Photo of the week

Playing around with the macro feature on my digital camera and came up with this.

Photo of the week

I'm getting the photography bug again. I go in spurts with it.

M got me a very nice little digital camera for our anniversary which was very sweet and I've been playing around with it but I still love my ol' 35mm SLR. My Dad let me borrow his old 35mm as well so I usually keep one loaded with color and the other with black and white.


My color photos are OK - but I love the way black and white photographs look. I like the shadows and the moods they provoke.


This weeks photo was taken up in Stockton, NJ along the D&R Canal. It's an old structure that is slowly deteriorating. There are weeds growing along side of it and most of the windows are broken or just gone completely. It was set back off the side of the bike path a bit so I had to climb through the weeds to get the shot I wanted.

Just a few things...

before I go!

M and I are flying out to Chicago tomorrow to see my son "S" graduate from Loyola University! Yikes - this is one of those - I feel so proud and so old at the same time! (I'm only 45 though)

We're looking forward to the trip - it's been a while since we've gone away just the two of us. My son has promised to be our tour guide on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday I think we'll roam around ourselves for a bit. We hope to meet up with Deb from the Middle Girl blog on Saturday if we can. It's always nice to meet a fellow blogger! The weather is supposed to be so-so, but that's ok. With all the rain we've been getting this spring I've developed web feet and gills so it shouldn't bother me.

I haven't had much time to do any work around the yard this week because of the soggy weather but I've been keeping myself busy by taking lots of naps and trying to plan a trip to the UK for sometime in June. That's my new project.

SOooooo, since I won't be around for the weekend I thought I would leave you with some odd picture of things around my house. These aren't really my artsy pictures that I have but more of the mundane, the odd and the fascinating variety. Or at least I thought so.

First up is this little gem I found in one of my bushes while I was cleaning up the leaves:



It's a Praying Mantis egg sack! I've been watching it closely and it still hasn't hatched yet, but soon hundreds of these little guys and gals will be roaming my gardens eating aphids and spiders. Very cool bugs!

Next up: Two lazy squirrels.



This guy was hanging out on a really hot day last week. It was about 90 degrees and he just looked tired and hot and was trying to just take a break from running around.



Same branch a few days later in the rain and there were two squirrels huddled together. I thought it was adorable how the first one is all tucked in.

Here is one of my completed projects:



My rain barrels! I didn't paint them just left them their industrial blue color but maybe next year I will get the chance. I finished these on Wednesday - and by Saturday afternoon each 55 gallon drum was filled. That is just from a few days of light rain! I was amazed how quickly they filled up. This should keep my house plants and gardens happy for a while!

Last up is an object of questionable nature and if anyone can tell me what it is I will be truly thankful:





It's a blob of some sort. I don't know if it's a fungus or what? It was in my neighbor's cedar tree and I kept seeing this bright orange blob so I investigated. It is quite slimy in nature and sticky so perhaps it's a sack of sap - I really don't know.

Anyone have a clue?

Last but not least I thought I would leave you with this weeks Sugar and Spice selection.

The spicy songs are a bit harder for me to come up with because I'm not really a "spicy" kind of girl, but since I reference Axl Rose in my last music post I thought it only fitting to leave you with him this week.

What a loon this guy is, but they knew how to rock!



I know it's only Wednesday - but have a good weekend all!

Peace!

P.S. The orange blog is Cedar-Apple Rust! (thank you Google)

Photo of the week

I took this photo over a year ago on a cold but clear winter day in Seaside, NJ.



It's simply called - Ferris Buckets

Enjoy!

Looky at what I got!

I got a new toy!

M bought me a point and shoot digital camera - isn't she the bestest?

I need to charge the battery up but I've been able to play around with it a bit and take some pictures and one silly video of my dogs.


This is the MESS that I call my office. I really need to clean it. I can't find a damn thing.

Some twisted tines

A teapot wind chime my daughter for my birthday

Some flowers I was playing around with the color thingy.

A view of my back yard through my dining room window.

That's all for now.

I need to learn what all of the buttons and do dad and thingy ma-jiggers are on this thing but I'll probably be posting a lot more photos!

