Pretty Little Flower

Pretty little flower, not in my flower book

Aw, such a pretty little flower. So, how little?

Okra Pods Still Life

Okra Pods

(Belated post)

It was my birthday yesterday and thank you everyone for wishing me a happy one. A present to myself was to spend some time taking pictures of these pods that I had been saving for their portraits for a very long time.

One of the things I inevitably think of every year on my birthday is "This is the youngest I'm going to be for the rest of my life." I'm 49 now and am going to enjoy the heck out of being so young =)

Portrait of my Mom

Mom
Odessa, Texas
March 2008

A loving face that I love.

Abandoned Stories

Abandoned Stories Series, #1

I really like this photo.

And I like other photos I have taken with this similar theme. I know it's not joyful, I know it's not uplifting, but sometimes photos, like life, can be satisfying by just being intriguing.

Small Town Texas

(I forgot where I took this!)
Some small town in West Texas

One street
One stop light
One restaurant
And one big cotton gin

My Neighbor

Kitten's Birthday present from her Granny
Crocheted "Totoro"

Not a good picture of my handiwork, but I had just finished crocheting this little friend for Kitten's birthday and was in a rush to deliver it for her 4th birthday party.

It's one of my first attempts at crocheting something other than a blanket. Any crocheters out there? I used this free online pattern.

Or how about any Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki fans? If you have little ones (especially girls), and even big ones who are still young at heart, you deserve it to yourselves to check out some of his films. My favorites are My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Kitten also loves Kiki's Delivery Service.

Oh, and she liked her birthday present. Even packed it with her for their vacation this week :)

Cat In the Hat

Trumpet vine pod in a demitasse cup
My kitchen table, Odessa, Texas

My baby brother is staying with me for a while. I help him and he helps me. Casey (here is a 1967 version of him -- I frequently still think of him as that cute little guy even though he is now 42) remarked this picture looked like something out of "Cat in the Hat." I take that as a high compliment.

I've started catching up with some blogs and have been blown away by the fun of it all. So much talent. So much humanity. So much personality. It's great to visit you all again. I'm working my way down the list. If you haven't heard from me yet, you will soon.

Call Me

"Call Me" or alternatively, "Tempting Monkey John"

An abstract. Can you guess what it is? Or rather, what it once was.

Green Antelopehorn

Green antelopehorn, aka Green milkweed, Asclepisa viridis
Roadside near Tahoka, Texas

I've seen this wildflower twice in all my years (almost 32) in Texas. I hope everyone has a good book outlining the wildflowers to be found in their area. According to my 1991 copy (my second, the first I wore out) of Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi,

The silky fluff from the seed of milkweed was formerly used in the making of candle wicks. The silk was carded and spun much in a manner of cotton or wool. In the burning, it was far superior to cotton, giving a cleaner light and producing a less offensive smoke after the candle was blown out. This fluff is used by goldfinches to line their nests.

I just love tidbits like that.

Not abandoned

"Not Exactly Abandoned"
Seminole, Texas

Greetings bloggin' buddies,

My "little time off" turned out to be a much longer time off. Did you think perhaps I had abandoned my blog? It must have seemed like it. You all were so sweet, though, to nudge me now and then. Every comment urged me to reach my goal of returning to a place I like to be.

So much catching up to look forward to!

March 2008 A Little Time Off

After blogging every day (nearly) for a year, I'm giving myself a little time off. Even while I'm recharging, have no doubt I won't be able to resist lurking around your blogs, saying hello now and then.

Like Spring, I'll be here again soon, fresh and renewed :)

Recalling Growing Up in Fisk, Texas

Recalling Growing up in Fisk, Texas

I spent all yesterday afternoon and into the evening with my dear friend Nelda. I had asked her if she would tell me about her growing up in a small farming community during the 40s and 50s. Her mother and daddy owned the country store in Fisk for more than twenty years. Sadly, family owned country stores that served the needs of rural communities are now mostly a thing of the nostalgic past.

I'll be working on an article about the memories she shared with me, but in the meantime here is a memento of that afternoon -- some treasured contents of an old shoe box.

Old Garden

Old Garden

This is my entry this week's Two Things Challenge for "Old / New." Not a great, or even good, piece of photography. However, I wanted to document how my neglected vegetable garden plot looked in its "old" (aka "before") state and there wasn't much I could do to make it look good.

(Yes, those are weeds, and some are as tall as me.)

This is what I'll be doing each afternoon for the next couple of weeks: Clearing out those weeds, recovering lost gloves, spades, and perhaps even my old wheelbarrow. Building new raised beds. Laying down hay, re-routing soaker hoses, and heaping on mulch. And I'll be dreaming.

I'll be dreaming of the sound of tapping new seed packets. Dreaming of new little lime green sprouts in April. Dreaming of the humid smell after a watering in June's hot summer days. Dreaming of tomatoes outgrowing their cages, zucchini outgrowing its beds, and the risk of losing gloves and spades in August's fecundity.

Hard to imagine that now. But that's the beauty of a garden, even an old neglected garden. The dream is always new.

February 2008

Corner of my home

Corner of my home

Just a little corner of my home, the top of my dresser, showing how cheaply I decorate. The pods are from a trumpet vine, in a vase that probably came with a bouquet I received long ago. The doves are from a thrift store, no more than $3, repainted with pearlized paint. And although you can't see it, the doves are sitting on top of my jewelry box that I bought with my first real paycheck in 1976 -- with FICA taken out and everything -- which holds mostly inexpensive but sentimental treasures.

Soon it will be time to think of some other little arrangement for this spot, and others, to celebrate warm weather and green things. What about you? Do you have a corner to share? A thrift store beauty that needs to be shown off? Or a little arrangement that soon will be replaced with a fresh nod to Spring?