Plaster Planter

They told me it would never last.  Brittle and fragile plaster doesn't mix well with water... even when it's coated with acrylic paint and a sealing spray.  The outside elements are just too much for it, and if you leave it out there it will disintegrate.

And so it has begun.  Five years (or so) in the making, the distressing has officially begun.  Well I suppose it has ::been:: going on, but now it's starting to look really cool!

I thought about planting something in it.  It's not very deep, but it's sizeable and would look neat holding a cute plant.  But then there's the whole "doesn't mix well with water" thing... and I don't think the planter would be very happy with me if I did that to it... 
And so, it just sits there. 
Happily.  :)

Home

Today we finished cleaning out our apartment.  Everything is out!  The floors have been swept and vacuumed.  The bathroom is all shiny-like, and the kitchen smells like "Orange Clean".  The walls are sanded and spackled, and the blinds are down and shut (so unlike us). 

It was definitely bittersweet.  I think it really hit me the other day when we took down all of the pictures off the walls.  It looked so bare then, and now, with nothing in it, it doesn't feel right at all.  We took a few moments and just stood there in the empty space.  We had some great times there, but change is a good thing!  And we are where we need to be right now!

 

On the way home, I started thinking about where we might end up next.  What circumstances would lead to another change?  Right now we are with Madre.  Things are good!  We are settling (and creatively arranging) everything we need into our studio apartment upstairs.  It makes me think we could handle living in New York quite well... what with the ability to define space and rethink the use of the closet and all.  lol.  I wonder if we will ever move back into an apartment, or maybe our next move will be into a house of our own?  I can't help but wonder.

One thing for sure though that we have decided is that the next move will be our last!  Such a long experience when you are doing the majority of the work yourself... but we did it, and I dare say we grew closer because of it.  It has definitely been an experience, but one that has been very good.  But still bittersweet.  Our first apartment together.  Our first taste of independence.  Surviving on our own, together.

And while the future is uncertain and there is no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring, there's one thing I know for sure...

Home is where Gary is.

I can't imagine being anywhere without him.  He is my everything, and is the one person that I am closest to.  I love him so much!

Clean space!

Today when I came upstairs, my amazing husband had cleaned off my new (to me) desk!  There is ::absolutely nothing:: laying on top of it, aside from the random cat every now and then, and I cannot wait to sit there and craft!!  Such a great space, and I am obviously so excited!

And it's clean!  Real-live-clean-space!!!  Woot!  :)

-----

Pics of the kitties enjoying the nice smooth surface:

And it's such a good thing because I have a few projects that I need to work on this weekend.  I think one of the biggest catalyst to my creative ability is the space you create in.  And I think that my ::space:: has been so out of whack lately, that my creating ability has been quite limited.  Now that I have an actual crafting table/desk/space, I will be able to put all of my supplies in it (close at hand), and I will be able to sit and craft.  SO excited!

Let the crafting begin!

-----

Speaking of "catalyst", Anna Nalick has a great song called "Catalyst"!
Check it out if you are so inclined!  ;)

Funny Cucumbers

First, we had one lovely cucumber.  It looked normal, similar to what you'd find in the grocery store (minus the shiny coating) and tasted good.
And then, production seemed to stop.  Leaves and runners still grew, but little baby cucumbers were no where to be found... where were the cucumbers?
Recently, I repositioned the vines to tangle upon itself, and then more cucumbers started to grow.  And there are quite a few growing, but they sure are funky looking...  there are 3 that are about a foot long, but they are curly, and heavier on one side.  And then there are the smaller ones that are skinny in the middle, or again, heavier on one side, and then there are more little ones.

