This Guy

The younger son is 26 today. 

Always moving fast.

No wine was harmed in this photo.

Feels Like Summer

It's Memorial Day weekend. The tomatoes are planted. Dahlias and begonias and geraniums are looking up at the sun from their deck pots. I don't wait for the Solstice to start behaving in a summery fashion, so there's no need to hold back on singing about it.

Fedora? Fascinator? Fez?

There's this silly thing going around. You combine your grandmother's name with the name of your first pet and the name of the street you grew up on prefaced with the title of Lady. This is your fancy British society name that you will use when attending the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I happen to like both of my grandmother's names, so I decided to use both of them, plus one of their middle names. And since I grew up on many streets, I chose one of the two that was a word rather than a number. Thusly I have been tranformed into (fanfare!) Lady Martha Esther Caroline Cleopatra of Bristol. Though I'm not technically invited, I'll be wearing a fancy hat to match my fancy name anyway. If anyone needs me, I'll be practicing walking in high heels.

At it Again

My bloomin' hoya, shamelessly showing off her ladyparts in the dining room.

The fragrance is amazingly intense for such tiny flowers. Reminiscent (Ha! pun intended) of honeysuckle and clover. 

MomDay 2018

Reid and Dakota have brought me a red rose and lemon cake from Starbucks. I have aced the Sunday crossword. Life is good.

The first pic of my boys together. Reid is approximately fourteen hours old and Michael is just shy of four years. Michael is wearing the tshirt he decorated in sibling class. I have to say this is pretty darned adorable.

So. Edna had these shirts made for us, probably so it would be easier to tell us apart. In a previous shot, Martine and I were wearing the hats that have now been cast off with abandon onto the lawn. For some reason Cullen seems a bit annoyed. But consider what it says on his shirt. I believe this was taken the summer of 1983 when Cullen and I lived in the duplex on the corner of State & Dakota. It was a good time.

Throwback Thursday, Feline Edition

Also obligatory cat photo. My beautiful Einstein from three years ago this month, possibly squirrel or rabbit watching. There is a quite different view from the east facing patio door in this house that Newton looks out on, lazing on the same rug. This is one of the last pics I took of Steinie, he died just a couple of months later and so didn't make the move to Colorado with us. I still miss him every day.

No, You're a Club!

Thanks Designer Shoe Warehouse! I am now a club! Pity the marketing person who was on the editing desk the day this graphic was created. Now that I have mocked your (see how I used that word...) command of English grammar, I am grateful for the free shipping and the birthday gift. And I have always been fond  of the shiny shoe chandelier in your stores. 

Regrets

So. The guy sitting next to me is describing how he makes the best frozen margaritas. Ever. I am intrigued by the recipe and his specific list of measurements and ingredients and the method by which he combines them. Now. Consider that the next day is Cinco de Mayo. The perfect day for enjoying a margarita! And it didn't occur to me until this afternoon what I should have said to him. Great! I'll be over tomorrow, say, four in the afternoon? And you can whip up a batch of those amazing-sounding margaritas for me! I'll bring the guac and chips. Hmm. File this under missed opportunity or dodged-a-bullet. Depending on whether you're an optimist or pessimist. And forget that glass half empty or full thing. Your container is the wrong size.

He's a Lumberjack and He's Okay

I know this guy who took down a huge old walnut tree that was in his yard. Then, because he perhaps has too much time on his hands or he just likes to solve weird problems, he removed the stump by digging all around it. The unearthed stump was then sliced up into pieces. Last week he brought me a few pieces to use as funky decorations in my yard. Aren't they fun?

Lost of interesting color variations, likely caused by minerals absorbed from the soil.

This gnarly little chunk is my favorite. I'm thinking it will take up residence in the fairy garden after a few small alterations. I'm also thinking this is one of the very best, totally unexpected gifts I have ever received. 

Basil In, Cilantro Out

If you were a plant, would you choose to be brought into the house when winter sets in? Or to be left outside to brave the elements? Welcome to the world of my mostly brownish thumb! On the upper level of the plant stand is the Christmas cactus, which is doing quite well. On the bottom shelf is something that was formerly basil.

Last fall when I was cleaning out the garden beds, there were so many perky basil plants! So I brought some inside. At first there were three pots, but only this one survived. As you can see, it is nothing but dirt and dried up twigs. Remember, this is the plant that was privileged enough to come inside for the winter. In theory, so it would flourish and I could put it back in the garden this spring. Didn't work out that way.

Spring has sprung out in the raised garden beds! Here we have cilantro, which last fall had pretty much died back to nothing. Now, with the warmer days and some rain, the cilantro has magically come back to life! This morning I pinched it back and brought some fragrant leaves into the kitchen. They were combined with fresh, chopped tomatoes and a little olive oil and salt and used to garnish my omelet. Thank you, cilantro, your deliciousness will be appreciated all summer long.

May the 4th Be Pink!

The Rakish Ho(e)

What I want to know is, did the judges later award him the cash because they determined that his answer was equally valid? I do hope so. Though it appears that this particular answer, at this point in the game, didn't affect the outcome. I applaud Ken's creative answer.

Tonight's Entertainment

Naturally, there will be a firepit celebration outdoors if weather permits. Indoors we shall fire up the dvd player for The Mists of Avalon (2001), a tv miniseries adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's 1983 epic novel of the same name. I know, I know, there are purists out there who will object that the screen version strays too much from the book. I am willing to forgive these discrepancies primarily because the movie captures the time and its politics and the emotional depth and the relationships between the characters so very well. The novel, at 876 pages, had to be distilled down to its essence in order to fit into the run time of 186 minutes, another reason I am willing to pass on criticisms. The casting of the main feminine characters is inspired! Julianna Margulies (Morgaine), Anjelica Huston (Vivianne), Joan Allen (Morgause), Caroline Goodall (Igraine), and Samantha Mathis (Gwenhwyfar) are all wonderful in their strong portrayals, but they effortlessly look the part of these medieval women. As a fan overall of the Arthurian Legend, The Mists of Avalon stands alone in the manner that it elevates these female characters to the forefront of the story instead of leaving them in the background as one-dimensional props that help move the plot along for the men. So. The Mists of Avalon. Watch it! If you don't have the dvd like us old-fashioned people, I'm certain it is streaming somewhere. Happy Beltane to all!

Celebrate Beltane!