It's fallish here

at least for the moment.

Cold-ish weather has set in and we've traded out the fans for the heaters. I guess it really is fall.

Wish I had a picture of something beautifully autumnal - red and orange leaves, crackling fires, atmospheric mist...but mostly what we have here is soggy brown leaves covering the garden, just making it look rather untidy. Perhaps tomorrow I need to get a pumpkin.

Ooh! I found something! Nothing says fall like Noah's pumpkin bagels and schmear, right?



How did we survive before we knew about these? Now if we could just get them to make them longer...

Once upon a time...

... way back in the early part of August, we took a trip to the Seattle area to see the Camster
(not to be confused with a Hamster though they do have some similarities

note the reddish fur ...er... hair, jaunty tilt of the head and amused smiles)

We did a few tourist-y things:

visited the space needle - which Tess and I found vaguely nauseating


bought crap souvenirs at the first Starbucks - Tess and I found this much less nauseating



ate space noodles - oops, more nausea - with the most indigestion-inducing pesto sauce ever produced.

enjoyed the tour at the Red Hook Ale brewery - new favorite beers found!

we did some not necessarily tourist-y things:

tried to furnish Cam's apartment - not so successfully - Wow, is he picky!

saw Young Frankenstein on it's way to Broadway. Fun! Great sets and all the best jokes are there - Roll, roll, roll in the hay...



celebrated Hillary's 15th birthday at the Cheesecake Factory with some of Cam's friends - nice.




and headed off into the sunset

Yippee for mee!

I don't say that sort of thing about myself often but every once in a while - I gotta!

One of my images from last week's assignment in my photography class got chosen as one of the best of the week out of about 400 images!

See, it's here

I almost feel like a published artist. yay me...

No miracles around here, I guess

Ok, so i didn't get all caught up in August. I just said it could happen...

So in no particular order, let's see if I can get caught up in September!

I'm taking an online photography class, from Cheryl Johnson at Feel Good Photos at the moment. I really like a lot of her work - especially the portraits. I really, really wish I could take good portraits.

But first things first.

Learned a bit about using light last week.


And a bit about the shape of things this week.
I actually found myself using things I learned the first week while working on the second week's assignment! There is thought behind my snapping! (unless you're thinking about when my mind snaps - not so much thought there.)



I've been inspired to take more pictures and think about what I'm doing rather than just pointing and clicking. I've even pushed myself to shoot subjects I don't usually even consider and get right down on the ground or up on top of things to get the angle I wanted even though someone might see me!

Growing experiences for the shy and easily embarrassed...

Desperately seeking August

We've returned from our vacation and are all back at work, H turned 15 and starts high school on Monday, T has left for San Diego - her classes start on Tuesday, W's birthday was ages ago and the month is almost gone. sigh...

Time for some make-up blog entries.

Let's see if I can get all caught up before the month ends... right...er...it might happen... there have been bigger miracles in the world, ya know!

{horse raspberries}

Sometimes I wish I could figure out how to spell sounds - like horse raspberries or deep sighs or the squeeks, dings and snorffles that issue from our mouths to illustrate our emotions. Then I would indicate (in print) how I feel about all the time I just spent trying to make a new banner for this blog.

It wasn't even so much the time spent on the actual "artistic" part. In the overall scheme of things, that was minimal (and reasonably amusing.)

It was more the frustration of trying to find information on the size a banner should be to fit in the frame (it's not perfect yet - but almost...) and even more trying to get it to upload correctly. Not exactly user friendly.

But in the end I won!

So, HORSE RASPBERRIES!!!

I just wish I liked the banner better...

The fog begins to lift...

Four nights of tech at the theatre heading directly into four shows on the weekend makes for a very foggy brain. And certain songs running through my head...over and over and over... I'm a brass band, I'm a harpsichord...Sweet, sweet Charity...If my friends could see me no-ow!!!

The show, however exhausting it may be, is good though. H has lines and says them loudly, clearly and in character. She knows all her dances spot on. Now all we have to do is hope that "someone" notices and that it might lead to some more challenging roles in the future. Well that, and enjoy the show!

