods, but that somehow doesn't make sense. I've stuck some bottles on dead branches in the lilac bushes in our yard, but somehow they're also just not right. Today, while on a Sunday ride to Letchworth State Park, we drove by what may be the perfect bottle tree. More like a bottle bush actually, but a lot of bottles on the dead remains of a real bush! I love the variety of colors and the variety of bottles! I love the bottles on the ground mingled with the broken glass of bottles that didn't survive the fall? Or maybe the broken glass is from the captured evil spirits struggling to escape? I also love the lone broken bottle still hanging from the bush, but it's spirit was clearly able to escape. I think the good spirits managed to escape, but the evil ones are right there in the bottles! And there must be a very special spirit in that bright yellow bottle that seems to disappear when you move off to the side!

This bottle bush is located on Route 19A, Portageville, NY --- just outside the southern end of Letchworth State Park.

history of the bottle tree.

Another article about bottle trees.

Both pictures deserve to be clicked!

And in one of life's serendipty moments, this morning I discovered this about some recycled plastic bottle trees!

Mosaic at the Post Office

2011-09-25T07:57:00.006-04:00

This entry is specifically for Anne - my sister-in-law - who is very interested in mosaics! This one used to be outside TT Bearing, 454 E Broad St, Rochester, NY. Back in the days of The Toycrafter, we used to go here to get various bearings and other mechanical parts for repairing machines, or for building some custom piece of stuff to do something odd not covered by the usual drill presses, saws, etc. available on the market. TT Bearing still exists, but has moved out of the center of Rochester to Lexington Ave. Pretty much all our old suppliers from Grainger to TT Bearing have moved out of the city. Some are long gone as manufacturing businesses like The Toycrafter have disappeared. Some have just fled to the suburbs. Some, like Jackson Saw and CISCO, are still in the city, and still in business! CISCO, variously known as CISCO, Cook Iron Store, Co, or Contractor's Industrial Supply Company, sold a huge variety of hardware type stuff that we needed regularly, and Jackson Saw provided drill presses, table saws, and saw sharpening services when we could not find what we needed at one of the many - now defunct - junk/used stuff places in town! (I'll have to write up something about our old suppliers one of these days)The old TT Bearing building is now home to a "temporary" post office that moved there - very close to center city - when Midtown Plaza was torn down.

Before you think Rochester is going down hill fast from the comments above, we have a lot of good stuff going on in our city, and I'm very glad to be living here. It is changing, but that is the nature of our current world...... Rochester is very much moving in a good direction!

I'd love to know why TT Bearing put this great mosaic on their building! If you know anything about the history of this mosaic, or the artist (SKF) I'd enjoy hearing from you!
These are good pics to "Click to Embiggen"

This one is for my son and his wife.

2011-09-24T23:22:00.004-04:00

Apologies to Gahan Wilson for borrowing his artwork!
Hopefully the plug for his work will suffice for a thank you for all the years of funny!

Accumulated Nature In The Backyard

2011-09-23T00:30:00.002-04:00

A few pictures of neighborhood wildlife captured in the past few days that didn't fit in elsewhere!
These are all good ones to click on to embiggen - I just tested, and it looks like the old click to embiggen system is back, without the ugly translucent grey background with limited embiggening!
Snail on leaf of my Canna Lilly - at least 5 feet off the ground, proving once again how much snails like to climb. Or at least showing that snails climb - no idea if they enjoy it!

Small - 3/8th inch long - bee on the table near my meal at the Taste of the Wedge last Sunday.

A tiny - 1/4 inch - fly that seemed to like hanging out on the slide in Maya and CJ's back yard on Wednesday!

Another day with Maya and CJ

2011-09-22T00:30:00.001-04:00

Above ---- CJ and Grandpa sitting on a front step down the street.

Below ---- CJ and Grandma sitting on the front wall.

Below - Maya -- self portrait in spilled sand.

