Craggaunowen Illuminated

 

This month’s piece from the Illuminated Ireland series features a photo of a crannog.

People first began building crannogs – dwellings on artificial islands - during the Neolithic period.  Crannog ruins in Ireland have been dated 1200 – 600 B.C.

Much to my surprise, I was recently watching a tv show about Scotland and some popped up.  As it turns out, they can be found in Wales as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crannog

This reconstruction can be found in Craggaunowen…

https://www.craggaunowen.ie/

 Which also has a cute little castle, so it’s well worth a visit.

Here’s the drawing of the illuminated letter C. ( I thought a sea creature would be appropriate.)

And, the photoshop combination ready for printing on linen.

 

Here’s another photo of the final version.

Here are links to the other pieces from the Illuminated Ireland series…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2026/01/glendalough-illuminated.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2026/02/kilkea-rose-embroidery.html

 

And, here are some other previously posted embroideries…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/11/embroidery-coral-bouquet.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/02/embroidery-chinatown-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2013/06/embroidery-orange-tulips.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Dublin

 

It’s that time of the year again,

when my thoughts go to Ireland

and the terrific visit we had.

Dublin has something for everyone.  While it’s famous for its Georgian doors, when we went to check them out, Edward accused me of taking him to the most boring part of town!

Grafton Street is a 24/7 street fair,

and O’Connell Street a living history lesson.

You can even see bullet holes in some of the statues.

But what I remember most,

is the beautiful Celtic art in the museum,

and watching the hilarious Martin McDonagh play “Lonesome West” with an Irish audience!

Previous Ireland/parade blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/03/ireland-5.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/03/erin-go-bragh.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2017/03/ireland-2.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2022/07/kilkea-castle.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/ireland-4.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2018/03/st-patricks-day-2018.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/03/nyc-st-patricks-day-parade-2023.html

 

Erin Go Brah!

PJ

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Spring preview!

 

NYC began 2026 with 9 days in a row of below freezing temperatures - January 24 - February 2.

It didn’t help that the big freeze came immediately after our 9^th biggest snowstorm.

Believe it or not, there are still some chunks of ice visible around town.

But clearly mother nature decided that we deserved a break.

So we were gifted with several delightful days.

The best one was Tuesday when we hit 80 degrees.

That’s the earliest we have hit 80 since 1990.

Since we all knew it wouldn’t last (we had sleet on Thursday,) everyone went out to play.

These photos are from Washington Square Park.

So much happiness!

Here are some previous early spring blogs.

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2021/03/greenwich-village-2.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/03/almost-spring-in-central-park.html

Happy Daylight Savings!

PJ

 

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Chinese New Year Parade - 2024 p3

 

Happy Year of the Fire Horse!

Full disclosure.

These photos are not from this year’s parade in Chinatown NYC.

I did not make it there this year to participate in the festivities,

which was a real shame since the sun came out just as the parade started.

I could tell from the photos posted online that it was a joyous occasion.

No surprise there.

It’s the reason why I enjoy parades so much – everyone is in such a good mood.

 But I take so many photos that I still had plenty of new ones to share from 2024,

so I got lazy. 😉

Here are the ones I posted previously…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/happy-year-of-dragon.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/chinese-lunar-new-year-parade-p2.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Snow in the hood

 

The snowfalls this season have gotten progressively bigger.

The latest one – Sunday 2/22/26 – Monday 2/23/26,

was a Nor-easter that dropped 19.7 inches of snow on Central Park.

That makes it our 9^th biggest snowstorm in history.

It turned the Upper East Side into a winter wonderland,

starting with this pretty view on Sunday night.

Just a brief stroll on Monday

gave me the chance to enjoy the trees draping the side streets.

And the snow added a quaint touch to the stores on the avenue.

My building is on the left. 😉

Here are other blogs of snowy streets – mostly from January 2011…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/01/january-2011-nycs-snowiest-january-ever.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2014/01/snowy-streets-2.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2022/01/snow-in-hood.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2020/12/snow-day.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2026 PJ Lehrer

Kilkea Rose embroidery

This piece from the embroidered Ireland series features a rose from the backyard of Kilkea Castle. 

 

The castle is a family favorite - Edward visited in 1968 and we stayed there together in 2001.  I felt like a princess.

Here’s the photo of the rose…

The drawing of the illuminated letter K…

And, the photoshop combination ready for printing –

I thought a pink tint would be fun. 

Here’s another photo of the final version.

And a link to the Kilkea Castle website…

https://www.kilkeacastle.ie/

 

Here is a link to the last piece from the Embroidered Ireland series…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2026/01/glendalough-illuminated.html

 

And, here are some other previously posted embroideries…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2012/08/embroidery-pink-lilies.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/05/embroidery-st-pauls-rose.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/01/embroidery-guggenheim-butterfly.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2026 PJ Lehrer