Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Weekly Header Challenge -- I Didn't Expect to See THAT Here!

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants
Imac 
Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.
Click on the other participants' blogs to see
what they've come up with!

Theme ~ I Didn't Expect to See That Here!

Chosen by Kathy.


It was tough to find images that fit this theme.  Halfway through my images, I realized I was searching for Now What's That Doing Here?  Then I realized it's slightly different.  I expect to, say, walk into a room and have it look like it always does.  So, these pictures reflect things or scenarios I didn't expect to be there.

For my header, I chose this image:


I fully expected to see college books lying around my house, and even on my kitchen counter.  I didn't expect to see that molecular model sitting there, though.  I guess that's a toy for a biochemistry major (required for his Quantitative Chemical Analysis course--I can barely type that, let alone try to say or describe it!).

Here are some more unexpected scenarios...

Walking into my family room, I fully expected to see Jacob in his spot on the couch, on his laptop.  I did not expect to see a huge Papasan chair with Thomas lounging in it, his bruised ankle (twisted in a football practice injury) hanging off the end of the chair.  That chair took up the entire family room!


While making a large batch of tomato soup which I planned on canning, I didn't expect the hot soup to shoot through the little pouring hole in my blender as I pureed it.  And, neither did I expect to look up and see the splatters of soup all over the ceiling above.  I mean, I had the lid on the blender.  Sheesh.


For last year's Labor Day parade, I expected to see parade-type things--not Jacob with a sign taped to his chest.  The sign came from my friend, the homeowner, whose son-in-law had posted it on the coffee pot in the kitchen that morning.  She figured the sign would get put to good use on Jacob.


One day last October, I heard a loud CRACK as I sat at the computer.  I thought the lawn mowing service for the church property behind us had kicked up a rock which hit our window.  I checked all the first floor windows on the west side, but nothing.  I shrugged and went back to my day.

Later that evening, after Danny had come home from school, I heard a, "Hey, Mom?  What happened to my [bedroom] window??"  I knew before I even saw it.  The industrial lanwmower had kicked up a rock to the second-story window, which shot through both the screen and the outside pane of the double-pane window!  I took several pictures, while dreading calling the company to see if they'd replace the window.

Before I could even finish my story to the owner of Prime Cut Landscaping, he told me to get the window and screen fixed and send him the bill.  I was impressed and amazed at their integrity--and thankful we didn't have to pay for repairs!


The below is the Christmas tree in Daley Plaza downtown Chicago; it's a familiar landmark of this city, along with the Christkindl market at Christmastime (you can see the booths of the market around the tree).  Danny performed in the UIC University Choir's Christmas concert that night, and honestly, we found the building, walked in, and enjoyed the concert, never bothering to look at our surroundings.  When we exited the building, there it was!  I expected a street full of skyscrapers, and lots of people since it was a Saturday night.

While Fernando and Danny walked to the parking garage to pick up the car, we had about 15 minutes to enjoy the tree and our surroundings.  I even had several people lined up at one point, handing me their smart phones to take their pictures in front of the tree, lol!  How did that happen??  I guess they saw the Canon around my neck and figured I knew what I was doing.  It was a ton of fun.


Thanks for visiting!  I expect to see some great, interesting, and fun photos on your blogs, too!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Project 2012 -- Week 34

Project 2012 -- Week 34
August 19-25


Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time for looking back over the past week, choosing my seven favorites images, and sharing them here with you.  If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!


Last week began with veggies and ended with veggies.  I'd say that's a good week of summer!  Below is the product of two different days of canning:

[232] Canning day

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and decided to try it.  I layered salads into canning jars, minus the dressing on the bottom.  Each day at lunchtime, all I had to do was dump one jar out onto a plate and top with tomatoes (I like to cut them fresh) and dressing.  I didn't fill these quart-sized jars, but trust me, once I dumped one out onto a plate I realized I had a huge salad for lunch.  My layers:  carrots, red peppers, purple onion, chopped lettuce, cucumber, green olives, cubed mozzarella cheese.  They were delicious with my homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

[233] Salad days

After another tomato harvest, I had some fun with my macro lens and caught the below once my eyes spotted the reflection.

[234] Tomato reflection

Danny, my science-minded son, called me to grab my camera right before Friday Frisbee.  He had filled his water bottle to the top, without spilling over, and filled it a bit too much.  Science concept at work:  cohesion of water.  :)

[235] Filled to the brim

At the Friday Frisbee game, Emily brought her three children.  Sammy, #2 son, decided to tackle his little sister, who's only two years old.  I think she's used to roughhousing with her two older brothers, because she took this tackle in stride.

[236] Tackle!

Thomas threw the Frisbee to me.  :)

[237] Catch, Mom!

Last photo of the week--more veggies!  I spotted a recipe over on Proud Italian Cook, and tried to duplicate it.  I had cut the palm of my hand with the knife, however, and forming veggie patties with my hand stung.  So I dumped the veggie mix into a stoneware pan and baked it.  It turned into my own version of a recipe, which I'll post on my family blog soon.  Promise.

[238] Eggplant veggie frittata

Thus ends another week of summer photos.  We're starting to get into the full swing of school, since my two college students are already in full-school mode.  Thomas is taking chemistry!  So I'll probably have some awesome photos of him doing incredible things with chemicals.  Let's hope he doesn't blow anything up.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Monday, November 14, 2011

365 Project -- #309-315

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured
throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.
These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.


November 5 - November 11

Last week was an all-around nice week; so, let's get right to photos, shall we?

