Weekly Photo Challenge: Community

I will not be posting a photo for this photo challenge because I do not borrow other people’s work for any reason.

When I saw the word “Community” I right away thought of my new-found sitcom, “Community!”  Even though it just started it’s fifth season yesterday, January 2nd, 2014, I only recently discovered this hidden gem of a comedy series being rerun.  I purchased the first four seasons and look forward to the sharp, sometimes hysterically funny humor as well as the sometimes poignantly written dialogs that delve deeply into each of the main Community College characters played by: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong, and the group’s curmudgeon played by Chevy Chase, still funny after all these years!

I especially love the paint ball episodes!  Very well done.  If you get the chance to view an episode, you might be hooked too!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand

You say Grand, I say ma!

When I think of the word grand, I think of my maternal grandma who helped raise me.  The youngest of four daughters born in 1912 to German immigrants that came to America during the turn of the 20th century after first settling in Canada, she was around for the “roaring 20’s” and bathtub gin.  Made it through the depression with a modest home after being left to raise her only daughter, my mother, when her husband died of tuberculosis in 1941.  She passed away in 1984 of the usual in our family, cancer, after retiring from a long career with one of Detroit’s major newspapers.

I remember the fabulous gifts she received from the editor and his wife, Lee and Tina Hills, at Christmas time as a thank you for her additional services for them by hand addressing their many Christmas cards each year.  She was selected because of her exquisite handwriting skills.  Something I did not inherit and partially due to the fact of being made to use my right hand as a lefty.  She and my Aunt Ruth taught me the art of sewing and organic gardening when I was a very young child.  Skills that have not gone to waste all these years.  I don’t know what I would have done without my precious grand ma, my rock.

The following are some interesting photographs of my grandma through the years.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light!

It was written that God said “Let there be light” and so started the world in a “big bang!”

The Bible states there are many references that Jesus made to light being truth because truth represented holiness.  Many people that have died and come back have mentioned going toward a light and there might be a reason for this.  Jesus wanted all of His children to walk in the light and to be a light for others.

Light is very important to all of us.  We need light to see, we need the light of the sun to grow our food and to be healthy.  As photographers, we know how crucial exact lighting is to our end results.

I believe that we all need to be raised in truth and light for what good is a life lived that does not make the world a better place for you being here?

LetYourLightShine

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected

I have only made cinnamon rolls a couple of times in the last 40 years or so.  I stopped trying because the dough was never soft enough and they never turned out well at all even though I followed the recipes to the letter.

This may have been the problem.

After refusing to pay what Cinnabon charges for a sweet roll I decided to try one more time while changing up the basic recipe.  I was very pleasantly surprised to finally have made a batch of cinnamon rolls that were tender and delicious, an unexpected delight!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  Please do not over bake them or they will be on the dry side.  That is what happened with my next batch even though they still were tasty.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers

Many years ago I was designing various graphic images on other wars on terror.  This one was war on terror in the home to bring attention to domestic violence.  I layered images on some of the text before adding to the computer graphic image.

The base was a picture taken in a cemetery that was layered with busts of angels and parts of computer altered photographs placed at the top.  I then layered the altered designer text in place.

I can work for hours altering and layering pictures hoping for that perfect combination.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Eerie

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I like to fool around with adding animation to part of my photos like these by cutting and “filling” other pictures or color combos and then animating only part of the picture.  Gives eerie effects depending on light, shadows, color, etc.  Hope you get some ideas for your software.  I am happy to answer any questions as to how they were created as well as planning many “how-to” posts way overdue.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

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Caramel Deer Traxx

I have only one real vice and that is ice cream.  My favorite is Moosetracks by almost anyone or Michigan Deer Traxx and Caramel Deer Traxx by Hudsonville in Michigan.  The habit I have developed over the years is eating it after bedtime.  I will wake up an hour our two after going to bed and get myself a small bowl which is quite insane since I have already brushed and flossed and even though I rinse with water afterwards, I can just imagine what it is doing to my teeth!  Bad habit that tastes so good!

HAUNTED BY MY DREAMS!

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Things That Go “Blink” in the Night!

I was really not upset, it was only a coincidence.  A very strange and disturbing coincidence.  That’s all it was.  What else could it be?  That’s what I told myself when “it” happened.

