Fort Pitt Tunnel

One of the perks of my hubby having a job that he travels for is we get to see new places. This past winter and spring he was working in Pittsburgh so when the weather warmed up Sage and I went on the road with him for a week. It's a pretty sweet deal. The company is already paying for the hotel, gas and food for him to travel, the only cost for us is Sage and my food and whatever places we go to. That doesn't even cost us anything most of the time because our Zoo and COSI memberships get us in most zoos and science museums in other cities for  free.

On this trip I was still without an actually camera, so I was using my cellphone still. This reminds me that some time I need to document our trip to Pittsburgh, but that is going to be a long one so I'll save that for a later date. I was so floored with this tunnel. (I'm easily amused) We were staying in the burbs on the west side of Pittsburgh, and this is the only way into the city.

The tunnel runs through a mountain and comes out onto a bridge over one of the many river that runs through the downtown area. It is really quite breath taking coming out of the tunnel. I am notorious for snapping off photos while I'm driving (shhh, don't tell my hubby), but this time I was riding. As a matter of fact driving in downtown Pittsburgh is so crazy that he didn't even want me driving there. WHATEVER!!!! I amused him though and let him do all the driving. Better for me anyway, that way I could snap photos with my cellphone and not have to worry about crashing my car. LOL!!!! Taking a photo into the tunnel wouldn't have been difficult, but upon exiting it would've been impossible for me to get a shot if I were driving.

(This is the one I'm entering)

My hubby really didn't think much of Pittsburgh. I didn't really think much of the burbs, but there was something about the downtown area that intrigued me. I think that's why my hubby didn't want me to take Sage into the city alone. All the spots I wanted to get out and take photos in were a little shady. So he insisted that I be supervised. My adventurous spirit scares him. I alway have to remind him that I would never take Sage someplace dangerous, but he does know that if I'm alone that I have no fear and will stop in the middle of the worst areas of a town to get a shot. Why must all the best things to photograph be in the worse parts of town.

To check out more great photos on the road by other great photographers check out the In a Yellow House photo challenge.

Afternoon in the park.

It's Sunday again and it's it time to show things as they actually are. No cropping no editing. I took these in the park one afternoon a couple of days after I got my Rebel. My hubby had just flown in and was in a bad mood from a rough week on the road. So Sage and I headed out to the park to play while Danny got some sleep. These were practice shots, so I had only picked a couple to edit and show.  I tend to take so many while I'm out and about that unless I think they are totally stunning they sit in their folders untouched and forgotten. Luckily with this challenge they can see the light of day.

I have a tendency to take a lot of photos of my child and flowers. I'm working on that, but for now here are some more photos of flowers and my kid.

First for the flowers. Irises are one of my favorite flowers, and these were amazing. The park these were take at were Franklin park in Columbus, OH (where I live) It's funny because this park isn't in the best part of town. But it is our botanical garden and they keep the grounds absolutely beautiful.....

This one I loved how the seeds were pooled up in the petals.

The next few are of my son. I just can't get enough photos of him. It like my crack. The first one I caught him playing in flower beds. So I'm getting on to him as I'm snapping the photo (counter productive I know), and he is pleading his case.

The next few were at the pond. If there is water around we can't keep him out of it.

Of course if there's water that means the shoes come off. I love little feet and hands.

For more photos from this day check out Mama's new challenge. Also to see more photo Straight out of the camera by some wonderful photographer go to Murrieta 365.

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Butterscotch fudge

I know I'm usually all about the photo challenges, but today I wanted to do something a little different. Although I love my photos of flowers and my son, today I feel like mixing it up. I woke up this morning thinking about all the things I love to do in my spare time. One of those things is cooking. Baking and candy making especially. I don't know if I can really say that I do this in my spare time, because we have to eat, so I cook almost everyday. It's not always food network worthy cooking, but my style if very Sandra Lee. I like to take mixes or frozen foods and make them something special.

But this is not one of those recipes.....

