Picture_Heaven challenge #15

I love color and go for upbeat and colorful moods using them.  As getting out for photos in the heat we are having isn’t an option right now, I am posting some of the banner headers I have made and used in the past on my site.  My banners are indicative of my color tastes.

If I create a graphic it usually involves a lot of color.

This is a banner I created for my use with Paint Shop Pro.

Flowers leaves and trees are target when I am out.  I always have my camera with me.

What you see here are Petunias.  These pinks were so gorgeous they took my breath away.  They were in a Wonderful clay pot in Symbolreader‘s yard. 

These Bloodroot leaves are growing in my yard.  Their green leaves look so fresh and cool you might think you could wrap food in your lunch cooler with it.  Notice peppermint on the left.

These are a decorator bouquet I saw in Sams???  My memory is failing but the color in the photo isn’t.  Red violets spectacular and if you squint you can see rainbows.

Mother’s Day Tulips in the softest pinks, limes and white.  My daughter sent them to me.  I probably took a hundred different shots they were so beautiful.

Christmas Poinsettia in Christmas Reds in pots purchased for my Christmas decoration.

Gorgeous shades of green!!! evergreens in my sister’s yard in Columbus, Ohio.

Bugs, I love to take photos of colorful bugs and snails or ???

Photos of Bumble Bees aren’t easy to get but with that soft yellow color, who could resist?  This photo taken at Lake Isabella park.

 

This caterpillar at the lake moved a bit slower in gold and gray coat.  It’s amazing how fast they really are.

With his wonderful orange eyes and black accents this Cicada tempted my camera eye.  He was one of the millions in Cincinnati for the 17 year locust deluge a few years ago.

And this snail was at the side of my porch on a brick.  His golden tones were amazing to see along with all the texture in his body.

I would love to add more color to this entry but am afraid my page will load as slow as this snail moved.  Unless I come up with something spectacularly more colorful to add, these will fulfill my entry for the “It’s All About Color” Picture Heaven challenge.

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge

the subject is
“Pose for the Camera”
suggested by LadyLioness1973

POSING!!!  Not being photogenic I seldom share photos of me.  The recent “a day in the life of” entry plus another recent entry on my LittleEgypt site is above and beyond my comfort level.  I do, HOWEVER, have a husband who has a wonderfully photogenic smile and he tolerates my photo taking.  My husband’s family values the past and present in photography and they do a lot of genealogical photo sharing. 

… Lucky Me …

  My honey … “Posing“for posterity  

… and to keep me happy, clicking away …

John and I decided to do some pretend commercial shoots.  One local commercial is for a healthier vegetable juice, touting its merits over sugary sodas.  The words for the commercial are “You could have had a V8” which if you will notice the v8 can held, that is exactly what he is doing.

From the parking lot above, we went into Cici’s cafeteria style “all you can eat” pizza parlor.  The food is decent and the prices more so, $4.49 per person.  Drink water and no add on.  Add a drink for a buck.  They serve a whopping sixteen styles of pizza, have a nice salad bar and a pasta bar and soup and a dessert to go with the Pizza.  Cici’s Pizza, this is your free commercial via Xanga’s  Weekly Photo Challenge.

It has been very hot here in the States.  We ventured out for a picnic this past Sunday as it was a little cooler.  Lee’s Famous Recipe Fried Chicken is our choice for a fast food picnic or tailgate and was I ever in the mood for fried chicken.  I had the camera ready to go before John was but I liked this shot even if on the sobre sober side.

This is a resting pose after his “after the Lee’s Famous Recipe meal walk”.   

John got to laughing with my asking him for poses.  As we were talking commercials he took out his Verizon cell phone.  “Can you hear me now?“.

This downed limb is one of the Woodland Mound Park trees.  Cincinnati was hit by a storm early in the week.  It missed our little town completely (we seem to be in a protected area, knock on wood).  The storm took out a lot of trees including this one plus a lot of damage to homes.  I had to talk John into a Crocodile Dundee lll type pose (remember Dundee and associate in the tree after the croc took the boat under and the limb cracking and falling into the water?).  John didn’t trust the limb but it was calling to me for photo use.

I managed to get a few relaxed shots where John wasn’t staring at the split in the tree, listening for tell tale cracking. 

