Project 52 - The road home

I have a gypsy spirit. I don't know how I came by it, but it's as much a part of me as breathing. I always wonder what's over the hill, even when there is no hill. It's led me to have more than 13 addresses as an adult and I'm reasonably sure there's a couple more to come.

This shot was just before sunset, on my way home from work. I didn't think the camera would even focus, since I was driving and holding it with one shaky hand. I do love the traffic here.

Memories of Another Time

My poor, frozen sister is home in Arizona again. She made good use of her time here.She came with the intention of visiting with our uncle and hopefully being able to scan the small number of family photos and documents he had collected through the years. Almost 1500 individual scans later, she breathed a huge sigh of relief and was done. With only one night's sleep and then off to the airport,she sure has earned her rest. I wish she could have stayed longer.

It will be a while before she manages to rename and organize her files, make an index and then bless everyone in the immediate family with this massively impressive archive of our Tollman/Anderson ancestors. For anyone who's interested, here's a tiny peek at the wonders to come.

Meet my maternal great grandfather, James Mundy Tollman,at age 17 in 1893. He's an ambitious young man, soon to become a western Nebraska homesteader in 1899. One day, he'll be father to four children. I wonder what he was thinking this day. He's certianly handsome, isn't he?

Project 52- Week 3

Winter in Nebraska takes many forms; snow has it's own personality. This morning we awoke to a light, gently falling peaceful snow, just the kind of snowy memory my Arizona sister needed to take home with her. No harsh wind and a balmy 14°.This isolated scene is outside the town I live in and captures rural midwestern winter in my mind's eye perfectly.

We had plans to have brunch with relatives in a nearby town. On the way home we did a little detour to the small town where our Dad grew up. My sister hasn't had too much excitement on her visit; for most of the week either the Viking or I have been seriously flattened by a virus. Fortunately she's escaped and I recovered enough by Saturday that we did a little antique shop memory hunting and wandering around ancestoral stomping grounds.

Doorknobs

It's funny how the littlest of things can elicit memories. Who would have guessed that both my sister and I would have such a fondness for old door knobs?

She's visiting this week and we were able to spend time in our grandparent's old home. It was built in the early 1900's as the Friendship Church of God, and became their home in 1951. Much of the house remains the same, all these years later, the things we remembered most as kids.

My sister and I were both elated that the elegant orignal glass door knobs we both remembered were still there. I honsetly expected to discovered that other relatives had taken them off. The home is still in the family and used as an office.

We grew up in a typical 60's era tract house. For me, at least, visiting the grandparent's on their farm became almost as much a trip to soak in more of the house as it did to see family.
This this most unusual house full of glass door knobs,
arched doorways and wooden trim was so different than my own, it was like venturing into another world. Today was a day for time travel.

Pink Glasses

Aren't these the most fun glasses ever? Well, they are if you're a crazy cat lady! I think they may be the wildest glasses I've ever worn, and I've had some colorful one's since "readers" became a mandantory part of my wardrobe. These little beauties were tucked into my Christmas stocking by an equally crazy cat lady.

The way I see it, if you're going to be over 50 and have to wear readers over your contacts to use the computer or read anything, you might as well have a sense of humor about it all. Besides, the "meow,meow" and "here kitty, kitty" all over them distract everyone from noticing that the crinkles around my eyes aren't quite fulfilling the promises of renewal made by Oil of Olay, just yet anyway.

Project 52

There's a lot of buzz these days about Project 365, Project 52 and others I can't even remember. They basically all boil down to the same thing, creating a photo record of your life. The photo a day Project 365 just sounds like too much to me so I'm going to go with the 52, one photo a week idea. Ideally, I'll get them digitally scrapped too.

I think it's interesting that all around me EVERYONE, whether I know them in person or just cruise their blog is getting turned on to doing more with their cameras this year. On almost the same day, my sister posted about her "my year of the camera", I enrolled in a photography class, a coworker started talking about buying a new camera, daughter and son-in-law started Flicker pools for their photo experiments. It's like a massive wave of photo-lust has swept the planet.

