Comments and conversation, week one

Sunday is a "day off" in the Blogging from A through Z challenge, but not in the Ultimate Blogging Challenge. Because of that, I have decided to share comments from the previous week's blog posts on Sundays.  The letters for this week were A through G (edible art through geese). Here are your comments, with conversation.

 A is for (edible) art

Eydie Stumpf: Art in any medium is always enjoyable. The cookies look yummy. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome. It was a fun art project, and the cookies did taste good. I was invited to Easter dinner with a very friendly and boisterous family, and I brought the cookies, which everyone enjoyed.

Martha: I would love to do cookie art!! Thanks for sharing and great to see you in the challenge once again.

I would encourage you to do cookie art. Just make sure to take pictures before you polish off your creations!

Shelly Maynard: Lovely!! I think when I start indulging on cookies, I'll tell my friends that I'm enjoying "edible art" instead of cookies - doesn't that sound a little healthier?? I definitely feel like art and beauty come in SO many forms and places. It's all around us. We just have to slow down to take it in!

Oh, my gosh! I couldn't agree more. We all need to enjoy some edible art, slow down, and experience the art and beauty that's everywhere!

Snehal Joshi: The cookies look Yummy!! The place looks nice too. Looking forward to your posts everyday :)

Thank you, Snehal. It is a lovely place. The owner just celebrated her first anniversary.

Jeanine Byers: Those cookies look so pretty! Almost too pretty to eat. :) I love that beauty is your theme. I know that means I will enjoy all your posts this month.

The feeling is mutual, Jeanine. I am truly enjoying your posts.

Liz A.: How fun. What a great idea.

It was super fun. Until I started taking these cookie decorating classes, I never imagined that I would paint with frosting. 

Nona: I love a wide variety of art, and those bunny cookies were too cute.

Just learned about the a-z challenge today. Too late to join in.

Awww. It would have been nice for you to have been in the challenge. Make sure to join the challenge next year. It's done every April.

Shirley Corder: Your cookies look so gorgeous. Enjoy! 

Thank you, Shirley.

Sreedeep: What a lovely start, Alice! Loved your description and loved the pics too. Gorgeous cookies with those art!

Thank you, Sreedeep. I am happy that you enjoyed.

Disha: This is a yummy start to the challenge. And the cookies look lovely. :)

Thank you, Disha. It was fun to start the challenge with tasty and colorful cookies.

Alana: Food art is wonderful, especially the type the Japanese do. It's amazing. Frosted cookies would be almost as good!

I definitely need to learn more about Japanese food art. It will help me along in my goal of becoming a Foodie.

Rajlakshmi: Love your theme. It would be interesting to see your finds. I have never tried edible art. But it does look like fun. Do they sell these cookies later?

The artists could take their creations home to share with family and friends. They do sell cookies and other goodies there, however.

pragunify: That's a great theme, to look for beauty in all things around you. look forward to all your posts. Food art is awesome and cookies yum yum.

Thank you! What can be better than pretty things that taste good?

B is for balloons

Alana: Many people don't realize the many services libraries provide. I used to take my son (when he was younger) to these kinds of events from time to time. They are fun for young and old both.

That is true, Alana. We have a new children's librarian at our library. When the schools had a snow day, she quickly put together a fun activity for kids at the library. They also have a Legos club, which is a fun activity for kids. For adults, there is a book club. We're having a guest speaker discuss French cooking... with taste tests!

Cerebrations.biz: I remember my youngest was brought to a slew of libraries every day. Because that way he had a book reading experience every day of the week. (We lucked out with the world's best nanny!)

Library hopping. That's as good as it gets.

Kimberly: Yes, balloons. Fun post!

It was fun. It's not every day that you see the world's biggest balloon with a human head sticking out.

Sreedeep: Good one, brought a smile to my face. I'm sure the kids must have been extremely excited to see Checkers turn into a balloon :-)

The kids were screaming and cheering.

Ashwini CN: I am sure the kids were thrilled and it would have been beautiful to watch the expression on those kids’ faces :-)

I would have liked to have seen that, but, alas, I was standing behind them while taking photographs.