Cheers!

More Philly

Here are a few more shots:

This is the First Bank of the United States and was chartered by the US Congress in 1791. It's a very cool old building with wonderful marble columns.

One of the lamps in the front of the building

Here are some "cobble stones" in front of the Merchants Exchange Building which was built around 1834.

Here is the Exchange building through some trees.

This is a little alley way I used to walk through every morning on my way to work. It has a nice little colonial charm to it and was much quieter than Chestnut St.

This is the City Tavern. It was the unofficial site of the First Continental Congress. Built in 1733, part of it was destroyed later in a fire, but they have restored it. It's a very nice restaurant that books up quickly in the warm months. I lot of "stick to your ribs" kind of food and a lot of Pennsylvania dutch cooking as well.

This here is "little" Willy. William Penn. The founder of Pennsylvania. There is a bigger statue of him on top of City Hall in Philadelphia and at one time you were not allowed to build anything taller that that building.

According to Wikipedia:At one time, there was a gentlemen's agreement that no building should be higher than Penn's statue (i.e., “Penn’s Hat”). One Liberty Place was the first of several buildings in the late 1980s to be built higher than the statue. The statue is referenced by the so-called Curse of Billy Penn.
However, during the "Topping off" ceremony of The Comcast Center Building on June 18th, 2007 Bill Hankowsky, of Liberty Property Trust, placed a small statue of William Penn on the topping beam. "We don't believe in the myth, but to be safe we've added the statue of Billy Penn," said Mr. Hankowsky. The following year the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series, the first major championship for the city since the breaking of the "gentlemen's agreement."

And here is a picture of the building I used to work in.

All this historic beauty around me and I was working in THE UGLIEST building in Olde City!

Sheesh!

Ok

I'm home...

and I'm thinking...

that the new job isn't nearly what I was expecting.

actually it the complete opposite.

Fuuuuuuudge...

now what the hell do I do?

I got it...I'll post some more pictures of Philly!

I wish I had taken more pics with black and white, but perhaps I can go back and take some more some day.

Have a good weekend all.

I think I'm finally tired enough to go to bed.

Be well.

Parting Shots

A while ago I had mentioned that I finally brought my camera with me to work when I was in Philly. I took some very random shots and I finally got the damn filmed developed.

This first set is my drive in. For some reason I thought it would be fun to take pictures going 75 mph on the NJ Turnpike.


Hey...people text message, I take pictures.


(Kids, don't try this at home!)



This is the last stretch I have on the NJ Turnpike - traffic was light that day. It's a very long and boring drive.

I'm gaining on him.

This is usually my view.


Ooops, here's my exit.

My daily cup of heaven!

Which way?

Now which way?

Approaching Ben Franklin Bridge


Over Ben...

Under Ben

Daily News Guy - Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this poor dude from sellin' his papers!

Local Fox Noise Channel. ( I think I'm on TV every morning)


A cold and blustery day at Penn's Landing.

I turn down 2nd Street

The lovely parking garage where my little car hung out while I was at work.

My long flight down. I took the stairs just so I would get a little exercise each day.


This is the U.S. Customs Building in Philadelphia. It's right across the street from where I used to park. It's a pretty cool building.

More to come, I don't want to wear out Blogger with my uploads!

Mini Me

Dealing with a bout of insomnia this morning, I decided to make my awake time a bit productive!

I have stacks and stack of old photos sitting on my desk and in an old Rubbermaid container down here in my basement which is kind of "my office", but I have a small selection of photos that have always been my favorites. Most of them are friends and family...my kids at various phases in their lives and there are a few of me thrown in there.

Usually, I'm the one taking photos, not in them. I am a bit camera shy now that I have several chins, but I came across an old favorite photo of me.

The year was: 1967

I was 4

My babysitter had gotten a new Polaroid camera and was taking pictures of everything. This was back when you took the picture...then had to apply some kind of developing stuff to it then watched the image "magically appear" before your eyes.

You can imagine how mesmerized I was by this thing; and being the self absorbed 4 year old that I was...I happily posed for my picture to be taken by this magic modern gadget.

I present to you:


Lil'Shazza



Cute as a button wasn't I?

