I decided to play a bit with the Live Trace tool in Illustrator and came up with this version of one of my photos of the Highland Park Farmer’s Market. I want an illustration for my upcoming soup post, though this one won’t be it. But the tool has potential for other projects.
For more on the Live Trace tool, see this Illustrator tutorial.
We still have plenty of raspberries in our backyard. One of the great things about raspberries and kids is that it gets them to enjoy the “fruits” of the garden in a tangible and edible manner.
I took some photos at the Highland Park Farmer’s Market last Friday.
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Mary at Work of the Poet:
A new Torah was dedicated on Sunday at Congregation Etz Ahaim, a Sephardi Orthodox synagogue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Sephardim read the Torah with the Torah scroll in an upright position, whereas Ashkenazim read the Torah scrolls placed flat on the bimah (raised platform). So the Torah cases of the Sephardim are made out of fancy metal, and the Ashkenaz ones are typically embroidered cloth.
The happy occasion was in honor of a bat-mitzvah; the bat-mitzvah girl conducted the dedication, along with her grandmother. It was a lovely community affair, and children were in attendance, including some who got rather sleepy (such as my daughter) because the ceremony was happening at their bedtimes. When they brought out all the Torah scrolls, the children woke up, with all the lively singing and dancing.
Jill’s painting of Traffic has been voted among 12 other artists’ work to be displayed in New Jersey. Beginning the week of August 17th, Traffic will be on a billboard on Route 9 at Ticetown Road in Middlesex County. Congratulations, Jill! Jill is my children’s art teacher and a friend.
For more art by Jill Caporlingua, visit http://www.gallerychaos.net/.
Upcoming: tomorrow I will have a special guest interview with a wonderful illustrator. Hope you will visit then, too!
These photos were taken in June at a Random Acts of Fun night on Raritan Avenue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Stores show off their wares in a fun way, and at this night there was a concert and face painting, too.
A friend once remarked you can buy flowers for cheap at the supermarket in Highland Park. Or you can buy a stunning, custom bouquet at Roberts Florals.
For more window views, visit:
Every Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the summer and early fall there is a farmers market in Highland Park. I buy organic parsley, lettuce, beets and kale (what I buy varies each week) from a particular organic food stand at the market. Sometimes I buy the flowers for someone else as a gift.
My favorite produce that grows in New Jersey are the peaches. I buy a lot; my eldest son loves peaches, and so do I.
In fact, the peaches are one of the best parts of living in New Jersey. In the photo you can also see sugar plums, another tasty treat.
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
I found these red signs in my photo archives while I was looking for something else. I took them last fall, and now I am sharing them for Ruby Tuesday. I probably photographed them with Ruby Tuesday in mind. The top one with the snow I find especially cooling on this warm June day.
For more photos with a lot of red or a little red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
Michelle at Rambling Woods writes: “I am going to challenge myself and hopefully you to take a look at nature. What is going on in your area? Is it spring in your part of the world or are you heading into cold weather. Take a little walk….. look at something you might never had paid attention to..a flower…a plant..an animal…What changes are taking place?..Is your garden starting to come to life again?..Step outside and close your eyes. What do you hear? …take a deep breath…What do you smell?”
Each month I post a listing of birds sightings in Highland Park. I don’t do the bird sightings; I just set up the page way back in 2001 and post the data. This month I noticed a lot more X’s in the May column. Joanne Williams, who gathers the data from other local birdwatchers, explained to me:
Lots of birds come here to breed in the summer and some just fly through to points farther north. It is one of the reasons that the World Series of Birding (yes, there is such an event) is held in New Jersey in May.
I have been seeing a lot of gray birds in our backyard. It turns out these are called gray catbirds. Michelle sent me this link about catbirds. And if you look at Joanne’s list, you will see that catbirds don’t show up in Highland Park until late April. Here are some photos I took of the gray catbirds:
Do you see the little brown patch near the tail? The bird is not all gray.
Adin Steinsaltz will be speaking at Congregation Ahavas Achim in the middle of the day on Shabbat and at Congregation Etz Ahaim at 4:30 pm. I hope at least my husband will be able to hear him; there is a little chance that maybe if I can get my daughter to come with me and play with her friends, I can listen, too.
The Velveteen Rabbit will be showing at the newly re-opened Forum Theatre in Metuchen at 3 pm on Sunday. You can follow the Forum Theatre on Twitter (@ForumTheatreNJ). From the review of the Velveteen Rabbit on Facebook by Graham Gudgin:
I do not want to give too much away, but it was an extremely entertaining show. Steve Graham, playing Velveteen, was very engaging, and Maggie Graham played three roles, and played them very well. One thing I noticed especially was that while there were sad and scary parts, there were also funny and happy parts, and the whole thing was so very well structured and paced, that it held the youngsters’ interest throughout. I found that there was enough to keep the adults amused too, which always helps. In addition, the music, by Paul Farinella, was great.
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In this post I’ve juxtaposed two very different events, both of which interest me – ah, the beauty of eclectic interests! Have you seen the Velveteen Rabbit? Read the book? Have you heard Adin Steinsaltz speak? Read any of his books?
There is also a blood drive at a private home in Highland Park this Sunday.
This bridge leads over the Raritan River into Highland Park from New Brunswick. It is hard to believe that in the 18th century one had to take a ferry to cross over the river. The bridge was named the Lincoln Highway Bridge in 1914 according to Jeanne Kolva, a local expert historian. You can find a timeline of when all the Highland Park bridges were built here.
I liked this shot of the bridge a little better than the top photo (do you see graffiti as art or as pollution or ?), but no water in this shot.
For more watery photos, visit Watery Wednesday:
