on simple things, bus wheels and a much needed camping adventure

It's the simple things in life that really make my heart smile. The song of the mockingbirds in the morning. The scent of most anything when the nose is working. A cloud that sails by faster than a go-cart. Adam ant on the radio, the mister whistling and finally sort of mastering a song on the ukulele (hey, The Wheels on the Bus is a song).

Freshly folded vintage linens. A jar of embroidery thread. A hot waffle dinner with family and a bowl full of prettily colored jordan almonds (even the box was pretty).

I'm all about simple things even when I am wanting for fancier. To keep it simple this week, the mister and I are trekking out for a much needed camping weekend. The last time we pitched our tent was in Oregon at the tail end of The BIG Road Trip. We're are much in need of a mini road trip and look forward to hitting the road with Dr. Eleanor Teeth and all our gear. Our destination is the Pinnacles National Monument and then onward for an evening at Henry Coe. May there be hot meals cooked on the car engine, good tunes and amusing radio. Hikes will be hiked, books will be read, pictures will be taken and adventure will abound. Have a happy holiday weekend and I'll see ya when we get back!

fun with egg cups

 I picked up these wee egg cups a few months ago with the intention of doodling on them. Thank goodness I found where I stashed them! When I was a little girl, every Easter, we decorated hollow eggs. My mother had a collection of ladies in pretty hats and oh how I adored them. Sadly, none of the ladies remain but I made up my own version using a wee bottle cap and vintage earrings. 

For my half-faces, I simply doodled with your good old sharpie pen. The felt bow-tie was glued on with e-6000 so these little pretties are not exactly washable. 

 

They do however make for a quirky egg display. 

Dig his bottle-cap hat?

wishy-washy aka I took over fifty pictures of this face and only one came out halfway decent...

I should have just bought a t-shirt instead.

Sometimes, I imagine that if you were to look up the word contradiction in the dictionary (they still have those, right?) you might see a picture of me. I always feel like I am at odds with myself. I do not do well in social situations and prefer to hide out at home where I am safe from awkward moments and yet when I am at home and safe from awkward moments I feel a smidge bored and a whole lotta forgettable. But when I am out and talking to people I have a constant dialogue in my head mostly made up of the words "stop talking, stop talking, STOP TALKING!" And I say that in relation to the blather my mouth is spewing forth. Yeesh!

I want to be liked but am too afraid of being stupid so I hide out and yet I speak up and out against things I think are unfair or unjust. I have little patience for what I imagine is stupidity but I am not exempt form doing and thinking stupid things.

I tend to lean towards the idea that my way is right or better or easier and yet I am always fearful of doing everything wrong. I already know that if we were to arrange four boxes of people doing the same thing whilst playing this song, I would be the thing that was not like the others.

I am not a fan of my face and don't say but I like your face, this is me, blathering on about um..me and I'm not a fan of my face...especially right now since I seem to have found that weight I recently lost. It has camped itself out on my face (among other areas). Though, on the oft chance of taking a stellar picture of said face (one where the chins are nicely cropped out) I will post it here to tomorrow. But if there is one thing that will bum me out more than the non-working sniffer it is looking at and searching for one single good picture of THE face.

The other day, I decided I need a new icon picture for FB and Pinterest and blogger, et al. I bathed and moisturized and brushed everything that needed brushing. The good mirror (the only mirror actually, thank MAUDE it is a good one) showed me on the way to looking decent. I applied mascara and lavender eye powder, a smidge o' pink to tint up the cheeks and my too-young-for-me red lipstick. I stood in the good light in the living room, picked up the Rebel, aimed it at where my face should be and took a few pictures before reviewing them.

And then I cringed a cringedy-cringe as I looked at that trio of dopplegangers that could not possibly be me as I had good hair just moments before. I ran into the bathroom (the very same one I left an egg in but I will share that story later) to view the disaster only to be greeted with a decent me. I sighed, took a breath and decided to try again, this time using the powershot as it has a flip screen which is really good for making faces at the camera.

