A late afternoon walk through the neighborhood with Drew. Wonderful company and lots of lovely things along the way, including yellow lady bugs. Never noticed before, but several of our neighbors have apple trees. Who knew. Funky purple blooms on a vine are winding all the way up a power line — so cool. And…
It’ll pass.
Don’t know what it is, but I’ve felt a little…off lately. Not unhappy exactly, just kind of tired, uninspired and, well, off. I suspect it has a little something to do with the heat and not getting outside very much. But I think it might be more of a combination of the start of Drew’s…
Tuesday
Oppressively, outrageously, obnoxiously hot today. And the bright side is just that – bright. Lovely afternoon light on the neighbor’s calla lily leaves. I wish I could’ve gotten a really, really, really close photo of the little white spots on the leaves. They’re actually semi-transparent. And I couldn’t tell for sure, but when the sun…
What’s better than pope soap on a rope?
Buddha in the bath!* My sketchbook arrived in the mail today. There’s something so exciting about a blank sketchbook. Or any brand new art supplies, for that matter. It’s a feeling that I’ve loved since I was a kid. It’s hard to beat a freshly opened box of crayons when they’re all nice and sharp….
This about sums it up.
Not an exciting weekend by any stretch, but I’m still sad to see it go. But I’m digging the House marathon on cable this evening.
Fun Stuff
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/g9f-6jygRJk&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&border=1 I want one. By the way. Did you know that if you click the “!” in the Yahoo! logo on its homepage, it sings? Seriously.
At the Office
Office wildflowers might be gently starting the down slide after their peak, but they are still gorgeous. They really outdid themselves this year. Makes it fun to pull into the driveway. And more of my photos of our office wildflowers are featured in this new publication. It makes me so happy to see my photos…
Argh.
It’s not a big secret that I’m a nature freak. Little dangly pod-things… strange fan-things on felled trees (the pink is really pretty)… lady bugs playing atop flowers that look just like little tropical dancers… the sweetest little babies curled upon the forest floor… …I can find beauty in just about all of it. Just…
Images
Today I ordered close to two dozen prints at the lab and not a single one came from a digital or film camera. Instead, every photo was taken with the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone. Six different lenses, eight types of film, and six flash options are available with the swipe of a finger across…
Happy…
…little song could even be heard from our second floor. With the windows closed.
Emerging Artists
Tonight was the opening reception for the Emerging Artists Exhibition at a great gallery/art studio in the Loop — and guess who had one of her works featured? My boss, Suzy (below, grinning ear-to-ear)! This was a jurored exhibit, so her work had to go through an entry and selection process. Although I would hardly consider…
A different look
Earlier this year, I took a road trip to Centralia, Illinois, to visit one of our hospitals. The trip was on the other side of a decent snow fall, so the scenery was bleak and somewhat surreal. I’ve been wanting to go back and see how things look during a different season — and today I…
Wednesday
Today I got to puppy-sit for Bender while his trainer helped out with team training at Support Dogs. This is a big stage for a person who is receiving a service dog. The person is matched with his or her dog and they learn to work together. Neat! So Bender stayed with me today. He was…
That can’t be comfortable
Murphy’s latest napping spot. My basket of DVDs that sits on top of the tallest chest of drawers in my room. (Although he usually doesn’t tolerate Pepe. He typically knocks Pepe to the floor.) Seriously, the cat jumps onto the foot board of my bed, stares up at the basket, shakes his rear end and…
Here, Here
Vanilla Peppermint cupcakes in super cute ruffled liners. I have no idea how these turned out, but vanilla extract coupled with peppermint extract sure was a lot easier on the smeller than the lime juice for the margarita cupcakes. I really didn’t have a reason for making these beyond the fact that I found a…
Show-Me Games
Congratulations to Drew, who won the Men’s Open division (singles) at the Show-Me State Games this weekend! We had no idea what to expect when he decided to play with the adults, but it worked out really well. SO proud of him!
I will name him George
After weeks of neglecting the house due to work projects, I’ve been on a cleaning tear this weekend. As I was dusting, I noticed the kitties huddled at the door, totally motionless. “Aww, aren’t they pretty,” I thought as I snapped their picture. But I noticed that they still hadn’t moved or made a noise….
This and That
It’s Christmas in July! Every year at this time, Hallmark puts out its ornament dream book. For as long as I can remember, my mom has us flip through the dream book and pick out what we want. As a result of this beloved tradition, our tree is loaded with love, whimsy and memories every…
Bright Side
For the second time in two years, a careless teenager (not one of mine) has hit my car. Post-vacation withdrawal. Work project overload. What a week. However, no one was hurt and the damage to the car was less extensive than the last time. Plus, I’m taking my boys on another mini-trip next month (US…
Sea of Sunflowers
“I am working with the enthusiasm of a man from Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to you because I am busy painting huge sunflowers.” – Vincent Van Gogh, letter to his brother Theo My kids have been staying with my folks for the past few days for a tennis tournament. And…
I tried.
I’ve wanted to learn to make an origami crane for the longest time. So today I picked up some lovely origami paper and gave it a try. Poor little thing. Guess it’s gonna take some practice. *sigh* At least the paper is pretty. On the bright side, I also picked up some fantastic peppermint lotion…
Big Brother
When my brother was a kid, he was the first of us to foray into the realm of competitive junior tennis. A little guy, John showed up to his first tournament in the same gear in which he practiced — denim cut-offs, a sleeveless shirt and black sneakers. Needless to say, he didn’t blend with…
Eyeballs, Gardens and Rock People
The kids and I took a mini vacation to Illinois over the holiday. Our first day was spent in Rockford with a trip to the Anderson Japanese Gardens. Oh! But we stopped in Pekin at a tiny ice cream place for “ice cream with eyeballs” — a tip from roadsideamerica.com. Not quite what we’d expected,…
hey there, friends 