Happy Holidays! Bagheera and Dylan are feeling festive. It has been rather mild- and sunny. They spend their days lounging on the glassed in porch. Sugar plum dreams? Perhaps…more likely sugar plum mice 🙂
West Seventh Freelance
Photography, seeking, writing…and learning along the way. Want to come along?!
about
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Ready for holidays! Dylan sports a bowtie -
Minnesota Mittens Photography is entering another photo in the Capture Minnesota Photo Contest!
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Snow fall Sunday- more shovelling Monday! Tried to post yesterday, but had sooo many connectivity issues…
Sunday, December 9th
The midwest is parched. Not only do we need the moisture, but it is SO pretty this morning. Lots of snow falling from the sky!
I ran some had-to-do errands early and stopped by Mojo Monkey Donut Shop, on W7th, for treats on the way home. (Bowie, you were on my mind when I selected a raised pastry glazed with chocolate ganache…).
The cat crew and I are now settled on the enclosed porch, snow on three sides, preparing to do some catch up work. As I mentioned to blogger, Ubergeek, the internet connection is spotty…aaarghh.
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Happily, there are alternatives to shopping malls and ‘big box’ retail experiences in the Twin Cities. I have blogged about one such place, Practical Goods. Today I dropped by Sophie Joe’s Emporium. SJE is chock full of vintage and designer clothing, jewelry, art, dishware, ornaments, toys, tchotchkes…well, you get the idea. I found some lovely frames that will work well for photographs-
While checking out, I met a young man browsing with his mom. He turned out to be Connor Barth, the 13 year old actor touring with the national road company of Elf the Musical. Connor plays Michael, Elf’s human brother. According to his bio, Connor has “been singing and dancing his whole life and performing in front of audiences for 3 years.” Regionally he has performed in Teddy & Alice in the role of Roosevelt’s son, Archie. We had a brief chat and I learned he is having fun with the tour experience. 🙂
Connor Lovely afternoon!
Stina
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Mississippi Reflections -
Dylan the tabby is part of the Capture Minnesota photo contest and finds that he is 24 votes shy of the necessary 100 to win an award… he decided to post a shameless request: “Will you vote for me?” (see link :))
http://www.captureminnesota.com/photos/786665
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St. Augustine and Tarpon Springs are unique and disparate cities. I must confess that Tarpon Springs charmed me with a gritty, kitschy charm. The Greek industry of sponge diving lives on, as does the feel of culture and heritage.
Located in Pinellas County, Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. The first Greek immigrants arrived to this city during the 1880s, when they were hired to work as divers in the growing sponge harvesting industry. In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving to Tarpon Springs. Cocoris recruited Greek sponge divers from the Dodecanese Islands of Greece, in particular Kalymnos, Symi and Halki leading, by the 1930s, to a very productive sponge industry in Tarpon Springs, generating millions of dollars a year. The 1953 film Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, depicting sponge diving, takes place and was filmed in Tarpon Springs. (Wikipedia)
St. Augustine, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United States.
My view:
Tarpon Springs
The Sponge Factory
Tarpon Springs nightfall
Evening
Capt. Andy Galliano, Grand Isle, LA
“Happy Ours”
“Happy Ours”
Pelican kitsch
Sponges for sale
Sponges
Mikés of The Sponge Factory
Buddy
Working itSt. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach
Door, St Augustine
St Augustine Beach
Dunes
Detail, Flagler College, St Augustine
C Lamb’s art -
This shot is one of those serendipitous moments…the cat was in the window and his image was reflected in the glass of the curio cabinet…
Sunday Reflections -
People from around the world knit together the community we call West Seventh in Saint Paul. We are fortunate to have a co-op, specialty markets and restaurants, as well as many other independently owned small businesses.
Join me on a tour and come visit! I plan to continue my meander with more news from the neighborhood-
Mississippi Market http://msmarket.coop/
cookies!
Kevin
Tony
mmmm…dates!
Candles
Color!
Buy Local!
Krista
Little and big shoppers
Joel, Brent and Katie
Joseph Krawetz Produce Manager
Warm!
Smiles greet you!Breathing Space Massage Therapy
Theresa del Rosario is a Certified Massage Therapist whose home is also her business. She also works with special needs clients, such as elderly residents of the Sholom Home and Assisted Living Residence, right across the street! (Theresa’s son provided the artistic embellishment to her sign!)
Sholom
BreathingSpace Massage Therapy
For the past thirty years, Wendy and her family have owned Stransky’s Liquors. The neon yellow sign out front is even older and has no connection to the couple who came to Minnesota from Taiwan three decades ago. They proudly stock local micro brews and Minnesota wine.
School is in session!
Helping edit the children’s page of the Community Reporter is a new, and wonderful experience. I have been writing profiles of neighbors in the news for over a year, but reading kid’s essays has been a particular treat. I would like to share a couple of essays that will be published in the December issue- these kids are 3rd graders…
We hang up an ornament of a fat cat on Christmas. It represents my cat’s birthday. She died last year, but we still celebrate her birthday every Christmas. This is her first time spending Christmas with Jesus.
By Sophia
I go to my cousin’s house for Christmas. We eat different food from my country, Eritrea. But, what all the kids love are the presents; all shapes and sizes. We eat special bread called injera and we have a special sauce called berbere.
By Lidya
One Thanksgiving I ate some jalapenos and they set my mouth on fire and I went crazy. I ate guacamole to make it go away and I said, “make it stop!” I learned not to eat jalapenos again and found out I like guacamole.
By Keyonte
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There is new stock at Practical Goods, so I updated pictures from the store!
PRACTICAL GOODS, owned by Wendi Ward, has been a local business fixture since 2002. An offshoot of her interest in historical reenactment and the fur trade, she amassed a huge collection of trading post blankets and memorabilia and decided it was time to open a shop.
A holdout against the ever present threat of corporate land grabs and takeovers, Wendi remains a stalwart presence on Randolph Avenue in Saint Paul, MN. Her business sits near a busy intersection and has been the subject of a take-over, along with the other locally owned establishments on her block. For now, Wendi is secure, and the passer-by and shopper can take in the array of color and variety of objects for sale (or barter!).
PS: The Raggedy Ann Doll photo- the doll on the right is mine- brought her along for the picture (she is REALLY old!!)
West Seventh Freelance 
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