Weekend recap - RTT style

The backstory:
Keely start Random Tuesday Thoughts.
Everyone loved it.
Keely's life got busy.
Stacy graciously took over.
Everyone loves it.
Giving Keely a much needed break.
You got all that? Yeah, me too.
Let's get down to business


I made food this weekend.  This may not seem like a big deal but I've been gone quite a bit in the last few weeks so all cooking, painting and cleaning were put on hold. Since, I consider cooking a creative outlet, putting it on hold is very hard for me. But I'm back in the saddle and have come up with something I think will be awesome! An egg baked in an avocado half. Topped with a little lime and cilantro. In fact, I'm jonesing for it right now. Except it is Tuesday; I don't have any avocados right now, shopping day isn't until Saturday and this sounds like breakfast to me. Not that breakfast food can't be dinner. Damn! I'm now convincing myself to stop at the store.

Doesn't this look like dinner?

Oh look! The California Avocado Commission has a recipe. I think this will be on Saturday's breakfast menu with a few vegetarian tweaks. Considering my love of all things avocado, (except maybe the avocado colored appliances that my mother-in-law had...ewww..whoever though THAT was a good idea?) it looks like I'll be culling through their recipe website soon.

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I painted.

 I thought I was done with this but I want to fill in a little on Sprite's bow and Jen's shirt. Other than that I think it came out really well. It is hanging on my drying wall. Jen's wonderful husband John takes the most amazing and heartfelt photos that he could keep me busy for a year trying to paint them all. Damn.You.John! (and I mean that in the nicest way because I love all of you)

This gray scale is of a friend's sleeping baby. I adore the look of it. JR wasn't sure what it was at first and I LOVE that about this painting. You really sort of have to know what the subject matter is or unfocus a little to figure it out.

Next up is the "We can afford that" banner and one of JR's grandmother boarding a train back in 1910. I'm planning to paint that one in a post-impressionism style. That ought to really confuse JR.

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The weather was a little hot and muggy on Saturday which encouraged our hibiscus to bloom.

Thankfully, it cooled down. I'm seriously hoping that we don't start summer until at least May this year.

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I've been working out very consistently for the last week and a half. While my scale and I are not agreeing, I say I can see/feel the difference. My clothes are fitting a little better. After all the travel food I've been eating I needed to get back into shape. Eating all those calories isn't hard but burning them off sure is.

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I love yoga.

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Nessa is spoiled.

In a sweet cuddly fuzzy type of way that is impossible to resist.

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That is it for me. Please take a few minutes to pop over to Stacy's place to visit other RTT participants.

Love,
M

And now for something completely different

So yesterday was really dramatic and a lot of work. That whole 2 day post took over a month to write, rewrite and rewrite again.

Personally, for someone as lazy as I am this was exhausting. 

Way too exhausting for me to continue for any length of time. 

That means that today you get pictures of flowers. 

And porches. 

And rocking chairs.

While I recover. 

Talk among yourselves.

Love,

M

It seems I have a bit of an obsession

This time of year I seem to fixate on flowers. Maybe, because so many are blooming and I've had a low grade headache for weeks. 

Whatever. 

I love flowers. 

I love everything about them.

How they look.

How cheerful they make a room instantly feel.

I've been known to buy 2 or 3 bunches in the middle of winter just to brighten my house (I know! I'm such a spendthrift).

I love the colors

The many many colors. 

Purple is a favorite of mine. I think it is because I'm old of mature years. We look better in purple.

And, the smell!

OMG! the smell!

The stinkier the best.

I love to plant smelly flowers right near the door of any residence that we live in. It seems more welcoming to our guest to have a sweet smell right before they enter the, what is probably not nearly as sweet smelling, house. So buying and/or planting flowers is not so much of a luxury but a courtesy to my guests. If any of you come to Houston you can thank me then.

You know what does not grow here?

Lilacs!

and it makes me sad.

In fact, none of the flowers I took pictures of on Saturday last grow around here very well but if you saw yesterday's post you can see there are compensations. That fence full of jasmine and the magnolia trees? 

Too die for. 

Just the scent alone is intoxicating. 

Sort of like living in Phoenix when the orange trees bloom. Or in southern Indiana when the wild dogwoods bloom. 

Just goes to show that every place has its compensations if one just looks for them. 

Even the rainy Pacific Northwest.

I hope you enjoyed the flowers from the unusually sunny Portland, Oregon farmers market. I've got more Portland related posts coming up. Included but not limited to the biggest resale bookstore in the United States, Powells, and a picture of me on a camel. I bet you can't wait for that one (snicker)

Love,

M

PS: Pseudo has a Travel Thursday thing going so if you can find the time head over to visit other bloggers who either travel or visit their local sites and like to share.

