Something Old & Something New

These are mostly unread books, hence the something old in the title.  I grounded myself until I could get the backlog I have read.  And then I heard about Cutting for Stone.  But that's the only new one, I promise.  And the ones in the back are ones I've already read.  And I finished another one from my backlog this weekend - The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankel.  He's Swedish and has been writing books long before we ever heard of Steig Larson or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I've picked up The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane twice and haven't been able to sink into it. But I heard good things about it, so I'm going to try again. Has anyone read Tinker's?  It came highly recommended. And Cutting for Stone got good reviews, and has been touted frequently on Books on the Nightstand (a books podcast).

In the back on the left is a stack that includes a book about the Mississippi Flood. And one on Mania, Panics and something that I bought to read on the strength of seeing it on BookTV. That was before the market fell apart last year.  I've skimmed it enough to find that markets are cyclical. 

This is my something new - my mom made me a camera strap for my birthday.  Isn't it great?  It slides over the standard issue Canon strap and jazzes things up a bit.

TTFN,

Molly

Flip

Yesterday I met my friend Maria for lunch.  I wanted to get caught up on the wedding plans.  We met at a cute new-ish hamburger place called Flip. It was hip, trendy, fun and the food was terrific!  See the farmer burger listed below?

Here it is...and those are okra fries on that plate. 

Yum.

And here's Rosanne Cash...I guess I should point out all the photos today are from my iPhone and I think it did a pretty good job.  She was delightful to listen to, and I had the added bonus of finding that I recognized her music - and liked it - based on a couple of the songs she sang.  My free tickets came with a book, and it looks like it will be enjoyable, too. Her most recent album is The List, based on a list of the 100 country songs her father thought she needed to know. 

Someone asked her if she'd ever publish the list, and she said no, that much of the personal things about her dad were public and she was keeping that to herself. Good for her, I say, though I confess I'd also be interested in seeing that list myself. It's a wonderful legacy, though, because her daugther has entered the musical world and just as her album was getting published she asked Rosanne 'where is my list?'

I Get PostCards

These are the first 3 post cards I've received.  The two on top are images made by the ladies who sent them - and I love them both, rich with color and evocative.

The second is from a writer, and she spun a tale of two pen pals meeting, making the image her own by giving that image on the card a story.

These cards provide much inspiration.

In related news, the post card that once was lost now is found.  A certain blond, 4 legged cohabitant must have pulled it out of my bag only to drop it behind a piece of furniture.  I located it this morning while looking for something else.  It is outside in my mailbox, the red flag on the box raised so that it can make its way to the intended.

Tonight I am going to see Rosanne Cash - she will talk about her new book, sing a few tunes and autograph books.  I won the tickets from the AJC, and the event is sponsored by the organization that puts on the annual book festival.  I won the tickets! 

TTFN,

Molly

Trio of Disappointment

Below are 3 Brandywine tomato vines.  Brandywine is an heirloom variety that is quite tasty - if you are fortunate enough to have a tomato.  These vines have grown and bloomed all summer. And not one tomato has set. Not one.

None.

This is a little Juliet vine that produces grape/cherry sized tomatoes.  Note the multiple tomatoes on this vine.  This vine is located about 5 feet from the Trio of Disappointment. You just never know, do you?

I caught this sunset as I sat waiting to turn left.  And look - sun flare.  And this was on my iPhone. Like the man said, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Impatien

Have you ever noticed that impatiens have an iridescence on the petals?  I hadn't until this weekend.  And I love impatiens.  The first time I remember seeing them was in a small concrete planter next to a friend's front door.  They were all a fuscia color.  Later I found a dark coral color that I love but can't seem to find these days.

I don't think there's been a year since that time in the late 80's that I haven't had impatiens in a pot or border. 

It's amazing to me that this bloom has been battered by the wind and thunderstorms and burned by the heat, but continues to blaze away.  Jon Katz would call this putting your lips to the world, I think.

Hope you find some sparkle in your day.

Western Sky

The best camera is the one you have with you.

And do you see the heart shape?

The Farmer's Market Goes to the Dogs

Look delicious, don't they? You can clearly see the carrots. Mmmm.  Carrot cake.

Yep, these are carrot cake muffins...for dogs!  There is a dog baker who frequents my farmer's market.  Today I stopped by for low fat cinna-bites, and got a couple of these as well. 

"Muffins are for eating, not talking about. Right, Gus?"

"Mmmmfff, mphh chmppff...

aaah snrggh gulp."

Throw Open the Windows!

It's still hot here, how about with you?

The Broken Ones

I like the broken shells -  the insides are as beautiful as the outsides.

Yucca

Anticipation

One of my favorite movies is You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  The scene where they are panning down a NY neighborhood street and extolling the virtues of Fall, and Meg Ryan's character says something about "bouquets of sharpened pencils" captures how I feel about Fall and school supplies.

This sign in downtown Atlanta reminded me of that movie. Her book store, The Shop Around the Corner and this lunch stand, Just Around the Corner are both tucked into their respective neighborhoods, waiting to be discovered by passersby on foot.

