Conservatory 2

Harry and Keith Shoot the Breeze, photo by Mary Stebbins. They are 60 years old now, and they are still friends from early childhood! YAY! Click on photo to see larger.

Another of Zoe's new pictures

Mushrooms in Elm, photo by Mary Stebbins, click on photo to see larger. These mushrooms are growing from a knot in the elm in front of our house in Detroit. This is not good news for the elm.

This is another of Zoe's new pictures. (Zoe is my new lens) 

Christmas Morning, Zoe's first picture

Leaves in Christmas Rain, photo by Mary Stebbins. Click on photo to see larger. It rained all day today, ironic because we had nice snow all month. I got a new lens for Christmas, a 75-300 mm zoom I named Zoe, and I took this picture when I went outside to try it. It's Zoe's first picture.

Click on picture to see larger.

Keith, Christmas Eve Out Walking

Keith, Christmas Eve Out Walking, photo by Mary Stebbins, at the busstop along Lakeshore. Click on photo to see larger. To see another slightly different shot, go to usnfriends and scroll to 12/24/05. 

reaching UPS

If you ever need to talk to UPS, you'll get lost in the menus unless you know this trick:  hit "o" twice, three times.  You then get a live person.  Of course if this gets around, they may change the code.

I've had a horror show with my gift deilvery this year.  UGH!

Hope your holidays are good.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

New Posts

I am busy preparing for the holidays, visiting friends and relatives, shoveling snow.

I have made new posts at:

Imagik:  http://imagik.blogspot.com/
Portraits:  http://portraitsms.blogspot.com/
Self Portraits:  http://selfportraits.blogspot.com/

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Surprise, for Illustration Friday

SURPRISE, for Illustration Friday, by Mary Stebbins.

Graham was surpised to find a present under the tree 12 days early. He was eager to open it--and did!

click on the photo to see it larger.

Thanksgiving evening, after dinner

After dinner, thanksgiving evening at ML's, photo by Mary Stebbins. We were there late. Graham spent a lot of time drawing in his art notebook. As always, click on the picture to view it larger.

Turkey Bones and “The Starving Armenians”

Of course, it is not the Armenians that are starving now, but the sad fact is that someone is always starving, a person, just like you and me.   When I was a kid, the "Starving Armenians were always invoked to get me to eat my cod-cakes and cucumbers.  Then, I wanted to send them the food I didn't want.   Now, I can't help but remember them as I work on capturing the last bits of meat from the turkey carcass.  I want to quit.  It's hard work, separating the few scraps of meat from the bones, gristle, skin and other unnamable scraps in the soup pot.   Ugh.  I want to just throw it all away.  I never understood how eating all this stuff would save any Armenians, but still, throwing away good food seems like a sin.   There are people who would practically kill for this carcass.  So I sit here working, pulling the bits of meet off the skin, bones and gristle.   I know better than to make myselffat because someone else is dying of starvation.  I know that intellectually.   And I've lived on the streets and been homeless and had to beg for food.  I know what hunger is like, real hunger.  I know it viscerally and some great deep fear wells up inside, a hollow hungry place that says, keep working.

 

We've already had two turkey soups from this carcass, now three, as I eat one for lunch, with spinach and oat bran.   But there will be a fourth.  I'd send it to someone somewhere, maybe Darryl, the homeless man we met near Eastern Market in Detroit.  I'd give it to him, if he were still there and I could find him and if I thought he'd eat it.  But I remember when we brought some good food to a homeless person near the Y.   We paid a lot for it, got it at an expensive restaurant.  But he threw it aside in disgust.  It was not what he wanted.

 

So we will eat the fourth soup tonight, the fourth and last, thank goodness.  We're getting tired of turkey leftovers.   Keith isn't that fond of turkey to begin with.  Tonight, it will be cream of turkey soup with white wine, spinach, carrot medallions, and black pepper.   I hope it's good.  I wish I could share it with someone who would be happy to have it.  Instead, we will try to enjoy it for them, and for the turkey who gave it's life, and for the beloved family we first ate the turkey with, and for the friends we love and for the earth that sustains us.   It will nourish us, eaten like that.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

The Catching Bunnies Game

The Catching Bunnies Game, by Mary Stebbins. This was Friday night when we went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I took it as a possibility for the Frame within a Frame assignment for BP. If you click on it, you can see a larger picture. If you would like to see another picture from the frame within a frame assignment, visit IMAGIK.

I cropped and straightened and adjusted this picture a little and posted it here, at IMAGIK, if you want to compare this with the somewhat "improved" version.

Merthiolate Blue

I had a repeating dream last night which I describe in my dream blog, DreamLitG.  http://dreamlitg.blogspot.com/

 

I do realize that many people are not interested in dreams, which is why I am keeping them in a separate blog.  :-)
--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

pie recipe

Pam wrote:   I bet those pies were exemplary.  I had great trepidation about making my two pies, for I haven't baked but once or twice since we moved into this house eleven years ago.  So I was researching recipes for crusts, and for the pumpkin.  The apple's much easier; I often do a "crustless apple pie" in a big glass casserole and microwave it.  I'm the only one that eats much of it so I get to spice it to my taste, which includes LOTS of cardamom, lumps of ginger, fresh nutmeg, and a few other items.  I was pleased with how the pastry turned out, for I was intimidated by that.  Used one recipe for pate brisee from Gourmet , and for the apples' crust adapted one given me at work.  Used some mace in the pumpkin crust and really liked the result.
\       What're your recipes for your two pies, O! Cook of great delights?  If you're into sharing, that is?

My answer:  Well, I use the Crisco recipe for pastry, but we had so much going on that I bought premade crusts at the healthfood freezer section.  All three of us sat around the table last night peeling and cutting apples then halved a few cranberries--I filled the shells.  I put in about 3/4 c sugar in each, half white and half brown, cinnamon and nutmeg--sometimes I use other spices, but was keeping it simple because it was so late after we got back from the movies.  I used empires and granny smith apples.  The cranberries for extra tartness.  Sometimes I also add lemon juice.  The crumb topping was 1/2 c flour, 1/4 c sugar and butter cut with a pastry blender and sprinkled on.  The crisp topping had brown sugar nuts oatmeal flour and butter.  Everyone likes their pies a little differently and of course, I make my pies to my taste--but usually, other people like them too, and they are SO much better than storebought!  A million times better.  Yum yum!

The goblet of Fire

We went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night.  It was scary and good.  I had forgotten how in scary movies I always get cold and clammy with fear.  I had Keith on the right and Graham on the left and sat holding their hands.  At one point, Gram practically crawled into my lap (Voldemort int he cemetery).  We really enjoyed it-- a good, close, family experience.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Pie for breakfast!

I made two apple cranberry pies last night, one with a crisp topping (with oats and walnuts) and one with a crumb topping.  I made them because there was only pumpkin with milk in it at the Taitt thanksgiving. They got done too late to eat last night, so after I had the ymmy steel-cut oats oatmeal with raisins and ricemilk that Keith made for breakfast this morning, I had a piece of the apple crumb pie.  I cut a tiny sliver--but it was so good I cut myself a second one!  (Both together about equal to a regular piece).  Mmmm, pie for breakfast--and boy was it good.  I have to say, please forgive me, I make good pies.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Our First Thanksgiving '05

Here we are with all the fixings. Mmm. Erwin, Mark, Erin, Sara, me, and Keith is missing because he's taking the picture. (Click the photo to see us larger than you probably want to!)

leftovers

Yesterday, for lunch, I made the first batch of turkey soup from the Thanksgiving Carcass.  I served it with leftover apple-cranberry pie and leftover pumpkin pie.  It was delcious!  Today, I am alone.  I am having leftover stuffing with leftover giblet gravy and pumpkin pie for lunch.  There's one small piece left and that will be the end of the pie.  (Still lots of stuffing, since Keith doesn't like it).  The stuffing as all full of yummy vegetables:  mushrooms, celery, onions, red peppers, garlic, fresh basil, fresh celery.  Mmmm!  It seems a little odd to be eating Thanksgiving leftovers before Thanksgiving, be we celebrated our first Thanksgiving  in CNY on Saturday.  I sort of wish I'd taken some potaoes and squash to go with the other leftovers--I would have gladly traded, but I was so full at the time it didn't seem possible to ever eat again.  LOL!

