Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday!
To view other Wordless Wednesday posts or participate yourself, click here.

- Karen

Cardboard House

This dollhouse(or more like an apartment building) and its interior contents are all created with cardboard. If you were a cardboard character, would you live here?

Take a peek inside one of the rooms. This could be your neighbor.

Click on the last two photos to read more about this fantasy Cardboard House.

- Karen

Hummingbirds Mealtime Antics

Last week I did a post on these hummingbird babies and I am happy to report they are doing just fine as of Thursday morning despite the heatwave.
In fact, they are getting bigger and with more feathers.

When I first arrived on Thursday, the momma bird fed the baby on the inside of the nest first and then flew away.
I wished I could have gotten a better view, but there were at least 8 photographers to the right of me now.

After the feeding session, the baby who didn't get fed yet kept craning his neck to look for momma and his meal while the full-bellied baby went back to sleep.

Soon after, the momma came back with more food. Now both were fed and the world was right again, at least for this little one.
Their flying days are approaching. Soon they will soar into adulthood and this nature story will have its happy ending.

- Karen

Follow Up: The Fine Art of Yarn Bombing

Earlier this month, I did a post about yarn bombing when I saw it for the first time at a local street fair. Lo and behold, this pastime has made national news in Time Magazine.

You can see more worldwide yarn bombing artistry on the Time.com website.
Here are a few pictures from the same link.

Copenhagen, Denmark.
Photo by MARIANNE JØRGENSEN.


Mexico City, Mexico.
Photo by CESAR ORTEGA.


Paris, France.
Photo by MICHEL JEAN SICOT.

- Karen

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday!
To view other Wordless Wednesday posts or participate yourself, click here.

- Karen

Hummingbird Discovery

Another hummingbird nest has been uncovered. This time not in my backyard, but at a local nature preserve.
The mother hummingbird seen here is feeding her two babies approximately 4-5 days old.

The momma comes back every so often to feed her growing chicks. They looked quite hungry with their mouths opened and pointing skyward awaiting for her return.

Unfortunately, the nest is exposed to the elements so the momma perches in such a way to block out the rising sun as she feeds her babies.

Momma continues to provide shade.
Quite a few people have come to observe this fascinating nature story, but we are worried the upcoming heatwave will be detrimental.

- Karen

Wordless Wednesday

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday again!
See other WW participants here.

- Karen

Mystery Lounge

I attended an Instagram-themed photo walk this past Saturday co-hosted by objectivescenes.com and Photojojo.com.
Photojojo let participants borrow their macro, fisheye, and telephoto smartphone camera lenses during the walk through San Francisco's Chinatown.
It was liberating not having to carry my heavy digital camera around for once.

I opted for the fisheye lens and took a picture of this old Chinatown bar, the Li Po Lounge. I am curious what is beyond those mysterious red doors.

If you are not familiar with Instagram, it is an iPhone photo sharing application.
If you use Instagram, feel free to Follow me at "avcr8teur" and I'll do the same for you.

- Karen

Happy International Yarn Bombing Day

If you knit, you are probably aware that June 11th is International Yarn Bombing Day.
I have not heard of this pastime until a week ago at a street festival.

From what I read, it is a way of displaying your yarn artwork publicly on tree trunks, light poles, or wherever your imagination takes you.
You can read about yarn bombing here.

With everything done manually, it takes awhile to "tie" it down securely.

More examples of yarn bombing.
There is a debate of whether this is legal. What do you think?
Some consider it a form of graffiti.
I like it. I think it adds color and fun to bland looking objects.

Here is a yarn bomber at work during last weekend's street festival.

Let me know if you see any such artwork in your area.

- Karen

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday!
Visit other participants here.

- Karen

Artcar

Does it drive or swim?
Is it a car or art?
It is street-legal but it doesn't go into the water despite having scales and fins.

It looks content being the center of attention.

It took 3 years for the artist to create this piece of traveling art.
Apparently, there is a whole community of artists who have converted their cars to works of art. Read here.
Is your vehicle ready for a makeover?

Click on the photo to enlarge it to read about the car's background.

- Karen

Juicy

How to eat a cherry, Squirrel-style.
1. Steal the fruit from my tree,
2. Project its tongue outward to exam the fruit's quality.

3. Sink its teeth into the juicy fruit,
4. Leave the pit behind for me to clean up.

- Karen

Wordless Wednesday

Visit other Wordless Wednesday participants here or better yet, join in.

- Karen

Carnaval Parade

A few sample photos from the 15th annual Carnaval Parade in San Francisco over the weekend. After waiting for many years, I finally had to opportunity to attend for the first time this year.
Over 70 groups participated in this diverse and colorful cultural event filled with music and dance.

Hundreds of women in skimpy costumes paraded by making it look like a nice summer-like day.
If the truth be told, participants on the sidelines, including me, complained about the cold weather. After standing for over 2 hours, my fingers and toes became numb from the bone-chilling breeze.
At that point, I wished I was at home in a warm bed.

Yes, there were men in the parade like these in equally colorful costumes.

In all the pictures, you might have noticed people in the background standing on the outside ledge of their 2nd story window. I don't think I would stand there or just below them.

- Karen

The Vault

Where am I?
It looks a little like a prison or a reminder of a horror movie.
A long, deserted, and dimly-lit corridor.

Is this a cell or fortress to keep one in?

It is San Francisco's Old Mint which opened in 1854 to turn gold into coins. In less than 20 years, its operations outgrew the building and it moved into another location a few miles away.
To date, there are only three United States Mint buildings. One in Philadelphia, another in Denver, and the "new" Mint in San Francisco.

On this day, the Old Mint was open to the public and I heard eventually turned into a museum. The 2nd photo was actually a vault where the gold or coins were stored, but today like all the other vaults in the corridor, stand empty.

- Karen

Wordless Wednesday

Visit other Wordless Wednesday participants here.

- Karen

Pet Parade

Attended the 10th Annual Redwood City Pet Parade this past weekend and saw a variety of costumed dogs. Like this little one dyed in pink.

And, this one in green.

Even this angel with or without the halo.

Busy pugs engaged in a sniffing frenzy.

I can't quite figure out what this getup is suppose to be.

Of course, a parade isn't complete without chickens. Surprisingly, no drooling dogs were following this float.

"Klepto the Cat" was the parade's grand marshal. Klepto made it onto the local news recently and even onto Animal Planet TV when he was unmasked as the cat burglar who foraged into neighbor's yards on a nightly basis to steal their belongings.
See Klepto in action on this video http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7997043

Side Note: Thank you for coming back to read my blog. It has been a busy May and I took a longer break than anticipated.

- Karen

Seeing Double

Taken with my cell phone, I moved as the shutter was closing and I got this interesting result, a ghost image of each of the goose and all looking in the same direction.

I will be off for a few days and look forward to reading your posts when I return.

- Karen

Is He Real?

A few weeks back, I visited the Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford University campus. Inside the museum, I spotted this motionless man in the distance.
I thought he must be very tired or talking on his cell phone although I heard no sound uttered in his direction.

After I few minutes, I slowly approached him from the side for a closer look.
Is he real?

No, "David" is not a living, breathing human being, but he is a realistic life-size sculpture called "Slab Man" by Duane Hanson.
I wonder if the museum has a camera trained on "David" to get a good laugh of all those who come about cautiously.

Click on this photo to read the placard on the wall that is next to the sculpture.

- Karen