Hungry Boys 343/365

Little boys are bottomless pits.  Em fixed us some cheese and crackers while waiting for dinner to be finished tonight.

Plumbago 342/365

Got the blues?

Want some blues?

Need some suede for your blue shoes?

Visit Rebecca at The Dusty Cellar for this week's Midweek Blues.

Cool Green 341/365

SOOC ~ No Cropping

At 5:15 it's 109 degrees.  Now, mind you, weather.com says it only feels like 102 because of our low humidity (you know, it's a dry heat thing).  Still it's too hot to venture far from home.  So looking around today I took a picture from the back side of my cape honeysuckle and the underside of the leaves with the sun barely poking through just gave me a feeling of coolness.  It only felt about 101.

I've been remiss in answering Qs lately.  Here goes.
Brenda:  I didn't notice if the mural was signed.  Did Diego Rivera sign his murals?  Probably but I dunno!
Kathy:  The alley gate leads from someone's back yard to the trash cans in the alley.
Magpie:  This blog won't go away for a while because I still have about 250 historic properties to research and photograph since that became my goal sometime shortly after starting Project 365.
EGWOW:  I don't know whether students are better when they attend a "lovely" school.  Phoenix Union High School was closed in 1954 and I don't know of any schools that have been built since then that are this lovely.
Tracy:  I never even knew they had rock concerts at the PUHS auditorium! 

Science Hall - Phoenix Union High School 340/365

To my way of thinking, the buildings of the old Phoenix Union High School campus are among the most beautiful in our city.  The campus was constructed between 1911 and 1913. The idea that several buildings could be used as a high school campus was a novelty in that day. At its peak in 1930 the campus had 11 buildings and over 5,000 students. The three remaining buildings now house various parts of the downtown ASU campus and the University of Arizona Medical School/Phoenix. These lovely buildings are on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The other two buildings which remain may be seen at FKH Photo Journal. 

Baaaaaa 339/365

This little baby goat and his cousin, perhaps, were on display at the farmers market today adding some authenticity to a booth which sells goat cheeses.  Baby goats are so cute ~ about the size of puppies.

Supermarket Bouquet 338/365

SOOC with cropping

For other beautiful macro flower pictures please visit

MACRO FLOWERS SATURDAY

7/100 Strangers - Carissa

posted today at FKH Photo Journal

An Alley Gate 337/365

This time a year ago I probably wouldn't have even walked down this alley in my neighborhood, much less have found anything intriguing about this gate and the peeling paint on the block fence or the way the vine drapes over the fence top.

Today's temp:  113
Today's humidity: 3 %
Here in Phoenix we call that a dry heat!

Barrio Cafe 336/365

This picture is not of the Barrio Cafe but of the mural on the block wall in the alley behind the cafe where the only parking (other than streeside) is for the restaurnt.   The cafe is not  in the barrio and is a rather high-end small Mexican-food restaurant that generally has a waiting line for seating.  The food is fabulous and far from the typical enchilada-taco-tostada fare that one normally encounters.  Latinos are well-known for their murals and this one is especially outstanding.

My Favorite Olive Oil 335/365

I learned of this particular olive oil from a local culinary artist who gives classes and hosts some cooking shows on our  PBS affiliate.  It is relatively inexpensive and is so mild and smooth I truly believe I could actually drink it!  I just happened to be making a peach/tomato salad with red onion and basil and olive oil when I noticed the onion and basil complemented the colors of the label.

6/100 Strangers appears today on FKH Photo Journal.

Sunflower 334/365

SOOC (except for cropping)

I had better sunflowers but the sky on this one was too good to pass up!

Merryman Funeral Home 332/265

George F. Merryman was born near Indianapolis in 1855. In 1891 he settled near Los Angeles where he took charge of a lemon orchard and later became involved in the undertaking business. He moved to Phoenix in 1899 and became a prominent businessman in the community and well-known as an undertaker. In 1909 his business was described as “the best of its kind in the state, being modern in all respects and having complete up-to-date equipment, including a chapel and auto hearse.” Merryman died in 1913 but his widow continued operating the business which was eventually located in this building, originally known as the Charles E. Palen house, constructed in 1937, 24 years after Mr. Merryman’s death. Most recently the Paulina Miller Gallery has occupied the building but that business is scheduled to close at the end of this month’s current exhibit.


This building has been placed on the City of Phoenix Historic Property Register.

Today's Bounty 331/365

Today's haul from the farmers market (clockwise from upper left): red butter lettuce, eggplant, Arizona yellow peaches, fingerling potatoes, yellow squash, and tomatoes.

