July 14, 2011-Wow.

Just a very cool photo. It seems beyond imagination. m

February 10, 2011 – It's real

Swedish photographer Jocke Bergland took the shot while flying over Sweden documenting damage in the wake of Hurricane Gudrun in January 2005.

Read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-411346/The-tree-forest.html#ixzz1DXqjvZgm

February 5, 2011 - I could live here

September 19, 2010 - Fall Apples

Love the fall. Love apples. Here's one of my favorite recipes. Last year I made this apple cake while on Washington Island with my friend Carol. Brings back good memories and I promised to get her the recipe. So why not post it and let everyone enjoy it. This is from the Silver Palate cookbook. Maybe next week I'll post a great apple pie recipe.

Chunky Apple Walnut Cake

This makes a very large rich cake so you might want to make a half recipe in a smaller pan if you don't have lots of people to share it with. The glaze is amazing but the cake is excellent without it. But try the glaze the first time out.

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, sifted

1/8 teaspoon of cloves

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground mace

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted

1 1/4 cups shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

3 1/4 cups coarse chunks of peeled and cored Rome Beauty apples (or your choice)

3 tablespoons of Calvados or applejack

Apple Cider Glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat vegetable oil and sugar until thick and opaque. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift together all-purpose flour, cloves, cinnamon, mace, baking soda, and salt, then stir in whole-wheat flour. Add to oil and egg mixture and mix until well blended.

4. Add walnuts, apple chunks and Calvados all at once and stir batter until pieces are evenly distributed.

5. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch round cake pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Let cake rest for 10 minutes, then unmold and pour glaze over warm cake, or cut cake and pour glaze over slices.

10 - 12 portions

Apple Cider Glaze

4 tablespoons of sweet butter

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

6 tablespoons of granulated sugar

3 tablespoons of Calvados or applejack

4 tablespoons of sweet cider

2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons of heavy cream

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in both sugars.

2. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and cook for 4 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Pour while still warm over warm cake.

Makes 1 1/2 cups of glaze

Enjoy in front of a fire on a brisk fall evening. Cheers. m

July 29, 2010 - Inspirations (been awhile)

National Grand Theater of China, Beijing

Architect Paul Andreu

Last image via jordiA+'s photostream

May 6, 2010 - Spring

It's been too long I know. First of all Happy Birthday to my niece. The big 30. Have a great day.

Today I mowed the lawn for the first time. It's been an amazing spring. Don't remember one quite like it. It started a month early. Usually I'm not mowing until late in May. The leaves are all out, the flowers have bloomed, and the temps have been very mild. Usually we jump from cold to hot in a week but not this year. Is this global warming? Not bad. Of course we seem to be some of the lucky ones. I don't envy many others who are dealing with tornadoes and flooding.

Today I started to play with some fantasy lamp ideas. Taking photos and figuring how to merge a lamp into them. It's simple but maybe I can come up with some surprises as the project goes on. Right now I'm trying to use images I have on hand. But as I explore I may try to take new photos with a specific concept in mind. Ultimately I may be able to translate these into a real lamp idea. We'll see how it goes. Have a great week. m

March 29, 2010 - The measure of a life

I am 19,358 days old today. Or 464,592 hours. Or 27,875,520 minutes. Or 1,672, 531,200 seconds or thereabouts. Just thought you'd like to know. This calculation is based on the Gregorian Calendar created in 1582 and later adopted in 1752 by Britain and the eastern part of what is now the United States. In case you were wondering. Have a great day but don't get too caught up in the numbers. There are better things to do with your time. m