Mentioning the flowers used in my graphics, they are photos taken of wild flowers growing in the park.  The purple is Ironweed and the yellow is Goldenrod.  The Goldenrod, by the way, makes a very nice tea by rinsing it first free of bugs and dirt then steeping leaves and flowers, dry or fresh in boiling water.  I prefer fresh over the dry.

A small photo of the split in the tree which is pretty good size, the tree and the split.  The downed limb is nearly as big around as John is so it’s heavy. 

Enough for now.  John is a willing partner in my photo taking.  I have lots of candid shots and poses of him I enjoyed taking.  You will see him often in my entries as he is willing to put up with me.  What would I do without him?  

I had fun posting for this challenge.  I am not positive he had as much fun posing as I had taking them.  I hope anyone viewing enjoys his willingness to tolerate and help me with this challenge.  All links by the way take you to the genuine article, V8, Cici’s Pizza, Lee’s Famous Recipe, Verizon Wireless and Woodland Mound Park.

  

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge
subject is “Vegetables”
suggested by Closethippie

We like vegetables in our house.  In fact if we miss eating greens for a while we feel ill.  We have to have our ration of greens and other vegetables.  We like about anything, except Beets and if they are harvard prepared, I’ll even eat those.  We eat fresh, canned and frozen depending on price and availability.  We are not vegetarians.  I like meat though we don’t eat as much of it as some people do and we love fresh fruit, grains and nuts.  I am picky.  If the veggie or fruit isn’t up to par, I feed our compost pile.

My photos are a mix of food / vegetable shots.  I like taking food photos.  I think it’s because I like to eat that I appreciate the visible beauty of vegetables in the field, in the grocery and on the table. 

My photos:  I like to think of my food photos as, 

“ photographic vitamins “

This is wild Poke, appreciated a lot in the Southern USA.  You pick the young and tender leaves and stalks in the early Spring for eating.  The berries come on later and are poisonous but are used for cloth dyes and more.  If the plant has berries, it’s normally considered too old for salad.

Tender poke makes a good salad.  Elvis Presley, Jerry Reed and others sing the tune Poke Salad Annie.  Click the link to read the lyrics.

Recipe:  Poke Salad

Poke Salad = fresh picked leaves and young stems

1 to 2 lbs. Poke Salad
6 to 8 slices bacon
1 lg. onion
2 eggs

Pick and wash poke salad, bring to a rapid boil for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold tepid water. Bring to a rapid boil, starting with cold water, for a second boil for 20 minutes. Again drain and rinse with cold tepid water. Now for the third time, starting over cold tepid water bring to a rapid boil for 20 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let drain completely.

Meantime fry bacon and save drippings; set aside. Clean and cut onion in quarters. Take drained poke salad. Cook in fry pan that you fried your bacon. Add 1/4 cup of drippings and shortening from bacon. Add onion, 1/4 cup of water, salt to taste. Let steam fry until onions are sauteed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve and garnish with hard boiled egg and bacon.

 This is field corn waiting in the field for picking.  I am glad it was waiting, I love this photo.  When dry, the corn is picked and husked and shucked and loaded into feed bags or into silos for feed for cattle and pigs on the farm.  It can be ground into meal and used for baking corn bread.  You can buy cornmeal in white and yellow meal.  I prefer the yellow as it bakes up prettier.  My favorite recipe for corn bread came from this site and we do love it.

~Absolute Best Mexican Cornbread

 ”This has got to be the tastiest and the most moist cornbread I have ever made. Don’t let the ingredients fool you. It’s unbelievable.”  Original recipe yield: 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can cream-style corn (for the UK readers, cream style corn would be compared to corn cut off the cobs while fresh with the milky juices and add a little sugar and cornstarch or thickener to make it a heavier consistency.  Maybe like a corn pudding but not real thick.) 
1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained (Add the peppers carefully to taste.  If you don’t like hot spicy food this will be too hot.  cut the amount into a half or forth)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

——————————————————————————–

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in cream corn, chiles, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to corn mixture; stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of the pan comes out clean.
(Becca’s preference for cooking:  use a deep iron skillet, grease it and put it into the oven to get hot while preparing the batter.  Pour the batter into the hot skillet for a crisp browned crust and adjust the cooking time by watching and checking with a toothpick.)

 Pumpkins for soups but most recognized for pies or puddings.  You can dry the seeds for eating also.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients: 3/4 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup whole milk, 1 can pumpkin (15 ounces), 1 cup dark brown sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Fresh pumpkin can be used, but cook it first (usually by cutting the pumpkin into pieces and baking in the oven.  NOTE:  most pumpkins in the market are carving pumpkins and won’t be as good as the canned you can buy).

Prepare a 9-inch pie crust or defrost a frozen pie crust. Using a fork, punch holes into the dough so it won’t rise while prebaking. If using pie weights, this step is unnecessary. Prebake the pie crust according to directions or at 400°F for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk pumpkin and spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt) together over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. When the pumpkin begins to cook, whisk in the brown sugar.

Once the mixture is fully blended, scrape the sides of the saucepan down and whisk again.

Add milk and cream and continue to whisk.

Once the mixture begins to bubble and splutter, remove from heat.

Beat the eggs to form a nice creamy consistency (about two seconds in a blender).

While blending on low speed, pour the pumpkin pie filling through the feeder hole in the blender cap. This will help break down any fibrous or tough parts of pumpkin creating a smooth filling.

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the prebaked crust. If you used a deep dish pie crust, this should fit perfectly. If using a “normal” pie crust, there was about a cup of filling left over, which can be made into pumpkin custards by filling ramekins. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes or until center of pie is jiggly when pie is rotated gently.  The general rule is to fill two thirds full.

Remove from heat and let cool on a cooling rack for at least one hour. The center will fully set without over cooking the outer edges by removing the pie early. Refrigerate and serve cold, warmed up, or at room temperature.  Garnish with whip cream.

Fresh shelled peas right from the garden are good to eat raw or in salads.  Snow peas can be eaten with the hull.  If I want to cook the peas, I like to saute them lightly in butter in a pan just to heat.  If cooked too long they turn starchy.  Treat them gently like Asparagus.  For a meal, bake a potato, split it and garnish with the cooked peas and cubes of lightly heated ham and black pepper.  You might like a little butter and sour cream on it also.  Add some slices of fresh tomato on the side with a sprinkle of dill weed, cold pressed olive oil and raspberry wine vinegar.

The background is fresh sweet peppers.  We love them stuffed with a rice, ground beef and parmasan cheese filling then dropped into a hot tomato sauce with tomato pieces in it.  Make enough to cover the peppers.  Cook it down to about half for a gravy.  We like them served up with mashed potatoes. 

The greens are spinach greens with fresh pork cooked then added to the greens and cooked long enough to give a meaty flavor to the greens.  At the top you see a steak dinner with a side of mixed garden vegetables lightly saute’ in butter.  Bottom right is Chili prepared with red kidney beans and ground beef and tomatoes, salt, pepper and lots of cumin and whatever other ingredients you want in your chili.  I fix the soup separate and add the cooked ground beef into the bowls.  The meat keeps more of its flavor. 

I am h-u-n-g-r-y after fixing this entry.  I am in the mood for a pot of soup beans with greens on the side and some cornbread.  Fresh tomato slices would be good with nice young cucumber and onion slices. 

Yummy

Keep on taking those photos,

 

 

 Weekly Photo Challenge 

This weeks subject is suggested by NEVRAGN

“a day in the life of”

I have considered carefully for this challenge.  It has taken some difficult decision making for the display of each photo not wanting to exploit or hurt its image.  I hope my creative efforts bring tears to your eyes and a box of kleenex into play.  My offering for this challenge:

 ”A Day in the Life of ’My Nose’”

I have been blessed with what some might consider an “unfortunate nose”.  As I have always felt I fit in with the majority of humanity, the less than outstandingly beautiful on this planet, I have never allowed my nose to get in my way, of happiness.  It’s been a good nose, failing me only when I have had the worst of what noses suffer from.  I can’t remember ever having breathing problems or allergies associated with pollens, pet danders or dust.  Dust may choke up my throat but my nose remains always loyal to breathing though it has had assistance from Altoid Mints when in trouble. 

“My nose”, practically speaking, has most assuredly been ”one of the best”.

Working with my eyes, my nose wakes me in the morning.  Sleeping below a window facing East, the morning heat from the sun streams through my window along with eye blinding sunlight.  My nose, takes note of temperature changes and when the sun hits the window like the faithful nose that it is, it alerts me to the fact day has come. 