It's funky.  I'm leaving them on the vine till they turn green-er, or take a turn for the worse.
I wonder if they taste normal?  lol.

a long 'un

the dumbbell

hangin' over the edge

a visitor

(very dainty) breakfast

I enjoyed my "music week" on my blog!  It was nice to go into it with an idea already in mind, and it made me more aware of the music I was experiencing on a daily basis.  So much so that next time I do a 365 Project, I'm thinking about doing a "music year".  I figure there's more than enough music for me to talk about, and that would give me some direction to boot.  :) 

This weekend was exhausting.  We are almost done "spic and spanning" the old place, and have everything piled up here.  It feels kinda like an episode of "hoarders", I'm not gonna lie, but that just motivates me more to get everything out of the boxes asap and into their respective places.  The placing and replacing of items is one of the better parts of moving.  Everything else isn't.  And goodness forbid we ever decide to move in this heat and humidity ever again.  Summer is not the right time... but three other groups in our building were doing the same thing.  :)  #gluttonsforpunishment

Last night, our nice summery dessert was to be pound cake, whip cream, and fresh strawberries, but when dessert had to be postponed, our summer delight became a very dainty breakfast.  But it was lovely!  It made me want to put on my fancy hat and gloves and sit outside at a cute little dining set, and sip some tea.  It was that dainty!  "Fancy Nancy" would be proud.  And it was a nice precursor to the rest of the day... because that was very much so less-than-dainty.

But anywho, this week promises to be a long one as well.  I am already looking forward to the weekend!  :)  It should be good though...!  Adieu.

Round Here

At first, I was going to use a Michael Jackson song.  He's been all over the airwaves for the last few days, and I thought I could honor him by posting one of my favorite songs of his.  I was going to strike my best "Thriller" pose, take a picture, and put it up with all of those amazing lyrics.  However, as the day wore on, it wasn't Michael I was craving, but Counting Crows (overwhelmingly so).  And one song in particular, Round Here, hasn't left my mind for the last few hours.  Perhaps the only solution is to play it, sing along to it, and move on to the next obsession.  I must admit, if you're going to have a momentary obsession, Counting Crows is far from bad...

Round Here by Counting Crows
Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
Angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
And I walk in the air between the rain, through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Well, Maria says she's dying
Through the door I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Round here, we always stand up straight
Round here, something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
And she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house and takes her clothes off.
She says she's close to understanding Jesus
And she knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Run home, sleeping children better run like the wind
out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
out of the lightning
She says "it's only in my head"
She says "Shhhhh I know it's only in my head"
But the girl in the car in the parking lot
Says "Man you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
Says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life
She must be tired of something
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
and nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late oh
I can't see nothing... nothing round here
Will you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me cause I'm falling down on you
I said I'm under the gun around here
Oh man I said I'm under the gun around here
And I can't see nothing
Nothing round here

Buddy Holly

In my attempt to decide what movie to watch this evening, I landed on "Love Actually" and "The Jane Austen Book Club"... both fabulous!  I'm not sure which we will end up watching, but at one point I was leaning towards the "Book Club".  And being that they are basically emulating characters in the Jane Austen stories, "Buddy Holly" by Weezer was somehow the most relevant choice for my song of the day... and it helps that we heard it at dinner.  :)  So he we go, for your listening pleasure:

Buddy Holly by Weezer

What's with these homies dissin' my girl?
Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?

Woo-hoo, but you know I'm yours.
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine.
Woo-hoo, and that's for all of time.

[chorus]
Woo-ee-oo, I look just like Buddy Holly.
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore.
I don't care what they say about us anyway.
I don't care 'bout that.

Don't you ever fear, I'm always near.
I know that you need help.
Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit.
You need a guardian.

Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours.
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine.
Woo-hoo, and that's for all of time.

[chorus]
I don't care 'bout that.

Bang! Bang! Knock on the door, another big bang, get down on the floor.
Oh No! What do we do?
Don't look now but I lost my shoe.
I can't run and I can't kick.
What's a matter babe, are you feelin' sick?
What's a matter, what's a matter, what's a matter you?
What's a matter babe, are you feelin' blue?
Oh-oh-oh!

