10-29-2012--Love and Relationships

It looks like a picture of needlework, not some thoughts on relationships, right? And it is. I've shown a progress picture of this counted cross all year long as I've labored to  finish it. And labor is has been. I have ripped it out too many times to count and then put the stitches back in again. The canvas is warped and in one or two places it has been snipped apart accidently and then carefully mended with the stitches. I've sworn I'd throw it away and never do counted cross again. And yet I always come back to it. 

I saw this and knew this was what I wanted to give to John this year. I looked at those two birds and felt my heart move because that's how I feel when I lay in bed at night with my head on his chest. Safe, loved, protected.

I was talking to Meg the other day and realized this needlework could be a metaphor or analogy, or whatever it is called, for marriages, partnerships, people you live long-term with. Sometimes things seem to be going smoothly and then you run across a part that doesn't match up quite right, so you rip it out and re-stitch it so it matches better. Sometimes you cry over it. Sometimes words are said and make rips in the canvas or fabric and you have to carefully piece it back together again. Sometimes you want to trash the whole thing and never do it again. 

Sunday John and I went shopping and we stopped on our way out of the store for ice cream cones. It is difficult to push a shopping cart full of things with one hand and eat an ice cream cone with the other, so he took one side of the cart handle and I took the other. We walked down the sidewalk pushing the cart, eating our cones, managing the turns and corners with very few words because...well, we know each other.  I said to him--you know any two people who can push a cart together without struggles or directions have a pretty good relationship. This could be some kind analogy for marriage or something. Yes, my brain alway seems to be working on metaphors or analogies for our struggles in life. That way when someone has troubles perhaps I can offer some insight. This is who I am, I suppose.

In the end, if the relationship is worth fighting for, if the relationship is loving and not abusive, all the tears and frustrations are totally worth the effort. Good relationships of any kind are a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

Oh...and I still have a ways to go before I finish this counted cross and here it is almost November! Yikes! Where did the year go?

08-24-2012 Remiss-Ness

That's a word, right? Remissness? That state feeling remiss. Well, if it wasn't a word it is now. I've fallen down on my pictures and blogs. Some weeks I am simply not up to sitting and doing a post even though I've taken pictures. Last month we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo and this month we did the San Diego Zoo. I thought I'd share pictures and spread them out as I often don't have anything to take pictures of when I'm hanging around the house.

But first, while I was hanging around the house I completed a set of pillowcases. This is cross stitch, which normally I don't do because it is boring, however I really liked the colors and besides, some days boring is good!

I took this at the Santa Barbara Zoo. He fits right in, doesn't he? I love him so much and one of the reasons is because he is such a  clown and makes me laugh.

This is one of  my favorites pictures from the Santa Barbara Zoo. I really like the light and color and the texture. Leave it to me to go to a place that showcases animals and come back with plant pictures!

Zoo pictures can be a challenge because so many of the animals are behind fences and in cages. However the Santa Barbara Zoo had a nice aviary and I had a wonderful time with the birds. And who doesn't like parrots? They are so colorful and have such personalities. These two were like an old couple constantly squawking at each other!

This pretty kitty is from our trip to the San Diego Zoo. He's playing with his ball. 

I think he must have seen us and put on a show! I was thrilled to be able to take this from the tour bus 'cause no way was I going back down, and then back up the hill to the big cats! Tigers are so beautiful. I just want to rub my hands through his thick fur.

We had a great weekend in San Diego. Besides the zoo we got to visit with my best friend, Deby, and her family. We sat and talked and laughed and the evening was so nice. I was thrilled to be able to spend some time with Natalie and her partner Lyndsey. I hadn't seen Natalie since I was in still in Alaska and I'd never had the pleasure of meeting Lyndsey. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of everyone. I had my camera...people often feel shy of cameras, so I like to get candid shots and we never shut up long enough for me to sneak around and capture them on film. It's kind of hard to sneak when you are the center of attention because you are from out of town! We also got to visit with Deby's roomies, Paul and Lizzie, two great people! I'm sure Denny's was happy to see us go since we were loud and created a ruckus with our humor and laughter.