This is my nose in repose.  You will find it this way at night and at regular times during the day.  It has, as it has gotten older, demanded naps.  My nose prefers cooler temperatures and sleep with a window open at least a nose width so nostrils or full blown nose can breathe cooler air, comfortably from beneath the covers.

My nose loves the smell of food cooking, and the daily aroma of french press coffee.

It also loves fresh mown grass, perfumes, scented powders, flowers, fresh washed babies, laundry hung on a line and

my sweetly cologned husband.  It takes time to smell the roses and snuggle time into his sweet smelling face and neck.  It also takes daily note of all other pleasant aromas it catches in the wind.

My nose is not fond of garbage, dirty socks or diapers, underarm B.O., skunks, rotting potatoes, spinach burning on the stove, air pollution or smoke.  It wrinkles unappreciatively at the thought and attempts shrinking away.

That is “a normal day in the life of my nose” and in fact, week or month or year.  Preferring predictability over the unknown it avoids problems by avoiding all sneezing or coughing in any given area.  It will however rise to any occasion involving regular use, any hour of the day or night its motto being,

“we consider all sniffs, large or small, of great importance”

 

AN EDIT IN:
A friend reminded me of the wonderful speech about “the nose” in Cyrano De Bergerac.  You can read his comment AND the dialogue by Cyrano by CLICKING HERE.  Or, find more of the dialogue HERE.

 

Keep on taking those photos,
 

 

 

The PictureHeaven challenge:
 Textures and Patterns

Everything has texture and pattern though it may not always be easily distinguishable.  Coffee doesn’t look to have texture but if you play with it in your mouth you can feel the smooth texture of the cream you use.  I love texture and pattern and always look for it when I plan a photo. 

See some examples below.  A portion of the original photo sits on the left and on the right, the photo delineated with the help of my art program Paint Shop Pro.  The pattern and texture are enhanced and each photo becomes a graphic.

    

The texture and pattern in the arrangement of these sausage and eggs helps make it beautifully appetizing on the patterend plate.

    

This is a nice little restaurant in Delaware, Ohio.  It has wonderful color, texture in the brick and pattern in columns and brick and window arrangement and ??

    

This tree sits in the yard where my husband grew up in Kilbourne, Ohio.  It has gorgeous texture and pattern.

    

I love a fence row and will always try to catch it in a photo if it stands out.  It created a lot of wonderful pattern for the field the barn sits in.

On this last graphic, I took the pattern from the photo above and layered it over a totally different photo to create a story of its own.

 

 Click the links to See My other Challenge entries for the week:

See my Weekly Photo Challenge “Magnificent Buildings”  
See my Art Rage Challenge “In the City”

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Keep taking those photos,
 

 

 

 

 Weekly Photo Challenge 

This weeks subject is suggested by HereAreLindasPhotos

Magnificent Buildings

I have never seen what would be termed magnificent buildings like the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal .  I’m what you might call a country girl raised in a small community, never been much of anywhere and never having felt a great need.  Simple pleasures have always been satisfying and I could have done well with less if I had used my head more than my greedy side.  I’ve gotten smarter with age, another story altogether.  Cincinnati does have some dated buildings that might fit the challenge as expected, the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Cincinnati Symphony Hall and others but I don’t have photos of these and decided the truth is,

“MAGNIFICENCE” is in  the Eye and Mind of the beholder . 
So:

Magnificence, large or small takes planning.  The strong boss in this case is on the left, my sister.  She does the building planning at her house from the design to supervision of materials purchased for whatever the job is.  On this particular day, my husband was the help.

 In keeping with their jobs, the planner is off somewhere doing wishful thinking while the help is doing the heavy work, weighing and loading rock.

 There are a lot of beautiful buildings planned in lots of neighborhoods across the country and in fact around the world.  After the decision making for your beautiful building, you contract a builder and

 dig holes for the foundation and then prompt your builder into working before Winter sets in.

 

When all is said and done, you have a building, possibly worth a lot and possibly worth very little but “magnificence” lies in the comfort found there.  If it’s a big building or a shack or a shed or a pontoon, and you have found comfort within, satisfaction becomes your bedpartner. AND satisfaction is worth more than most magnificent buildings.  My dream was always a hole dug into a hill side, big rooms and lots of space outside.  It didn’t happen but I still have the dream and hope to remember it if there is a next time around.

 

 

 See my Art_Rage_Challenge  for the month of August CLICK HERE

 

Keep on taking those photos,