. . . elliott . . . is that you?

Wait For You lyrics

. . the escape . . .

Sometimes you just have to get away. No particular plans, no reservations, just pack the car and go . . . . so we did. We took off headed west. Through horse country, taking back roads, until we reached the gulf, then headed south, down the coast, hitting towns we had never before visited. The trip had its ups and downs, from great meals to the not so model motel. Would we do it again? Katie says no, Frank and I say yes. So once Katie is settled back in school, we will be off again.

p.s. reminder to self . . . next time scan the pages before binding to avoid glare.

oops . . .

Back in May, I posted some shots of our bandit buddy, Rocky Raccoon. Just last night I was bemoaning to my brother and sister-in-law that he had been missing in action for over a month. Right on cue, my brother-in-law spies him. Then I hear a squeal of delight from Katie. And another, now the three of them plus Frank are glued to the back door and someone is screaming for me to grab my camera. Apparently Rocky (or rather Rockette) had been very busy, for carefully tucked in the bush were not one, not two, but four babies. Cute as can be. They disappeared and later Rocky(ette) came back alone. Actually she/he got quite brave and decided to investigate Bru who was of course on the inside of the pool screen. Rocky got within four feet of Bru when Bru let out an eerie howl and backed away. Rocky took off for the night. The pictures, taken at dusk and through a screen are not wonderful but you can meet the newest members of our menagerie.

be careful what you wish for . . .

a little background. When we moved in 12 years ago, our front yard had two 'areas' of pines. Pines that wafted just a tad too much during storms. Spindly nasty looking pines that needed to be removed and were. All this predicated a trip to Tree City for a "fast growing big tree". Be careful what you wish for. We bought and planted a very tiny Laurel Oak in 1996. It is now a towering monstrosity, threatening to take over my little corner of the world. It looms down over the walk way into the house, it blocks the sun and kills the grass, it's knickers got twisted during one of the hurricanes, its limbs stretch out over the roof, it is a kid climbers dream, a mothers nightmare. As I said, be careful what you wish for. Fast forward. I was out early this morning mowing the lawn. Normal procedure, except that it apparently rained last night and every time I made a loop under the tree, I got dripped upon. Well, it is Wednesday, here that means vegetative garbage pick up day, so I get the bright idea to 'prune' the monster. Now if it thought about making me damp before, with a ladder, clippers and saw in hand it let loose with a torrent of water. Each time I positioned the ladder and jockeyed into place, it frantically shook more and more water in my direction. I was blinded by the cascade. Glasses off, I attacked once again, this time it retaliated with rubber limbs. I'd reach for one to lop off and it would spring back out of reach. Precariously perched on the ladder, gasping at wiggling limbs was like grabbing for greased pigs at the county fair. Undaunted, I managed to pile up a fairly good sized mass of debris. That is when the revolt entered full tilt. I figured that the now half sawed off major limb would be much less resistant if I twirled it around and around a few times. Wrong. Water spewing, the tree retaliated when let go and spun in the opposite direction, throwing me off the ladder and onto the lawn. How humiliating to be bested by a tree. Sitting on the ground looking up, I was glad for two things: nothing was broken and I heard no laughter which means, maybe, just maybe, no one noticed the debacle. Nursing my pride, I spent the rest of the morning doing crosswords on the pool deck. Much safer by far. Hurrumph!

an addiction to large flowers and accordion books?

I took some shots of Katie last week and was looking for some way to showcase them. Went digging under my bed and amongst the dust bunnies, found an old DCWV accordion album I had never used. Added a little Granny's Attic and instant album. Gotta love quick and easy when your attention span is flea sized.

. . a charming present . .

the goodies from the CK contest arrived on my doorstep. Pretty darn neat!!

. . . the story . . .

Like the pictures really need an explanation rofl. We ran away this weekend. Just over night. To explore. To get away. To have an adventure. Sunday morning we stopped at an IHOP for breakfast and were seated next to a window. Katie was the first to spot the monster bird. The waitress nicely filled us in on the details including how they love to be fed and what in particular they like to eat. She didn't mention humans! So you know I had to feed him and his cousins our leftovers. Katie grabbed the camera . . . like I needed validation of my dorkiness, and took the shots.

p.s. He did prefer ham to me!!!!

delightful wood stork

dork feeding wood stork

dumb damaged dork

'taint nuthin' better . . .

. . . then waking up to a morning breakfast of peaches so sweet and juicy they have to be eaten over the sink, juice running down your arm, favor bursting in your mouth. And for dinner, we're trying Laura's recipe for Chimichanga's and adding ears of new sweet corn. Dessert? Fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. The Lord's abundance is upon us and I am beyond grateful. Yummmmmmmmmmm.

hooray!!!

. . . she liked it! Tippy, tippy, tap, tap. :0)

finally . . .

here's the accordion album I finished for the RSS. I think all but one of the items can be bought at her store which of course was the whole idea. The title of this one is Spring Fever. I think Katie was a little befuddled that there were no pictures. I got the same reaction when Frank saw my first non-photographic album. They are used to me with a camera locked onto my face. Sigh. Please keep your fingers crossed that she likes it.

well, crud . . .

The RSS owner liked the 7 Gypsies small purse album enough that she commissioned one for her store. The box was easy, the concept and cover for the guts wasn't much of a problem either but I am down to the last two 1/2 segments and I am stuck . . . stymied . . . drawing a absolute blank, (and yes, I even considered leaving the printed sides empty). I am mired in a bog of zero creativity . . . I was thinking if I stare at it long enough an idea will come . . . so much for that idea. So here I sit . . maybe if I whine a little, a lighten bolt of inspiration will reign down from the heavens . . . oops, come to think of it, three days into hurricane season is not a good time to be cracking jokes about the weather. Maybe a quick snoop around one of the big stores will help . . . I'll let you know.

quack, quack, waddle, waddle. . .

It's raining!!! Sweet, glorious rain. Drops, buckets, sheets . . . cats and dogs. It's amazing. . . blessed . . . wonderful! The heavens have opened at last and the earth is once again drinking it's fill. It has been so long, too long, way too long. The fires, the stench, the fear, can once again recede into memory . . .

Only the cats are unhappy. They don't like the dampness on their paws, they have not felt nor seen rain in so long, it is a novelty, and not a fun one at that. WHAT IS THIS STUFF? Let me back in, NOW!!! Sitting lined up, inside at the sliding glass door, noses pressed, jockeying for position, (Snoop and Moak must never be side by side), they are wistful, waiting to be let out again into familiarly dry territory . Forlorn over the shoulder looks, they do not understand.

But we do and are truly thankful. This is a good day! A very good day!

tell her I still walk into doors . . .

I shared some recent photos of Katie with my friend Sheri and after relaying the nice response comments to her, including the comment about her having grown and matured so much in the last couple of years, Katie proceeded to turn around and walk smack into the door jamb, something she has been doing for years, which considering how lithe and coordinated she is at sports, has always cracked us up.