092 Grilled Duck

Happy Halloween! The ghouls and goblins stopped by our door this evening. Several princesses, a couple of witches, a fireman and  two boys even dressed as World Series winning Phillies fans who stayed up to watch the end of game on Wednesday. While the trick-or-treater's came to the front porch, the back porch was the place for making dinner. Tonight we had grilled duck with cherry sauce, spiced butternut squash with apples and sesame snow peas. The menu had no connection to halloween but was a special dinner for a stay at home date.

091 Grasses

090 Bee in the hive

I found a broken beehive on the sidewalk when I was walking home and thought I might use it in some kind of found art piece or some macro photography. What I didn't realize until I got home was that were some bees that hadn't hatched. I assume they are dead, but not willing to risk them warming up and coming out in the house, the hive sits on the back porch. This bee was one that hadn't matured and escaped the hive.

089 Stained Glass

Detail of stained glass window, converted to black and white, with selected colors showing.

088 It Only Looks Like Homework

Note taking for presenting at the Pastor's Bible Study. Each week we look at the texts for the next Sunday and this week it's my turn.

087 Sam's collection

Today was the Bethlehem Halloween Parade and I took plenty of pictures of different bands, interesting characters, and dogs in costume. After the parade we were invited to the Boor's house for the traditional post parade hot dogs. Since I had my camera with me, Sam asked for pictures of his bottle cap collection and chose this shot for my website.  He also knows that I'm taking a photography class with a kitchen theme and proudly showed me the droid he made which he says, has many parts related to the kitchen and one part is vegetable. It also has it's own stove and bowl stand. Sam took a picture of his droid and the droid's stove and this is what it looked like. 

086 Laundry Basket

085 The Dugout

The Phillies are in the World Series against the Rays, and all of the the players probably started in little league. Baseball fields are empty this time of year. Leaves pile up against the fence, and the batting cages are empty. Baseball dreams now rest with the World Series as youth sports turn to football, then basketball, then next April, to baseball again.

084 Waffle Cones

083 Paying Bills: The Aftermath

It's not so much that we have lots of bills, it's that we pay most of them online and that doubles the number of envelopes that end up in the trash.

082 Day is Done

Sunset at the war memorial of Bethlehem Memorial Park Cemetery. 

081 Waiting to be Read

This pile of books are stacked on the dresser next to the bed. Most are either waiting to be finished or to be read. There is also a pile on the floor in front of the dresser, a stack on Rich's side of bed, and a line under the window. 

080 Wine by Candlelight

079 Saturday Night Cross

The Saturday night service is held in the back of the church. But on the altar in the front is the brass cross that always glows in the dark of the oncoming evening.

078 Fallen Leaf

Rich took me to the Pinnacle, a section of the Appalachian Trail he hadn't been on in 30 years. The day was particularly nice for our little trek and we were able to see Martin Tower in Bethlehem from the Pinnacle, a distance of 34 miles. Along the path was this fallen leaf caught in some dried flowers. A sign of the coming season.

077 Giant Baseball

In the sidewalk outside the gate at Coca Cola park is a giant baseball cast in concrete. These are the laces. 

076 Fall at the park

The trees are full of turning leaves and they land where they fall. Here they landed on a picnic table. The day was perfect for a picnic, but summer is gone and so are the picnickers.

075 WOOF

Maybe it is a shore point for dogs.

074 Dicing Jalapenos

Jalapenos are an important ingredient in Santa Fe Chicken, which is basically chicken pot pie with a southwest flavor and topped with a cornbread crust. Cookbooks say one should wear gloves when working with jalapeno peppers, advice I usually ignore but am reminded of later.

073 Barn cat

072 The corner of my desk

I love the quote from the Wizard of Oz, "Nobody gets in to see the wizard. Not nobody! Not no how!" It is reminiscent of times when I've said, "I have a list. If it is not on the list it is not going to happen. That (fill in the blank) is not on the list."  I didn't think it was appropriate for the church office so this small plaque it sits on the corner of my desk between the cup of pens and picture of Grandma Falkner.  

071 The view of our room

When we got the permit to build this room we called it "an office," but the man at the city said, "Office? You're not zoned for for an office." Then came a discussion about what we could call it. We knew it wasn't a den, and negotiations finally settled on study. Library would work, too, but this not the only room where books reside.

070 Bird Blessings

They sit side by side on the book shelf.

069 Freedom Reflected

Freedom reflected off a store window, 7th and Turner Streets, Allentown.

068 Elemental Coffee

Rich likes his coffee with a bit of cinnamon. Usually the cinnamon is powdered and the coffee ground and brewed.

067 Chocolate Chip Cookies on a Plate

These are chocolate chip cookies in the elemental state: Flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, chocolate chips, baking soda and salt. By themselves not much of anything, but mixed together and baked they become the epitome of yumminess. 

066 Mia's Baptism

A dress of lace and a slip of silk, Mia comes to baptism barefoot.

065 Harry

October 4 is the Feast of St. Francis and to commemorate the day we had a Blessing of Animals. This is King Harold, or Harry as he is called. He's a Corgi and I quite enjoyed meeting him.

064 It begins

The furnace is at least 50 years-old and last March the repair guy declared we needed a new one every time he walked through the house and saw us. We decided to switch from oil to natural gas and to replace the furnace. To replace the furnace we need to take down walls. I began the demolition process to gut the basement and the result is a pile of drywall in the middle of the basement that will only get bigger as more walls come down. 

063 Sliced Apples

062 Jesus on Sale

Grace is free. But Jesus it seems, costs $49.99 on sale.