Posted in As Pictured Below, Home, Huntsville, Photographs, tagged alabama, alice in wonderland, animals, caterpillar, Huntsville, iPhone, photograph, sidewalk, TiltShift Generator, TiltShiftGen, wildlife on December 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I found this little guy (or girl) traversing my front sidewalk today. Given the usual behavior of caterpillars and beetles in my front yard, I expect him to be in my kitchen tomorrow morning, ready to scare the sleepy out of me at 5:45 a.m.
He could at least stay for a chat, a la Alice in Wonderland.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Home, Photographs, tagged cold weather, favorite things, fireplace, fireplace insert, heat, Hipstamatic, home, husband, iPhone, Presto HeatDish, remodeling, renovations, salad spinner, space heater, TV on December 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »
We were going to spring for a new fireplace insert this year to heat the first floor so we wouldn’t have to move the TV upstairs for the next few months. Turns out that, like so many renovations we attempt to undertake, this one’s going to require a lot more work and money than we had planned on.
Rather than lugging the TV upstairs, however, the husband came home with the
Presto HeatDish Parabolic Electric Space Heater. It is quite simply amazing, putting out enough heat to keep us warm and toasty on the couch. It’s made it onto my list of Favorite Things (it’s kind of like Oprah’s, but with more Apple gadgets and a salad spinner), a list that’s pretty difficult to get on.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Christmas, Photographs, Travel, tagged Christmas, cold, December, decorations, iPhone, Manhattan, New York, photograph, Rockefeller Center, TiltShiftGen, TiltShiftGenerator, travel, vacation on December 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Freezing near the Rockefeller Center, I ungloved one hand long enough to get this shot, because I knew I just HAD to run it through the TiltShift Generator.
If I make any more trips to Manhattan in December, I’m getting a pair of those iPhone-friendly gloves.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Photographs, tagged iPhone, Mardi Gras, photograph, toys on November 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Posted in As Pictured Below, Photographs, Travel, tagged apps, Atlanta, bridge, Coca-Cola, Coke, iPhone, Mexican Coke, miniaturizing, photo effects, photograph, photography, TiltShift, toy train, train, train set on October 26, 2010| 1 Comment »
I had purchased the TiltShift Generator app last year after seeing some inspiring photographs on SevenDead, but I never seemed to find the right subject for its miniaturizing effects.
Finally, I saw this scene while crossing a bridge in Atlanta last week and had to stop. The app did just what I expected it to, making the scene look like an elaborate toy train set. Then I had a Mexican Coke. In Atlanta. Where they make regular Coke. But that’s another story for another post.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Eats, Photographs, tagged aroma, baking, cookies, cooking, dishes, food, home, kitchen, oven, pine nuts, smell, square silver bowl, toasted pine nuts on September 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Freshly toasted pine nuts: I don’t believe anything else makes the kitchen smell better, except maybe cookies baking in the oven. Cookies that someone ELSE is baking in the oven. Right before they wash their own dishes.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Home, Photographs, tagged curtains, decorating, drapery, fusion tape, grandmother, hem, HGTV, home, IKEA, iron, puddling, sewing, truTV on September 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I FINALLY hemmed the IKEA curtains that I’ve owned for nearly five years. I had to, because they were puddling on the spice cabinet that I inherited earlier this summer when my grandmother died. And not puddling in an HGTV kind of way, but more in a slovenly truTV kind of way.
By hemmed, of course, I mean that I ironed on the strip of fusion tape that came with the curtains. I bought red curtains at IKEA. You think I’m going to sew?
Posted in As Pictured Below, Family, Photographs, tagged animals, beastie, childhood, creepy dolls, grandmother, lemur, mother, plastic dolls, toys on August 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »
What manner of beastie is this? A lemur, perhaps? I remember being quite fond of him when I was a child. Specifically, I remember chewing his long, rubbery tail (you can see it’s a bit stubby at the end).
My mom was kind enough to ferry him home from my grandmother’s house. She was also kind enough to keep the old plastic dolls that would have been entirely too creepy to have in my house.
The lemur, however, abides.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Photographs, tagged baskets, chocolate, coffee, fair trade, farmers, handcrafted, Huntsville, jewelry, mall, non-profit, Parkway Place, pottery, resin, ring, toys, Trade-Fair Marketplace, volunteers on August 13, 2010| 1 Comment »
A former co-worker told me about Huntsville’s Trade-Fair Marketplace months ago, and I finally wandered in today. The non-profit store, run by volunteers, offers an eclectic array of handcrafted jewelry, baskets, rugs, pottery and toys, along with an assortment of coffee and chocolate. The goal of the store, and other fair-trade organizations, is to ensure that the artisans and farmers producing the goods earn between 15 and 20 percent of the retail price.
It’s certainly the place to go if you’re looking for gifts and accessories you won’t find anywhere else. I found this resin ring for only $5 — all their prices seem very reasonable.
Trade-Fair Marketplace is located at 817 Regal Drive in the shopping center next to Parkway Place Mall.
Posted in As Pictured Below, Cats, Family, Home, Photographs, tagged animals, antique, cats, chair, decor, decorating, furniture, grandmother, home, long-tailed, mother, re-caning, refinishing, rocking chair, tabby cats on March 19, 2010| 3 Comments »
Several years ago, my grandmother gave me an old rocking chair that I kept meaning to have re-caned. Last year, I decided that it did not go with any part of my decor. Neither was it very smart furniture to have around our two long-tailed tabby cats, constantly underfoot and underchair.
Turns out that my mom thought she should have had first dibs on the chair anyway. Done deal, right?
Wrong. Yang, the larger of the underfoot tabbies, claimed the chair as his own not two weeks after Mom claimed it as her own. Cushioned with a Mom-made afghan and a blanket, it’s one of his favorite nesting spots.
So, the chair complements nothing, needs refinishing, and technically belongs to my mom. It stays, of course, because a 13-year-old, 12-pound cat likes to nap in it.
Welcome to the Crow Haggerty House of Cats. We’re all mad here.
Entirely Adequate 