More than fifty-shots later (and two changes in eye-wear) I plugged both cameras in for some editing and felt my mood plummet down, down, down. I am well aware that my face isn't awful and that looks are not the MOST important thing. And I am well aware that it is what is inside that counts and on a good day, I think my insides hold up nicely but man oh man what a way to feel down when not one single shot looks presentable. And I took them myself! With lipstick on and cute hair as evidenced by the good and only mirror in the tiny casa. Yeesh! I must be balding or losing my photo mojo or maybe I really do need a hair-cut, I don't know. So after too-many-to-count photos that got dumped in the virtual trash I am stuck with one. One single not-so-awful photo of this mug that is mine (though I see evidence of allergies, oh droopy, droopy eyes). Am I vain or what?

In retrospect, I probably should not have attempted this whilst watching America's Next Top Model. Yeeash. I need a new hobby...or another job...or a new lipstick (one that is a leetle less red?).

achoo!

 The allergies are still mucking up the brain big time. I can't really fathom what I did this week outside of work at the preschool but I do know my brain has been overflowing with ideas. Ideas that appear to simply float about the noggin in a safe bubble with no need to escape at all. Sigh. I did not craft a single thing up...I did however bake some gingerbread birthday goodness for a sister-a-go-go, so I suppose that is something, right?

I am reading a fabulous book that is so engaging to me it is difficult to put down. It's not your normal kind of read so when I tell people the title they tend to look at me as if to say "Riiiiiight, enjoy your...book?" Anyhow, if you are at all interested in progressive education and/or democratic classrooms, I highly recommend The Discipline of Hope by Herbert Kohl who is, by the way, an amazing writer of quite a few books. While it is awesome and amazing, it makes me very sad and wanting of a kindred spirit to talk to about these ideas and such. And cue another sigh.

Last week I saw The Hunger Games with a group of new gals and while I enjoyed the movie muchly, I really wanted to steal away with all the dresses from District 12. I am a sucker for calico. And since this paragraph seems to be about confessions I have to admit that this week has been all about jordan almonds and bad t.v. I really wish I could have my nose back. This whole not smelling things is a bummer and there is really not much I fancy right now other than salty or sweet and what good is that?

Reading the above makes me feel a smidge hopeless over the integrity of this post. My blog has been lackluster as of late and I'm still trying to figure out if I am through with this business of blogging. Probably not as I really need the validation of any little thing I can get and yet I am quite moody and blue that I have been doing this for a decade and I see my projects and pics reposted all over the web and back and yet I've nothing to show for it. Cue a wee fit as I clench my fists and stomp about in a very whiny way and proceed to sigh. I'm a mess. A sad mess. And I feel so small and childish and churlish and all assortments of other ish and I'm wondering what pics will look pretty and cohesive to this post. Not a clue....not a clue.**

Thank goodness I can still laugh at myself. Thank goodness for that...and bread. Fresh baked crusty bread with melty butter and black pepper on top. No, wait...with butter and homemade jam on top. No...wait...with tomatoes marinated in balsamic, garlic and olive oil on top. Man, I wish I had some crusty bread...

**I went with random pretty. I hope it works...

fuzzy wuzzy

 I've been experiencing a case of bad brain as of late. Not the kind of bad brain where the world is dark and gloomy and not the kind where I'm feeling all failure-like but the kind where my brains has ceased to function. It's all cloudy and fuzzy and I have become forgetful. We can blame it on the weather or maybe my thyroid or perhaps it is the menopause or the extra pounds on my body but I lay blame on all the pollen that has been careening about the pretty air here on both clear days and wet. I have been a bleary-eyed, runny nosed, lethargic, sneezy mess. Ugh, allergies.

I have also been quite forgetful and fuzzy and foggy and a wee bit clueless even. I woke up (almost) bright and early and (almost) ready to go. I (kinda) knew the plan for the day but did any of it get done? Sigh. Not only did I not really accomplish much other than the promised scones to the mister and some dinner prep, I managed to forget the staff meeting that was scheduled for today. I knew it was today, at least, I knew it was to be on March 27. I just...um...forgot today was the 27th. Yeesh!

And here I type something other than what I had wanted to because these darn allergies made me forget what I was going to type. See? It's a trap and I am completely useless...for now. I hope tomorrow will prove to be less fuzzy, less snoofly and more something.

 And it is only Tuesday...uh-oh.

a walk between the raindrops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Yesterday, the mister and I took a wander along a muddy road. It had poured during the evening but cleared up a smidge enough for us to wander for an hour or so.  I do love a good wander. Pretty, don't ya think? The title of this post is a tribute to my mamos who would have celebrated a birthday today. I miss her dearly.