Thanks for a great day!

Fire and Water

2011-09-21T00:30:00.002-04:00

I'm a big fan of shadows, reflections, light patterns, etc. This one is from a visit to Ellison Park, Rochester, NY on one of the Saturday drives Mom and I take while Dad goes grocery shopping. It only lasted a few minutes as the sun moved across the morning sky!

Yarn Bomb

2011-09-20T07:43:00.002-04:00

On the way home from Taste of the Neighborhood I stopped and finally took a picture of my neighbor's tree!

Taste of the Wedge - 2011

2011-09-19T00:30:00.005-04:00

Our annual end of summer "dish to pass" picnic.

What a great neighborhood we live it!
Above and below - grandson CJ enjoys the music and the playground!
Click the video below to see him dancing to the Blues!

Above and below a couple of panoramic views of the event!
Click to embiggen!
Note after posting -
No idea what this new thing is that happens when you click a picture now! Checking on the forum indicates that this is a new "feature" that a lot of folks including me don't like - hopefully the complaints will at least yield a way to disable it!

Below - my friend Jeff Peden - juggler and entertainer extraordinaire - and a friend entertain the kids and adults with a variety of antics including lots of audience participation!

Click on the video below to hear The Highlanders, and see CJ moving to the beat!
Check your volume.

When the Nazi analogy comes up, the argument is over!

2011-09-18T00:30:00.003-04:00

I guess this is a good example of Godwin's Law . According to this law, this conversation is over, and no comments need be posted. I like this because I pretty much get no comments anyway, so this constitutes the perfect post! I've made my point, and there is no need to refute me!

New Car

2011-09-17T09:28:00.007-04:00

Above and below - the new 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan, and the front of our old Dodge conversion van . Our first new vehicle in 10 years! Goodbye to 5 car payment free years!

Below - Cheryl puts the first of our stuff into the new Caravan.Then Jim Bentley showed Cheryl some of the features on her next dream car, a sporty little Fiat convertible! (I think she is looking forward to the post craft show years?) Many thanks to Jim and Doan Dodge for our third smooth and comfortable car buying experience. Sorry we don't buy cars more often Jim! If you need a new Dodge or Fiat, call Doan, and ask for Jim Bentley!

Below - the one thing I couldn't save from the old van. The 2004 camping pass for the last time my brother Dave and I camped out at Merlefest. We had the coolest campsite there because we use both of our 10x10 craft fair tents! We slept in one - right behind the van, and behind that - next to the river, we used the second tent for cooking, sitting, story telling, etc. The next year I reserved a hotel room for us, because it was just getting too hard for Dave to manage the cold nights. I found the nights pretty %$#& cold too. Dave would never have done the hotel thing on his own, but he did thank me for doing it! The following year, Dave had died from his cancer, and my friend Bert and I went, and I put some of Dave's ashes under his old seat - Row 10, seat 39. Since then, I've sold the tickets to some friends of Dave's and mine, but sometime I'll go back.

Thanks old van for lots of good memories!

Around the neighborhood!

2011-09-16T00:30:00.001-04:00

Sometimes something almost perfect just appears!

Wednesday with Maya and CJ

2011-09-15T00:30:00.000-04:00

Above - Maya was fascinated by the crew putting in a driveway across the street.

Below - CJ took this picture of Grandma!

Tuesday with Mom

2011-09-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

Since we had the Clothesline show this weekend, Mom and Dad and I did the Saturday shopping thing on Tuesday. As usual, Dad did his grocery shopping, and Mom and I drove around. I decided to head for Fairport - our family home during most of my childhood. Dad told a story this weekend about a temporary holiday job he had for a few weeks back in the late 50's, early 60's. There was a greeting card company in Fairport that shipped so many cards to stores around the country, that the local post office actually set up a branch in their building to sort the packages being shipped. I thought I'd go and see if I could find the old greeting card place? Failed at that, but Mom and I went "parking" along the canal. Thus the pictures above and below.

