This and That

It's Friday and that means time for Random Things.

Thank you, Nancy for hosting.

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I made a quick stop at Michael's early this week.

I was looking for a couple of sheets of 22 x 30 water color paper.

As I was dashing through the store on my way to the cashier, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

The FALL decorations were out.

Pumpkins and all.

Ack!

**

It is too hot to cook.

So, I've been having a slice of wonderful rosemary/thyme bread

 with black peppercorn chevre and tomatoes all from the Farmer's Market.

My Farmer's Market Meal.

Oh, my -- sinfully delicious.

I think I'm going to add some wine!

***

Hard to believe that the 4th of July is just around the corner.

My fingers have been itching to do a quick crochet project.

Last year I made red, white and blue placemats.

While I was cleaning out a closet,

I found a Leisure Art leaflet with holiday hot pads.

I thought the watermelon and star patterns were perfect for the summer festivities.

The watermelon was easy, 

but the star has a few glitches I need to work out.

****

My basil was ready for picking so I made pesto yesterday.

Yum! 

*****

I don't think my Japanese Maple is going to survive.

I've babied it through the long hot summers and our drought,

but it looks pretty sad this year. 

I had to trim some dead branches. 

I'll keep trying.

I talk to it every day.

Telling it how pretty it is and how much I'd like it to stay around.

I guess I could start playing music outside.

I wonder what it would like to hear??

The sound of rain, I bet!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Enjoy the weekend. 

Happy Summer Solstice

This and That

It's Friday.

Time for a look back at the week with a few

Random Things.

Thanks, Nancy!

*

Let's get this over quickly.

It's HOT and HUMID and I don't want to talk about the electric bill.

**

Last year I was so excited about the butterflies that were visiting Musashi's Garden.

I haven't seen many this year.

Perhaps it was the change in weather -- first cool and then HOT??

This is the only shot I've been able to get of a butterfly stopping by to visit.

This swallowtail was in the midst of fluttering wings as he took a quick taste of the duranta.

***

I'm using Bloglovin now to read all of your blogs.

So far so good, but it sure seems easy to get behind.

I promise I'll catch up! 

****

Last Saturday I made it to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market.

What fun!

You can have breakfast there -- lots of good food available -- drinks.

Entertainment

I wanted fresh, home grown tomatoes.

There is just nothing like the taste of a home grown tomato.

Yum Yum Yum

Got my tomatoes and stopped by the Blue Heron Farm booth

and picked up their special of the day:

Garlic-Peppercorn Chevre.

Oh, my - Sinfully delicious!

Can't wait to hear what the special will be for tomorrow.

Splurged on an orchid.

Last, a bar of luxury shea butter soap from The Herbal Goat --

HOT FLASH (!!!) Lavender and Peppermint.

Boy, do I smell good!

On my list for this Saturday: peaches and blueberries. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

It's Friday!

It's Friday!

A little randomness is called for! 

Thank you, Nancy!

* 

I'm having fun eating birthday cake for breakfast!

Tea and Cake!

**

Speaking of my birthday,

I had a surprise from a young friend.

She didn't know my birthday was coming up when she called and said

she had an extra ticket for the ballet and was I interested.

You bet I was interested.

It had been years since I'd been to the ballet.

It brought back memories.

When we first moved to Houston, we joined everything.

We had opera tickets, ballet tickets, symphony tickets for several years --

until it seemed like operas and ballets were being repeated. 

And, by that time we had also discovered Rice University and all the wonderful

programs going on there and usually free! 

The ballet was wonderful -- three small ballets -- one classical, one modern and one a spoof.

Nice night and fun.

***

Teddy made a visit to the vet for another ultrasound on his heart.
I'm happy to report that there was no change in 3 months.
He's doing well on his medicine and the vet will see him again in 6 months.
The girls and I are happy and so is Teddy!

****

The Rice Owls won the regional in Oregon and are in Raleigh

for the Super-Regionals against North Carolina State. 

Can't tell you how proud I am of these young men.

Go OWLS!

*****

It's HOT! 

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

This and That

It's Friday!

Time to reflect on the week ... or not! 

Thank you Nancy for hosting.

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Hard to believe that the merry month of May is at an end.

Tomorrow June starts and so does ICAD -- or Index Card a Day.

ICAD is Tammy's wonderful idea.

"Buy a pack of index cards.

Cheap ones.

Draw, doodle, write, collage, paint, haiku, stamp -- whatever.

One index card each day -- June and July.

61 days = 61 cards."

I played last year starting on June 1 and made it all the way through.

The year before I didn't start until July 1.

It is fun -- you can start at any time.

No pressure.

Fun Facebook and Flickr groups too.

You can find out all the details on Tammy's Daisy Yellow Blog.