If I make it to Detroit on time, there'll be another Thanksgiving there.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Reminder: Opening tonight!

My Opening at the Westcott Community Center and poetry reading are tonight. To see the reminder postcard and view the poems I'll read, please visit AMARYPOEM.

A Remembrance Day Journal--Three Years of Sweetiehood

We, Keith and Mary, have been sweeties for three years now and we celebrated this weekend at Hamilton (halfway between Detroit and Baldwinsville) on Veteran's Day Weekend. The Canadian's call it "Remembrance Day." This is our journal of the weekend, to share with you!

Note: you can click on any pictures included here to see a larger version. (This is also true of the rest of this blog and other blogs at this site.)

Friday, November 11, 05, was Day One of our celebratory Hamilton trip. We arrived at the motel around 2, settled in, and then drove up to the Devil's Punchbowl at the top of Centennial and to the left (East on Ridge Road). This waterfall is right at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment and has formed a large punchbowl shaped basin. We walked around the falls taking pictures. The falls itself is really pretty, but the road at the very top takes away from the total effect. Then we took pictures of the huge cross that has been erected at the edge of the escarpment. Keith suggested that they might have erected it there as a sort of counter spell the name, Devil's Punchbowl.

The punchbowl park was closed and we worried about stopping there and parking at the roadside, but as soon as we did, another car stopped and then another. Soon, there were six cars parked around our car. We had nucleated them, LOL!

Mary at the Devil's punchbowl, by Keith Taitt.

Then we walked along the Dofasco 2000 Trail, stopping to take pictures of grapes vines and barns and apple orchards and red-tipped dogwood bushes and each other. We tasted a couple apples from a downed limb and saw a heron take off twice nearby, thrilling us with its long wings. We admired stands of small same-size trees and their reflections in the many little ponds. It was very wet and swampy, as if they had had a lot of rain recently. The gibbous moon rose over it all as it got dark. We had fun chasing the moon and trying to position it just so over the apple orchard.

The Giant Cross, photo by Mary Stebbins

This is the evening of day 1, Keith carrying the tripod back toward the car after we photographed the giant cross at the Devil's punchbowl!

Then we went back to the room and cuddled a while. We got dressed up, took pictures of ourselves dressed up and then went out to dinner at Baranga's on the Beach. This is the nicest restaurant we have so far discovered in Hamilton. It is right on the beach and the food is well-made and tasty. We had calamari for starters and a nice meal with wine. We asked the waitress to take a picture of us, and also took our own reflection in the large windows that looked out over the dark beach.

Keith and Mary dressed for a celebratory dinner, in our room at the Comfort Inn,photo by Mary Stebbins.

Sharing a loving moment, photo by Mary Stebbins. Keith andMary feel very grounded in our love and blessed to be together.

THE KISS, photo by Mary Stebbins

Day Two was Saturday the twelfth and we had breakfast at the Egg and I, after busying ourselves in the room downloading pictures. They messed up the order and put Keith's cheddar cheese on my omelette and I sent it back, but he never got his cheese. My omelette, though, was good.

Then we went to the Botanical Gardens Nature Center, which wasn't very interesting. We did however enjoy seeing the turtles. There were blandings turtles and softshell turtles. The Blandings were the ones we missed and the softshell was the one we saw in our visit to Charleston Lake earlier this year.



Softshell Turtle, photo by Mary Stebbins. This was at the little nature center at the Botanical Gardens, which mainly seemed designed as a teaching center for school groups and did not have many displays or exhibits. The turtle was very active and curious and had an unusually intelligent look for a turtle.