All day I've been getting the feeling I need to be somewhere tonight - but I have nowhere I have to go! Dinner can be at home - all of us together! Food from the grocery rather than a restaurant - no making do with fast food, no greasy pizza, slimy pasta or hurried pastries on the run!

I need a salad. Green, leafy, fresh, cool, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers - on the patio, in the cool evening, iced tea, sounds of water splashing in the fountain, lots of time, nowhere to be except in the moment. sigh...

Speaking of salads - H is considering becoming a vegetarian - not sure of the reason, but I can't imagine that it would be a bad thing for her to think more about what she's eating. Making smart decisions (I hope) about what makes up a good and balanced diet. Perhaps expanding her tiny repertoire of edible items. T and I have eschewed meat for some periods of time in our lives before this, but the whole vegetarian thing has been difficult when not everyone in the family is on the same page. Don't think W is ready to go totally in that direction, but I'm pretty sure he'd be willing to skip the meat at home - and that should make it all work.

I'm thinking I'll sit with the daughters and see what we can come up with to make this happen. Strike while the iron is hot as they say.

Didja see that tomato up there? It's the first one of the season. Some of us will be fighting over sharing it later....

NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!

We stood interminably in Barnes and Noble on Friday night/Saturday morning to get our copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
We chatted with friends we haven't seen in ages until almost 2:00 in the morning.
We read until our eyes would no longer stay open.
We slept and then we read some more.
And we finished the book.
First T. then D. and then W.
It was not perfect, but it was good.
It was worth waiting for.



Load-in and tech week start tomorrow for Sweet Charity.

Being head of the the backstage crew, I talked W. into filling in on the night we were short a person backstage thinking we could work together and it'd be fun and all - and then I moved to followspots. So much for working together. Oh well, I can look down on the crew and see how they're doing from my little catwalk in the sky. And we'll look forward to enjoying our kid-friendly pasta with marinara sauce together at Friday's tech night dinner. YEAH!

Timing okay

Harry update

Finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I guess the timing isn't too bad - I think i can remember the story until the 21st...

I'm having a bit of withdrawal though. I keep finding myself thinking I'll just go grab my book and read some more when I realize there aren't any more books to read...yet.

So, I started watching the movies. Harry and gang were all so tiny at the beginning!
We're going to see the Order of the Phoenix on Tuesday - a day early. The best part is not having to stand in line for the midnight show - I'm too old to enjoy that anymore.

Edgar for your perusal

So H's end of 8th grade grades arrived a few days ago and they really weren't all that bad. Actually, they were mostly good. And even though she is unlikely to ever be a willing seamstress, she got an A+ for the quarter in sewing - probably because of Edgar.

You might know Edgar (or not) as the main character in Bat Boy the Musical - a favorite of our musical obsessed teen - which was performed this spring at a local high school.

The music is fun, the show quirky and the puppet something to be proud of.

He's quite the natty dresser in his Build-A-Bear Workshop outfit, huh?

Just 'cause

My newest daylily. Just. Plain. Pretty.

P-p-p-pluggin' along

Harry Potter update...
Book #5 finished!
Book #6 started (did I really read this one before? It all seems so unfamiliar...)
Book #7 ordered (3 copies to pick up at midnight on the 21st.)


The family room is coming along nicely. It's actually turned out to be a room we all congregate in - something I thought might not happen. It's sunny and cheerful - even with no art on the walls yet. We have two prints being framed and then we'll have to figure out what to do with the long wall behind the couch.


W mounted the tv on the wall today - now it looks like a square lollipop on a stick (The "stick" hides the cords - we'll paint it to match the wall eventually.) The ceiling is so crooked, we had to put the tv at a slight slant to make it look normal.

Still to do:

• replace furniture
  
• install closet doors
  
• add baseboard
  
• make cushion(s) for window seat
  
• fix outlets in tv wall
  
• hang/place art
  
• shop for rug
  

and a few other details but after 12 years, there is hope...

Oh! and we have a screen door! This year we can have more air and less bugs!!!

Progress made...