I pretty much take a photo every week (at least) anyway, so maybe it's cheating just a bit to do my normal thing and call it a project. Either way, its good. So, here are my catching up photos. Week one at the top of the page was on New Years Day. This is straight out of the camera, at the west end of the small city of Beatrice,NE.

Week 2, is this little organza blue angel. She's just the palest shade of blue imaginable. My sister has one almost exactly like her, only in pink. They came from my Grandma Opal. As we were told, they were package decorations on Christmas presents. Since my third sister doesn't have an angel, we had to have gotten them from 1957-1959. Mine is missing a little golden instrument of some sort, maybe a harp?

She doesn't like having her photo taken. I have taken 30 some shots of this ornament this season, ALL except this one have been awful, blurry despite even resorting to a tripod. Almost makes me wonder if someone wasn't sending me holiday wishes each and every time I focused on her, until this very last shot.

Back to School

I'm back in school... in a fashion. When the community college booklet of continuing education classes came a couple of weeks back, I decided it was time to do something different this winter. An intro to digital photography seemed like just the thing. Once I decided to go, the Viking thought it might be an ok thing too.

So tonight after a quick dinner out we went to class. I expected this first class to not be very enlightening since I'm pretty savvy in digital terminology, file saving, pixels and resolution and tonight was starting from ground zero. I was right. I'm sure next week will be more interesting for me.

The class is a short one, only 6 hours, but I'm hoping to pick up some new ideas and hints.The instructor has been a professional photographer for 30 years. He's an interesting speaker and has an excellent way of explaining things like image compression in .jpg format and what lenses area actually doing. One new thing I did learn tonight, is that I prefer my photography education without religious commentary. 'nuf said.




So, wanna see my camera? It's not exactly point and shoot because it has full manual control, but it's also a great point and shoot. What I am hoping to get out of this class is an understading of it's capabilities and how to begin to use them. And some tips on better flash shots. Right now, I almost always turn the flash off because when I do use it the pictures are awful. Once I get this little guy mastered, I'll join the big leagues.

Anyway, this camera has

• 7.1 megapixels
  6x optical zoom with optical image stabilizer
• ISO 800
• 1 centimeter (.4-inch) Macro mode

It can handle additional lenses, and it's a rugged camera, great for me. I dropped it, lens down last summer on the pavement, and the only problem was the cute little lens bezel got dented and wouldn't stay on. I love this camera.

Weird Word Wednesday

This one comes from a novel I'm reading, Lisey's Story by Stephen King. The word as he uses it, incuncabilla, isn't one I could find exactly, but it is how the main character hears the word.



I think the actual word is incunable or incunabulum, either of which is completely new to me, maybe you won't know it either.



in·cu·nab·u·lum , (nky-nby-lm, ng-) n. pl. in·cu·nab·u·la (-l)
1. Bands holding the baby in a cradle

2. A book printed before 1501; an incunable.
3. A work of art or industry of an early period.



Either way, it's certianly an unusual work, seeming to date to the 1860's in first use. Somehow, I don't quite see how it's going to come up in my daily writing, but what a killer word to know for a Scrabble game!

Computer Help

When most people talk about getting computer help, they mean calling in a geek. A smarty pants kid next door, their relucant spouse, and in worst case scenarios, tech support from their computer vendors. Heaven save us from that. Over the course of the summer, my new computer and moving from XP to Vista with software and hardware issues to spare, meant literally days on the tech support "help" lines, at least 6 total reinstalls, with some problems still existing. If I pretend not to notice, they'll eventually fix themselves, right?

In my case, tech support better come equipped with a big bag of catnip.

