My son is a photojournalist covering the news and weather in Philadelphia. He started taking still shots while on his assignments so I decided to use my favorites to post here in the blog. I will not be able to identify many of the places but anyone that knows Philly will be able to identify some of the city's iconic images.
Pennsylvania has a number of covered bridges:
Some days are better than others:
What's a city without a protest at times:
Ben Franklin Bridge:
Japanese tea garden:
This videographer works much the same way that my son does:
One of my favorite historical figures is Benjamin Franklin. When I walk the streets of Philly I often think that I might be tracing the steps that he took as he walked around the city:
This is the area where he starts day usually:
I will replace this with a cheesesteak photo when I get one. I might have to get a photo of a pretzel, too. Did you know that there is a statue of a pretzel in Pretzel Park? :
My son gets to see Mayor Nutter addressing the King and Queen of Sweeden:
How's that for an alliteration? Maybe Fabulous Finds?
So this spring we have had some beautiful sunny days despite the chilly nights that have me hanging onto my winter bedding with the heater still running. The weather warms up during the day and it is perfect to return to the Columbus Auction for treasure hunting. I have a bit of a hoarding problem and I have made attempts to rid myself of the overstock by having yard sales but I have practically given up on that. I am not taking any chances at having a yard sale without purchasing a permit. There are some that might want to call the code enforcer and report me because I have not supported the development that is going up near me. So instead I have resorted to putting surprise boxes out by the road and invariably people stop and carry it away. I get more satisfaction out of doing that than when I take stuff to Good Will.
I will start with my last purchase of the day which was not purchased at the Columbus flea market but at the Grist Mill Antiques Center in Pemberton, NJ on the way home. This Singer Sewing Machine from 1924 is my first collectible machine but I may purchase another one. I found out that these machines do not command hefty prices so that is one reason my interest has been peaked. Another is that we had quite a few Singer sewing machines in our family and we did not hang onto them. We always had table machines so they took up too much room but these portable ones are easy to store (and collect!!) They are decorative, useful, and a testament to an era of fine heavy duty precision machines. The only reason they are reasonably priced is that so many people did hang on to their machines. So I will now be looking for a machine from the 1950's.
We always stop along the way if good photo ops present themselves:
This might be my second purchase from some men that feature hand made African crafts at the Columbus Auction flea market. I could not resist this 15 dollar offer as I started to walk away and declined the 20 dollar price.
This Egyptian collar I got off of Ebay this week. I just thought it was a lot of workmanship for a nine dollar item. I was a bit apprehensive when the package arrived I forgot I had ordered the item but I really did not think it was coming all the way from Egypt but it did!
One dollar tote bag with intricate needlework:
Another one dollar item. I will enjoy painting this one on a rainy day:
A handcrafted school house shadow box. One section chipped off but a little stain will restore this dollar item. For one dollar it also serves as a model to make one of my own with the many yardsticks that I have:
Seven dollars for a very heavy piece of pottery. It is very much like a piece that I made in college only much larger. I always thought of my vase as a tree trunk. This is a one of a kind item. So for seven dollars I have a unique umbrella stand:
For 39 years I have had mountain pinks or ground flocks. My daffodils are impressive but I used to have a wonderful carpet of the deep pink color of which I favor. I never bought any of the white or light lavender colors so even if they come up by reseeding they are always the deep pink color. This year I do have spots all over my yard that feature a few vibrant clumps.
I guess it is fitting that my camellia has only one special bloom. Hopefully in the future I will have a spectacular bush full of blooms but for now this one bloom will make me think of my granddaughter named Camellia or Cami for short:
Finally I am glad to enjoy spring weather in New Jersey. We took a chance and thumbed our noses to the predicted rain and headed for the Cape May Zoo. It is still free but donations are accepted. I always like this zoo because the landscaping is so much of the total experience. Today turned out to be just perfect for ambling along the paths and over the elevated look-outs and wooden bridges. The vegetation was not quite as good as I remember it. Maybe it was due to the cool spring weather. The other possibility is that there might be fewer funds for the zoo and they might not be able to invest too much money into grounds keeping.
The swamp here looks like a type of primordial soup:
Crab apple blossoms:
Fiddle heads of the young fern shoots:
Violets:
Pretty pink magnolia blossoms:
Vibrant red ibises:
I think it is time to put another old tree log in the pond:
Could walking around the zoo be that tiring?