Thanks again Mom! I love our rides and all the out of the way places we manage to find and enjoy. It is really quite amazing the places we find within one half hour's drive from Wegmans!

Pre-school!

2011-09-13T00:30:00.001-04:00

We went to Maya's preschool for an open house on Friday. Her room actually has a real merry-go-round horse in the corner! (above) Maya was very impressed. CJ liked it too, but was most drawn to the art table with an ample supply of paper, markers, crayons, etc! He sat right down and went to work the minute he saw it! (below)
After some discussion with the two teachers, it looks like grandpa will be doing his top show, plus some other stuff for the class this year! This is going to be fun!

Another great day at Clothesline

2011-09-12T07:12:00.002-04:00

The new QR Code thingy - the black and white thing in the red frame above, actually worked on multiple levels. Some people recognized what it was, and used it to find our web site. More asked what it was, with interesting conversations following with lots of pros and cons about technology, etc. Now I'm wondering two things - Can it be printed in other colors and still work? Can I manage to make a wooden cut out version that would still work?
Another technology story. Around 2:30 PM, someone went around handing out a flyer with a print out of a weather channel computer screen with dire weather warnings. "Possible high winds with hail". etc. Sort of put a damper on things, and when it began to sprinkle, customers headed for their cars, vendors battened down the hatches, etc. Sprinkles was all we ever got - maybe a few moments of heavy mist? Nice for us, but it put a hole in the days sales I'm sure. In the old days we would have never known that the possibility existed for the whole festival to blow into the next county!??? Even with the sprinkles, we had a good sales day, and probably our best Clothesline show money wise in the past 5 years at least! Thus the smiles below!

Great day at Clothesline!

2011-09-11T00:30:00.002-04:00

Well, we managed to fill the empty booth with lots of great stuff, and lots of great customers helped us thin out the supply! We still have some great things left though, plus some things in the van to fill up the blank spots.The other great thing about this show is that it usually seems like pretty much everyone we know in town stops by during the two days. Below, left to right --- myself, Cheryl, Kristel, Toni, and Shalom! Kristel and Toni are old friends, and Shalom is the trainer at the gym Cheryl has been going to with great regularity, and with very pleasing results!

And while zipping up the tent for the night, I found this dragonfly! Large, and a beautiful green and black color, it was the perfect ending to a great day...... well the actual ending was a nice plate of sesame tofu, with rice and broccoli at our favorite diner!

As always, click on the pictures of the dragonfly to embiggen!

One more day to stop by booth 447 at The Clothesline Show

Last show for our old van!

2011-09-10T00:30:00.002-04:00

This is the last show for our old Dodge conversion van. I have no idea how many shows we have done with this reliable old workhorse, but she has served us well. A few breakdowns, but nothing serious, and if our mechanic hadn't told us that the frame is rusting out, and she won't make it through another winter, we'd be planning a lot more shows with her. It has been especially nice having no car payment for the past 5 years or so! Her gas mileage is abysmal - about 12.5 miles to the gallon, and she qualified for the Cash for Clunkers program a while back, but we figured that we could buy a lot of gas for a car payment. The car payment on the new Dodge Grand Caravan we have agreed to buy next week will buy somewhere between 97 and 158 gallons per month depending on which financing deal we choose, and where gas prices go? The new mini-van will go over twice as far on a gallon of gas, and set-up and tear down should be a bit easier because with less space in the van, we will have to choose more carefully what we load in to take to a show!
So goodbye to our old friend. We'll reinstall the seats we took out within 3 days of getting her home back in 1991 - they are brand new after sitting in the garage for 10 years. (The rest of this big conversion van never did get into our garage!) On Thursday, we'll take her back to the car dealer where we got her, and buy our third car from our favorite car salesman who just sells us a car without any %$*&^@* ! Many thanks to Jim Bentley who will probably be retired by the time we have to face car buying again?
Above - the empty booth, set-up and ready to populate with wonderful and colorful pieces ranging from $1 to about $375, with most items under $50! Stop by the Clothesline show today or tomorrow, and say goodbye to our old van, and get a good buy on some great artwork!