Fruitcake

Time to come clean... I like fruitcake. I especially like Grandma's Famous Fruitcake with Amaretto. I've tried baking my own fruitcake. It's expensive and more prone to being a 20 pound doorstop than a dessert. Take my advice, don't. Just buy Grandma's. I figure, if they've been doing it since 1917, their Grandma must have been a better baker.

There's a bakery outlet in my town, where it's made. It's half price right now. Guess where I'm stopping my my way home from work. Happy New Year.

Post Holiday Haze

Does anyone else have a pair of mysteriously shrinking jeans? I mean, they fit just fine a couple of weeks ago. I don't know what happened. Maybe the cookie, candy, cheese, more cookies feeding frenzy of the last 2 weeks? Nah.... mystery jeans!

We made a mad dash to Texas for the holiday. Happily, with Christmas day being on Thurs, my work gave us Wed and Friday off, extending the weekend just as much as possible. It was a magical ride from sub zero daytime temps to balmy upper 70's for several days. Even more magically, we returned to the great white north to discover a freak warm spell had swallowed up all the snow! Now, that's Christmas magic!

The whole holiday was wonderful for me, starting with a fun hide & seek hunt for my Secret Santa gift at work. Not only was it fun to play games, look what a treat the gift was! I love my new camera phone! And I adore my retro new mug in a cool, funky color I never thought I'd like! Thanks Santa!

Solstice

On this darkest, coldest and longest night of the year, Winter Solstice, we all need a little warmth, joy and light. Since I can not be with my family this night, I have virtual gifts to share.

Yesterday's toffee has become warm hearted gifts. These are going to friends at work tomorrow, and there is a secret message of love in this photo. I'm very pleased that my cutting skills have improved now that I have "middle aged" eyes and see better up close that I've ever seen in my life!

For my daughter, this memory...

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near.
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

And for you all, this song, Light is Returning .

Christmas Toffee

I spent the day making candy, that is after I wapped presents and spent about an hour in 8° arctic,windy cold hacking away at over an inch of ice entombing my car. I broke my scraper... I guess it really wasn't meant to be used like a fireman's axe. When my ears started to burn despite a hood and hat, I decided to call it quits, done or not. A strong north wind will kill your ambition like nothing else.

So once I could feel my hands and ears again, I decided to have some fun. Making candy is fun. Now, I wish I had some secret ingredient that made this toffee recipe unique, but alas, I do not. This may be just about the easiest candy in the world to make. Which is a good thing, because once you start sharing it with your friends, you're going to be making it over and over. One year, I think I ended up making 10 batches and had requests for more.


Classic Toffee
1 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
3 T. light corn syrup
1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 to 3/4 cup finely chopped (or ground) pecans or walnuts, optional

Before you get started, prepare a cookie sheet by either spaying with PAM or lining it with a parchment sheet. I like parchement, it makes life much easier when you're dealing with multiple batches. You'll also need to have a couple of hot pads or a towel under the cookie sheet, cause there's not much hotter than the molten sugar lava you're about to be dealing with!

After years of making candy in various pans, I've learned 2 things.
1. You always need a larger pan than you think you will.
2. Once you find the right pan for you, guard it with your life. Mine's a nice deep Revereware saucepot.

Lets's get started. Put the butter, sugar and corn syrup into a large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly as the sugar dissolved and melts into the butter. Now for my electric stove and my beloved pan, that means the number 4 setting.

Keep heating until the mixture begins to boil. It will be a light lemony yellow color for quite a while, and then it will start to thicken and you'll see it gradually turn light tan. Starting to understand the lava reference?

Now it's the most critical part of this whole process. If the phone rings, don't answer it! I'm not kidding, this next part goes fast. Trust me on this. DO NOT WALK AWAY.

Continue stirring this boiling molten sugar until it reaches 305°. If you're going to make candy, you need a thermometer. There's no messing around here, no eyeballing and praying. Adjust heat as necessary to avoid scorching. And keep stirring!