And that's for all of time. (x2)

[chorus]
I don't care 'bout that. (x3)

 

St. Elmo's Fire

Growin' up
You don't see the writin' on the wall
Passin' by
Movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone
Everything has changed

Play the game
You know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on
Only you can do what must be done
You know in some way
You're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner
And you're tryin' to break free

CHORUS:

I can see a new horizon
Underneath the blazin' sky
I'll be where the eagle's
Flyin' higher and higher
Gonna be your man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future's lyin'
St. Elmo's Fire

Oooh...

Burnin' up
Don't know just how far that I can go
(Just how far I go)
Soon be home
Only just a few miles down the road
I can make it
I know I can
You broke the boy in me
But you won't break the man

(CHORUS)

I can climb the highest mountain
Cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's Fire burnin' in me
Burnin' in me

Just once in his life
A man has his time
And my time is now
And I'm comin' alive

I can hear the music playin'
I can see the banners fly
Feel like you're back again
And hope ridin' high
Gonna be your man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future's lyin'
St. Elmo's Fire

(CHORUS)

I can climb the highest mountain
Cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's Fire burnin' in me

Burnin'
Burnin' in me
I can feel it burnin'
Oooh, burnin' inside of me

-----

We had one of the main lights off today, and with the ongoing gloominess outside, it rendered the room rather dark... our solution?  Light the candles!  Stat!!
And so we did, and it was lovely.
:)


This song is fabulous by the way... you can't help singing along to it, especially once you know how the lyrics go.  Oh, and it's sung by John Parr.  Enjoy!

Here Comes the Rain Again

I've had three songs running through my head tonight:
"Wave On Wave" - Pat Green
"Here Comes the Rain Again" - the Eurythmics
"I Should Be Sleeping" - Emerson Drive

And since it is currently raining (again), numero dos wins!  :)

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

{Refrain
So baby talk to me
Like lovers do
Walk with me
Like lovers do
Talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion
Oooooh
I want to breathe in the open wind
I want to kiss like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

{Refrain

So baby talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
(Here is comes again, here it comes again)
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

{Repeat last verse to fade}



California Dreamin'

all the leaves are brown
and the sky is grey
I've been for a walk
on a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm
if I was in L.A
California Dreamin'
on such a winter's day

stopped into a church
I passed along the way
well, I got down on my knees
and I pretend to pray

you know the preacher likes the cold
he knows I'm gonna stay
California Dreamin'
on such a winter's day

all the leaves are brown
and the sky is grey
I've been for a walk
on a winter's day

if I didn't tell her
I could leave today
California Dreamin'
on such a winter's day x3

(- the mamas and the papas)

Recycled picture... but fitting.

I can't wait to be back at the beach!

(Oh, and I love this song!)

Speaking of that, I've always loved this song.

I remember there was this movie called "Congo" where these people are searching for diamonds in the Congo, and they start singing this song in their trek.

A few years later, this song takes me back to my Photo class in high school.  We had to take a self-portrait, and as a matter of completing the assignment, I have my eyes closed, and am resting my head on my hand.  The picture is dreary and dark, but I decided to title it "California Dreamin".

Today, this is one of my favorite songs to sing along to... and I'm pretty sure it will always be.

Born To Fly

I've been telling my dreams to the scarecrow
About the places that I'd like to see
I say, "friend do you think I'll ever get there?"
Oh, but he just stands there smilin' back at me
So I confessed my sins to the preacher
About the love I've been prayin' to find
Is there a brown-eyed boy in my future, yeah
And he says, "girl, you've got nothin' but time."

But how do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know that you were born,
You were born to fly

My daddy he is grounded like the oak tree
My momma she is steady as the sun
Oh, you know I love my folks
But I keep starin' down the road
Just lookin' for my one chance to run
Hey, cause I will soar away like a blackbird
I will blow in the wind like a seed
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams
And I will grow up where I wander wild and free

Oh, How do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born?
You were born, yeah, you were born to fly

So how do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born
You were born to fly, yeah

You were born to fly, fly, fly, fly, hey
Ooo,Ooo,Ooo
(part deux of Song Week)
I like songs.  I find meaning in them.  :)

This song is special to me... inspirational, dreamy, and lovely.
And Sara Evans is great!
Here's the video (for those interested persons who also like good music)
It has this whole "Wizard of Oz" spin that drew me in automatically!