5/100 Strangers ( Guy, the tomato man) appears today on FKH Photo Journal.

Lois Grunow Medical Clinic 330/365

Grunow Memorial Clinic, built in 1931, is named for Lois Grunow who died two years earlier at the age of seven. The building was endowed by her parents, owners of a successful manufacturing company. This Spanish baroque building is dubbed by some as the most beautiful building in Phoenix. The entrance façade and windows have Churrigueresque detailing. The lobby, equally ornate, is decorated with period-style furniture which appears to be original and is called the Renaissance Room. The building is still used for medical offices and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation List.


Older Phoenicians know about the Grunow Clinic from one of Arizona’s most spectacular and grisly murders. Winnie Ruth Judd, dubbed the “trunk murderess” by the press, worked as a secretary in the building. She was accused of killing her two roommates in 1931, dismembering their bodies and shipping them in trunks to Los Angeles. The case was sensationalized in the papers both in California and Arizona. Mrs. Judd was convicted of one of the murders and originally sentenced to death by hanging. She was later found to be incompetent and spent much of her life in the Arizona State Hospital, although she escaped seven times. She was eventually pardoned by the governor of Arizona in 1971. Many Phoenix residents of that day believed she took the blame for a crime committed by a prominent businessman who they contend was protected by the Phoenix business establishment.

Pictures of the interior of the building can be found at FKH Photo Journal.

Joe Cool 329/365

                                          Boarding the elevator at Phoenix Children's Hospital

Em had a routine test at PCH today.  Everything is very colorful at the hospital.  For more hospital color, visit FKH Photo Journal here.

Note:  Tracy, the world's hottest pepper is the Bhut Jolokia from northeastern India.  It registers 1,001,304 Scoville heat units, making the Habanero at 200,000 - 300,000 Scovilles, seem mild!

Habanero Peppers 328/365

Beautiful but packs a heat wallop!  Not for the faint of heart.

The world's second hottest pepper.

SOOC

Moo Cards 327/365

My order of Moo Cards arrived today.  They are small business cards and in one order you can upload as many as 100 photos to be placed in an order of 100 cards.  You can find them at moo.com.  I decided to use them to give to people I approach for the 100 Strangers project.  You'll probably recognize some of these photos.  They all came from this blog.

Stranger 4/100 appears today on FKH Photo Journal.

Dr. Cutiepie 326/365

After starting the 100 Strangers Project I've decided I need to work on my portraiture.  So today took me to Dr. Cutiepie's office for my annual GYN exam.  This guy has been my doc for about 15 years since taking over from my former doctor when he retired.  He still seems just as young as the day I first met him.  And he is as kind as he is cute.  You can see it in his eyes.  I obviously can't call him a stranger but he was more than happy to allow me to take his pic and put it on my 365 Project blog.  I realized after I got home I should have turned off the flash and it probably would have eliminated that shadow on the left side of his head and the shiny spot on his forehead.  Oh, well, it's a learning process, right?  My other doctor is also a very handsome young man.  I'll shoot him at our next visit.  Now that I'm officially a senior (yuk!), I've decided  I deserve to have all my doctors be good- looking!

Summer Rose 325/365

It's been a hectic day but luckily for me, whenever I need a last-minute picture I just stroll down the street a ways and take pictures of some of my neighbors' fabulous roses.  Many of you are surprised that such beautiful roses grow so well in the desert.  Well, that's a fact!  I don't know why but we manage to have roses blooming about 10 months of the year here and I think the low humidity helps the insect/disease factor.

Comments re past blogs: 
EGWOW - you seemed surprised that Mr. Alkire was an ostrich farmer.  There are still several ostrich farms in Arizona.  In fact, Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, holds an annual ostrich festival!  Yes, ostrich meat is sold, but also ostrich oil and ostrich feathers.  In the early 1900s ostrich feathers were in much demand for boas, etc., for entertainers and fashionistas.  Maybe still so today!  Who knows?
Brenda:  I take your word it's a '54 Chevy pickup!  They don't make 'em like they used to, right?  Can you imagine driving the vehicle you own today 56 years from now?

Vivienne 324/365

Today was not my birthday but today was the day my daughter celebrated my birthday with me. Can you imagine my surprise when I opened her gift and found this funniest of hat mannequins I’ve ever seen. I ran across several of these beauties back in February in a little shop called Fig not far from my house and fell in love with all of them, but especially the one with the big mouth. I had returned to the shop called Fig about two weeks later and I knew on my way there that if Big Mouth was still around I would probably buy her (even though she was quite expensive for something so quirky). I had a sense of relief that she was gone because my budget really couldn’t afford such a frivolous thing. Every time I drive by Fig my mind goes back to her and wonder who the lucky person in whose boudoir she now resides. Today I found out that within a few days of my blog posting of Big Mouth (see it here) my daughter went and took her out of that old dark, crowded shop and has been holding her for me for nearly four months. I’ve decided to call her Vivienne. I used to have a great collection of hats but got rid of them all. I need to go out shopping for her new wardrobe. Maybe a couple of scarves would be nice too!