New Work at Clothesline Festival

2011-09-09T08:22:00.004-04:00

Nice little piece Cheryl created. About 16x7 - figures are the size we normally make into pins.

This one has been framed, but pictures of things in frames don't always come out great.

This piece and lots of others will be at Clothesline
this weekend. Stop by to see us! or is that Stop buy?

Booth 447 - upper level parking lot near the Goodman St. entrance.

Missed Maya and CJ Wednesday!

2011-09-08T08:27:00.003-04:00

Maya working on her book! As I recall the title is "The Tree With The Talking Knot".

Above - an arrangement/collage of books on Nonnie Linda's floor.
Below - our favorite book from the arrangement!

Below - Maya is definitely not an indoor always kind of kid -

Below in mid-leap off the backyard slide!

These are some pics from the past couple of weeks because Casey, Deanna, Maya, and CJ were on vacation this week, but they are back home now, with lots of new stories to tell us next Wednesday!

Our New Quick Response (QR ) Code

2011-09-07T08:55:00.004-04:00

If I've got this straight, you can scan the above QR code with your smart phone , and it will take you directly to our web page.

I don't know if these things can be read from the computer screen, but if this works for you let me know. I'm thinking of printing one out for our booth at Clothesline this weekend, though I'm not sure why we would want to send people to our web site when they are right there in our real world booth????????????????

Experimenting with the fireworks setting on my camera

2011-09-06T07:53:00.002-04:00

Fireworks extravaganza at the Genesee Country Village and Museum the other night.

The "fireworks" setting on my new camera seems to be a short "time lapse" thing, giving some neat effects, but perhaps not the best images of fireworks?

Great fireworks, but I'm not sure I'm a big fan of fireworks with a narrative and musical sound track? In the beginning the sound track bragged that the fireworks and music were professionally timed to within a tenth of a second of each other. My impression was that they certainly maintained the full tenth of a second off for the full performance. Quite disconcerting until I convinced my brain that there was no direct connection between the two separate but somewhat simultaneous events.

Nice fireworks though, with some effects that I hadn't seen before.

Dinner with friends!

2011-09-05T08:56:00.005-04:00

Our friend Ellen refused to have any pictures of her even in my camera when I left, so this picture of the fabulous meal we ate will have to do! :>) - Very delicious, and fully vegetarian - delightful eggplant parmesan, and a veggie spaghetti thing that was wonderful! Thanks to Ellen and Joe and their neighbors for a delightful evening of food and conversation. No phone rang and nobody texted for over 4 hours!

Spinning Tops at Genesee Country Village and Museum

2011-09-04T09:17:00.014-04:00

Yesterday I presented spinning tops at the Genesee Country Village and Museum Above - the crowd was manageable, so I actually put a variety of tops out on my top cabinet for folks to just play with.Above - one of my Watts' Tops spinning perfectly! These tops are a wonderful larger top made by my friend Walter Watts. Definitely not for the beginner, but a great move up when you've mastered the regular peg tops!

Above, Cory and Jeremiah, looking over the assortment of tops on my cart. They both became quite good at top spinning, and Cory even got very close to making the boomerang throw work!

Above - Brian, a regular volunteer at the Village, and a very good top thrower, demonstrates the proper winding of the string! He is great at getting kids and adults successfully spinning a top in a short period of time! He has got what I call a "Silver Surfer" stance that he teaches, with the throwing arm up and back, and the other arm out front and pointing to the target spot, that seems to help people get the throw right. I think I showed him some more advanced stuff, and he definitely has influenced how I will teach top throwing in the future. It was great fun working with someone who knew his way around tops. Usually I'm the only one around with enthusiasm, skills, and interest!

