short post: good news.

Okay...so I might be kind of excited.
I got my laptop back from the fixer's today.
Praise be.
It's been 2 fulls months since it fractured. Wow.
It's nice. Weird, but nice to have it back. The keys clicking under my fingertips. The...well, the non-Windows 7 state of being... It's different. But it's my Dell. :) And the g key is funky. I need to try to properly clean it. Maybe get one of the boys to blow it out with the air pressure hose. Hah.
So... have a lovely Tuesday, and check this lady out. Her photography's amazing. Love it.
. . . And, since Blogger is being a somethin'-somethin', there is no picture tonight. Dang.

See you later! ...soon:)

no, of course not; i'm not talking about food.

Well, there is this new recipe I wanted to talk about.

I helped Anna make it tonight.

Helped, as in diced the 3 onions set on the heat to carmelize.

Peeled and minced the 5 cloves of garlic while wishing for 2 huge elephant garlic cloves.

Minced a thumb-sized nob of ginger. Oh my. That doesn't sound right. :P But you know what I mean....

Took pictures of the different spices in a mound, waiting to be thrown into the carmelized onions.

How weird is it to love a picture of spices?

Come on.
[but dangit, it's blurry:P]

Red Lentil Curry
That is the recipe. So...click and copy the picture, if you want. If you're interested in an Indian-spice laden recipe. 'Tis good.

I decided that I need a good camera.

A nice one. One that'll last me a long time.

Since when did I decide this? Well, I just have.

Randomly: I was searching for J.R.R. Tolkien quotes, and ran across only one of his in quotegarden.

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

[J.R.R. Tolkien]

And...I thought this one was amusing.

If there was no faith there would be no living in this world.  We couldn't even eat hash with safety.

[Josh Billings, His Complete Works, 1888]

a catch-up on my 'lately': sheets, color, coffee.

So after reading and commenting on some stuff, I'm like really really really jealous of all you who've been able to blog more than once a week.

I've been horrible.

Things have been busy, there's only time for email and facebook most times (what? this is a shared computer. with the whole universe), and these past few days I've been really missing my laptop.

Ah! But today the fabric for the redoing of my wingback --a Ralph Lauren sheet I got on ebay-- came today! So that's something I'll start next week.
It looks like gray. ^^ It's got a subtle hint of blue to the shade you might not see here. It was overcast today and this was the best quick shot I could get. Sorry. But it's a lovely gentle damask print--I love it! :)
I've got laundry to do and dinner to make (maybe broccoli potato curry?) and clothes to pack.
Tomorrow, Anna and I go down south to visit Jen and PJ and their family until Monday.
Sigh.
It's going to be so good.
And I hear that Jen's fiancee, Craig, loves coffee.
This is good news.
;) Means we'll get along, all of us, just fine.
Oh, and I almost forgot.
I put highlights in my hair on Monday.
Quite randomly. But not random.

Anna liked it better than I did at first. That's how freaked out I was. I've never done red before.......methinks I like brunette better?

Red is just way too unpredictable to handle by yourself. Heh heh. :) 

Oh gosh. Went somewhere yesterday with Heather and Anna, that yielded several totally beautiful shots...

Um.
Not saying where, just that we had a good time.

Ahem.

Starbucks.
We discussed the Bible study we're doing nowadays, and talked about life as it's been in the past few days. . . . Heather sipped a tiny daily brew, I sipped a huge bold pick of the day, and Anna had a hot apple cider. Makes me want one right now. :)

They wanted to take picture in front of the place, and I told them I felt like a tourist or something. Even though I wasn't, of course. What the heck, we're barely 30 minutes from our house and me and coffee are not strangers.

After Heather left, I may or may not have gotten a slice of marble pound cake and an americano -- in Stephanie's stead, of course. ;)

The size of cup was called large.

I asked for a small.

Their brains are whack about sizing and names, I tell ya!

But, the sweet older lady who ran the espresso machine called me honey and talked about humming (which i was doing), so that made up for it. Hah.

And since this is about all I have time for, arrivederci 'til next week. Sometime.

p.s. (just got back from a long evening walk with Anna, and now we're watching Letters to Juliet. Very cute movie, though a bit too sappy at the end for me:)
A positively lovely surprise....
Earlier today, Mom, ever the sneaky one (ha) took 3 of my coffee-themed canvases up to the lady who owns this cute lunch-type cafe in town, along with a co-op catalog. Psh.
Mom asked her if she was interested in local art.
The lady loved the paintings, and has a space of wall to hang some on . . . as soon as I can paint some copies; I don't sell prototypes. :)
Ack! So exciting:)

clean, clean, clean.

