Sweet Cotton

Cotton is my sweet, sunny dog. When she comes straight toward you, she "grins" and makes her eyes squinty - it's then that she looks occidental oriental. Others have remarked on it. It's not just me.



In addition to her coal black nose and golden eyelashes, she has very blond whiskers. Except for one rogue black whisker.

She also has cleopatra eyeliner. Naturally. I'm not kidding. See below? It's the darnedest thing - it's the pattern of her fur but it looks like a line drawn. On both sides.

Her hair is wavy on the ears and back of her head. And although Goldens aren't big into howling, she makes this odd, growl-howl when she's happy, excited or wants you to play with her.


Olivia calls her Cotton Candy.

I think it fits.

Illuminating

I am not especially stubborn. But when it comes to this light fixture, I have become downright

mulish.

Obstinate.

Dogged.

Pertinacious.

This chandelier has 6 bulbs. They never burn out together. I think they should burn out together so that I don't have multiple partial packages stowed all over the house (this is an organization theory gone awry - store bulbs in one place all together, or near the light fixture they were meant for?).

This is not much to ask.

So I will outwait, outwit, outlive these light bulbs and install 6 new bulbs at one time.

"As God is my witness, I'll never replace fewer than six again."

Just call me Scarlett.

Small World

In this old cemetery in Blue Ridge, I found some stones with my grandmother's family names on them. They were not on this side, but on the other side of the road in the middle.

It was really a surprise.

Do things like that happen to you?

Color

I love old turquoise paint. And this is a wonderful cement bench - I can't imagine you'd find any city installing something like this these days.

Good Use for Junk Mail

A use for junk mail? I know, amazing, huh? I was catching up on my blog reading this weekend and came across one by Secret Agent Josephine where she made postcards from her junk mail.

Now, SAJ's junk cards are much more professional looking than mine, but still. Despite the fact that I had just that morning tossed a good bit of junk mail, probably the best of it, I was inspired to stop immediately and make some postcards. Luckily, there was a stack I hadn't gotten to yet that had catalogs in it.


These are my efforts. Oh, and I learned that if you make them 6" x 4.25" they require 28 cents of postage. If you make them bigger, they require 44 cents of postage. Mine are bigger, because I didn't want to do much math and started with a 9" x 12" piece of artist paper (when you cut that in half both ways, you get 4.5" x 6", voila).

The last one is my favorite. I think this is going to stay in the repertoire...it's much easier to start and finish, so when I need an artsy/craftsy fix this can be it.

There are some loose edges, so I may mod podge this lot. If you want to see one of these in your mailbox, email me your snail mail address, and it will be yours. Or if you do some, we could swap.

Have a fun Monday!

P.S. Hello, DH, I hear you read daily and am happy to know that!

Birthday Flowers

on the kitchen counter.

At the Ol' Ballgame!

Thursday night I received an invitation from Signe and Rick to go to a Braves game on Friday night. I was there! I love night games. The Braves played the Marlins. Folks sported "Fillet the Fish" stickers. Everywhere I looked people were smiling.


My favorite advertising character, the Chick-Fil-A cow, advises you to Chop if U Luv Chikin. I love Chick-Fil-A chicken.



These ladies were taking our picture so I took theirs at the same time.





On our right, behind the dugout...





Here they are again, having fun. I like Wendy Darling's shorts. (this would make sense to you if you saw Signe's facebook photos)

We left a bit before the end of the game because a storm was on its way. Goodbye Turner Field.

It was a great evening. Thanks Rick & Signe!

Profile

When I work at my computer, and I want to have a record of real life, this is what I have to photograph. There is usually one dog beside my chair, and one under the desk. I haven't figured out how to capture the under-the-desk-while-I-am-working shot.

I can stare at this photo, and I'm not sure why. I think it may be because it reminds me of the trend in paperback book covers: a random image, cropped, usually omitting key features.

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Blogger's spacing is out of whack again, and I grow weary with trying to fix it. Does that ever happen to you?