This will take about 20 to 25 minutes. By this time, the candy will be thick and will have turned a nice golden brown. See how the upper part of the candy has changed color, just a bit...that's the magical indicator of just right and 1 blink later, scorched beyond belief... and probably buying a new pan.

Notice how the pan is slightly off the burner? For me, it's easier to move the pan off and on the burner to help control the heat. And pay attention to how thick this candy is at this point, building up quickly on the indsides of the pan and looking like it could support life?

Remove from heat. Working quickly, pour the toffee onto the cookie sheet, spreading with a wooden spoon to desired thickness, generally about 1/4 inch thick. Don't be poky about this, you need to work fast to get it on the cookie sheet before your spoon is permanately cemented to your pan!

Immediately sprinkle the top with chocolate chips. You don't need to completely cover the top, just evenly distribute the chips. Wait a few minutes for them to melt.

Then, spread the melted chocolate across the hot toffee. I find this easiest to do with the back of a soup spoon. Be extra careful not to grab the pan, it's incredibly hot right now. If you're a nut person, now is the time to sprinkle the melted chocolate with nuts. Gently press then in place.

Cool toffee completely. Break into bite size pieces, and enjoy one of life's little pleasures.

It's really much easier to make than it is to talk about, so get in the kitchen!!!

Ok...so you want to do this NOW and you just don't have a candy thermometer. All is not lost. Do it the way your Grandma did, with the cold water test. Liquid sugar at the 305° range is referred to as "hard crack stage". That means that when a bit of molten sugar syrup is dropped into a glass of cold water, it will harden very quickly(in seconds) into a mass. Take it out of the cold water and you should have a nice snap or crunch when you test it's consistency.

Don't freak out about making candy. You are absolutely going to burn some batches. You'll have some candy that doesn't get cooked enough and stays too soft of gooey. It's o.k. It's part of the process. Actually, I think it's part of the master plan, to weed out those wanna be candymakers who only show up at Christmas time and never try it through out the year....oh, wait that's something else entirely. So, go for it. Make a mistake. Try it again. Then when you master it and you KNOW the magical moment when sugar become candy, you'll really have something to be proud of. And your family and friends will love you forever. Think of toffee as your little insurance policy!

The Santa Wars

So, the Viking did not like that I think Santa lives in Finland. Even the proof did not convince him. So I went hunting to see what I could find. Santa claims Norway as his birthplace on his blog , but I'm still not convinced.

The Norwegian consulate Christmas page seems to want us to think so too, but I'm still not swayed. Where's their conviction? Oh! I forgot, they're Norwegian, so the conviction is frozen under a foot of ice. So I kept looking.

Being partial to Rein Poortvliet's illustrations of Gnomes, I hoped to find some clue there, but then I remembered that Poortvliet isn't Norwegian, so I had to fess up and admit that I really just liked looking at gnome drawings!

Back to the Santa mystery. I keep looking and here's what I've decided. Santa indeed lives in Finland, but since Norwegian kiddies leave glogg or Christmas beer instead of milk, he goes to Norway to party. Need some proof ? I warn you.. you'll never think of Santa in the same way again. Santa dancing the Norwegian Boot Dance.

Nuts for Christmas info?

Santa Lives in Finland

Do you believe?

Here's proof.

Snowy Day

It started in the wee hours this morning and has been snowing all day. The first snow of the season is pretty and it's easy to have wistful romantic thoughts of winter wonderlands. As I was making my way to work this morning in the balmy -2° along the highway that had not been plowed, in the dark with only my headlights illuminating the icy crystals, I actually liked the sparkle of snow falling.


Fast forward 7 hours to when I had to brush off 4 inches of snow from my car before I could head home, and the romance is over. I changed gloves midway to keep my hands dry. I changed one more time when I was done to keep my hands warm on the way home. It doesn't seem silly any more to have about 6 pair of gloves in my car.

I confirmed something today too, about living in Nebraska. It's too wicked cold when even the cows have snow building up on their backs!