Above, Brian and some visitors gathered around the top display.

The following is quoted from the Genesee Country Village and Museum web page....

In season, Genesee Country Village & Museum features costumed interpreters in restored historic buildings, breathing life into an authentic 19th-Century Country Village.
One of the largest living history museums in the country located just outside of Rochester, NY, in Mumford, NY, it is also home to the John L. Wehle Art Gallery (now closed for renovation) and a nature center. Plan ahead with a membership.

Cheryl and CJ - Hanging out!

2011-09-02T06:48:00.003-04:00

Caught this picture through the kitchen window! We often each take one grandchild and do separate things these days. CJ wants so desperately to do everything that Maya does, and while Maya seems to love to teach him things, she sometimes finds his attention incredibly annoying!

Closer look below.

Note
I got in two full months of daily posts, but it was getting to be too much pressure, so I skipped a day!

Guest Artist

2011-08-31T21:30:00.001-04:00

Above - Maya Louise Sams with her chalk rendering of her house!

Above - the neighborhood hospital just up on the corner. Maya and CJ were born there, and Grandpa Don had his cancer zapped there too!

Above - Mom, and some butterflies!

Great old cars (and trucks)

2011-08-31T00:30:00.003-04:00

Saw these two in the same morning!

Above - a 1936 Chevy pick-up truck? --- picture snapped out of my window as I drove through the intersection of Goodman and Monroe (Rochester, NY) (Talk about distracted driving!) Dad thought it was a 32, or 34 Chevy, but it turned out to be 1936. The Chevy logo on the side of the hood turns out to be the clue. We thought it was probably something added later, but I found a picture of a 1936 with the logo on the side..... problem is the fenders/running board arrangement doesn't look right? Any experts out there???

Below - a 1974 Rolls Royce with right side drive.
This one was in the parking lot at the Price Rite grocery store.
Their slogan
Impossibly, Incredibly, Inconceivably Low Prices Everyday
What was a Rolls Royce doing there?
And there was a Mercedes parked next to me when I arrived - no picture of that.
Maybe cheap groceries is how they stay rich, but it hasn't worked for me yet!

Vintage Louise's Daughter

2011-08-30T00:30:00.002-04:00

Below are four figures we haven't made in a while.

The series was called "Movers and Shakers" - inspired by famous dancers.
This series included Steve, Judith, and Geoffrey shown below in that order.
In addition we did Carmen shown at the bottom in an older photograph (on a stand in those days) - we don't seem to have any of our Carmen figures around to photograph.

Steve

Judith

Geoffrey
Older photo of Carmen figure on a stand above.

Number Seven Hundred and Fifty

2011-08-29T00:30:00.003-04:00

This is my 750th post!

This is also my 60th daily post in a row!
(Someday soon I'm going to skip a day just to relieve the pressure)
Both are sort of cool milestones!
The pictures below represent some of the things I most like to blog about.

Below - NITBY - Nature in the back yard - in this case a snail on a grape leaf in our yard.

Below - general silliness and/or things than make you go UUUUUMMMM!

Below - my grandaughter Maya Louise Sams,

and in the background my wonderful Cheryl!

Below - the ever wonderful and fascinating Caesar James "CJ" Sams

Below - another thing that makes you smile and go uuuuuuummmm!

A yellow submarine tea "ball".

And once in a while I throw in something about our business ventures
and the wonderful things we make and try to sell!

Thank you to all the folks who regularly check out my postings,
and to the people who just sort of stumble by and move on.

Not your usual Diner placemat!

2011-08-28T00:30:00.002-04:00

Pretty much every Saturday after Dad does his grocery shopping and Mom and I go for a ride, we stop off at the Country Club Diner across from the grocery store, and have lunch. This time Dad's coffee came in this advertising mug. I think we have all been to a diner where the paper place mat advertises local businesses, but this is the first time I've seen an advertising mug! Turns out the restaurant gets 21 dozen free mugs for a year. Repeat business is pretty much guaranteed because the company takes back the mugs at the end of the year - presumably replacing them with new ones. The advertisers get a full year of advertising for about $200 - I assume depending on the size of the ad.