Finished the fourth Harry Potter book yesterday and started on #5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I think I might actually manage to finish them in a timely manner! Yippee! I guess if I don't time it right this time, I'm out of chances.

Hoping to pick up a paperback copy of Book 6 (for easier - and lighter - reading) and pre-order our copies of Book 7 this week.

Also trying to get organized enough to add some photos of recently creative moments. However, no progress made there...

Yeah, I thought that might happen...

So I've disappeared off the blog for a while. Some down time was logical - Cinderella tech week and followspots for six shows mid-to-late May, but after that, well...

Anyway, I found this fun thing on a blog somewhere - Library Thing - where you can catalog all your books online and I'm not really sure why you would want to do that but I do like the little cover pictures very much and the site tells me that I will find many people who have book libraries just like mine - though I'm not sure that's a good thing...

And really, it just fits in with what I was thinking of writing about anyway.

I'm gearing up for Harry Potter. I have to say that I'm not as excited about it as I have been in the past - probably because H isn't obsessive this time, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading the last book. So in the meantime, I've started reading all the others - allowing myself about a week for each one. Of course then, I finished the first book in two days and I'm almost done with the second - and I still have 5 and a half weeks left.

Well, the longer books should take longer to read, right?

And somehow, if I'm not too sick of Harry and the gang, I'll have to watch the movies too so we can go see the new one when it comes out.

Last time we got to go to a fun preview the day before it came out with gift bags and a meal in addition to seeing the movie early - and all we had to do was watch a few "Advantage" comercials - and they're pretty cute anyway - Hello Mother, Hello Father...
I wouldn't mind doing that again...

then again, you just might be mistaken

In my experience, it seems that many things look worse when they're in a photo. The cluttered background suddenly becomes the focal point, zits glow like beacons for passing ships and cat fur blankets every inch of every piece of fabric in sight. So when I saw this picture, I was almost convinced I could knit. And you might be convinced as well.

But that would only be because you can't see the real thing.

The only successful part of my sad attempt at Shimelle's Friday project was that I finished it. Which for me could be considered pretty huge.

Anyway, it was supposed to be a cup sleeve for a takeout coffee but I couldn't be bothered to find the suggested (or even a similar) yarn so I used something I pulled from the bottom of my yarn bin as well as the needles that were sitting near a recently completed project

and those were not necessarily good choices.

Even though I greatly reduced the number of stitches, the thing would still fit around a football better than a paper coffee cup. It does fit nicely around my ceramic cup - I'm guessing though that it might be a bit difficult to wash the cup since the sleeve had to be sewn on in order for it to fit through the cup handle. It was just for the photo... really.

Could you guess that the purple bat masquerading as a butterfly was supposed to be a heart? Yeah, me neither.

Finding the positive:

• I've finished two of four projects from the site.
• One of them is nice.
• Today is National Scrapbook Day and if I ever get to bed and sleep for a bit, I plan to spend some time scrapping when I get up!
• Oh! And I think I've learned a lesson - If I feel the need to take up some yarn, I'll stick to crochet.

zzzzz-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z--z--z--z---z---z----z....

Another day, another project

Is it better to have started and not finish than not to have started at all????

Ok, so I haven't finished the last couple of pages in my digital album. I'm somewhat inspired but haven't found the right time to sit down to do it. I actually tend to do more computer camping when I'm in a bad mood or semi-depressed and well, I've kinda been in a good place this week so no marathons at the desk. I suppose that's a good thing.

I did however start another project which I will no doubt not entirely follow through on, but we'll see.


Anyway, here is the fruit of my minimal labor. I'm struggling to embrace (word of the year) the imperfections and so far I like it but don't love it. Shimelle (I use only her first name 'cause I know her so well - right) is suggesting that she will have a small project on her site/blog pretty much every day for the month of May and this was the first one.

One down and 30(?) to go...

At least I am up-to-date so far!

Speaking of hybrids

Have so enjoyed having my van back today!

It's been getting a new transmission for over a week and I think that was the reason for some really cranky moments over the last couple of days.