The movie also talks about email, and how the characters look forward to that AOL announcement "you've got mail" when they log in.  That's how I feel right now waiting on mail from my pen pals.  I wonder if mine have arrived, if they lived up to the first time anticipation.  I have two orders of fun cards and postcards on their way to use and then I can send a second round of mail to the first two and a first round to a new pen pal.

Hurry up, Ms. Postal Carrier!

Pottery & the 1913 Silver Ghost

Today my sister, nieces, Mother and I went to paint pottery together to celebrate Mother's birthday.

I believe it was a success.

This is our youngest artist at work.

The birthday girl is in the gold blouse.

After the hot, dry work of painting pottery, we walked up the block to Paolo's Gelateria.  I learned you have to eat gelato quickly in 100 degree heat or you wear it.

As we were headed back to the car, we helped a gentleman parallel park his antique car.

Not just any antique car it turns out.

A 1913 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.  I thought those only existed in romance novels.

Photos of Friends

Two friends and I tried a new restaurant last night.  I took my camera planning to get some portraits during our meal.  Something about the restaurant made me uncomfortable about snapping away.  It might have been the note in the menu that said limit cell phone calls and picture taking.  I limited myself to getting a few food photos.

So below is a salad I shared with Signe.  Tomato, olives, walnuts, dill, fennel, cilantro, green onions, romaine and feta were meant to be put on a piece of pita and dipped into the olive oil and vinegar. 

Can't you see this on a big platter for guests at your home?  And how much more simple could this be? 

I ended up smearing some feta on the pita, placing a walnut on that and topping with greens and a tomato wedge.  Then I dipped the edge into the vinegar.  Yum.

Above is my lamb kebob entree.  Tasty.

Cindy ordered a couple more mezza for her main meal - this is the falafel which had an unusual spice that was quite tasty as well.

Good friends, good conversation, good food...good time.

In other news:

• The cardinal is still bald
• Hummingbirds have now put the GHSoA (Good Hummingbird Seal of Approval) on my feeder and are currently conducting territorial disputes
• Summer is my least favorite season.  My favorite is Fall
• My birthday is in the summer so I never had a birthday party at school
• I survived no birthday party at school

Gratuitous golden nap shot:

A Picture is Worth...

a thousand words degrees.  I shot this around 9:30 this morning.  It's morning light and it already has a shimmering, hazy quality.

Last night was a mini-celebration of my mother's birthday, just she and I, take out with berries over angel food cake.  Tonight is dinner with friends and tomorrow the larger family celebration.  We've decided on painting pottery together and walking across the street later for gelato.

Today  I plan to use the afternoon to catch up on my craft class.  The shades are drawn to keep out the heat of the sun...I love that burrowed-in feeling.  As long as there's air conditioning.

I must be pretty suggestible.  I watched a PBS show on the food of Lebanon this week and suggested we visit a persian restaurant for supper this evening. But who could turn down fresh hummus, falafel or lamb kebobs? 

I signed up for a snail mail pen pal on the Shutter Sisters site...and I got two!  However, my post card order (using my photography) hadn't arrived when I needed to send my first mail.  So I used a couple of cards I made.  I love snail mail, but never really get any.  I am resolved to mail more to people.

Hope your weekend includes a summer breeze.

Tilt-a-Whirl

Today's prompt was to try a spin with your camera.  After work, I went to the top of our deck and looked for the horizon line - the best one was toward Stone Mountain. 

And here you have it.

And the whole time I was doing it, I was either grinning or laughing to myself.  Thankfully no one was up there to see or hear me.  I think.

It was fun to try something so seemingly wacky in order to create something.

And it reminded me of childhood when I'd twirl around and around, trying to get dizzy and then collapse in a fit of giggles.

There should definitely be more twirling in the world.

Everyday

I love the everyday.  Those things are special to me and easily slip by unremarked.  This is my first attempt at the 'shape of summer' prompt yesterday because of the shape of the mirror.

So this morning when I got up and saw the Making Memories prompt, I knew this was my shot.

On this everyday shot, I'm dressed and ready for work, which prompts this dog to get ready to nap.  She's also guilty of just having tunneled under the fence and was recovered when Gus sounded the alarm (sharp, shrill yips and he did it the last time she got out). I love the way sun comes through this window in the morning, and I love the colors and that though I tried to straighten before leaving, I missed moving my gown to it's place.

Everyday is really special.

So Subtle

One of the photo assignments was to find the subtlety of summer...in color.  As work has interfered in my free time, I wrestled with that assignment and sat on my front step late in the evening to figure out what to do.

This is a blossom stem of plants by the front walk and of course I've forgotten their names.  The blooms are spent.  And for some reason my neighbors side porch light was already on. 

It perfectly highlights the strand of golden retreiver hair...

Art & Golden Retrievers, who could ask for more?

Up on a Roof

from the roof of my office tower in downtown Atlanta looking north...

this view is looking west through the balcony, and you can see I 20 in the distance if you look...

Through a Glass

These are two of my most recent class efforts.  It's interesting to see what gets comments and what doesn't.  The second is the one I uploaded, and it got no comments (when I last checked), and that's okay, because I learn from what doesn't get feedback as well as what does. 

What I'm thinking about today is how I read a photo prompt and sometimes go in a direction that is definitely not the direction intended. 

It's funny how everyone's minds work differently.  Have a great day!

God Bless America