Keith collected acorn caps, magnificent acorns, possibly the best he’d encountered anywhere. "You might say, he said, 'mighty acorns from little oaks grow (because the trees weren’t about nothin'.) He made whistles out of them and kept startling Mary by blowing one shrilly and unexpectedly. He insisted on testing every promising cap he found, like a little kid and wouldn’t stop. LOL! J

We walked the Captain Cootes trail and took lots of pictures and had a good time together. One of the highlights of the walk was the landing of the trumpeter swans!! Six swans descended on Coote's bay, turning and back peddling their wings. They landed among some Canada Geese. We was fascinated by their trumpeting--how much like a trumpet it sounded, and how beautiful they were, landing.

We also enjoyed walking down into the wildflower trail, though there were no wildflowers to be seen. It was in a gorge with a stream running through. We did see raccoon tracks in the streamside mud. It was quite spectacular.

Raccoon tracks in streamside mud, photo by Keith Taitt.

From there, we went back to the Captain Cootes Trail along the bay. We enjoyed the views of the bay, and of course took lots of pictures. Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, but there were still some sugar maples and oaks with intense color. Along this walk and during most of our others, Mary was taking pictures for her assignments for her Better Photo.com course on “Seeing Creatively” with Bryan Peterson. We loved seeing the chicadees and cardinals feeding from stumps where people left food for them.

Black-capped Chickadee along the Cootes Bay Trail, photo by Keith Taitt

We stopped after the bridge and looked at the sunset and on the other, the Hamilton Harbor, and of course took pictures.

When we got back to the car, we drove around looking for a place to eat and reading the dining guide. We went downtown and the first couple places we went were defunct. We walked and walked and walked (and were already tired from all our hiking earlier) and finally ended up eating at Mahal, an Indian Restaurant with delicious food. We really enjoyed it. Keith had the Tandoori Chicken Tikki, "mild". The rice that they served was a rather dry basmati, just the way Keith likes it. Mary's food was quite hot but wonderful.

Then we went back to the room, downloaded and looked at our pictures, and went to bed, exhausted.

"Wonder." photo by Mary Stebbins. It's Keith looking sort of "religious." Mary took it at the Mahal Indian Restaurant on the second day our Hamilton trip.

On Day 3, Sunday, November 13, 2005, we got a up, finished the downloading we'd started last night, and went back to the Egg and I for breakfast. This time, our breakfasts were more reasonable. That is, we both got what we ordered. And the food was reasonably good.

On the way up, we noticed a waterfall up the slope of Upper Centennial, so on the way back, we stopped and explored the falls and took pictures. When we got back in the car, I looked on the AAA roadmap of Hamilton, which has many of the falls labeled, but this one was not labeled. We're calling it Centennia Falls since it was beside Centennia Parkway, for want of the "real" name. (maybe that IS the real name!)

It was a nice falls, though, worth the visit. (There's no parking area, we just had to stop on the side of a very busy road.) It had a similar amphitheater shape as the Devil's punchbowl. There was lots of scree, loose rocks under fallen leaves that made the footing treacherous. Mary struggled trying to level the tripod on the steep slope and Keith struggled getting down by the falls for Mary to include him in her photograph (and then went back again when the first set didn't come out right.) (Keith says he struggled to be Mary's sweetie, accommodating and respectful. Mary wishes that being her sweetie wasn't such a struggle, LOL!). There were herb Roberts in flower. Also Tansy.

Herb Robert in Flower at Centennial Falls, photo by Keith Taitt



Mary at Centennia Falls, Photo by Keith Taitt



Centennial Falls, photo by Keith Taitt

Then we went to the RBG (Botanical Gardens) and looked around, visited the greenhouse, and took pictures.

Mary at the Royal Botanical Garden Greenhouses, photo by Keith Taitt. (Remember, you can click on the photos if you'd like to see them bigger!)

Keith Relaxes in the meditation Garden at the RBG, photo by Mary Stebbins. This was a cool place and we were fascinated by it and took lots of pictures!

We repeated some of the pictures we'd taken in past trips and then walked out onto the botanical garden
grounds and trails (taking more pictures as we went), and repeating more of the old pictures. Keith took one of Mary walking and typing on the Psion, as he did once before in the same spot. He was impressed that she could walk and type at the same time.

Mary walks the Bridle Trail writing on her Psion. She often writes while walking. Photo by Keith Taitt. This is a photo that attempts to replicate a photo Keith took in the same place on a previous trip.

We watched some huge salmon that someone said were spawning, though November seemed the wrong season? They seemed to be fighting. Someone said they were lost. We would have liked to talk to a naturalist or someone who really knew what was going on with them. We really enjoyed the boardwalk and even loved being under the big bridge.

We went on the "Bridle Trail" and the "Grindstone Marshes trail." We saw lots of chickadees, male and female cardinals, nuthatches and ducks. People put out birdseed and the chickadees landed on their hands. Some anyway, who were patient and/or lucky. We saw lots of squirrels. Took some pictures of the birds. Saw blackbirds flocking up. Mourning doves. We want to bring birdseed to attract the birds and see if they will land on our hands or at least attract some of them to a scenic spot for photos.

Sunday night, we ate at the Black Forest Inn, “Schwarzwaldhaus" and we ordered Rindsrouladen. And Keith got a tall beer--I tasted it, it was good. Warsteiner. It was one of the places we attempted to go to Saturday night, but they told us the wait was 45 minutes or more. I’m glad we went back. The meatball soup was scrumptious. And the wait wasn't so long, thank goodness. The Rindsrouladen was very tasty, as was the cabbage, potatoes, Mary’s apple strudel and Keith's hazelnut torte. It wasn’t heavy and cloying, more like a sponge cake with whipped cream.

Then we went back to the room, downloaded our pictures and viewed them. Mary also downloaded Picasa, Irfanview and Firefox to her new little Toby (Libretto computer) using the wireless connection in the room while Keith snoozed. Then we both snoozed.

On Day four, Monday, November 14, 2005, we packed all our stuff up, checked the room, checked out and had breakfast at the Egg and I again. We both had the Egg and I Big Breakfast which consisted of three eggs, 3 slices of bacon, three sausages, three pieces of back bacon, 2 slices of toast and home fries (and we had juice) (cholesterol city!). We asked for grapefruit but got orange.

Petting the pig, Photo by Keith Taitt. This is the morning of Day 4 after breakfast, and one of a series of remembrance photos taken as follow-ups to previous Hamilton Photos. Just for fun, LOL!

Here is the picture taken in the same place in April 2004.

Then we went shopping at Sears for Bedding--non-feather bedding for Mary's allergies. We got 2 new pillows, a new comforter, new sheets and two new shirts for Mary.

Then went to Beamers Falls. It's approximately ten miles from Centennial to Beamers Falls along Ridge Road. Beamers Falls is similar to Sliding Rock Falls at Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks, only steeper than Cranberry’s sliding Rock. It's a pretty falls, not too large, but pleasant. We climbed fro the parking area at the top to the bottom, taking pictures as we went. We saw some fossils and snail shells and herb Robert in flower. There's a second falls lower down, but we only viewed that from the top. We saw queen Ann’s lace and vipers bugloss in flower.

Vipers Bugloss above Beamer's Falls, photo by Keith Taitt



Maple leaf in afternoon sun. Mary took this one originally for Gail because she loves leaves. It was taken the afternoon of Day 4 at Beamer's Falls.



Mary on the rocks above Beamer's Falls, photo by Keith Taitt.



Mary leaning out over the gorge at Beamer's Falls to get a picture.

Then we went over to the Bruce Trail parking lot on Quarry Road near Ridge road (Near Beamers Falls) and hiked back to the Beamers Falls gorge from the other side and along the gorge, which was really pretty.

View from the Tower at the head of the Bruce Trail on Quarry Road, photo by Keith Taitt.

Then we went back to the cars at the Comfort Inn where we'd been staying and traded stuff back and forth and repacked everything. Keith departed around 4 for Detroit. His mother, ML, and Graham were waiting for him with a hot dinner. He hoped to arrive around 7 and did.

Mary, who had no one waiting for her with hot dinner and was going home alone to a cold empty house decided to walk at the beach above Centennial and attempt more pictures of the beach house and the high-tension wires. She walked down there and did shoot some pictures, but the lighting wasn't as nice and there were people working in aerial baskets and the sky wasn't as pretty and though she wandered around with her tripod gear, she should not determine where she was standing when she took the shot she wanted to replicate with a tripod. She left around 5. The trips were safe and the border crossings and quick, hurray! We are both safely home in cities 400 miles apart—and miss each other already!

This page is under construction--I am going to be adding more pictures and text!

Please refrain from commenting on this particular post until I complete it. Thank you! I'm going to add the Hamilton journal here as soon as it is ready. And more pictures! Thanks for waiting!

Mary Stebbins Photography Opening (YAY!)

I'm hard at work getting ready for my opening at the Wescott Community Center November 18! I hope you will come--it's 6-8 PM. The Community Center is an old Firehouse at the corner of Euclid and Wescott Street in Syracuse and the gallery is on the second floor.

Click on the image to see it bigger.

a picture for you: reminder

I'm working hard getting ready for my show that opens Friday November 18.  This is just a reminder:

The opening is from 6-8 PM with a poetry reading MCed by Jane Cassady from 7:15 to 7:45.  Refreshments will be served.  The Wescott Community Center is located at the corner of Wescott and Euclid Streets in Syracuse and the Gallery is on the second floor.  If you arrive after 7:15, please come up the elevator. 

I hope to see you there.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Hood of the LeMans, in Rain

Hood of the LeMans, in Rain, Photo by Mary Stebbins

Rain and pin oak maple and locust leaves littler the reflection of the pin oak tree. 

a moment of splendor

The sky is completely, darkly overcast.  Not quite monochromatic.  There are areas that are dense and black and swirling areas of dark grey over the layer of plain grey.  Under the clouds, the world is dim and dark.  The wind roars and trees thrash.

A little while ago, it was night, then slowly, slowly, the houses and trees came into view as the sky gradually lightened.  It promised to be a nearly nonexistent dawn. 

Instead, there was a break in the clouds at the horizon and the dawn light shone through and bathed the scene in splendor.  Gold light touched every surface with magic.  It lingered and lingered, and then faded.  It was almost a return to night.  But looking out at the dull grey scene, I remember the magnificence.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Out in the Rain

Out in the rain, by Mary Stebbins 

Rain on the Windshield

Rain on the windshield, by Mary Stebbins 

rolling thunder

The best laid plans of mice and men gwyn aft awry.

I planned my day so carefully. Doctor appointment at 4, meeting Sara at 6 or 6:30 at Loretto. My daily walk at 2. Chores in the AM etc. But it rained all day.

I cut a hole in the top and sides of a garbage bag and put that over my regular coat for extra protection. I loaded my camera gear into dry bags and set out in the rain, but it started pouring. I couldn't take pictures, too wet. It rained hard. Harder and harder. The colors were brilliant in the rain in spite of the dark dark sky. It was gorgeous out. To add to the ambiance, it thundered almost continuously the entire time I was out, a rolling grating thunder that varied in loudness. And the sky flashed continuously with lightning. It was "totally awesome," wild, and solitary--no one out there but me! And so beautiful, the rain black trees dark against the rain spattered sky-grey ponds with all the brilliant colors, I loved it. Wished I could have somehow photographed it!

Except that it rained harder and harder and I began to worry for my gear. I cut my walk short by 15 minutes. And as I headed for the car, the rain, which I didn't think could get any harder, got harder. It was pouring so hard it was like standing under a waterfall. I leaped into the car shedding sheets of water and and tried to free my gear and dry it. Came home to dry my gear. I am SOAKED to the skin, but before I put dry clothes on (so much for counting and laying out all my outfits for the upcoming week), I'm going out to walk the last 15 minutes of my walk. In the rain. Without my gear.
--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Thunder

Thunder
It's November, and thundering. Dark as dusk, black sky, lightning! I associate thunder primarily with summer storms, though of course we've had thunder even in the winter.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Meadowbrook Sunset

Meadowbrook Sunset, by Mary Stebbins. I took this last night in Meadowbrook Park in Syracuse at ISO 1600 because it was so dark and I had no tripod with me.