PAINT THE TOWN RED is an annual fundraiser for the American Red Cross.
This quote from their website:

"For one night in April… the blank brick walls
and window fronts of 2nd Avenue North in Birmingham’s Loft District will be
transformed into canvases for stunning digitally created art: graphic art,
digital photography and digital animated shorts… all projected.

In it’s third
year, Paint the Town Red is an innovative fundraiser for the Birmingham
Chapter of the American Red Cross. It combines stunning visuals, eclectic live
music and great street food. Vote for your favorite entries, introduce kids to
the future of creativity and indulge your eyes in a visual feast April 16, 2011
from 6pm to 11pm."

Once it becomes dark, visuals are projected on the ceiling of the dome. This is similar to what is done at a planetarium.

While waiting for night to fall rock music was played and visitors danced inside. Young and old.


Joe Minter, folk artist chatting with a fan. His works are made from recycled and found items.

You can see more of his work here.
Ginger at deepfriedkudzu.com
is a big fan of his and the link to the pictures were taken by her. She also has a great blogsite.

ART WORK

Found objects placed on stands. Once night fell a projection of images were displayed on it

Three spherical screens similar to umbrellas projected one movie. I thought this was interesting.

This is some of the digital wall art. On this one it showed the underside of different cars slowly crawling across the screen/wall.

There was a picture but it looks as if this company is more interested in advertising.
Vendor and artist. Paintings on plywood.

The found pieces of wood appear to depict skyscrapers in the forefront of a skyline.
ENTERTAINMENT
Belly Dancer
Lighted hula hoops being twirled.

Improvisational Dancers. I asked the name of the group and they didn't have one.
Fire twirlers


Not sure where to put them but they were so elegant I had to have a photo. They were inside the Masquerade . Not sure if this was part of the Red Cross fundraiser or another fundraiser.

THAT'S IT***

Pot

I’ve read quite a bit about how to dry hydrangeas. About 10 years ago I did this by tying the stems together and hanging them upside down in my basement. I kept those dried flowers for 4 years until I just plain got tired of looking at them. They really hold up well. I have actually seen people at outdoor markets selling dried hydrangeas for a very hefty price.
A couple weeks ago I was fortunate to have a bouquet of big leaf hydrangeas given to me. I wanted to preserve them as long as possible so this time I stood them upright inside a tomato cage I wasn’t using inside the garage. I think they turned out pretty good. BTW I don’t know what the smaller flowers are but they seem to have done well also.



I have to warn you they're very fragile once they're dry. Have some idea as to how you plan to arrange them before putting them in a vase or pot. Otherwise, you're likely to lose a lot of blossoms.





Basil
This is Genovese Basil growing in a pot. It makes great pesto. I found a recipe at All Recipes.com
I make sure I keep it watered with the days here in the upper 90's. It grows very fast. When cutting make sure you leave a cluster of four leaves so that it will continue to grow.
Here's the recipe . Although I plan to tweak it by using chopped peanuts instead of almonds. (Remember I'm thrifty)

INGREDIENTS For PESTO
*1/4 cup almonds (substitute chopped peanuts)
*3 cloves garlic
*1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
*1/2 cup olive oil
*1 pinch ground nutmeg
*salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place almonds on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. (Omit this step. The peanuts are already roasted)
2. In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse paste is formed.
Note: Pick basil the same day you plan to make pesto. I made the mistake of placing the picked leaves in the fridge. NOT a good idea. It wilted away and spoiled.

Put this concoction on toasted garlic bread or pasta and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and you've got a tasty
treat.

Roma Tomato
The Roma tomato is pear shaped and comes in red and yellow. I chose red . I have planted yellow in the past but to me they weren't as sweet as the red. There was too much tartness. The Roma is also known as the “plum tomato” . The white you see is where I tied it to the stake in the pot.






ROSEMARY
Just for good measure I wanted to show you my rosemary plant also in a pot. The picture shows it looking a little dry but I promise I watered it right after I took the picture. This baby was saved from last year. I brought it inside and nursed it the same as a houseplant. Summer has returned and it's still alive. Some people use this plant as a hedge. Can you imagine the aroma as the wind blows? Delicious.

I've grown a little of everything in a pot in the past. I plan to experiment even more in the future.
Lastly, to show that I'm into recycling, I put the watering jug underneath the air conditioning drain and use the water for my plants. It would only drip on the ground if I didn't.










THAT'S ALL***