up to my eyeballs

 It seems this week all I have been doing is moving piles from one part of the tiny casa to the other, picking up tiny threads, snipping tiny threads, photographing projects and other odds and ends, and losing my many post-it notes full of ideas scribbled down with a dull pencil at all hours of the day into the late, late evening.

I'm not complaining,  I do lean towards happy chaos, but goodness, I think I made a mess of the tiny casa and with us heading out on a mini road trip in oh...eight days, I think I can confess that I'm a smidge taxed out.

We have a new neighbor upstairs and I just a moment ago met him as he happened by the kitchen door which was propped open due to it being hot in the the tiny casa (I blame the oven being on and hot flashes). If you had been said neighbor you would have seen me crouched on the kitchen floor covered in scone batter, photographing words written on a paper bag that was tacked to a wood crate surrounded by tiny snips of thread in two different greens, escaped mini marshmallows and chocolate chips. It's a wonder I did not spill my iced coffee. I also believe that though it was well past ten in the morning, I probably still exhibited morning hedgehog hair. Oh yes, I also believe music from Jesus Christ Superstar was blaring through the tinny computer speakers or maybe it was PiL (oh, I know they sound nothing alike, but those were the last two tunes I remembered hearing as I emt the neighbor, ya gotta love iTunes shuffle).

I'm taking a mini break to load and edit photos, drink iced coffee topped with mini marshmallows (the mallows were added purely for photo effect but now I quite like them) and plan my next area of attack. I have blog posts to write up for the dilly and the do and I have a handful of guest posts to work on for a new endeavor. There is a fancy camera sitting here loaded and ready for me to play with (though play is limited as I have forgotten all the tricks to a manual camera and this puppy weighs four and a half pounds), and I suppose I should put on non-batter covered clothes, brush my hair and get back to some project doing.

Just thinking of all that makes me think I need another jar of iced coffee...marshmallows included.

old and pretty, weak coffee and a mini road trip

 Last weekend we joined a sister a-go-go, her fella and the mama for a diner breakfast. After filling up on french toast and eggs and very weak coffee (which we asked about, it was really bad. they then told us they had two pots, one strong, one weak. now why wouldn't they ask us? hmmm. now we know, next time ask for the pot with the rubberband on it. i guess we need to be regulars.) we hit up a small used bookstore and a walk through an antigue store that was more junk (in a good way) than antique though maybe the prices were more antique than junky. I didn't really ask as we are brokity broke, shopping for a replacement Rodney and I suppose I really don't need an old wooden dollhouse shelf or a handful of spotty bottles. A girl can however take pictures, so I did.

 

We're on our way out to Bakersfield to test drive some cars. It's really not easy find your basic non-souped up vehicles on the lot so Bakersfield it is. It's a two hour drive but we'll make the most of it. Got the ipod loaded up with new podcasts, a small pack of dilly-made brownies in a box, two thermoses of hot tea and a couple of apples tucked away as well. I'll also have a couple of cameras along hoping for some pretty (I hope I don't jinx myself). Happy weekend and thank you, THANK YOU, for the love and support of my last post. I truly wish I could have ya all over for tea and kvetching. Wouldn't that be grand? I have a follow up brewing in my head lest you think I was bashing anyone, which I wasn't, only myself I suppose. I'm really good at that, don't ya know? Anyway...happy weekend friends! Enjoy it to the fullest!

today: april 17

I baked cookies all day. ALL DAY. I do not want to even think of looking at another cookie.

p.s.
I had really intended yesterday's post to reflect how a day can start out one way and end in another. It was simply one of those days you wanted to hit the covers within moments after waking but by the end of it you are so glad you didn't. As I wrote at the end of the post. It was a good day. A very good day. Thank you to those who emailed me. Big squeezey squeezes to you. I wish I could figure out a better way to convey that I'm not such a gloomy Gus. I'm really not.

today: april 16

started out wonky and on uneven footing for everyone around. Got straightened and slip, slippy a few more times. It was an up and down kind of day. A day for a swing run like Lita and I used to do when the going got tough. It wasn't all bad, goodness, no but it is remarkable how tricky words and lack of words can make for crankiness and misunderstandings.

Today we looked at apartments and felt dismal dismay. The pickings are slim but we look, looked anyway. We allowed ourselves to feel utterly defeated, down-in-the-dumps and dismayed. But we shrugged it all off and felt grateful for family.

Today we piled too many into the car for a quick trip back up to the college. There was soft serve for the family a-go-go (I held out for a Coke with dinner) and a walk about the local college as we chatted up students in various booths about bees, cotton mills, sustainability and newborn foals. We hiked up and up and up a hill in the warm sun that seemed to turn hot as the hill got steeper. We passed by ewes and lambs mowing a weed patch and witnessed the breeding process for horses. It was far more interesting than I imagined and marveled at the young women in training who prepared the stallion and the mare. We decided after seeing how the majority of the students in the breeding program were women that you tall young men who like ladies would probably do very well in the program. Mister even said he should have went for horse breeding.

