Distracted by leaves

I made a quick trip to school today to give something to Mrs. W.

On my way back to the car, I passed under an ornamental pear tree, and got sidetracked looking at all the pretty fallen leaves. I could spend an hour collecting them, but then what would I do with them? In a day or so, the colors would fade and the leaves would all turn brown. So I pulled out my camera and took a picture real quick. This handful, at least, will never fade now.

Mix-up at the Sara Lee plant

I consider myself to be a pretty careful shopper. I look at the nutrition label, try to get the best price, and I always remember to check the expiration date (and then dig around to see if I can find a better date!) But this was something I didn't notice till after I got home: My hamburger buns came in a hot dog buns bag.




Not that it really matters. HD and HB buns cost the same, for the same quantity. It's basically the same thing only a different shape. But it was still funny.

Interesting fern stem cross section

Well, I finally finished cleaning out the little section in my front yard that had old, overgrown, and generally yucky-looking plants. There used to be 4 old ferns. 3 of them died a couple of years ago. Their rotted stumps just pulled right out. The last one was still alive, but failing. I had Jerry take it out. Then Michael cut the stem/trunk in half so the trash collectors would take it. Check out the cross-section of the trunk. I've never seen anything like it before. It almost looks like Arabic writing. (...says the clueless American lady)

More made-up phrases

In this previous post, I listed a few made-up words and silly sayings that we use in our family. Over the weekend, I remembered a couple more:

Blooby- blooby-blooby: used exclusively by me, usually in reply to Jerry, as a way to let him know that I have no idea what he's talking about. (most often it's something to do with computers or some other technology.) I got this several years ago from a cartoon series called "Recess". In one episode, the main characters, a group of 4th graders, took a group of kindergarteners under their wing. The brainy girl, Gretchen, was reading something rather complicated to one little girl. When Gretchen asked her to repeat what she had just heard, the kid just went, "Blooby-blooby-blooby" I knew instantly this was the phrase for me! I use it fairly often, much to Jerry's annoyance.

That was a good sample: This goes way back to when Jerry was little. His dad used to say it. It's a polite way of saying, "Is this all you made for dinner? I'm still hungry!" Jerry used it last night when I made some yummy burgers, but just one apiece!

A meme for couples

A young mother known as Mrs. Smith (if that is her real name) made a nice comment on an old post of mine. In a reciprocal peek at her blog, I found this meme, which she tagged anyone to answer. So here's mine:

How long have you been together?
We'll be married 29 years this December. Lived together for a while before that. Knew eachother a couple of years before that.

Who eats more?
Me. (burp)

Who said I love you first?
Probably him. I don't remember.

Who is taller?
Me, by a hair.

Who sings better?
Um, we don't really sing. Probably a tie, both not so great.

Who is smarter?
Him, for most things.

Who does the laundry?
Me.

Who does the dishes?
Me.

Who pays the bills?
Him. Everything's on the computer. If he drops off the face of the earth tomorrow, our whole financial system reverts to shoeboxes and mattresses.

Who mows the lawn?
Our gardener, Mr. Lee!

Who cooks dinner?
Me.

Who drives when you are together?
Him.

Who is more stubborn?
Whoa, that's a tough one. Me, I think. No, him. No, me! Me, me, me!

Whose parents do you see the most?
His are no longer living, so I win. But we don't see them too often anyway.

Who kissed who first?
Funny story here: Our first kiss, in his old VW bug, we bumped heads before our lips touched. Then we started laughing. But we were both in it together. Simultaneously.

Who proposed?
Neither one of us, really. We just sort of started planning the wedding.

Who is more sensitive?
He can be so thin-skinned sometimes. I, on the other hand, have cried viewing Cheerios commercials. Call it even.

Who has more friends?
Me. Not that it matters.

Who has more siblings?
Also me.

Who wears the pants in the family?
Well, of course we both wear pants! Who's in charge? I give him the final say. But most of the time we agree on the important stuff anyway. And the minor stuff, I let him do what he wants.

And I also tag whoever. Have fun.

Clique Beetles

As soon as Dudley rolled into town with his ball of dung, he suspected he might have a hard time fitting in.

For Illustration Friday.

Click Beetles, get it? A clique of click beetles. Ah well, hopefully my fellow bug bloggers will enjoy it.

Don't touch my stuff

That warning is actually a song title that should be the theme song for certain members of this household.

You can hear the song by going here, to Zach Gill's Myspace page. A music player will load on the page. Click on the song: Don't Touch My Stuff.

Art alert!

Okay, normally I don't cross-post my blogs, but since I've been using this blog a lot more than my art blog, I thought I should link to it.

In fact, I've been sort of considering merging my art blog and this one, but I'm not sure if I should or not.

Current events, illustrated

What's this? Art?? That I made???

Yes, I actually made something, and I'm submitting it to Illustration Friday for the first time in a dog's age.

The topic this week is island, and my tiny island is really just the backdrop for the double whammy of disasters, both natural and financial that have dominated the news. Fortunately, the little island that is my own life is far less turbulent, but I am a terrible worrier sometimes, and sometimes it takes strong feelings, even negative ones, to jump-start my creativity.

Cute baby elephant

I remember hearing about this baby elephant a couple weeks ago. He was initially rejected by his mother, but after a few days apart with the baby cared for by zookepers, they were carefully reintroduced and they were able to bond.

There's no way you can watch him scampering and swingin' that little trunk without smiling. In fact, here's another clip of the same little guy with his mom and another female elephant. Enjoy.

A door to somewhere

On the Friday before Labor Day, Jerry and I spent the day in Laguna Beach. While strolling through this picturesque, artsy town, we passed this ornate antique door.





It looked old and ...special, somehow. We didn't even bother to see what the rest of the building was, though. The part we passed by was just brick, no signage.

Marley wearing a hat

She layed there for an hour with that hat on. Silly girl.

Greetings from The Gourd Tunnel

One of the fun things we had growing at the arboretum this summer. Just make a framework of bamboo poles, plant some assorted gourd seeds along the bottom, add water, and let the fun begin. Oh, and watch your head as you go through!


My favorite thing in the tunnel was not a gourd, but the frilly little flower of one of the gourd varieties. That's the gourd, looking like an oversized stringbean, and the little white flower is next to it.



Lookit all the crazy little CurlyMcCues on that thing.