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Are you one of those people to say hello to everyone when you take a walk in your neighborhood? Or are you one of those people who look past the facing walker so you don't have to invest in that moment of connection? Mostly I'm the first, but once in a great while, and I am never sure why, I don't want to make eye contact.

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Finally, aside from Dancing with the Stars, which I think is more Carole Burnett Show than Survivor, I don't watch reality shows. Do you?

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Fun link for Friday:

Apolline a Paris

(it's in french, but at least watch the little show in the header, it's charming)

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TGIF

TTFN!

Heirloom

This is one of the heirloom tomatoes I planted. It's my favorite - I believe it's Mortgage Lifter (I I forgot to look this morning as I was leaving). See how it's meaty and there isn't very much of that watery seed stuff? It's good fresh. In a salad. But mostly in a sandwich. With mayo and black pepper. That's as far as I've gotten. It's so good I don't want to wait to cook it. So I say try those heirloom varieties. They've produced fruit like this with little care. Just some watering.

Time for Some Pix

This one I call "ditto"

I made this! It's a cherry clafoutis and I used a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Go. Look it up. Enjoy! there is a part of this photo that is in focus. amuse yourselves by trying to find it. i did.

Produce from the front yard, and I use this next term loosely, garden.

More front yard produce.

Gratuitous muzzle shot.

Happy Hump Day!

Birthday Bullets

• I once worked with a woman named Becky who believed that one should celebrate their birthday all month. This is the same Becky who put on one black and one brown shoe with different heel heights but didn't figure it out until she got to work.
• My lovely family and friends have been overwhelming me with happy birthday wishes.
• I'm really blessed with my family and friends.
• Went to get my emissions test and the blown fuses in my car prevented the test. So that's why the mirrors won't work...
• It's wonderful to be out of town and return to Gus and Cotton's little yellow, fuzzy, black nosed faces.
• My trip out of town with girlfriends was a great time. The trip home ended in adventure: S's car thumped and stopped responding in the passing lane at 75 miles an hour about 47 miles from home. Bummer. We steered to the side of the road and called her husband and a family friend w/a tow service named, appropriately enough, Tow Jam. We passed the time by chatting. After I got home I realized we were in the general area where the missing former parole officer had been abducted.
• If you forget to lock your car, someone will come along and try the door, find it open and take whatever they can find, except for the 11 cents in plain sight. Just sayin'.
• I remember one of my birthdays from childhood that included "fishing" where you put your line with a clothespin on it into a space behind a partition and caught a prize.
• Another birthday was at my great aunt Nadine's house. She gave me a fishbowl with goldfish like she kept. They died in week, I think.
• Fish seem to figure prominently in my birthdays, don't they?
• If the security patrol in your neighborhood gets the dates a little mixed up and check your door Sunday morning to be sure it's locked, you will levitate from your sound sleep to the living room. Prepared to do what, I'm not sure. Hello, security patrol!
• The wind is gusty and thunderstorms are predicted.
• The stray black cat is in my front yard. Cotton and Gus have not heard or spotted her, thank goodness!
• It would be a lovely gift if said stray kitty would eliminate the voles killing the plants at my mailbox.
• If you're an August baby, Happy Birthday to you, too!

Perspective

You cannot trust your eyes

when

your imagination is out of focus.

Mark Twain

You Rock!

So I've been in a bit of a slump. But! Things Are Looking Up. I've won an award from an awfully lovely blogger*, Merry Me (on the right above). And that's a pick-me-up!

This is what she wrote: Please know that your blog has become a daily part of my life. Your words and photos lift me up when I am down. Sometimes they make me smile, sometimes make me cry, but always make me feel less alone and perhaps less crazy! Like many others around the world I am touched by the generosity of your spirit. Keep up the good work.

I would encourage you to visit Random Thoughts, her blog, so you can get to know her too. She cares for her dad, has a Sweetie, and is making quilts for servicemen and women.

If you ask me, Merry Me rocks! THANKS!!!

[Of course this reminds me of an award that I got that in my early blogging inexperience wasn't sure I was supposed to assume was for me, so - and you know who you are - please don't feel slighted, I simply didn't know blog etiquette!]