Between the cost of fixing a car we were thinking about selling anyway, sharing just one car between two drivers and that one car being the truck I'm not comfortable driving, it's been a pain.

Much improved attitude today.

Now it's time to start thinking about what to replace the van with - we're not waiting for this transmission (the third in this car!) to go out...

And we've pretty much outgrown the minivan stage.

• There won't be any more family trips where we need to spread the kids out so they don't cause serious harm to one another (unless you count the occasional 15 minute trip to a restaurant during the holidays.)
  
  
• No more field trips with 5 unruly 4th graders eating snacks, making rude noises and complaining that they're about to be sick.
  
  
• It's been months since anyone sat in the back-back seat
  
  
• The truck is the obvious choice when it comes to transporting large objects.

It's definitely time for something a little smaller and greener.

Hybrid comes to mind

Yep, it's true. Introverted people are not energized by spending lots of time socializing.

Realized that yesterday after a busy, friend and family filled week. So, I spent pretty much the entire day sitting at my computer working on digital scrapbooking layouts for an online class I'm taking at Big Picture Scrapbooking and ignoring everyone around me.

I was hoping to be swayed toward doing some digital scrapbooking (and learn how to use Photoshop Elements correctly in the process...)


I've seen some absolutely gorgeous layouts in magazines that you'd never guess were done digitally. They're really quite inspiring and I keep thinking that digital scrapping would be a most logical thing for me to try. It's tidy, cheap and I can do it sitting right at my computer at any time of the day or night - even shopping for "supplies".

I have my spiffy slr camera, some serviceable software, a reasonably functional printer and the desire to try it...

But i'm just so tactile.

The feel of the paper and paint and ribbon and wire and...and... And the weight, even the smell (maybe not so much the taste, though) How can a flat piece of photo paper compete - no matter how amazing the subject printed upon it?

The class started a bit slow with basic color blocked layouts, but in the end, that worked out well since it gave me a chance to work on those PSE skills without being cognitively challenged. But clearly, we were not making those incredible pages from the magazines.


Once we started adding some embellishments and even better, making some embellishments, things definately picked up. At some point I started to have a lot of fun. Do you know how much I love drop shadows? (And yes, I do realize I've gone overboard with them, but I'll get over it eventually.)


There's only one week left of the class and at this point, I've done what I set out to do - learn about PSE and try digital scrapbooking.

I have to say, I don't think I've been converted...

but I may end up doing some hybrid scrapping - just so I can keep using those drop shadows and bevels. YEAH!

I just don't get it

I went to a wonderful, amazing English tea/baby shower yesterday. There was a most boggling amount and variety of foods; tea sandwiches, shortbread, eclairs, quiche-y things, sausage rolls, pavlova, scones with clotted cream and lemon curd, piping hot tea... The sandwiches were lovely - cucumber, salmon, some sort of beef and Marmite.

Just as we sat down, our British hostess asked us what we thought of English cooking now, and of course, with the delectable spread before us, what could we say but that, obviously, we tacky Americans were totally clueless when it came to the delights of English cooking -

and then we tasted the Marmite.

I struggle a bit with the idea of clotted anything and curds in any form sound rather unappetizing but they taste so yummy their names can be overcome.

Marmite sounds ok - rather like a cute little forest creature (not that I'd eat a cute little forest creature) and well, I have eaten a few odd things in my life, slippery critters, fermented veggies, an insect or two, so how bad could a little yeast extract be?

Bad, bad, very bad. Gaggy bad. Why did you try to poison us bad. So much for English cooking.

But the baby was adorable and everything else was divine! Just don't eat the Marmite.

She caves in

So.
Like many others, I've decided to join the ranks of bloggers.
Questions abound...
What in the world will I put up here?
Are there really enough coherent thoughts in my head to do more than one posting?
Do I want to share those thoughts?
What is the point?
Will I stick with this for any length of time?
Is it conceivable that anyone (besides me) would possibly want to read my ramblings?
If so, why?

Oh well, it doesn't cost anything to start and perhaps I will discover a whole new side of (choose one or more)
[ ] myself
[ ] the world
[ ] a mossy rock

So here's to mossy rocks!