I can't remember exactly where I found this recipe. It was either in one of my Martha Stewart mags, or it was from one of my Grandmothers old mags (she had them that dated back to the 60's, so there is no telling). It is on a note card and at the time I didn't think about quoting my source. An odd thing for me, since I have a degree in history and we are all about quoting sources. (plagiarism is a pet peeve of mine). When I cut it out 7 years ago facebook, myspace, flickr, etc. weren't even around let alone blogging. Now the card is yellowing and the the magazine paper is getting brittle. I was going to scrapbook it, but I'm streamlining my life right now so at least here I don't have to make a place for it on my shelves.

This has been a holiday favorite since the first time I made 7 years ago. If I don't make it to take to my in-laws for the holidays, they get like crazy mad at me. I walk a thin line with them anyways. My relationship is strained with them at the best of times. If I don't bring butterscotch fudge at Thanksgiving AND Christmas I'm in the doghouse until they get it. I know it's a sad, but it is what it is.

So here it is.....

Butterscotch Fudge

Nonstick spray coating

2 cups sugar

2 5oz cans evaporated milk (1 1/4 cups)

1/2 cup butter (you can use margarine, but I don't recommend it)

2 12oz packages of butterscotch pieces

1 13oz jar of marshmallow creme/fluff

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans

an extra 1/2 cup of butterscotch pieces

Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray with nonstick coating; set aside.

Spray the sides of a 3-quart heavy saucepan. In the saucepan combine sugar, milk, and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat to boiling. Carefully clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat to 234 degrees, soft-ball stage ( about 15 minutes), scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir.

Remove the pan from heat; remove thermometer. Add the 2 packages of butterscotch pieces, marshmallow creme and vanilla; stir till melted. Stir in 1 cup of the pecans. Pour into the prepared baking pan, spreading evenly.

This step is optional, but I highly recommend it. It give it that razzle dazzle. While fudge is still warm, sprinkle with remaining nuts and butterscotch pieces; press gently into top. Cool in the pan. Cover and chill in the refrigerator till firm. Remove fudge and foil from pan. cut into 1-inch squares. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. (It actually lasts longer than that, if store in and air tight container.)

Makes 4 1/2 pounds (117 pieces)

This is perfect for those homemade gifts around the holidays. Sure to be a favorite at you next get together. This is a rich recipe, and must be kept cool or it gets to soft. 

Hee Hee!!!!! I found a challenge that the theme this week is food. Yummmmm........  It is held by Four ladies and a patient man  and Linkie lueville. So if your in the mood to see some yummy photos or have some you would like to share check it out.

One of those days.

We've had some really bad thunderstorms the past few days here in Ohio. One was so bad it woke me up. This is no easy feat, since I have actually slept through tornado producing storms. We're talking sirens and everything. So to wake me out of a deep sleep with a start is no simple task. So as you can imagine the little man was soon sleeping by my side. He wasn't crying or freaking out, he just didn't want to sleep alone. I don't blame him. So since the hubby was on the road and I had the California king sized bed all to myself, we snuggled up together and slept out the storm together.  

Needless to say, the lack of sleep did nothing for either of our moods the next day, and the fact that we had errands to run the next day added to the annoyance of the situation. It started with a freak out at the pediatrician's. All we were there for was his annual check up. No shots, no tests, simply weight, height, and a look over. He screamed like we were torturing him with some kind of medieval devise. Only other stop was the car dealership to get an oil change. So I stopped by a thrift store to do some retail therapy. Little dude start to fuss, but I found a stuffed dragon for him so all was right in the world. I found some great things, that brightened my day so I thought that the ordeal was behind me. Afterwards we ran through a drive thru of a restaurant that I had a buy on get one coupon for and headed to the car dealership to take care of the vehicle and have lunch. 