C is for camera

faeriembassy: i have a friend who has taught to find beauty in the unlikely places , the roofline buildings a letterbox where ever. when I acknowledge beauty i am happy and I can feel that all is right with the world. seems to be a matter of training the eye and the heart.

Yes, that's exactly right. I agree that it's about both the eye and the heart.

Jeanine Byers: What a cute picture of you! And I love that picture where the plant is growing. It's so neat that you're doing this project.

It's been a good experience so far, Jeanine. Also, I'm glad that you like the picture of me... or of my mirror image!

Cynthia: Enjoyed your post! I love that your taking part in two blog challenges this month! Way to go and what a great challenge to find the beauty. There are so many things to be grateful for and beauty is all around us :)

Yes, true. Sometimes, I have to remind myself to be grateful for all that is around me. Sometimes, I don't see anything as beautiful so I decided to reframe how I viewed things on a daily basis.

Alana: A couple of times, I've found flowers (petunias, usually) growing in sidewalk cracks in downtown Binghamton, New York. That is certain unexpected beauty. With my cellphone (which has become my only camera) I've been able to document unexpected beauty in the world many times.

Oooh! I think that there is something very special about totally unexpected beauty.

Cerebrations.biz: I notice more and more that I am using my camera less. (I am not counting that pixelated wonder on my phone, which is only used to capture things from the newspapers.) Glad to see you still travel and use yours.

Yes, my camera is definitely my friend and companion.

Sreedeep: A camera is indeed a handy tool. Unexpected moments captured can be a source of a smile years later. Nice post and nice pics!

Pictures definitely tell a story... and they keep the memories alive for quite some time.

Shalzzzz: Ah, I can so relate to this! I take my camera everywhere - be it the DSLR or the phone cam, I use it always. :)

You never know when you might find something amazing to photograph. It's a good idea to keep the camera with you.

Kavita Singh: Paints and brushes are my escape door from a daily hustle bustle of life. I wish to learn photography too someday.

I love that escape door, too. What's your favorite medium for painting? I like watercolor best and I am learning to use oil paints. It's a nice medium and colors blend well because the paint dries so slowly.

sulekkha: Love the pictures. I am an avid photographer too but prefer my phone's camera to the actual camera. The resilience of the plant braving all odds and growing strong is a beautiful reminder of bravery and strength in the face of adversity. Lovely post.

Thank you very much, sulekkha.

D is for dreams on a dismal day

TheresaHPIR: I'm a little different...I love an overcast, stormy day. Last night, I listened to the wind's song as it whistled through the trees and beat the trashcan lid against the side of the house. I watched as the lightning crisscrossed the sky, lighting up the dark. I thought it was beautiful; unfortunately the people in a few towns over dealing with a trampoline stuck in their power lines probably did not, lol! Great thought-provoking blog!

Thank you so much. Your description is beautiful, especially of the lightning crisscrossing the sky. Lightning is beautiful, but scary. Is there something about danger that is so incredibly attractive? 

Today, when I was walking to church, I saw an upside down and broken trampoline on the side of the road. Apparently, it was blown there because there was no reason for anyone to put a trampoline in the middle of a desolate field.

Jeanine Byers: "Everything feels as if were abandoned and lost." - maybe this is what makes me feel depressed on dreary, gloomy days!! I think the only beauty I find on days that is the occasional smell of the rain. But it's good that you mention the hidden promise since there could be a lot more April dreariness. I'll try to keep that in mind.

I agree about rain. It smells so good.

Alana: Wind terrifies me as I have seen the damage that downed trees can cause. A lot of people suffered in your part of New York. We never lost power, but as the sun comes up, I'll see what damage there is in my neighborhood. Beauty? Yes, the beauty of knowing what May will (hopefully) bring.

Wind is unpredictable, wild, and scary. I'm not a big fan of wind. I have been literally stuck to poles, grabbing onto them when a wind gust nearly blew me away. It's not my favorite thing.

