Reflecting Pittsburgh

One of my fave altered photos from recent Pittsburgh (what-a neat city!) mini-vacation.

Here's the original. Amazing reflections.

Pretty in Pittsburgh

PPG Place Pittsburgh, PA

Close-up of PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh, a shimmering chunk of glass and steel that so wondrously combines Gothic and Modern.


A recent trip there resulted in over 100 photos of beautiful buildings, breathtaking skylines and whimsical sculpture that dotted the downtown area.

Thanks Pittsburgh. We had a wonderful time. We'll be back!

Roots: Celeriac

It seems most people think the celery root is a bit unattractive. Words like knobby, gnarled, bulbous, tuberous and even ugly are used to describe its appearance. Even famous chef / cookbook author / TV personality, Graham Kerr called it “the most God awful thing to look at.”

Peering at it closely though, it is a wondrous creation of nature -- intricately intertwined, like a family. 

We bought this beauty at Gentiles and took it home as our own. 

We shredded it, added it to soup, tossed it into coleslaw and ate chunks of it raw. We also battered slices of it and fried it in butter…yummm. 

Three Sisters

I feel certain these three sweet-peas are sisters.

I love this old photo not only because it is so charming (...look at those vintage clothes!)  but because I am one of three sisters myself.

I would love to know their story. Who are they? What are their names?  What did they become?

Mom's Mould Guide for Trubyte Teeth

One of the more interesting items that came from my mother's estate is this box of stained human teeth embedded in tar colored paste.

According to the box titled "Mould Guide for Trubyte Teeth," these were manufactured by the Dentists' Supply Company in New York. 

The section on the right resembles orderly rows of tooth soldiers. It would make an oddly artful wall decoration and in fact, daughter Izzi grabbed it just for that purpose.

The section on the left is disturbing.

The top half started out orderly but then something went terribly wrong. 

Had the person who placed each tooth in careful rows simply gone mad? Did the thought of handling human teeth for the rest of his days make him realize that the Dentists' Supply Company send him into a tizzy? 

The chaos starts in the lower portion of the top half then continues until the entire lower half looks like tooth confetti, clearly indicating something horrible occurred.