We also were able to take in a Giants vs Padres ball game on Sunday. We took the trolley down and the ride was wonderful. That's the way to go--no traffic to deal with, no parking to contend with. We lost; however, just sitting in the ball park cheering for the team and enjoying the day was the point for me. Oh, and eating hot dogs and popcorn. Sorry--no peanuts 'cause I don't like them, and no Cracker Jacks because they didn't come with our all-you-can-eat tickets. no pictures either. I thought we'd be too far away and it turns out we were in the perfect place to see well and take pictures from. The pitcher even warmed up right in front of us! That will teach me to leave my camera behind. 

I'll try and get some other pictures up soon!

Blessings and love to all.

06/23/2012

Well...so much for a picture a day. I wish I could say I've been so busy that I didn't have time and that wouldn't be the truth. I just couldn't seem to muster much enthusiasm. However, enthusiasm or not, I actually did take some pictures and thought I'd share. Sometimes I just snap them and then don't have the gumption to post.

 I guess I was bored. I know I was resting after having  mixed up some cookies. Isn't it wonderful that I had the motivation to bake cookies? YAY!

And we have said cookies. On my new wire cooling rack that John bought me for my birthday. You never really realize just how much crap gets put on your counters until you take a picture of it...storage in this place is a real problem, so lots of things stay on the back of the counter, which was really designed to eat at.

 Yum...white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. That wire cooling rack pulls out and becomes three racks. When I am done, I can push them back together and store them easily. I could wish for larger counters, eh?

 I planted some herbs and one actually pushed up. I planted oregano, chives, bell pepper, and something else that I can't remember.

 I was fascinated by this picture. I love how bright the flower is and stands out from everything else.

 Here is my fern friend. He has uncurled. I am fascinated by how tightly curled they start and then slowly become a frond. Hopefully the sun won't kill this before it has a change to grow all the way.

 Here is the first sign of life--oregano, I think. although it could be a weed. Who knows? Half the fun is watching new life grow. The other half is having fresh herbies for John to cook with.

 I couldn't get this guy very well. I had a host of caterpillars and they decimated my nasturtiums. This guy is so full he is somnolent. I have a love-hate relationship with the caterpillars and snails in my small planting space. I love to watch them, but they eat my plants, so then I hate them! Some people are never happy. Where are the hungry birds?

 Ah...more life! This is definitely oregano coming up and that tall one is most probably a weed.

 Peach cobbler. Yum! We didn't have enough peaches, though. I love peaches, but they never really ripen well when you buy them and bring them home. Peaches were meant to be picked ripe off the tree. However, I thought if these didn't look very good when they got riper I could make a cobbler. It was very good! So good, we got more peaches so I can make another one. It was very easy. I blanched the peaches and peeled them, John cut them up. I dumped stuff in them and made the biscuit topping stuff. Much easier than pie. A very good breakfast treat!

 So don't laugh...my poor cake. lol  They both fell in the middle just before I took them out of the oven. I think I got too much butter in them. I wanted them to be moist...I can tell you, the cake is moist. And it is really good. It just looks like an earthquake hit it.

 Thursday John took me out to dinner and then we took a small walkie. I call it a walkie because I can't do very much at all. Maybe a block. the first think I saw was this flower...are the colors gorgeous or what?

 And then there was t his beautiful flower...we were suppose to walk in the park, but the complex across from the park was much more interesting.

 We saw a squirrel as we crossed the street and before I could take his picture he got scared and dashed up this tree.

 He is looking at these two people who were doing that wheelbarrow thing--one person holds the other person's legs and that person uses their hands to move forward. The squirrel probably couldn't figure out what the heck that strange new creature was!

Beautiful roses...if there is one thing I love about southern California it is the roses that grow around here. They are huge and colorful and gorgeous.

My camera battery died.  There were huge old pine trees lining the sidewalk. Some of them tilted, sidewalks pushed up from their roots. It was a beautiful little walkie. I probably won't be able to do another one for a couple weeks, though 'cause I pushed it to two blocks instead of keeping it down to one. Oh well, that's why they make narcotics!

So this is my blog and picture offering. Happy day to all!

05-30-2012 Making up for 5 days of pictures

I've been remiss with posting picture since May 25th. I actually did take some pictures on the missing days and other days I took no pictures at all. Today I took my camera out while I waited for John to pick me up and took quite a few pictures. I had 43 pictures I downloaded from my camera and managed to get them down to these:

I thought this was interesting. This is actually a close-up of a light post outside of our apartment complex.

These caught my eye while we were at Ralph's last Saturday. 

I loved the soft pink tops of the petals and the deeper color on the inside. It is amazing what you can find in parking lots if you are looking, isn't it?