Snehal Joshi: Well, in India it is scorching summer. But all the trees are blooming with beautiful yellow and red flowers. While commuting on roads I today saw a yellow carpet laid on the sides of the road. It was amazing. India does not have many stormy days :(

That must be gorgeous. I would love to see all of those trees with the red and yellow flowers... also the yellow carpet. 

Shonda: I love that you can see beauty in all things. For me I see the beauty in imperfection. The rusted chair, the flaked off paint. Those things carry a beauty of their own.

I agree that imperfection is charming. I am fascinated by buildings that look as if they are falling down and, most especially, in old bricks that have chips and are discolored. The broken and imperfect things have such stories to tell.

mahathi ramya A: Beauty is not in the things but in the person who sees. I see beauty everywhere. Even the unused and unwanted objects. Nice pics Alice.

Thank you very much. Yes, I agree with the idea that beauty is in the person who sees, rather than the things. In one of my favorite books, "The Little Prince," the comment is made that "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." I think that means that the perception of beauty lies deep within a person, rather than in the observations of the eyes.

AuraOfThoughts MeenalSonal:  Stormy days brings up unpredictable things and i like that. In A moment weather changes and so our thoughts.

 Cheers

MeenalSonal from AuraOfThoughts

Yes, so true. Everything can change in the briefest of moments.

  

E is for elephants

Jeanine Byers: "A room that is now more full of memories than of people." -that's beautiful!! And so are your memories of your parents. And I love what you did with that necklace! I can't think of anything I have refashioned in that way.

Thank you, Jeanine. I hope that the re-fashioned necklace is a good tribute to my mom. I'd love to show it to her but she is really struggling with a very difficult illness, from which there is no recovery.

Alana: What I wish I could re-invent is a crocheted afghan my Mom made, which must be in excess of 60 years old. It would have been wool, and the blanket is so fragile, I can't do anything with it. Beautiful that your memories were a lot more substantial.

Oooh, that is a very difficult thing to fix. It must have been a very beautiful afghan. I am sorry that time has been so rough on that treasure.

bellybytes: I haven't really re-invented anything for a long time. I actually love making objects out of waste but it's been quite a while before I upcycled anything other than yesterday's curry.

Yesterday's curry sounds delicious! What sort of objects have you made from waste?

F is for flowers

Jeanine Byers: Wow! Resilience, strength and beauty even when the weather goes wrong. April snow. What does it bring? For some reason, a Vanessa Williams song has come to mind & won't leave me alone... "Sometimes the snow comes down in June. Sometimes the sun goes round the moon..."

April snow brings grumpy people??? Hmmm... don't know. I want to see the sun going round the moon but snow in June... let's not and say we did???????

Alana: Ditto, ditto and ditto for me in the Binghamton area. I think the crocuses in my yard are close to blooming. I've seen crocuses and snowdrops elsewhere in the area in bloom, and some daffodils looked close to opening. One day, it will be spring.

I am looking forward to that day arriving. I see all sorts of stuff growing in my garden and I have so much hope!

Martha: Beautiful flowers popping up to say hi in the spring. I remember when we lived in upstate NY, my father would always call the late snow poor man's fertilizer!

Well, it certainly provides the moisture for the plants!

Jenny: said...

Lovely photos! I'm partial to the purple crocus. Have fun with A to Z!

Thank you! So far, A to Z is fun, although I will have to squeeze in an extra blog post tonight because this one took longer than anticipated. (T is for Time Management will be a very brief post, with me saying... it's not happening, lol.)

G is for geese

Alana: I love birds, and I used to keep domestic geese long ago (Pilgrims) but I have to admit I am not a fan of the current habits of Canada geese. True, we humans made this situation come about - it is not the fault of the geese. But my favorite park in Binghamton is almost unusable. They have tried everything short of massive extermination - including those collies. Nothing works. Nothing.

Oh, I know. Those geese are annoying. Humans have definitely taken over a lot of their territory and there has been a lot of habitat loss. Still, aggressive birds are annoying.

Come back later for my post that focuses on the letter "H."