P.S. Today is my first posting for 100 Strangers, a new project that I’ve decided to undertake. The purpose of the exercise is to make you step outside your comfort zone and speak to a stranger and ask their permission to take their photograph and post it on some forum. And of course practice is key to everything so it should also enhance your photographic skills. My Strangers portraits will be posted on my FKH Photo Journal blog (hopefully at least one a week). You can find out more about this project at http.www.100strangers.com. and see samples of pictures at http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/pool/.

Franklin Alkire House 323/365

Franklin Tomlin Alkire (1865-1962) arrived in Casa Grande, AZ, via Southern Pacific Railroad on January 7, 1886, during a desert rainstorm. After boarding a stagecoach to the Silver King Mine near Globe, he and the other passengers were the victims of a hold-up by a band of outlaws who were seeking to steal the $17,500 mine payroll carried by the stage. The robbers stole the Wells Fargo box but later discovered it was empty. The cash had been placed in a canned beef box!

After living in the Tonto Basin (where his cabin was later acquired by Zane Gray) during the time that Geronimo was on the warpath, he purchased the Triangle Bar Ranch in New River and it became one of the largest ranches in Central Arizona: 55 miles long and 25 miles wide.

Alkire was a rancher, a merchant, a banker, an ostrich farmer, and was instrumental in organizing the Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association. He was the first publisherof Arizona Highways Magazine. He made it possible for Phoenix to have the fifth automatic telephone system in the US, a company later purchased by AT&T.

After bringing his wife and children to Phoenix to live in the city and to work with his brother in the mercantile business, he built this Craftsman home in the Portland Historic District in 1911. The home has not been placed on either the city or national historic registers.  And I don't have a clue why.

Another Vintage Vehicle 322/365

I live near Whitfill Nursery in Central Phoenix.  I think they just park this old vehicle on their lot periodically rather than actually using it for deliveries!  I have no idea what year this old pickup was manufactured.  But it sure is cute, don't you agree?

The Car That Made Ralph Nader Famous 321/365

Running an errand this morning took me past this little car parked on the wrong side of a street.  I did a double take when I saw this early '60s Corvair.  I had a car like this during my mid-college days in 1965.  The Corvair made Ralph Nader famous.  In 1965 he wrote "Unsafe At Any Speed," which primarily focused on the Corvair and thereby became the nation's leading consumer advocate.  The Corvair was introduced by Chevrolet in 1960 and its sticker cost was $2,000  (as I recall, mine was  a used '61 or '62  model and we paid $1500 for it after my 1955 Ford finally died ~ cars didn't last as long in those days as they do now).  The line was discontinued in 1969.  It was America's only rear-mounted engine system (like VW bugs), it had swing-axle steering, was the forebearer of modern turbocharged engines, and had lots of crazy little quirks.  For instance, mine was an automatic and the gears were selected by a push button system on the dash.  The first year model's heater actually ran on gasoline ( I don't think mine did ~ that's pretty scary).  It was notorious for throwing fan belts and I always carried a spare in the trunk (which was under the hood, of course) and I learned to change one out in about five minutes.  Mine was very slow to accelerate after a stop, which led to its demise.  One year after I got it, the engine practically stalled as I was making a left turn on a busy street and my roommate and I were broadsided by another vehicle.  The accident bent the frame but I continued driving it for the rest of the summer, and in early 1967 my dad got me a yellow Mustang!  Whoo-hoo!

Comments:  Mari, Sammy had a sister named Sophie (and one named Sidney).  They both crossed over the Rainbow Bridge two years ago.  They weren't biological sisters.  They were all adopted!

Alley Cat 320/365

Sammy and I encountered this cute little kitty this morning in an alley while we were on our morning walk.  She was so scared but didn't run, and even after we passed her by I looked back and noticed she was still there so we turned around and took her photo.  Sammy was the perfect gentleman.

Comments:  Mari, Sammy is a boxer.