It's rainy today. Well, it was when I woke up late.

Pancakes saturated in the butter they fried in, and maple syrup.

Then... the kitchen to clean.                           ^^before shots

Jack Johnson music playing. My favorite albums are On And On and In between Dreams.                                  ^^after shots

Acoustic loveliness.

Last night is another story.

Yesterday was beautiful.
Blue sky, brilliance in the definition.
Sun glowing through leaves just turning on the trees.
Chilly air but not quite to the absolute need for a sweater.

I looked through this fabulous library book. ^^

After an evening walk with Anna, I made some green-raspberry tea in my hand-painted mug and stayed up till 11 cleaning the kitchen and reading White Picket Fences even though I barely got to page 10.
So nice to have a clean kitchen, even though it won't last all that long. :)
We've got a group birthday party to go to...
So here's a quote dear Heather "gave" me. It's pretty much true. Well, for me. And her. Hahha. We don't often take our coffee all fru-fru like. But of course we still love all you who do, trust me! Differences are good:) I'd hate it if we were all the same.

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. I bet this kind of thing does not happen to heroin addicts. I bet that when serious heroin addicts go to purchase their heroin, they do ...not tolerate waiting in line while some dilettante in front of them orders a hazelnut smack-a-cino with cinnamon sprinkles. [Dave Barry]

of wingback chairs and autumn days...

I'm kind of excited.
Why?
Because. I'm delving into something I've never done before.
I've always been interested in interior design and all that lovely stuff.
Yesterday, Anna found a chair on the side of the road while she was biking.

I ran up there to see it, a blue thang in need of some TLC but not too smelly or rundown.

So, since then, I've been looking everywhere online (ebay, amazon, you name it) for tips and how-to's on reupholstering, and sheets that I like, at decent prices. This lady recommended that idea. Sounds good to me.

This is a shot of it with a random large-floral-printed sheet draped over it. Which I'm kinda taking a liking to.

I was having my third cup of coffee for the day, as well as studying the aforementioned-and-linked-to article on reupholstery. The wind is kicking up today, and oh-so-cool. I do believe autumn is pretty much here to stay...we'll have to see. :)
My chair is currently sitting in an empty half of the garage which Ben just reorganized the other day. Quite nice.

I'm excited. But I can't really move on until I actually have fabric in my hands... so, more on that later!!

hmmm. what kind of title???

I've been figuring it's time I sit down and just . . . contemplate in words.
For me.
Just to write.
Lately (in part because this computer is not mine--it's shared by the whole household) I've only "had time" to write and post pictures...to write explaining things I've done, not things I've been thinking about or anything.
Well, besides my excitement at Fall and my fear of winter and time flying. :)
So I've decided not to read any blogs until after I've written this.
That'll be hard. A test of self-control.
But. Way back when, I promised to make up for all the talk of only sugar, flour, and other edible substances. Yummy, very good, but not all there is to life, we would hope.

Here's a few books I've been reading in the past couple weeks.
I've been reading a lot lately.

...So there, from top to bottom, you've got my Bible with the duct-tape on the spine.

...The new composition notebook journal I started last night, because I finished the last one in a new record of a month and 2 days.

...Bird by Bird: Anne Lamott. I got this at the fair's book sale for .50 cents. For real. And it's in pretty darn lovely shape, too. Way better than the $1.50 copy Anna found at a garage sale for me a few months ago. (funny thing; Anna found this copy, too. of course, I was just milling around and she was actually looking)

...Resurrection in May. By Lisa Samson. Wow. It was s good. I'm buying it asap, but then she's one of my favorite authors. I really recommend it. And I'm zipping my lips now, because I'd rather you see an official summary than me telling you details you shouldn't know until you're reading it.

It's a pet peeve of mine. If Anna (or someone) reads a book before me that I also want to read, and she starts going on about different things in it, my desire to read it will completely go away.

...You say more than you think: Janine Driver. I read the first half of this yesterday when I was supposed to be napping. Oh well. I wasn't necessarily worse for the wear and no nap. But that goes to show you that this non-fiction book on body language is so darn fascinating.