We sit down at the kids table they have set up to our lunch. It didn't take me long to realize that Sage's food had been left out. At this point they had taken my car for a test drive, so there was nothing I could do. So I split mine up and we ate. They quickly came back, maybe 15 minutes later with the diagnoses and an estimate for $675 to have it fixed. I politely told them my husband would like to get a few more estimates. After trying a hard sell on me to no avail. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. They disassembled my car and drained the oil, this took another 45 minutes. Then some other guy came in and said my car needed to cool before they could do anything else. So we waited another hour and a half for them to finish my car. Explain to me how Jiffy lube can do it in 30min without letting the car cool, but they need an extra hour and a half. Of course they were all making comments about how crazy and hyper my son is. My temper was starting to flare. Finally with my patience shot, by seeing my car apart and all the employees chatting at the front desk, they got the pre-snap. All mommies know the tone. The eyes get wide, the voice gets really sweet, and you get what I call the waitress smile. I informed them that they needed to get my car done now. That if I was there much longer I was going to let Sage totally run amuck and destroy all their tire displays. It's amazing how quickly they were able to finish my car after that. Of course not without trying to tell me that the brakes I had replaced in Spring were shot. All I was thinking was, "Dude shut-up and give me my car."

Once back in the car Sage fell asleep, ahhhhhhhh heaven. Then I realize that the thrift store over charged me. So I had to turn around and take care of it. If you do any thrifting you know that has to be taken care of immediately or they won't give you your money. I know to most $4 isn't much, but I sell unique and quirky designer kids clothes on ebay so that $4 can translate into a lot of money. Luckily she took care of it, unfortunately she gave me attitude about it the whole time. By the time I was heading home, of course in rush hour traffic now, I felt like Quasimodo running to Notre Dame cathedral screaming sanctuary.

Once upon a time, I would have sat and smoked a half a pack of cigarettes to calm myself after a day like this. Those days are behind me though. So I put Sage down for a nap, grabbed my camera, headed outside, and crawled deep into my garden. I take all that negative energy and defuse it through my creativity and photography. The next few shots are a result of this. After about 45 minutes of finding my Zen, my world was all good again. I was sane enough to go back in wake Sage, start dinner and be the all around domestic goddess that I am.

The above photo is the one I am choosing for Macros Friday. I love my ladybugs, but they are a common subject matter. Nobody ever takes pictures of the little blood sucking vampires.

If you enjoyed these Macros shots then head on over to Blogging in Bolivia to see more wonderful shots by other great photographer.

The Road Less Traveled

It's Thursday so it's time for another before and after with Pixel Perfect. I love this challange because not every photo comes out the way you like, with the magic of editing you can make it right. I grew up photographing with a 35mm camera (film). I remember the days of shooting rolls and roll of film and hoping everything would come out right. Back then these photo would have been filed under "T" for trash, but with the wonders of digital cams now you can shoot and erase until you get what you want. If you don't have time (or a patient model) to get everything just right, you can sort it out in processing. That is what happened with these.

The first on is Sage and me on an evening walk. I love this patch of old road. It leads up to some the wonderful bike and walking trails Columbus metro parks have to offer. This is actually really close to our house, I wish we could walk the whole way but we have to walk along a busy road with a lot of Semis. So with my little crazy gremlin I usually drive over. Saves me a few grays and money on hair dye. 

The road is block so you don't have to worry about any traffic. Perfect for going crazy. The day we went the sun was setting right behind up. my favorite light. The first photo we were having a good time playing with our shadow. The original had nothing really special about it, but to me it was a special moment. So I did what I usually do to photo like this, I made it look like it is from the 70's. Sometime I'll do b/w but I loved the tones of the sun. How it turned out reminds me of those old photos of alien sightings I would see when I was a kid.

I'm still experiment with the use of flash in the day time to balance shadows on the face. Unfortunately this was not a successful day of that all the shots turned out washed out. But there was something about all three of the next photos that I loved. Probably that they capture the energy that Sage possesses. I wish I could bottle it. I'd be rich. Unfortunately I think he has so much energy because he sucks it from me.

The first shot although it is washed out I could still see the possibility of the warmth of the sun in the trees. I wish I could tell you everything I did to it (as well as the others), but I lost track of what all I did. I can tell you that I edit in Picnik. Adjusting the basics like exposure, contrast, sharpness, tint and saturation. Then I played around with Orton-ish, Sepia, vignetting and 60's style.

The next one I was running backwards while he was running toward me. I love how he has the appearance of creeping around like a gremlin. Appropriate, since his nickname is gremlin. That's a story for a later date though. The color on this one was as bad, but it still needed a little umph. I think the after makes it look so much warmer.