A Regal Profile 319/365

Sammy is my granddog.  He's about a hundred years old, which means he is very wise.  He tells great tales about how far he had to walk in the snow to school when he was just a pup and what life was like before indoor plumbing, airplanes, air-conditioned cars, Xerox machines, cell phones, and the dog-blessed Internet.  He is profoundly deaf but he can hear the click of my recliner every time the footstool goes down (which happens  about 364 times a day).  He is therefore exhausted and has walked miles since he has been here.  He normally stays home alone during the day with no one to bother him, but now he's at my house, he feels he must follow me everywhere I go.  I  heard him say just this morning, "Can't she just stay in one place for more than five minutes!  Good grief, woman!"  He has been visiting since Saturday while his mom is on a short trip to the beach in Mexico.  He is extremely difficult to photograph as his eyes shine golden in almost every picture.  And every time I drag the camera out he turns his back on me and says, "Get that thing outta my face."  It's taken about 50 shots to get one worthwhile for posting.

Comments on yesterday's post:  Magpie, I heard about 100 Strangers on T. Becque's blog (which is spectacular by the way ~ and she blogs from Tucson).  You can also learn more at 100strangers.com or at Flickr.  I've committed to do it once I'm finished with 365.
EGWOW:  Today was only 108.

Luis Lugo's Bakery 318/365

The Luis Lugo Bakery was built in 1917 in what is now known as South Phoenix. It is one of the classic concrete block buildings that made their debut during this time period in the Southwest.


Luis Lugo came to Arizona in 1913 with his parents, who initially started a store in Glendale. In addition to the bakery, which was called La Pantallera, he operated a grocery store about five blocks from the bakery. The brick ovens in the bakery were built by Julian Gastelum, father of a local auto repair shop owner, Fabian Gastelum. The building was later owned by Italian bakers, eventually becoming Blunda’s Bakery. The grocery store in later years was operated by Luis’ daughter, Mary Lou Lugo Sandoval. Senor Lugo died in 1977 at the age of 79.

The bakery has been owned by a family for at least 30 years, although today it has graffiti on the front and is in great disrepair. The building is on the Phoenix Historic Preservation List.

This photograph is of the front of the building. For pictures of the opposing side and what I believe to be the Lugo family home, please go to FKH PHOTO JOURNAL.

Today's temperature:  109 F/42.77 C

COMMENTS
Magpie:  The farmers market opens at 7 a.m. starting in June (8 a.m. before June).  Yes, Crooked Sky Farms has a booth.  Their tomatoes are wonderful although they haven't had any ripe ones yet.

T. Becque:  Thank you for the info on 100 Strangers.  As soon as my 365 project is complete I think I'll try that.

Farmers Market 317/365

The farmers market is always filled with lots of color, colorful people and friendly dogs.  These tomatoes were sold by a new vendor from Casa Grande.  I ate two of them when I got home and they were juicy and delish.  My friend and I admired the cupcake lady's black and white polka dot tablecloth with a hot pink skirt.  The salsa sign is my favorite, and the dog spotted a bird just as I snapped the picture.

For my special treat from today's market, visit my other blog, FKH PHOTO JOURNAL.

Harry M. Fennemore House 316/365

Harry M. Fennemore joined the law firm of Chalmers & Kent (successor to the firm of Sloan & Chalmers) in 1912, the same year he built his family’s home. By 1918 Fennemore’s name was added to the firm’s name and the firm of Fennemore Craig today is a firm of 200 plus lawyers and is the oldest firm in Arizona. Sloan & Chalmers opened its offices in one of the few two-story buildings in downtown Phoenix in 1885 when the town was part of the Arizona Territory. Mr. Fennemore lived in this home until his death in 1948. Today it is owned by the proprietor of an art gallery.

Summer Vegetables 315/365

I wish I had taken a picture of the tomato after I cut it.  It was the most beautiful pink flesh with yellow ripples running through it.  Very tasty also.  Maybe I can find another one like it at this weekend's farmer's market and I'll be sure to shoot it before I eat it!

Comments:  To answer your questions, Magpie, about yesterday's posts (both of them), first the old house was blue.  I just boosted the color somewhat to make it more interesting.  I did not get a Diana lens.  All the photo editing has been done through Picnik.com.  Most of the techniques are free without a subscription  and it is very easy to use.  And fun, too!

Lonely Casa 314/365

Today I had to do some ramblin' out the Glendale way (a trip to MVD, which, although in Phoenix, took me through Glendale) so on my way back home I rambled around one of the older parts of town looking for a unique photo.  This was the one I chose.  It was not in the best neighborhood and I was even reluctant to get out of my car, so I just shot this through the window.

This week we all heard about BP's junk shot which failed.  For my interpretation of a junk shot (also found in my foray around Glendale), see today's FKH PHOTO JOURNAL.

Pineapple 313/365