::smiles::

Witchy Woman

Raven hair and ruby lips

sparks fly from her finger tips

Echoed voices in the night

she's a restless spirit on an endless flight

wooo hooo witchy woman, see how

high she flies

woo hoo witchy woman she got

the moon in her eye

the eagles

Measuring Up

The Significance of Trees

The deck is shiny.  It's safe to assume that it is raining.
And surprise, it is!  That's two days of rain in the last week, and that is awesome!

We are now practically living in the treetops.  We look out our window and can see nothing but green, above and below.  It's magical, and so comforting for the spirit...  I don't think I could ever live without trees.  They have a special place in my world and my heart.  I remember walking though the forest as a kid with my sister and Granny.  I remember climbing trees when I was a little bit older.  I remember falling in love with these amazing trees in Miami.  And I will always remember the way I felt when I looked outside this window and saw these trees.

 



::love::



making time to read

For the sake of tackling my real-life reading materials, this is going to be short and sweet.  I just got a new magazine today (Real Simple - July), and I am in the midst of reading a book (a real one and something on the Kindle), and I have oodles of party/wedding/gifting/and etc research to do.  So, if I can get focused, stay off silly websites that seem to hold captive my attention span, avoid all-too-interesting ones that would love to be "pin-ed", and give myself a goal and a time limit, I might actually make some progress.  lol.  Oh, and not to mention, we are coming to the tail end of our moving fiasco... and we are now under the wire.  Just two short weeks before everything has to be spic-and-span and we still need to "spic" and "span" quite a bit.  We have made progress though!  All of the big pieces are over here, and my bulletin board is up (yay!!), so it's just a matter of getting ::everything else:: into boxes, into the car, and here.  And poof!  As long as they are over here, I wouldn't have to worry about the whole getting-them-over-here part.  And the silly part is that I have projects that I add to my day on a daily basis.  And a few of them are crafting ones, and since I have less-than-accessible crafting areas now, my next goal is to find a [cheap] and measurementally-inclined table that I can designate solely as my craft table.  And what's even better is that on the note detailing the table that I want (with a drawn sketch of said table mind you), there is a note saying "keep top of table cleared off".  And I am serious about this!  lol.  I don't want anything on the tabletop... nothing can rest there... and if it does, it must prepare to be pushed off.  I need one space of ::nothingness:: so that I can sit there every now and then and focus on it and smile.  So yes, that's my next find.  After that, I can hopefully get my craft on!  I've two wedding gifts to work on, two baby gifts to work on, a gift for a fundraiser, invitations, and etc.  Thinking of these things make me happy, but alas, my fun crafting things are still at the place that has to be moved, and then we need the table to craft on.  The desk is already ::holding:: more things than I want it to... but I guess it's okay to be in a state of mess whilst moving abounds.  At least we're busy right?  Busy everywhere actually!  Work, home, play... all sorts of business to keep us occupied until at least next May (and I'm not even joking, and nor am I complaining).  I like to think that I thrive in business... I just think of it as little goals set closely together.  If anything, it's a lesson in time management, organization, prioritization, and creativity.  What can I say, (well I'm sure I've said it...) I like a challenge!

And with that, my play time is over. 
I'm off to read!  Yes!!!! 

This is a helix.  I made this at work today.  It's actually box lids stacked upon each other in a spiral.  But calling it a helix is so much more alluring and interesting, dontcha think?  :)

Anne Geddes Tomato

I decided it would be a good idea to "batten down the hatches" (as it were) on my tomato plant cages.  Usually, whenever we have a storm or the slightest gust of a strong wind, the tomato plants and their cages would be half way to the deck... it was sad.  lol.  So, twine has become my new best gardening friend.  I have it so jerry-rigged, and each day, when I go out and see it leaning a little here or there, I will tie another spot with twine and secure it down.  In was in the midst of this that I discovered a whole little area of tomatoes that are beginning to turn, and one (a sungold cherry) that had turned orange!  Tres exciting!  :)  I decided a photoshoot was in order, and came out with a oh-so-cute Anne Geddes-esque sort of composure.  hehe.

