Change of Plans

Dental emergency intervened, D went to town by himself (after snapping above photo at 4 something AbloodyM) and I slept until the phone rang at mid-morning. Bliss! I did some toilet shopping online and found a very negative reference to the one we were considering, a reminder to be wary when HD is our first stop for shopping. OTOH, the high-end Toto line certainly is seductive, but for a humble little cabin, not quite in the budget. Here's a tiny crop from one I snapped waiting for the ferry last Saturday on the way to the latest evolution of "I Love Being Abroad" by Julie Cascioppo. The mama gull has been nesting for at least 10 days in this spot where hundreds of passengers pass by daily.

She's kinda hard to see up there in this photo.

What's New

Someone thinks he's getting me up and away at the break of dawn tomorrow but it'll take a crane to get me out of bed that early. Although, it might be worth the effort to catch a glimpse of the deer who has been eating up every rose in sight and who completely devoured my beautiful heuchera "Coral Bells" the night before last. Does and wobbly legged fauns are on the prowl, day and night.

"7 Keys to Great Paintings", chapter on value patterns has my head spinning. It's like a punch in the stomach seeing what I've been missing in my work. I'm excited about the new perspective.

Kingston Art Gallery is Slug City these days with more than 100 hand-painted, fabric-wrapped and beaded beauties awaiting the big day 8/8/09 when they will be hidden and then hunted by officially licensed slug hunters. This is really happening. It's even been featured on Evening Magazine.

We had a big salad tonight with spinach, peas, radishes and different kinds of lettuce all from my little garden! This amazes me, a novice vegetable gardener. One little dried up pea seed produces a huge big vine with lots of pods containing many peas. Something to ponder. Likewise, the new book, reviewed in the Sunday NY Times, "The Evolution of God." Sadly, the author does not embrace Zoroaster but is spot on in other ways, tracing the changing personalities of "God" according to cultural advancements on Earth.

It's already tomorrow and I have a big day of shopping for toilet and sink in the city. I'll probably toss and turn in eager anticipation of such an event.

Fresh Bread, Old Wine

Having no bread in the house and a hungry ditch digger to feed, I made a loaf of whole wheat bread and maybe it was the new jar of yeast or the new bag of flour, but it rose better than ever. The wine is a Malbec, from Argentina, and we carried it with us across the Andes and for a month while traveling in Chile two and a half years ago. I thought it would be ruined from all the bouncing around and improper storage so last night I opened it to add some flavor to a braised chicken and sausage dish. Amazingly, the wine was excellent!

Today we brought in a yard of topsoil, reinforcements for my death to grass campaign. In the area by the woods, the true enemy is bindweed. It's growing almost a foot a night and it's everywhere, twisting and wrapping and strangling whatever it can sneak up on. I wonder if it's resistant to napalm . . .

Hummer at rest

Hummer at rest
Originally uploaded by JuliMil

Seconds later, another Anna's appeared and suddenly a tiny Rufous shot out at them and off they all flew. Between the hummers and the dragonflies, there's a lot of busy energy out there.

Oops!

Dodge "Ram" crammed into the trench that Jake dug. David engineered a way out with wedges and scrap lumber, politely ignoring my advice to call AAA for a truck with a winch. Hands-on ingenuity triumphs (again) over relying on professionals.