Even though our friends' dog Sunny does not like cameras, she seems to tolerate mine.  I captured some great shots of this old pup resting in front of the fireplace.  She sure has seen a lot of life.

[309] By the fire

Some explanation is needed for the next few shots.  Thomas had a science experiment involving an egg, vinegar, corn syrup, and distilled water.  Submerging the egg in each of these different liquids basically caused the shell to dissolve, and swelled the egg to abnormal size.  It looked like a glowing "orb of power" or some such science-fiction thing.  Thomas thought it was pretty cool.

[310] Experiment by Thomas

 [311] Glowing egg

When Danny came home from class, he handled the egg for just a minute.  However, an egg without its shell is fragile, and the shot below is the result.  It is pretty cool, and Danny cleaned up the mess.

[312] Mishap on the counter

Joe helped me bring up from the basement the last of the Northern Spy apples from our Michigan apple-picking trip.  I cored and peeled them, cutting off the brown spots, and they ended up becoming applesauce.

[313] Last of the apples

One day, I noticed the bright colors of some of the leaves in my front porch garden.  I grabbed my macro lens (duh!) and went back out to the porch.  The coral bells (marmalade) were especially colorful at this time of autumn.  I also experimented with some black and white images.  But then again, it is autumn and I love the brilliance of color.

[314] Autumn coral bells leaf

[315] Autumn coral bells leaf [B&W]


Lately, I've been closing my posts with Scripture.  I think I will do the same today.  :)


But let all who take refuge in You be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And may You shelter them,
That those who love Your name may exult in You.
For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD,
You surround him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5:11-12 NASB


Treasuring life's moments,

Christine

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Monday, September 19, 2011

365 Project -- #253-259

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured
the week before, and choose my seven favorites.
These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.
Enjoy!!


It's always a great week when there are two special days to celebrate...

I wandered outside with Ellie to take some late-summer late-in-the-day shots of my garden flowers, and captured the below shot of my Siberian bugloss.  You can tell it's near sunset by the golden hue of the image.

[253] September 10 -- Sunset on Siberian bugloss

Also captured last week was Thomas actually doing a science experiment.  I'm now requiring him to complete every experiment in his biology textbook, and so far he's doing a great job.

[254] September 11 -- Biology experiment

Fernando and I celebrated 24 years of marriage on the 12th.  This is where he took me.

[255] September 12 -- Anniversary dinner

He's such a gentleman!  And we shared a fantastic Italian dinner, lots of animated conversation, yummy dessert, and a walk around the block before heading home.

 [256] September 13 -- Holding the door

Back to home life...  Since it's getting late in the gardening season here in Illinois, I needed to get my herbs inside and processed.  I decided to try drying some herbs; this is my first attempt.  So far they're drying normally.

[257] September 14 -- Drying herbs

The below shot was taken on the 14th--my birthday!  I spent part of the day accompanying Danny to college and spending the waiting time with Thomas, who worked diligently on his grammar and algebra.

[258] September 15 -- High school at college

Finally, I snapped some pictures of my birthday gift--yellow and orange roses.  I'm not a huge fan of flowers--I'd rather have something practical and useful--but these sure are pretty.  Along with these colorful roses, Fernando gave me a huge bouquet of red roses--one rose for each year of marriage.  :)

[259] September 16 -- Birthday roses

It was a very special week.  I hope you also had a special week in the Lord!


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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Monday, June 6, 2011

365 Project -- #148-154

Exhaustion.  That is an apt word today.  Last week was a blur, with a photo shoot on Memorial Day, preparing for our state homeschool convention on Tuesday, then attending our convention speaker banquet Wednesday, followed by three days of convention activities.  I absolutely love overseeing my portion of the convention--I get to meet amazing speakers, talk to and encourage new (and veteran!) homeschoolers, and connect with people I haven't seen in a while.  Here are the images from my week.

Senior photo shoot, downtown Chicago at UIC (the University of Illinois in Chicago).  This young man hopes to transfer here after earning his Associate's degree from his local community college.  He is on his way to medical school!

[148] May 28 -- Senior portrait at Hull House

I like the below shot because it gives the feeling of walking into sunshine, and a bright future.

[149] May 29 -- Toward a bright future

Not all the portraits will be chosen for prints.  The one below probably won't make the 8x10 list.  Goofing off for the camera every now and then relieves stress.  It's hard to focus on what the photographer tells you to do--smiling, leaning against a wall, or looking this way and that.  Goofy faces take care of all that.  :)

[150] May 30 -- A senior portrait--NOT

In preparation for all of the workshops I coordinate at our state convention, I printed out new "countdown" numbers to wave at the speakers as time runs out in their workshops.  The convention runs like clockwork, and there is not a lot of variance for running over one's time!  So I try to make sure my speakers stay within the time limits.

[151] May 31 -- Numbers

My first workshop!  Matthew McNatt spoke to parents homeschooling their special needs students.  He was very encouraging, and a fascinating person to get to know.  I'm so glad I invited him to speak at our convention!

[152] June 1 -- My conference speaker

My #3 son Danny was able to attend a workshop where the students dissected a sheep's brain.  Me--YUCK.  Danny--COOL.  And, if you wondered--YES, this is the same young man from the senior portraits above.  :)

[153] June 2 -- Picking your brain

That's it through last Friday.  Next week I'll wrap up the last day of the convention, and add some new photos.  Who knows what I'll post!  I'm definitely not relaxing this week--preparations for yet another event are on the calendar!  I sure hope you all have a super week as summer begins to warm things up.


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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