The largest tomato is ::finally:: starting to turn.  I swear it's been green and roughly the same size for weeks now.  But in the last two days, magic has happened, and it's starting to get some color in it's cheeks. 

As you can see, I've created a forest.  The tomatoes are soaring over me (by at least a few inches anyways), the squash leaves are still large and long, the cucumber is grabbing on to any and everything in it's path - running and twisting around the squash, the geranium, and even the deck rails.  It's cute!  We have little peppers on their way, and the herbs are doing great.  The cilantro is looking a little wilty, but I think the heat is getting to it.  I've harvested 3 squash over the last week, and it looks like we've a few cucumbers on the way... they are looking mighty funny though, so we'll see how they do.

All in all, the garden is great!  I'm proud of the little baby vegetables, and am excited to see all of these tomatoes turn!

Love Stamps

I've always had an affinity for stamps... little pieces of artwork that you just send away to other people all over the world.  It's quite mystifying if you stop and think about it, really.  And although I'm not a "collector" per say, I do have a few stamps that I have saved over the years either on packaging, or never been used.  I just think they're adorable.  And these have to be some of the cutest I've ever come across!  I'm thinking I need to go out and buy a whole bunch so that I can always post my letter with these little diddies.  hehe.

Love Garden stamps.  There are hearts in every stamp!  :)

Ring. Finger.

Shower

I took a nice long shower tonight... a simple indulgence that I allow myself every now and then.  And if I'm feeling extra [blank], I'll take a bath with a "bath  bomb" or "bubble bar" from Lush - for those times when I really want to slip into another world.  But for tonight, I just wanted to stand under the shower.  Maybe it's all of the rain we've had lately, or rather the little storms that are teasing us, that hearkens to my desire to play in the rain, and thus, I played-in-the-rain in the shower.

For now, that's my excuse.

And while I realize this picture has nothing to do with my post, the pictures I had in today's grab bag didn't match anything I really wanted to talk about, and what I did end up talking about had no picture to remotely match, so you get randomness!  :)

Sunny Day Rain

Today, we had two bouts of rain.
The first happened smack dab in the middle of the sunshine.  It's been hazy for the last few days, and just enough to make it feel like it could rain at any moment, if not for the fact that the sky is relatively cloudless and it just doesn't ::feel:: right.  That's how it felt earlier.  We were driving home, squinting in the sun, and all of the sudden, the little drops of wetness started appearing on the windshield.  And then they started falling harder, until the whole windshield was polka-dotted and spotted.  What made it neat though, was the fact that it was making shadows on the dash because it was so sunny.  It was surreal almost.

The second episode was later this afternoon, and the air was more angry.
There was lots of wind - or apparently at least enough to "wind sweep" my plants.  (That always makes me fret a bit...)  And there was thunder and lightning, and rain.  It was quite the little storm!

But at least it rained!!  :)  Yay!
We'll check the damage in the morning, but I'm sure they will be happy to have the nourishment, even if they are sweeping the deck.

Toodles!

Stay Awake

If you visit your local Caribou Coffee, you will probably be bombarded with their marketing campaign asking you "What are you staying awake for this summer?".  It's on the walls, it's on the cups, and its purpose is to make you think about how drinking Caribou coffee could help you stay awake for those important summer memories (or at least I presume that's the meaning they are trying to get across).  What I like about the campaign is that you get to experience other people's necessary adventures for the sake of summer, while imagining your own summer-worthy-ness-es.