This last one was another one of those over-exposed photos. I cropped this one to take out the street lights in the background. While I was editing this one I got to thinking about the old photos of my grandparents as a kids. So of course it had to be black and white. I love this one, because it gives Sage a little man feel instead of just a sweet little soft kid. Although he can be whiny, Sage is all rough and tumble little boy. I think it makes him look so much older than his 3 years.

If you want to see more great before and after photos be sure to check out Pixel Perfects challenge.

Mama's New Challenge

Oh yes it's another challenge. I couldn't pass this one from Mama and the Dudes up.  Her first challenge is feet. People who know me, know I love baby feet, and will photograph them when I get a chance. Especially Sage's hobbit feet. I guess I have a thing for them because he was born with really long feet. Which explained a lot about the feeling I had through most of my pregnancy. There were actual times that I thought he was trying to crawl out through my throat feet first. Yes it was as uncomfortable as it sounds.

The first one I took when Sage was just a wee babe, probably only five months old. This is one of my all time favorite photos. It took me forever to get it, but it was definitely worth it. I guess I should have waited until he went to sleep, but at the time the photo was taken I was having a hard time getting him to sleep. So doing anything that might wake him up was totally off the table. Another one of the head scratcher for my hubby. What he didn't and still doesn't understand is that I was suffering from Post-partum depression. Nothing major that I needed professional help for, but it was hard enough. At first he was working from home, but he wasn't really here. When he was at home he was either still working, sleeping, or about to head out for his buddies. Then when he went back to his old job, that involved full time travel, I started feeling like a shut in single mommy. My point and shoot digi kept me sane, just as now my DSLR sometime soothes the savage mommy monster.

The second shot was taken a few months ago, right after I got my new camera. Like any child he loves to play in water. One afternoon we were out for a walk at one of our many beautiful. I had just gotten my camera so this translated Sage running around up to his usual shenanigans, and me snapping photos of him. The park we were at is absolutely beautiful. It actually houses Franklin Conservatory, Columbus's small botanical garden. So the landscaping is beautiful. I found this great spot on the pond that had a small waterfall and meditation rock. It was at sunset and the spot was perfectly located for silhouettes (I'll share that later). He was having so much fun splashing his feet in the water I of course couldn't pass up that opportunity.

I have many more feet photos, but these are my two faves.

Just a bit.

This is a new one for me. I usually just take part in the photography related challenges, but since I'm pretty new to blogging I thought is would be a good to let people get to know me.

{one} what website do you spend the most time on?

My time is divided between blogger, facebook, ebay and flickr

{two} what's the furthest you've ever travelled?

Well, I backpacked Europe twice in college, the second was while I was living and studying in Germany. The furtherest I went was Warsaw, Poland.  It was a life changing experience. I really need to gather up my photos and download them.

{three} what's your guilty pleasure tv show?

RuPaul's Drag Race....Drag queens make me smile.

{four} if you had to give up one favorite food, what would be the hardest?

Cheese. I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years before I started eating fish and seafood again. I always said I would never become vegan, because CHEESE ROCKS!!!! There is no true good substitute for the power of real cheese.

{five} if you could become any fictional character, who would you be?

Willy Wonka, I could be as crazy and quirky as I want, have a large group of minions to do my bidding and be surrounded by chocolate. It can't get any better than that.

{six} what's your favorite season of the year?

I love all the seasons. Fall and Spring are probably tied. Both give you relief from the extremes of their predecessor.  I can't pick, Spring has flowers and Fall has harvest festivals. 

{seven} what's your biggest phobia?

I don't really have a phobia.  I do have some abandonment issues though.

{eight} would you rather swim in a pool or the ocean?

The ocean...it's Mother Nature's swimming pool.

{nine} what did you eat for breakfast today?

The blueberry pancakes my son didn't eat.

{ten} if you could only listen to one song for the next month, which song would it be?

That's hard. I grow bored with individual songs. If I really have to pick.....I'll say Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush---Don't Give Up. It's an oldie but it is so uplifting. It is definitely on the soundtrack of my life.