After my divorce I had been living in an apartment raising my sons that were almost grown at the time.  I’d been feeling that I wanted to buy my own home again and thought that taking care of a home  might help with the coming “empty nest syndrome” I was about to experience.  Of course that was before the housing bubble burst.  I began looking for something cozy and affordable and decided a small, older home in need of some TLC would be right up my ally.  A fixer-upper I could repair on weekends for my therapy instead of shopping would hopefully save me from being on a future episode of Hoarders.

I mentioned this idea to my oldest son who was a fan of shows that delve into paranormal activities whose response was “You’ll probably end up buying some haunted house.”  To which I just laughed and forgot about it, for the time being.  Within a few nights his words came back to haunt me, literally!

I dreamed I had bought a rather oddly shaped house that resembled a barn.  Very distinctive looking.  I kept looking at the house trying to decide where to place the garden in the front yard.  The dream began very nicely and I remember feeling so happy and excited as we were moving belongings and unpacking things inside the home with my two sons.  Then the dream changed.  It suddenly felt as if the entire aura of the home was different and not in a good way.  I was standing in one of the rooms by myself when all of a sudden the light went out for a few seconds then on again for a few more seconds then off again by itself.  As the light show continued I remember thinking “My son was right!  I had indeed purchased a haunted house!”

I awoke with a start!

The next morning I told my son about the disturbing dream I had that I felt was due to his off the cuff comment.  Then I forgot about it, or so I thought.

Months later going over yet another real estate magazine before going to sleep, my blood ran cold!  There before my very eyes looked to be the haunted house of my dreams!  At the exact moment I came to this realization, the lamp in my room suddenly went out.  I thought our power went out, but found the digital clock still showing the time.  I was about to get up to check the bulb when it came right back on again only to go out again in the same continued pattern of the haunted room of my dreams!  The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I broke out in goosebumps on that warm evening made worse because I knew I was home alone and the clock showed it was almost midnight, the witching hour!  It continued in this pattern til I pulled myself together and unplugged the lamp thinking rationally that it must be a short or a loose bulb, but what a coincidence that it started when it did.  After a while I managed to fall asleep.

The next morning I told my son what had happened so we got the lamp to test it out after I found that the bulb was not loose.  The light turned on immediately and stayed on.  There was nothing wrong that we could see.  No short that could be found.  I began to feel very unnerved again.  That light had worked perfectly before that evening and has continued to be problem free ever since.

How or why this happened, I do not know.  A mere coincidence?  A playful poltergeist?  You be the judge!

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Sloppy Po’s for Dinner!

You’ve all heard of Sloppy Joes, now try Sloppy Po’s!

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SLOPPY PO’S RECIPE

  • 1 LB ground turkey  (Butterball Everyday good quality and price)                         1 Small minced onion         2 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1/2 Cup turkey gravy                                                                                                       1/4 Cup cherry wine           1/4 Cup cranberry juice
  • Season to taste with salt and/or pepper

Simmer meat, onion & garlic til meat is well browned.  Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer approximately 15 additional minutes.  Serve on a bun of your choice and add a salad, fruit and/or vegetable for added nutrition.

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Hue of You

The color of Autumn is my hue.  So much of my decorating uses it.
The color of Autumn is my hue. So much of my decorating uses it.
You can see part of my door wreath behind the glass with the glue stains from the city warning me about the leaf bags I left in front of my house.  Nazis!
You can see part of my door wreath behind the glass with the glue stains from the city warning me about the leaf bags I left in front of my house. Nazis!
Made arrangement with container from yard sale, silk flowers and branches from my yard.
Made arrangement with container from yard sale, silk flowers and branches from my yard.
Wacky clay pumpkin and scarecrow dangle from a hutch a friend of mine made.
Wacky clay pumpkin and scarecrow dangle from a hutch a friend of mine made.
Another view of hutch shows a pumpkin and part of my mixed media art using masks.
Another view of hutch shows a pumpkin and part of my mixed media art using masks.
Fall decor used throughout my home.
Fall decor used throughout my home.
Decorated a cheap glass plate with leaf transfers and silk leaves.  The background is yellow tissue paper.
Decorated a cheap glass plate with leaf transfers and silk leaves. The background is yellow tissue paper.
I love to hang garlands of leaves.
I love to hang garlands of leaves.
Beaded pumpkin for my dresser.
Beaded pumpkin for my dresser.
I purchased the two end pictures to go with the cross I painted years ago.  Makes a nice set.
I purchased the two end pictures to go with the cross I painted years ago. Makes a nice set.
Getting ready to bead using harvest colors and natural stones.
Getting ready to bead using harvest colors and natural stones.