It is one of those childhood memories that always pops up in my head from time to time. I remember the house that we lived in. I remember my babysitters house too. I took M for a drive down there a couple of months ago - geez...the ol' hood has changed. There are parts of southern Jersey that are very rural, this is in the heart of what we call "The Pinelands". (Yes, I'm a Piney and proud of it). You don't want to wander off some of the main roads down there...it can get a bit scary!

We moved from that house when I was in kindergarten. I was devastated at the time. I didn't want to be separated from my best friend Sheri. I didn't want to go to a new school and have to make new friends.

I got over it pretty quickly though. The girl from across the street came over my house the day after we moved in and she became my new best friend.

Plus I was a bit of an explorer and there were all kinds of woods and swamps and new places and new "stuff" for me to investigate.

Fun times!

I may post a few more in the days/weeks ahead. I love pulling out the old photos from time to time. It seems a bit "old fashioned" to look at old photos now that everything is digital...even digital picture frames - but I promise I won't bore you too much!

Enjoy the weekend all!

Greetings from Asbury Park

If you are a Bruce Springsteen fan, you may recognize the title of this post.

Asbury Park is sort of a New Jersey icon. In it's hey day, it was a popular family resort, but fell in decline after rise of more popular shopping malls popped up and the race riots of the 1970's. My parents both remember visiting there as kids...it was THE happening place to go and it was closer to folks who lived in North Jersey than Atlantic City was.

The first time I had ever been to Asbury Park was for a Gay Pride festival about 15 years ago and my first impression was: Geez...what a dive! It looks like a bomb went off down here.

It definitely did not look like any of the mental pictures I had conjured up in my mind from the stories my parents told me.

It is trying very hard to make a come back. Right now, with the economy in the state it is in, if it can pull through this next year or two...it may just have a chance. Years and years of decline, combined with sky high crime rates and a large number of illegal immigrants who have taken a strong hold over the area will be very hard to overcome unfortunately.

Still, if you happen to drive though the town a lot of progress has been made and I am one of those people who really hopes it makes it.

I went out a few weeks ago and took a few pictures, but to see the old town in it's glory I recommend this site: Side O' Lamb

This is what remains of the old Casino building. This is right on the boardwalk and was the gateway between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. (sorry the picture is a bit crooked) On the right site this casino used to extend out onto a pier. That fell into disrepair and had to be torn down unfortunately, but here is a postcard to give you an idea of what is used to look like:

Beautiful wasn't it?

I like to try and imagine what it must have looked like in it's full glory, but it's hard since I have only seen it in such bad shape. Still there are some old hints of what a grand building it must have been though.

Inside the Casino there used to be the most beautiful Carousel house. The carcass of the building is still there but the carousel is long gone. It's wood carved animals sold off to auction. At one point the building was used as a skate board park, but now the whole inside has been gutted. I'm not sure of what the future plans for the builing are, but here is a shot of the inside now:

This is Tillie. His grinning smile is almost synonymous with Asbury Park. He was painted on the outside of the Palace Amusement park. It was one of the first things you used to see as you drove towards the boardwalk. Unfortunately, that building was demolished as part of the restoration, but his likeness is in various places around town. Here he is on the outside of the Wonder Bar a popular hot spot in the summer time.

The Stone Pony is the place for rock and roll legends of the Jersey Shore! Many up and coming rock bands played here as they were starting up the ladder to success. Big names like: Bruce Springsteen (of course), Bon Jovi, South Side Johnny and the Asbury Jukes! There are still some well recognized names that come to play here during the summer time.

I just looked at their upcoming schedule and wow...Eddie Money will be playing there on April 4th. Eeks...looks like the place is going down hill!

Interestingly enough, one the other side of Asbury Park is "God's Square Mile", a little town called Ocean Grove. Asbury Park was the town to go to play, and drink and whoop it up! Ocean Grove is the complete opposite!

Originally established as a religious camp meeting, Ocean Grove today is a very popular spot along this section of the Jersey shore. It's filled with picturesque Victorian homes, a small but thriving little down town area filled with quaint stores and coffee shops. It even has an old fashioned Apothecary Cafe were you can sit up on the stools and order an old fashioned ice ream float!