I was standing outside one afternoon and saw what I thought was a bloom on the Magnolia tree out in our little yard. The sun was so bright and glaring I couldn't really tell if I saw a bloom or was imaging things. I took pictures anyway and sure enough, there was the creamy magnolia bloom. I played with this one and darkened up the leaves to make the blossom stand out more.

This one I actually lightened the entire picture and it is probably closer to what the tree actually looks like when there isn't full sun glare on it.

Remember the tightly wound fern baby? It is uncurling day by day. I tried to get it framed between the stems of my avocado tree, but it was difficult because of the light glare. The sun reflects off the walls of the  apartment building and even though our place is too dark inside to grow anything, outside in the little yard it gets quite bright.

I didn't do a thing to this picture. Somehow I took it just perfectly. At least I think it is perfect the way it is. 

There was a sweet little bird pecking in the grass while I was out taking pictures and waiting for John this afternoon.

I really have a thing for taking pictures of birds--well, maybe just nature. I love to take nature pictures. I guess I get that from my dad who was an excellent nature photographer.

The flowers were a little dark in this pic, but I loved the way the sun shone through the leaf behind them.

The sun through the red leaves of this hedge just inside the fence of the complex caught my eye here.

I love irises. They grew wild in Alaska and I was always trying to get pictures of them. They were a bit different up there, though. The delicate colors fascinate me.

I loved the texture in the green buds on this one.

Jacaranda trees have always been my favorite. I can remember driving through Santa Barbara on the freeway with the Jacaranda in bloom and all these gorgeous purple flowers. I wish I had gone out early in the spring and gotten pictures when the blooms were at their peak.

These were beautiful. What is interesting about this picture is that these are actually yellow flowers. It was bright with lots of reflection, so I manually made the whatever it is called smaller and that, in turn, seemed to change the color of the flowers.

They are beautiful this way, though!

Here is the same flower, but with more light. I used the flash and they stayed yellow.

This one I used a filter to try and bring out the  yellow and the edges turned yellow, but the petals stayed more peachy.

And finally--tada!--This is very close to what they actually look like outside. They are beautiful. I have no idea what they are, but I love the colors in the middle.

I would love to take a digital photography class someday and see if I can learn more about picture taking. 

05-25-2012 Pizza! Pizza!

Last night was pizza night in our house. Yum! I gave up on making a round pizza and making one big pizza. Instead I did two smaller pizza crusts and they were whatever shape they came out as. Interestingly enough, they came out fairly round when I stopped trying. 

Here is John putting toppings on the first pizza. We only have one pizza peel, so after pre-cooking the crust we took it out and put it on our old pizza pan while the second crust cooked. Then we realized we had to put it on the pizza peel in order to get it back into the oven...

John got the first pizza back in the oven like a pro. Must be that Italian blood in him.

Mmmmm! Mushrooms! The sauce is pizza sauce that John makes and we freeze. This one has bell pepper, Italian sausage, black olives, and a variety of seasonings in it. We also had some leftover grilled green pepper and onion from the other night, so we threw that into the sauce also.

Here it is--all ready to go into the oven. It turned out really well. We split the first one and froze the second one. We are starting to get better at making pizza!

05-24-2012 A stranger in the pot

This afternoon I noticed leaves that did not look like nasturtiums. There is strange growth in my pot, I thought. Hmmmm...didn't mean to rhyme there. I suspect from the look at the seed still clinging to the leaves that the stranger is a cantaloupe. Last summer I planted seed from whatever we were buying at the time. Of course, as soon as they came up, the snails ate them. Maybe this year the salt will keep them away long enough to see what they will do in a pot.

I just like how the avocado looked today. The top is so tiny that the big leaves are causing it to bend. I even liked how the curled dead top of the second avocado made this artistic shape and gave balance to the tableau.

05-23-2012 A Better Day

I must admit, I took this one last night, but I wanted to share the inside of the monster apple pie we made Saturday. Now that is an apple pie...

I was sitting outside while our dinner grilled and noticed these two pigeons sitting on the railing of the neighbor's balcony. Unfortunately, somehow my setting were messed up on my camera and I was only able to get one usable shot. I really liked this one, though. There were originally sitting together side-by-side and I thought--John and I are like that. We sit and quietly enjoy the peacefulness as the sun begins to set and just enjoy being together.