ICAD from July 2011


**

My Rice University Owl baseball team won the Conference USA tournament
and the automatic bid to the NCAA baseball tournament.
They are off to Eugene Oregon to the regional playoffs.
They start play today.
Good luck!

***

This is birthday week.
Lovely lunches with family and friends.
Today a trip to the Natural History Museum to see the newly opened, remodeled, Egypt galleries.

****

You are going to get tired of me saying it is hot and humid, but it is!
I try to get my outside garden work done early and my away from home errands done by 10 am
spending the rest of the day with the kitties, books, crafty stuff and lots of iced tea.

*****

This little guy came by this morning to try out the buffet.
When we lived on Galveston Island we saw the little Inca Dove almost every day.
In the big city, I don't see them often, but always smile when I do.
Such a cutie!

Thanks for stopping in.

Don't forget my Blog-o-Birthday celebration!

Have a lovely weekend.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Random Things

It's Friday and time for This and That.

Random Things!

Thank you Nancy for hosting!

- I went out early this morning into the garden, cut basil and back in the kitchen made pesto.

My mouth is watering!

- The kitties are upset.

They watched the kitchen chairs leave the house.

They love these chairs.
They are very comfortable for me and the kits. 

I finally decided to get the chair seats recovered.

They were getting a little thread bare after 30 years.

The stuffing was leaking out.

(Sort of sounds like me!)

- It's getting hot and humid.

Summer has arrived.

I have plenty of books, yarn and other crafty things to do

as I enter my summer hibernation!

- The college baseball season is coming to an end.

Tomorrow is senior day -- time to say farewell to some fine young men.

-- I finished reading Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier and recommend it highly.
Two remarkable women, unconventional in a very conventional time (1820s), meeting and doing remarkable things -- like finding fossils.
Fiction based on two very real women.


Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Random Friday

I'm joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Some very quick This and Thats!

- I had guacamole for dinner last night. 

Just guacamole. 

Perhaps it was an early Cinco de Mayo celebration.

-I'm enjoying our last (probably) cool front of the season.

I'll soon be entering my summer hibernation faze.

Too much heat and humidity.

Meanwhile -- I'll dance in the cool!

- More roses blooming in Musashi's Garden.

- I'm getting my hair cut today ... yippee!

- Practice, practice, practice....

This is from Martha Lever's color drop class.

Too much fun!!!

Random Things

It's Random 5 Friday.

This and That time!

Can I hear a big YEEHAW?!!!

Looks like Spring has finally sprung.

More tulips for you.

This is a postcard of tulips at Tulip Town, Mount Vernon, Washington.

The photo for this postcard was taken by Jon Gnass and was published in

Tulips of the Northwest: A Postcard Book.

Many thanks to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

**

Several of you have asked about the EARTH PRAYERS book that has

been showing up in my photos.

I've had this little gem for over 20 years (copyright date of 1991 and its first printing).

It was edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.

It contains 365 prayers, poems, and invocations for honoring the earth from authors like:

Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot, Margaret Atwood, Robert Frost, Annie Besant, May Sarton,

Dylan Thomas, Starhawk, D.H. Lawrence, Thich Nhat Hanh, Black Elk --

you get the idea!

It is divided into sections: Ecology, a Sacred Place, Passion of the Earth, Healing the Whole,

The Elements, Blessing and Invocations, Praise and Thanksgiving, Benediction for the Animals,

Cycles of Life, The Daily Round, Meditations. 

There is a calendar at the back of the book with suggested readings.

Did you know that today is the birthday of John James Audubon?

"It is neither spring nor summer: it is Always,

With towhees, finches, chickadees, California

quail, wood doves.

With wrens, sparrows, juncos, cedar waxwings, 

flickers,

With Baltimore orioles, Michigan bobolinks,

And those birds forever dead,

The Passenger pigeon, the great auk, the

Carolina paraquet,

All birds remembered, O never forgotten!

All in my yard, of a perpetual Sunday,

All morning! All morning!"

~Theodore Roethke

***

Speaking of books -- do you like cookbooks?

Do you have a favorite?

I've been going through all my cookbooks.

Making a stack of those that I love and can't part with -- yet -- and all the others.

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing

by Grace Young is one of my favorites.

Lovely photos, great recipes and wonderful family stories.

I also have

Stir-Frying to The Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide To Mastery, With Authentic Recipes and Stories

by Grace Young.

Another winner!

****

Looks like our nice cool spring is over.

It is heating up and the humidity is rising. 

It can't be perfect all the time!

*****

Horticulture tour at the zoo tomorrow!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Random Things

I'm joining Nancy at Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Do you have a bucket list?

One of the things on my list is tulips.

Yes, tulips.

I've often thought it would marvelous to see the tulip fields in the Netherlands.

I also figure it would be easier for me to visit the tulip fields in the Pacific North West.

Like this:

This is a postcard of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon.