TTFN!

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*I've always wanted to use this phrase - it's British, or at least British cozy mysteries - they're all terribly good this and frightfully wonderful that, pip pip. :)

Cruisin'

This could be my old bike. It's been about that long since I've had a bike. Yesterday I saw a bike called a Cruiser.

It came in many colors and styles.

And it had a larger seat than that dratted bike in my gym!

It was really tempting to think I would use it to ride to pickup groceries.

Hmmm. Maybe I would.

I'll keep you posted.

Bullet Post

• I like the past to stay past.


• The overall instability in the market is really wearing on me. But I'm happy I only have one credit card. I've done that for years.


• Humidity makes me cranky.


• Taking the dogs out of 3 day a week daycare can be draining while you are re-establishing an appropriate exercise schedule for them.


• I keep forgetting to make an appointment with the dermatologist.


• I used to have a dream where I stood in front of a bathroom mirror and my teeth fell into the sink one by one, plink...plink...plink, in a slow, graceful arc (how can losing teeth be graceful?). When I looked it up, it meant I was suppressing something I needed to say.


• The best joke about the south I ever heard, I got from Mr. Berry: "How do you know if a young man in the south is married?" "I don't know" "look for tobacco stains on both sides of the pickup truck".


• SEC football is the best.


• Gus and Cotton have the best vet ever. And he lives in my neighborhood.


• If your vet lives in your neighborhood, and your dogs think he's a deity, don't be surprised if they drag you across the road and through his flower bed to see him.


• There are at least 5 eggplant on my eggplant plant. When is eggplant ready to be picked?

Clematis

I felt like sharing something beautiful today. Hope you have something beautiful in your life!

If It's Not One Thing

...It's another.


See the large tree that curves from right to left (base to top)? I have often wondered how long it could hold on during the drought given it's angle.
I know the answer now.

Until August 2, 2009 at approximately 8:30am.

[No fences were lost to the falling of the tree.]

Positively Headless!

I've had one of those weeks where I feel like I'm running around without my head glued on. And unlike the headless horseman above I'm not successfully carrying it around either!

When I saw this guy I almost purchased him because this is one of my favorite stories in literature. But then I recalled my plight of not enough table space for the stuff I do have. And I was strong.

Hope you're having a good Monday!

Friday Night Lites

Last night I had the time to make a salad I'd been thinking about for a week. Fresh tomato, fresh cucumber, basil and oregano from my yard...and that magical elixir, balsamic vinegar with olive oil. It turned out to be delicious, and when I added the small mozzarella balls (bocconcini, I think they're called, meaning small mouthfulls) it was a perfect Friday night lite meal.

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3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt

10 fresh basil leaves

5 fresh oregano leaves

3 small fresh cucumbers

2 large beefsteak tomatoes, vine ripened

Optional: red onion, mozzarella

Mince garlic (or take it out of a jar, like I did) and let it stand in the balsamic and red wine vinegars. By the way - I doubled the balsamic vinegar. It makes my skirt fly up.

Wash basil and oregano, roll up leaves and slice into little strips. Chop and put in your best olive oil (extra virgin light is what I used).

Wash and peel cucumbers, slice thinly into 1/4" coins. Remove stem and blossom end from tomatoes (really very little is removed). Cut into wedges being careful not to crush and lose any juice from the tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes and cucumbers in the salad bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Whisk together the vinegars and olive oil and pour over tomatoes and cucumbers. Toss gently and serve.

Note: I added some thinly sliced red onion, less than a quarter of the onion. And I added some mozzarella because I wanted this to be a meal. I added both before tossing with the dressing.

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I loved this salad! I used to make one when I lived in Montgomery that had cucumber, tomato, bow tie pasta (farfalle) oil and vinegar, dill and basil. It's very much like that, but I wanted a version without the pasta. That said, you could add pasta to this and it would probably be wonderful (might have to increase the dressing).

[there's some kind of weird spacing funk going on with this post that I can't fix - sorry!]