Today we drove up and down a windy road eye-spying critters such as turkeys, bunnies, cows, deer, blue birds, nuthatches and magpies. We walked up another steepity steep hill covered in dappled sunlight examining grass, flowers and dead trees. We listened to birdies sing-singing their songs and watched lizards duke it out for a sunny spot on a hot rock.

Today was a full day. It had uppity up and downwardy downs. We laughed, we argued and we enjoyed the company of family. We adventured out together, walking this way and that and we ended it with dinner (In N Out), a grocery run (we eat far too many apples) and a peek through the mister's telescope where we saw Saturn all rings a-glowing and a wee moon saying goodnight.

Today was exhausting.

Today was a good day.

still in the mood for lurve

I think I'd celebrate Valentine's Day every day of I could get away with it. Pink? Red? Chocolate? Lace? Vintage goodness? What's not to love? Here's a peek at what went on yesterday and carried over to today. I'm duking it out with a cold and gray skies and I'm certain I gave myself a work injury punching out all those scallops. There is a blister my friends, yes a blister! I'll have my wool flower tutorial up tomorrow with photos. I've mentioned in in a couple of different projects but decided to take pics of each step so you can see it better. 

Some of the mama a-go-go's vintage Valentine's.

mister played with legos for a blog post...

While I stitched up happy tags and wool flowers...

 I valentined up my morning coffee...

 And punched circle after scalloped circle. And I think the pretty is totally worth a sore blistered thumb.

 I also rushed out in the rain to catch this shot before the sun set...swoon!

Finally, a belated Christmas present (stocking) from Ms. Stacey arrived with all sorts of goodies and pretty. This hat? Isn't it swoon worthy? That lady has some mad creative skills, she really does. And now, back to Blossom Dearie...happy Tuesday!

head still spinning

thank you folks for yer kind responses to my cranky post. i want to answer each one of you and will soon but still wrapping my head around thoughts. darn that thinking brain of mine. today i went to visit with a favorite person who does magic with a pair of shears, and a bit of color. i have a new 'Do and while i adored my pigtails i have to admit, they just weren't the me that i wish to be. i only thought i did and the reasons were all wrong. i may not see the me i want to see when i look in the mirror but boy-howdy a new cut sure makes the looking a bit more bearable. what is that? a smile on my face? who knew?

we're puppy/house sitting for friends and are back in our old hood (kinda sorta) for two weeks and already i'm thinking i need more time. there is so much i want to see, hear and do. so many people i want to squeeze but the clock is tick, tick, ticking away faster than i can count. what's an a-go-go to do?

yikes! this post ran away from me as well and i should not have started just as i fixed my self a dinner of cheerios (yuh-huh). when i'm stressed or sickish, a smidge of carbs always does my body good and it's just too hot for mashed potatoes so don't judge. cereal is getting soggy so i'm signing off. smooch!

i've been very forgetful today

*spent far too long on the phone trying to figure out how to get my meds while we're on the trip.*took pretty morning pictures when i meant to take my meds. took me two hours to remember to take them. the meds, not the pictures.*i never got to finish my coffee. *dishes got washed but the bathroom did not get cleaned.*i did manage to put the ironing board away. i really should have boxed up all the stuff and junk on the kitchen table and schmunked more in garage sale boxes but when i went outside to throw some trash away i was swayed by the garden and hung out there instead.

this morning

there is (as always) MUCH to be done before we head out on the BIG road trip. we're having a garage sale this saturday which still needs to be filled with garage sale stuff which means i have to scavenge through the chaos to see what i can part with...not fun when yer not supposed to be inhaling dust or anything. mister's last day of work is friday which means he's at work all day and doesn't particularly cotton to cleaning and rooting in the casa. but then again, there is so much chaos, it is hard not to want to get it all done. makes for cranky times and cranky times are not fun. i'm also trying, trying, trying to squeeze in last minute visits with all m'friends. gosh, i'm gonna miss you folks, yer all so swell and grand. i'm hoping that the garage sale will be a stand in as a going away party as i have no time at all to plan one and kinda secretly always wanted a party planned FOR me, ya know? we leave the casa in ten days. eeps! and since there is so much to do, i decided to chow done on a pretty breakfast of pumpkin muffin and hot ginger milk and then i decided i should take the dress dummy out to the garden and photograph it, why yes, i must. wouldn't you?

today...april 17

we were approached by a not-so-well person while enjoying the lovely spring weather and a rootbeer float at Foster's Freeze. he stood over us slightly touching and speaking rapidly and purposefully in spanish. i couldn't catch everything he was saying but it was something about how he did not want to play with me. not sure where it was going i told him i didn't understand, no se. he then told mister a-go-go that he could kill him...in english. it was then that we got up and went to the car. the ladies at the counter were yelling at him to leave, everyone else enjoying their cones just watched with smirks and wide eyes. this is something i will not miss about this big city of ours. such a shame as the day then took on a sour mood. we shook it off but still...sigh.

at least that float up there looks enticing. it was good too, only slightly bittersweet...

mondays are more manageable when cake is involved

playing doctor with a cake mix...