At the center of the town is the Great Auditorium:
Sunday services are still held there all summer long and also some really great concerts. I believe it holds up to 6,000 seats and there are times during the summer when this place is packed to the brim!

It is closed for the season, but I stole this picture off Wikipedia which gives you an idea what it looks like inside...it's just a gorgeous wooden structure with a beautiful pipe organ all along the back wall.

Surrounding the Great Auditorium are the tents! They actually call it Tent City! There are just over 100 tents and they are handed down from family to family. Very few are offered up for sale. They have a permanent wooden foundation and then in the late spring you can see the families coming back into town to put up the canvas top that will become their shelter for the summer time.

During this time of year...all you can see if the wooden base looking a bit abandoned and kind of lonely:

But in the summer time, they are really beautiful! They are landscaped and decorated. People move antique furniture in and have had plumbing and small kitchens installed. They are still used as a summer retreat!
Ocean Grove was one of several towns in New Jersey that what was known as "Blue Laws". These were designed to give you a day of worship and rest on Sunday - the Lords Day. All of the stores would close down for the day. Ocean Grove actually took this little law a step further and did not allow motor cars within the town on Sundays. People would actually have to drive their car and park it in a large lot across the street and then the gates of the town were closed at midnight on Saturday and not opened again on until midnight on Sunday.

Most town with Blue Laws have been overturned or people just really do not pay attention to them anymore. In Ocean Grove, you are not able to purchase alcohol within the town limits, but there are plenty of liquor stores and bars in the neighboring towns to take care of that! You are also not allowed to use the beach on Sunday until after service. They close off the entrances and take it very seriously!

Here is a picture of the Beersheba Well that stands just next to the Great Auditorium:

If you click on the image, you can see written up on the ceiling: "We have found water" Beersheba and then off to the other side it has Gen. XXVI, 32, 33. (you can all look that one up yourselves)

M and I lived in Ocean Grove for about 1 year. Actually I was a swinging bachelorette for about 2 months while I put her through hell trying to decide did I want her to move in or not? Yes one week...no the next. Poor woman! Finally, she did obviously.

We lived on the third floor of the Kitch and Kaboodle. The smallest apartment in the world, but a lot of love inside! (sorry for the crooked picture again...I must not have had my V8 that morning.)

During that period of time, Ocean Grove was struggling a bit. Many of the older hotels were abandoned and in disrepair, there were a lot of Section 8 housing areas which were set up for low income families. There were also a lot of crazy people living there. Not scary crazy..more like Tuorette syndrome crazy, some folks with other mental handicaps too. They settled in when many of the "state homes" in the area closed down and because it was cheap for them to live. The town is pretty much a self contained with it's own little grocery store and hardware store so you didn't have to drive a car to live there. And, since it's only literally one square mile, if you did have to walk...you didn't have to walk far.

Ocean Grove has gone through a major revitalization and I just read that the property values have gone way up. You can thank the Gay's and Lesbians for that one folks! They lived there and bought up houses (you can't own the land in Ocean Grove, it's owned by the Camp Meeting Association), they cleaned the area up and opened up the once vacant stores. Once things started looking good again, well, then the yuppies started moving in.

Ocean Grove also got it's knickers in a twist a few years ago when a same sex couple applied to hold their Civil Union ceremony up on a pavilion on the boarwalk. The Camp Meeting Association denied them for religious reasons and the town found itself in the middle of a lawsuit. Kind of ironic that at one time the GLBT community and the Camp Meeting Association used to work side by side to turn the town around and make it a popular resort. Now that it is...it's turning its back on some of the citizens who did a lot of hard work to get them there.

Still, it's is one of my most favorite places in NJ and I'll try to get more pictures once the weather gets nicer and the tents are up and the Great Auditorium opens it's doors again for the summer.

And if you are into flea markets...they have THE best! They are held 2 times a year in the lawn in front of the Great Auditorium - but you gotta get there early before all the good stuff goes!

This post is for me ol' mucker Dive from the Small Glass Planet who has taken us around his world, so here is a small slice of mine!