On my cup, for example, the first one that caught my eye was the word: Velociraptors, with the caption of "lurking in the shadows" with little raptor-esque eyes drawn beneath.  Thinking about it, yes, I believe that that would be a good thing to stay awake for.  lol.  Others include "uncontrollable laugh attacks", "wheel'n and deal'n at garage sales" and etc.  You know, important stuff that would seriously define someone's summer.

For me, I think my [reason to stay awake this summer] would say something along the lines of "watching my garden grow", or "roasting mallows by the campfire" , or "planning the next great escape".  At any rate, it would be something that was important to me, and defining of my summer.  And as I sit and ponder, my "summer importants" list grows.

What are you staying awake for?

Sister Day

Spent time with my sister today!  It was great fun!  We skithered around a local favorite mall, had a wonderful lunch in the middle of a light-filled atrium, and got to try on pretty dresses!

She's getting married and it's come time to make those important decisions about what to wear.  And while more options may come up, she has found a beautiful dress (not pictured), and it looks so great on her!  It's awesome to see her that happy, and you could tell she feels so beautiful in it! 

I'm so excited for her!

We had such a great time today! 

And it was such a nice way to spend a Thursday!

lackadaisical

In an effort to prepare for my day off tomorrow, I've done very little.  :)
I'm looking forward to spending the morning at Caribou (with some good internet), surfing, planning, and pinning, and then spending the rest of the day with my sister.

It's an officially planned "Sister Day" with no ::official:: plans made.
Who knows what we'll do, but we're just planning on hanging and exploring...

I'm really looking forward to it!
And I'm sure we will have a blast!

Today's picture is relevant to the fact that I did nothing.
I literally searched for the closest "interesting" thing and took a picture.

Glass vase being used as a very fancy change home.

Yay!
Toodles for now!

Phone Camera Identity Crisis

Most days, I have to say, my most convenient photography apparatus is my phone camera.  The accessibility of it is hard to beat, and for the most part, it takes pretty decent pictures.  Today, after taking plenty of random pictures and reviewing them, I came to the conclusion that my phone camera reminds me of a 35mm point-n-shoot.  There's no zoom capabilities, it focuses on whatever it wants to, and the color is pretty washed out.  It's great if you're going for those desired effects, but less so if you're wanting to document detail, color, or anything in low[er] lighting. 

Luckily for me though, I'm enjoying ::fudging:: the pictures and messing with the balance, contrast, and color saturation....

And so...

Shadow...

... and reflection

-----
Oh, and here is a reference point for the size of the squash plant.  My flip flops are down in the left corner of the picture.  The leaves are at least double the size of the shoes, and it's almost as tall as me.  :)  Yesterday, the squash plants were pretty sad.  It looked as if an animal had climbed into the plant, made a nice little nest in the dirt,and slept there for a few hours.  The majority of the leaves were sad-like and droopy.  Today, they are much happier!  And we've about 5 baby squash that should be ready in a few days.  Honestly, I think the plants are happier when I water them at night than in the morning, which is great, because there's hardly ever enough time for me to do anything extra in the morning (and that's on my days off).  But anywho, garden world is doing great! 

This picture makes me smile!

Writing Utensils as Artistic Aspirations

In my efforts to find a close writing utensil, I found myself in the closet looking through my old art kits that I hadn't yet explored to their fullest extent.  A Chinese painting kit, watercolor kit, and a cartooning kit amongst the others.  Ah yes!  I reached for the cartooning kit, what with it's 12 ::fancy:: colored pencils, and ::official:: cartooning pen, surely I would find an utensil to my liking...

I obviously have major high hopes in the progression of my artistic capabilities.  Master watercolorist, Chinese painter, and (but-of-course) comic book illustrator!  A small list, yes, but a list nonetheless.  And the thing is, I even have a book to illustrate, and maybe someday, it will be illustrated, and then I can use a book publishing website like blurb.com to put it all together, and put it on our coffee table and revel in our combined awesomeness.  Yes, that is the end-result-goal!