It's the time of the season

It's the time of the season



When the white flowers bloom

In this time, give it to me easy

And let me try

With pleasured hands

To take you and the sun to

Promised lands

To show you every one

It's the time of the season for white flowers

Love,

M

PS: name that tune and who wrote it. even though I took a bit of license with the words.

Wanamaker's Department Store - Flower show

 Wanamaker's department store, located in Philadelphia, PA is one of the oldest department stores in the United States. The department store was started around the 1870s by John Wanamaker. The current building was built in 1910 to replace Wanamaker's original Grand Depot store (1877). It is now owned by Macy's.

Every year they have a flower show. I'm not sure when this tradition started but it is brilliant. After a long cold snowy winter what better way to lift Philidelphian's spirits than to fill the department store with flowers? 

 It's the smell that gets you first.

You walk in the second set of doors and the smell of earth, flowers and trees hits you in the face. 

It is fantastic!
You look back outside to reassure yourself that you hadn't walked into an alternative universe. Nope, still cold rainy/snowy outside.

Let's take a quick tour through the middle of the store.
Stay in a group.
Okay, ready, set, go...

 In the middle section of the store is this large open area that must reach 3 stories. They placed a half dozen or so flowering cherry trees surrounded by flowers of varying types within this courtyard. If you look at the top of the photograph you will see some of the pipes from the giant pipe organ.  It is one of the largest pipe organs in the world and graced the St. Louis World's fair in 1904. I almost questioned myself on the date of the St. Louis World's fair but knew in my heart I was right. Knowing stupid facts and minutiae is my burden to bear.

Let's continue our tour 

We're walking

We're walking...

Aaanndd...
We stop

 Nestled among the cosmetic counters are more groups of flowers surrounding the famous Wanamaker's eagle. I didn't get a picture of it because I'm an idiot but imagine if you will that there is a huge (huge as in, if I were to lie down stretch my arms over my head and point my toes that is about how long it is. Of course, I'd be in mortal danger of being stomped to death by the shoppers or escorted from the building by security if I were to do this so let's use our imaginations) eagle statue in the middle of this grand courtyard. The eagle became the symbol of Wanamaker's and after sometime it became a well known meeting place for residents. Meet me at the eagle only meant one thing in Philly, the Wanamaker's eagle statue.

We're still walking

 

Aaaannnnd

Let's stop

Isn't it pretty the way the spikiness of the lavender looks against the puffy cloud-likeness of the hydrangea?
And, the cascading English ivy?
Check it out.
All lazily falling down amongst the hydrangea. Like it knew that that would show it off to the best affect.
The flower designer was good.

Very very good.

Let's continue on.

We're walking...

We're dodging shoppers...

 

 Aanndd...

Stop.

The cosmetics counters run in a square shape around a center display island. Perched on the center of the island are these wonderful fountains of flowers. Everywhere you look there are flowers. If you are not into the flowers, check out the fantastic architecture. Columns, arches, and flourishes wherever the eye lands.

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for taking our abbreviated tour of the Wanamaker's/Macy's department store. It has been our pleasure to introduce spring back into your lives even if it is not yet in your neighborhood. 

Any questions?

Love,

M

P.S.: Go play Dungeon Blitz. Becky's husband and his business partner wrote it. They are all geeky like that.

Randon Tuesday Thoughts on Wednesday

So I'm a day late? I'm also a dollar short. Does anyone say that antidote anymore? Yeah, I didn't think so. And, with the economy in the toilet it should read: A day late and 10 dollars short. We can just say I'm late today.

As most of you know I was at a Librarian's conference this weekend in lovely but busy Washington DC. Our nation's capitol, where the air is humid and the drivers are crazy. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to stop by your blogs but the conference site didn't have wireless. I KNOW! How crazy is that.

Here are some random highlights of my trip. Details to follow.

Wine on patio of restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland.

Very pretty
Very peaceful
VERY HOT!
VERY HUMID!

Exhibit hall in conference center.

Busy little bees work down there.

Cooking/cookbook demo in exhibit hall.
You knew I couldn't pass this up
Hey, I got a free cookbook out of the deal
and that gentleman up there, we had a meaningful discussion.
Okay, we traded business cards. Shut up! It was too meaningful.

Cookbook section of the Mt. Vernon gift shop.
I really haven't found a gift shop I didn't like
but one that carries cookbooks is my favorite.

Mt. Vernon. The home of George Washington.
He was there by the way.
Of course, he's dead.
So he probably doesn't smell too good.
He probably didn't smell too good when he was alive.
Bathing wasn't an everyday occurrence back then.

Pretty flowers.

We'll get into some more details in the coming days. I need to make some apologies to the drivers in the Washington DC metro area, I have some thoughts on conference sessions held after lunch, the best thing I ate and many more exciting topics. Can't wait, can you?

Off to work now,
See you all later.

Love,
M