I usually don't promote anybody but us, but this seems kind of cool. They also do drinking glasses, beer steins, etc!

Your chance to get free mugs, advertise on mugs, or become a sales rep!

1911 postcard from Prattsburgh, NY

2011-08-27T08:47:00.002-04:00

Found on E-bay.

Prattsburgh is near Naples, NY - my ancestral home. Parents, grandparents, etc all lived around this area.

Prattsburgh, NY is about 300 miles from the nearest beach - with sea shells and a boardwalk - today, and was probably a similar distance from the beach in 1911!

The Finger Lakes are near-by, but while the water and shore are great, very little sandy beach area, definitely no sea shells, and outside of a long dock, no boardwalk!

Batch of Airplane Balancing Acts

2011-08-26T00:30:00.003-04:00

While making a batch of Balancing Acts today I grabbed these pictures of our Airplane Balancing Acts sitting on my rather messy bench!

Video below.

Ever wonder how we get rectangular boards out of round logs?

2011-08-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

Oddly, this oddly lovely sculpture of a log cut into lumber, is made of plastic resin material!

Found out there on the web, but I can't find the name of the sculptor!

Nimbus - Large spinning top!

2011-08-24T00:30:00.003-04:00

This is Nimbus! Made by Chris Neff, and won by me in a raffle we held on our Spinning top forum to raise money to send one of our members on a trip to promote top spinning!

I'm not a skilled person with these large tops, and I had to throw the top and then go grab the camera to get a shot. Some more practice will get me a nice vertical spin, but I sort of like these shots. Much thanks to Chris for a great top that spins very smoothly, and is a joy to own! After a few throws in the back yard, I packed it up and sent it off to my friend Mike Hout, who is hosting The 12th Annual Whirled Festival of Tops this weekend in Miamisburg, Ohio! Nimbus will be spun this weekend by some of the best top spinners anywhere, and will come back home later with many stories to share with me!

Below is Chris Neff, maker of this top, and a much better top spinner than me!

Video of Chris Neff working this top the proper way!

Deviation!

2011-08-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

Enough said!

Guest Photographer

2011-08-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

I don't often have a guest photographer, but this young lady got some surprisingly good shots, despite Grandpa's nervousness as she wandered about with his camera!

Wedgestock 2011

2011-08-21T09:01:00.005-04:00

We love our neighborhood, and we love Wedgestock. Above - our booth yesterday on a perfectly sunny and warm but slightly breezy day! The event is more of a neighborhood celebration than a sales opportunity, but we're used to that, and this one was a celebration of our own neighborhood! We live in the South Wedge, and actually found it was closer to walk home to use the bathroom than to make our way to the festival facilities down the block! That's Rick Shannon, our friend and South Wedge neighbor, with Cheryl in front of the booth.

These views are all from or in our booth. Above and below - in addition to the usual variety of great dogs, an Alpaca and a few chickens participated in the Pet Parade that opened the day!

Below - I loved the front of the building across the street from our booth. Those windows overlooking the street activities must make for an almost perfect apartment!I also loved the view below from inside our booth down between the rows of the big craft tent next to us! Craft fair booths are often surprisingly isolating, with walls blocking us off from our neighbors. Here, our booth was actually the main entrance and exit for several of our neighbors when they needed to go get food or whatever. It was all very friendly and pleasant!

Below, our grandchildren - also South Wedge neighbors - visited, and made a game out of marching around one of our pedestals. After attending a parade earlier in the day, marching and drumming were a major theme for the day! CJ made good use of Grandpa's cane!

Maya has already announced that on Wednesday (our babysitting day) we are going to have an Art Show at the house!