For now though, I will take pictures of the colored pencils (that will one day make masterpieces) and amuse in the fact that they are serving their own distinct purpose.  And that cannot be denied.

In other news, I harvested my first squash today!  It was hiding in the back of the plants until I discovered it almost fully grown a few days ago, and today, I decided that it was ready!  And so, I picked it, documented it, chopped it, and put it in our salad.  And it was lovely!  Yay for homegrown veggies!  OH, and we have teeny red peppers (well at least the tag said they are going to be red) growing!  Tres exciting!!  They're so cute!!

First Teeny Summer Storm

We haven't had any rain for days.  Highs in the 90s, high humidity, and very little wind.  It's been a harrowing peek into what summer will be like (but don't we always say that around this time off year?).  And today was no different.  The only form of relief was being out on the back porch where there are more trees to offer shade, and comfy chairs to sit in.

So when we heard that there was a small storm brewing to the north, and the "lightly cloudy" clouds started rolling in, our "no rain" experience told us that the storm would blow by, the clouds were simply here for the moment, and our dinner 'a fresco would hardly be disturbed.  And we were mostly right, up until the point where the hurricane-grade winds came in, and the tiny little drops of mist became d.r.o.p.s. of rain.  There we were, rushing in from the impending doom of a storm, dodging (literally dodging) falling pinecones, and gathering everything up in one giant swoop.  I, for one, gasped.  This was rather unexpected, and I, rather unexpectedly, was pleasantly surprised. 

And even if it only lasted for a few minutes, and even if the deck where we had rushed in from earlier is now almost completely dry, this little afternoon storm, I believe, really is a very good example of what our summer is going to be like, and for that, I am glad.

Said falling pinecone.  It was aiming right for us...

Marker Dots

So you know that whole story about "if you give a mouse a cookie...", well...

If you give a [Nancy] a marker, she'll need to make some spots.
And if she makes some spots, she'll want to wash her hands.
And in order to wash her hands, she'll need to find a sink.
And if she goes looking for a sink, she might get distracted.
And if she gets distracted, she might find another marker.
And if she finds another marker, she might makes some more spots.
And well, you know what happens next...

Dots abound!

Papparazzi'd Frog

The poor thing jumped right back into the bushes moments after I took the picture...

I'm sure he was just being shy though.  ;)

Nothingness

No matter what, she always ended her day looking out the window.
The ::nothingness:: always stared right back, daring her to look deeper, asking her to guess what was on the other side, and creating fantasies and nightmares to fill her dreams.  It let her think, reflect, and process the day, and those to come.  It was the perfect blank canvas.  The nothingness was magical.  It was this completely void space that, when lit, was filled with trees and air and bugs.  Now, it was only black.  And there it was… being nothing, and yet encompassing so much of what she was.

How much of what she saw in that window did she see in herself? 
Was it the reflection?  The lack of reflection?  The bugs searching for the light bulb that they would never attain?  The cats trying to get the bugs that they too would never attain? 

When she looked out into the nothingness, what was she expecting to see?

You know, she would never tell you this, but she used to be afraid of the nothingness.  She hated the sensation of looking into a void… knowing that at any moment, something could pop out and into the light.  (Blame it on the scary movies…)  And if you added a flashlight into the mix, it made the situation even worse.  Not only are you staring into the void, but you are highlighting different points of the void in hopes of finding something – something that will likely pop out at you and into the light at any second.

But now, as she faces the void – the darkness – the complete nothingness, it’s not so scary.  It’s unclear what happened, but the void isn’t something where bad things lie, but may rather just be a place where the light is absent for a second.  Everything ::may:: still be there, and when the light hits it, you can rest assured that it is.

Progress

Before

Current

Check out the progress!  Woot!  I think the most impressive is the squash - the size of the leaves is impressive.  Oh, and the cucumber of course, because today, we had our first harvest!  A real live homegrown cucumber... normal size, girth, color, and it was tasty!

It made the perfect accoutrement to our second cookout of the week.

Perfect!  :)