Bumper by the Side of the Road

You know there is a story behind this city scene, late afternoon. I took a different route.

E.T. Phone Home

I just got off the phone with my sister in NYC. Good thing she has a landline. And not one that sits in an electric powered charger cradle. Just a plain old phone. She is still without power. We were talking about phones. The cancelled Halloween Parade in NYC. Our Pittsburgh Halloween postponed until Saturday due to the weather, residual hurricane effects.

I started thinking about the ET costume I made for Mark years ago. (There is a McCall’s pattern 8311 on Ebay for 29.99, I just checked) Here he is in Germany(1983) with Matthew as Robin Hood. Yes, I made that too. Mark wore that when he was four in Clarion, PA Thinking about Halloweens past.

And then years later Laura wore the ET Costume. It had a Day-Glo finger that matched the heart appliqué on the chest. The date on this photo says 1996.

And here is the costume head in the dining room tonight. I painted the eyes. The head is lined with a piece of blanket. It looks like it did when I made it! When I put on the mask this past weekend, Penny the Goldendoodle (Laura and James’ dog) growled and turned and left the room. My daughter-in-law made the ceramic jack-o-lantern in grade school and I saved it from the trash when she pitched it.

All the leaves are down and the sky is gray

I heard a loud machine sound out my bedroom window this morning. No school today. I shot this right through the screen and glass and need to pull the storm windows down. It was a vehicle with a strong leaf blower. Hmmmm. The tree muncher arrived later to chew up a few branches that fell on the park across the street.

Pignolis- An Heirloom Recipe from a Friend’s Mother

The one thing I can tell you is, don’t mess around with the confectioner’s sugar amount as it is needed to make the cookie take shape!

Parchment paper is key, too.

You can see I should have put this recipe in a plastic sleeve. It is well used and always appreciated. People devour them.

Thinking of how wonderful it is that Esther was so generous to share her hand written recipe at least twenty years ago. Her daughter, Diana, will take her iPad to show her this post on Tuesday as we have no school due to the storm winds and rain predictions. I called and asked if it would be okay to post and Diana said, “Yes” so thank you Diana and her mother, Esther.

I baked these for Laura’s wedding last year and made them for the House Concert for my gluten-free friend.

(Smidge, this recipe is for you, too!)

At the Grocery Store in the Meat Department. You Tell Me…..

The grocery store was packed and sales brisk, everyone stocking up on water, milk,bread. Batteries. Toilet paper.

Lots of shoppers dressed up from church and all the store workers sporting black and gold for the Steelers game that was about to start. Carts filled with chips and dip for the football game today, in addition to preparation for the impending storm. The high winds are to start tomorrow.

The power not affected yet.

Later at the gas station I saw a man at the next pump filling huge gas cans for his generator.

BUT as I walked through the meat department looking for the rest of my family, this is what I saw on the floor.

There was no one to ask what this was or why.

A display gone wrong? Deflated? Someone practicing balloon art on break? You tell me.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

The Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign was enough to make me scramble- find Croatian photos from my trip visiting Matthew about 4 years ago.

Not a Postcard- South Side Curb Scene

What I saw as I went to get into my car after mailing items at the post office on Carson Street- South Side
(Is that more like it, Rufus?)

Autumn Postcard from Guernsey County Seat – Cambridge Ohio

I’ve been told some of my photographs look like postcards. I don’t think that is a good thing when they tell me but I don’t mind. I like postcards.

Another view from the National Road- along Route 40. Have you ever seen a Cambridge Glass Turkey?

Cambridge is best known for Cambridge Glass

and the museum The National Museum of Cambridge Glass is located on 9th Street in Cambridge, Ohio.
Open April thru December
Wednesday – Saturday 9:00am – 4:00pm
Sunday: Noon – 4:00 pm
Closed Easter & July 4^th
Additional appointments or tour groups by appointment.

Fall Colors Along the National Road- Route 40

When I was a kid we piled in the car in NJ and drove to Illinois every summer. This is the route we took.

I drove it home to Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago on my way back from Columbus.

Route 40 The National Road. I pulled over to catch the autumn hues in the background hills along the way.

There were interesting and quirky scenes but this is the one that stayed with me for the time since I drove along this highway instead of the interstate.

Laura has a Mumkin on her Front Porch

When I visited last week in Columbus, Laura had a Mumkin on her front porch. (James,too)

A pumpkin decoration with the top off and filled with a chrysanthemum plant. Do they have mumkins where you live? It was new to me. I guess you could turn it around after Halloween for Thanksgiving time so the Jack-o-Lantern face is in the back. I thought it was cheerful.

When I googled the word Mumkin, I came up with a totally different definition from the Urban Dictionary.

Anyway it was cute and the mums were all still buds. Maybe it has since bloomed. I will have to ask. What will they think of next?