...Stolen Childhood is the small-book story of Grandpa Nate, the retired cattle dealer we know. He was aroud 13 when him and his family were deported to the concentration camps. I have yet to read more than the first and second page as of yet, but I may get back to you on that.

...Love Mercy. I already mentioned this book in some of my last posts. Really good.

This is what I did in the kitchen before sitting down. We're throwing soup together for lunch.

Y'know, we've got the first few days of that time in the year that soup just sounds so good. Soup, any kind. There's tons of 'em out there. (laugh)

So last night I read more of Janine Driver's book.

But my brain and my eyes got tired of reading about all the different ways of reading and portraying body language.

So I picked up my Bible, staring at the cover.

Matthew 15. That's what came to mind randomly, and that's what I read.

Matthew 15:10-20 is enough to astound a person. It's so...true.

I mean, really? What I write right now about this, I don't want to come scraping out of my throat. I want it to come easy, like I'm writing in a journal or comfortably talking about this.

I've got things to say about life and adventure and movies like The Hurt Locker. But that has to be for another post. I've got stuff to iron, dishes to wash.

And just to be randomly real somewhat in the flesh, here's what I would look like if you knocked on the back door this morning. :)

And here's a sneak peek at a ton of things I have to show individually, once Mr. Will my computer fixer calls and tells me I can pick up my baby 'cause all's well.

Sigh.

See, this is cool, right? You get a view of how I've got them arranged in the big hall/starwell, huge thanks to Ben and his height. :)

That blue one's the newest. Well, besides the tiny coffee cup one...

The blue one's quote is from The Heart Mender. Just so ya know. That's a good book.

Ah, see here. I nearly deleted this one from the post, because these are secret ones. I mean, the wave was my first try and on black, I loved the contrast.

Oh well. Mini-unveiling. When I sent her a picture of it, my friend Hillary told me it reminded her of Genesis, in the beginning.

That was kinda cool.

Yeah, the stack of C.S. Lewis books is kinda for Anna...well, her books and unusual teacup posed for the painting, so there ya have it. She wants it someday, probably.

Mmmmmmm. I'm leaving you now; there's beef barley soup simmering away on the stove. It smells so. Good. (happy sigh) And the house is still quiet ...at least for a little while.

p.s. just a reminder: my blog giveaway is coming to a very soon close... :)

quick little thang

Okay, so I think I may be in the mood to paint.
Mom and the younger half of us kids went to the fair for a while.
Ben's chilling, Gram's taking a nap, and we all had yummy French toast for lunch.

Maybe a poem. Like I was talking about the other day when I had "so much to do"....
But first, a post by one of the most wonderful ladies. This is random of me to click and read a post someone else I follow linked to. It's just random questions and her answers. But I love how she goes about it, so real, so it is what it is without seeming bored. :)

Today, I woke up late. Showered, had two whole cups of good and hot coffee (little dribble of milk), washed some dishes, listened to some music, and headed out to the workshop to practice music with the brothers and Mom.

Tomorrow, we play/sing at the fair, on a rather small, randomly placed stage. So. We're been practicing around 8 songs every day since Saturday; ones we've done at church and whatever in the last year or so.
I'm looking forward to it. Especially if the newspaper's weather section is right; it'll be highs of early-70's temps. Ohhh yeah. That's pretty awesome. Other years, it's like 80 and sometimes muggy. Thank goodness that the stage and benches are under a tent.

The other day, Anna and I made peach cobbler.
I had to post a few of the process, as I was peeling, coring and slicing the beauties.

Anna mixed it up while I printed off some more music....

Then, I got lazy and snapped this one where the pan sat.

Okay, enough of peaches and sweets and . . . . I need to go paint, if I'm planning on it.
Sigh.
Search for a shortish poem officially started.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Resurrection in May, by Lisa Samson... I'm nearly 80% through it.

Zucchini muffins, ready for the oven :)

Hey! If any of you have suggestions, feel free to suggest. ;)
I'll be sure to think about painting it:)
Oh, and I'm planning on drawing and sending off my blog giveaway next week, after Monday sometime, so walk on over there and see if you want to participate. I'd love to hear from you. Really. And for the record, it's a bag of coffee and maybe a scone that's on the line.
Talk about vague and unsure.
Me?
Psh, no way. ;)