The photo was taken by Jon Gnass and I found the image in TULIPS OF THE NORTHWEST:

A Postcard Book.

Can you imagine?

Field after field of tulips.

Heaven on earth!

(Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday)

**

I went to the grocery store and while there decided to check out the cut flowers.

I found more daffodils.

They were a little past their prime, but I couldn't resist.

Along with the daffodils, the Easter decorations were half off.

Now I ask you -- how could I pass up a bunny wearing tennis shoes?

***

One of my favorite cozy mystery series is The White House Chef by Julie Hyzy.

FONDUING FATHERS is the latest in the series.

Fun characters, good background story, good mystery, believable amateur sleuth.

Highly recommend but be sure you start with the first one

(STATE OF THE ONION)

and read them in order.

****

The garden fairies are very happy.

The Gardenias have started to bloom in Musashi's Garden.

*****

I'm going to the zoo today.

It is going to be on the cool side with low humidity.

Perfect!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five Random Things

It's Friday.

Sit back and relax.

I have some random, this and that, things for you.

Thank you, Nancy!

*

Since today is Good Friday and Easter is Sunday,

here is a reproduction vintage postcard celebrating the holiday.

No artist, publisher or date was listed.

Can you hear the music?!!!

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday each week.

**

Sometimes the kitties think simplest toys are the best.

Like an empty box.

In this case, it was a waded up piece of paper.

I think the sound got Cassie's attention.

I threw it across the room, Cassie fetched, and we had a game going that's lasted all week.

Of course, the other two had to get in on the act and two more pieces of paper gave their all in

two furious games of soccer for Teddy and Mina.

***

I mentioned that I finished a counted cross stitch project.

I couldn't share it with you as it was a birthday gift.

The gift has been delivered and here is the project all finished.

This is a kit I purchased from The Stitchery.

****

I'm taking part in the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.

This is my first postcard swap and the reason I liked it --

I could use photographs of art I had previously made.

Five postcards (goes well with 5 random things) could be made of one image or more.

I made five different postcards using 4 Index Card a Day images and one tea image.

Kat Sloma put the swap together and I should be seeing postcards in the mail by mid April.

I'll share as they come in.

Thank you Kat!

*****

I've started reading As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis Devoto

Food, Friendship and the Making of a Masterpiece edited by Joan Reardon.

What a lovely book and what lovely letter writing.

It really makes you think about the lost art of writing ... and writing letters.

I'm taking the letters a few at a time.

Wishing YOU well and much joy this holiday season.

Happy Spring!

Five Random Things

I have Five Random Things for you today.

Sit back and relax!

I've been stash busting.

All of this yarn was left from the Christmas afghans I made two years ago.

I like lapghans and thought there was enough to make one for me.

Not bad!

It's just simple granny squares.
It is a little lop-sided, but then so am I.
It fits nicely!
I finished it just in time -- the days are getting longer and warmer!

**

One of my favorite things to do when the weather cooperates

is to walk into my Village and have breakfast or lunch. 

I was leaving the restaurant with my ice tea to go in one hand and a book

in the other when a very handsome man in a three piece suit walked into the restaurant.

He was tall -- basketball player kind of tall.

I am short -- as in getting older every year, shrinking, now under five feet tall.

Mutt and Jeff.

I said "Good Morning".

He said "Good Morning".

And then he was opening the door for me.

I said "thank you very much".

And he said "you are welcome very much".

Wow.
(I could have opened the door using the *back end* method.)

Now, I'm no spring chicken and I'll tell you ladies --

I appreciated a very handsome man with good manners.

His Mama taught him well!

I was smiling the rest of the day.

And, my baseball Owls won their game that evening.

***

Maybe it was the luck of the Irish or perhaps the Easter Bunny made an early visit.

 I won the Martha White giveaway on a Semi Homemade Mom.

Mina had to supervise as I unpacked the goodies.

The blue Martha White tote bag held all these goodies.

There's a t-shirt, an apron, muffin cups, a cupcake timer, 6 packages of

Martha White cornbread mix, spatulas, wooden spoons, hot pads, grocery lists, recipe holders.

Martha White has recipes on their website. 

It's a good thing that I LOVE cornbread! 

****

Since St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner,

here is a vintage reproduction postcard for you.

Many thanks to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday each week.

*****

Lastly, I am reading

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

by Candice Millard.

It is not my usual kind of read -- it is not fluff!

I'm the first to say that my American history is not very good.

I remember very little of what I learned in school.

I knew Teddy Roosevelt was a president and some thing of a wild man.

This book is fascinating - a real look at his personality and an amazing tale of

exploration in the Amazon along the River of Doubt.

Candice Millard is an historian and a former writer and editor for National Geographic.

She's made the whole adventure come to life. 

I am half way through the book and had to take a break and come up for air! 

Wishing YOU well and much joy!