What does -9 degrees look like?

Ever wonder what -9° looks like? Are you crazy? I would actually be quite happy not really knowing the answer to this question, but here it is. -9° in all its glory.

Frankly, I could have gone my whole adult life without knowing how it FEELS, but it is sort of pretty. Did you know that if you combine -9 with a pretty stong wind, it actually becomes just like -22° and schools even close? And that your steaming hot coffee in the very good thermal mug will become a tepid memory of coffee in less than 10 steps from your door to your car?

Me either. But it does. A friend at work told me today that it can also freeze your pillow to the window if you sleep too close to -9. That's just not right.

Cell Phone for Soldiers

The Viking gave me the spiffiest new phone for Lucia Day! It's my first camera/mp3 phone, its RED and most importantly, I can read the blasted thing without my reading glasses!



That left me pondering what to do with the old phone. Or more correctly, the 4 old phones that have been living in a drawer for the last couple of years.



I found Cell Phones for Soldiers. They take your old phones and turn them into free calltime for deployed service people. Check out their site for other service relief projects too.
So, who needs old phones? They do. They even pay postage.

Happy Lucia Day

The start of holiday festivities in my home is Dec. 13, St. Lucia Day. This tradition started when our daughter was about 4 or 5 and just couldn't stand waiting until Christmas for gifts. I learned about St. Lucia's celebration from ladies in my church group at the time, with strongly Scandinavian backgrounds. Since my own Viking didn't come with any family holiday traditions, except the one about monster potato balls which we'll talk about some other day, I decided to adopt Lucia as one of our own. There's some Swedish, I think in my own ancestery, so Lucia became the bringer of the holidays for us.

In Sweden, Lucia Day is celebrated in a big way. St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.

December 13th was also the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the old Julian calendar and a pagan festival of lights in Sweden was turned into St. Lucia's Day.

St. Lucia's Day is now celebrated by a girl dressing in a white dress with a red sash round her waist and a crown of candles on her head. The crown is made of Lingonberry branches which are evergreen and symbolise new life in winter. There are parades, feasts and other celebrations.

In families, the youngest daughter traditionally dresses as Lucia, and awakens the family bearing special saffron breakfast rolls. Our Lucia had a crown of battery operated candles; can you imagine putting real candles on top of a squirmy 5 year old! When I didn't work, I'd bake cinnamon rolls for her to wake Daddy with. And then there was a present for everyone.

Over the years Lucia Day evolved into cooking baking day. One year at a craft show I came across this Lucia doll. She makes her appearance one day a year, this year she's got a peppermint Oreo! Lol... no little Lucia's anymore. I like Lucia day because it blends so nicely our older Christian traditions with our more current worldly religious beliefs. We still give each other a gift on Lucia Day. Now it's holiday time! How does your family mark the beginning of your holiday season?

Mystic Seaport Christmas

I spent most of my childhood and teen years living in a small town next to Old Mystic, Ct.
.ow that I live in a totally landlocked state, I realize just how much I miss the romance of the sea, even if it is just in the memories of wooden sailing ships.

Mystic Seaport is located in Mystic proper, always my favorite memory of living in the area. Each holiday season, the Seaport has a living history event, Lantern Light Tours, an evening walk through the historically correct, recreated village of Greenmanville. As you step back in time to a whaling village of 1876, visiting various merchants and families, you'll find yourself wishing for a simpler time and maybe, you'll even begin to find some meaning in the holiday season beyond the number of gifts under your tree.

Or maybe you'll really be thankful for the almost instant heat in your car and the warm homes we take for granted. And glad you weren't the homemaker, ropemaker, whaler or sailor in that long ago time when bone chilling cold and the smells of living weren't always as nice as gingerbread.

If you're in the New England area, try to go. It's really special. If you're far away as I am, hop on over to the web site, watch their video and rejoice in the internet.