Monarchs

What joy it was to learn about Monarch Butterflies in gradeschool!

They are beautiful creatures. Tippity flights in the slight breeze, sun warming up. Taking a rest on flowers with nectar. Pumping delicate mosaic wings.

Memories in my garden at home, a moment of calm, peace.





It turns out that Monarchs like Milkweed and so do hummingbirds.

Our fine back field will be planted with milkweed soon welcoming the wonderful flying insects. There is nothing like a slow soft drift of fluttering butterflies through the property...from the back corner, up and over the gate, drifting slowly over the lawn, through the hedgerow. The same path each day, each evening.

The tiniest pearl egg turns into a rich brocade yellow jacketed caterpillar. Then comes the chrysalis, like ancient jade with drips of splattered gold, tuning transparent and finally opening up to the fragile animal struggling out, with wings like stained glass windows.

Black outlining color brings brilliance.

A hula celebrates butterflies, with one joining the dance in closeup!

A HAPPY DAY

Just love those guys!

WISHING YOU HAPPY DAYS!

my life in music

a mother quietly whistling...

...book pages turning...

...brothers practicing piano...

...a father humming...

...a baby sister crying...

...hiccups ...

...snoring...

...dogs snoring...

...sinatra...

...a grandfather sleeping in an old comfortable leather chair, opera on the radio...

...a grandmother playing ragtime on the piano...

...a grandmother playing violin and singing opera...

...splashing brothers in the pool, in the ocean, waves crashing then hissing...

...cats purring...

...adults yelling...

...slapping...

...robins, chickadees, quail, crows, hummingbirds...

...crackling bacon cooking...

...music, music, music, recitals, parties, church organ, radios...

...ballgames on the radio, go giants, kingston trio, crooners...

...deep happy rumbling laughing, twins with the same laugh...

...brothers teasing...

...me whining, crying, pleading...

...the beatles make my heart sing...
...hendrix makes my head heavy...
...radio static...

...smothers brothers, bill cosby, hello muddah hello fadduh...

b...the wedding march on bagpipes marching me in...

...the farfiza for fun ~ 3 chords...

...antique radios, old songs of the 30's...

...infant cries, toddlers owies, children pressed down...

...screaming, crying...

...my young ones playing piano...

...humming tap dance tunes while tapping, tapping, tapping...

...jazz starts to make sense, drums making music...

...marching snares, original cadence, stepping off...

...electronic punk hip hop experimental the real world...

...cool jazz, bee bop, hip hop shared by our children...

...singing in the car, singing for my son and husband, singing for serenity...

...you tube has everything...

...sighing husband, clacking glasses, laughing and laughing, chuckling

...friends calling...

...angels someday definitely...

WHOA!! JOHN, YOKO & THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS?

I

Now that's just plain crazy cool awesome...
The Chambers Brothers are introduced as a Rock~Gospel group...yeah, that just about says it all!

Cool Guys!

COOL POSTERS

Coolest Ever Calligraphy

AND THE COOLEST JAZZ MUSICIANS:

COLTRANE AND DAVIS!

SO WHAT

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISIIISIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The Rain Came...

The rain came today...we've had such a dry winter.
This is more like the usual rainy season in Northern California.

The sound of sheets of water hitting the ground is a relief.



Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine.

My grandmother LOVED the rain.
I think that's because she loved to garden.
One time she asked me to see what was growing out of her bulbs...something weird and stringy...
It was the roots, she'd planted the bulbs upside down, they were desperately trying to grow...roots up.
She laughed and laughed at herself in her deep alto voice.

Laughed and laughed.

I still have rosemary from her garden...growing all over my yard.
I asked to take some cuttings.
She gave me these wonderful aromatic plants.
I think of her often.
The leaves are so shiny dark forest green in the rain.















A Hard Rain's a'Gonna Fall




by Bob Dylan
It breaks my heart everytime.
When did our country forget about life, liberty and happiness.

Speaking of Getting Up...

YAWN!

Coffee!!!!!!!

I need my coffee. And I need to eat first so I don't get too jittery.



And I need to actually get out of bed to do it!





BUT NO!

No longer do we have to get out of bed...well, except to get up and go get it from the kitchen.



A birthday present bringing enormous possibilities...

Presenting:
The Cuisinart Brew Central 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker
Model: DCC-1200

The champion coffee drinker in this house is overwhelmed!!

"It has real controls! Knobs that turn! A real toggle switch!"

Sooooooooooo..

It's automatic and ready to go off at 6:55!

drip drip drip

comforting coffee aroma wafts through the house

Ahhhhhhhhh

So good with chocolate and milk and sugar!

Get Up Get Up Get Up

I'mupI'mupI'mup!


I'd rather be sleeping in a warm bed with the covers pulled up around my shoulders, basset at my feet, taking up most of the bed and a husband teetering on the edge because the basset loves him best and spends the whole night rolling empatically against his feet. "Moove over! snort, sigh" she thinks.

H. to me, "Could you stop wiggling!!"
Me to him, "No I can't actually...you knew that when you first married me 34 1/2 years ago.

Never have been able to, never will be able to lie still."
H. to me, "sssiiighhhhh".

.
We're mismatched.

.
He sleeps hot. I sleep cold, so I'm constantly pushing my way nearer and he's constantly pushing his way further away to the edge of the bed.

Of course the basset doesn't help.

Oh! Maybe the dog is being pushed over by me, pushing closer to her warm little curled up body.

Don't tell H.

The other night, when the basset was on heavy drugs because she'd had her toenails cut that day and she'd stayed snoring on her island in the living room all night, poor H. teetered on the edge of the bed on his own volition.

He's used to it now and doesn't wake up anymore when his pillow slips onto the night table, knocking his glasses onto the floor. And in the mornings, the basset climbs the hillock that is his hip, peers into his face and sneezes a big basset sneeze.

H. says "Ewwwwwwwwww! Groooooooossssssss!"

I say, "She adores you and must greet you first thing!"

Poor guy.

Me 'n Basset just love him!

RIDICULOUS

THEY
ARE
RIDICULOUS!

That's why we got one...a basset hound.

They are ridiculous and they cheer you up just by a look.

This is ridiculous>>>>>

This is also ridiculous ) but there is a good reason basset hounds need snoods.

They're all gussied up for company or for a dog show one minute, the next minute they've slobbered all over their ears, dunked them into the water dish and dragged them through the dirt. Yuck.

My kids call all that effluent snobber...drooling noses and flews.

Get out your slobber rag if you want a Basset. With its large deep flews, this breed is "wet mouthed" breed tending to be more slobbery than other breeds. To the prospective Basset owner, this means that that the dog will drool quite a bit, and tend to make a mess while drinking. If you are a fastidious housekeeper, and have an aversion to dog drool on your floors and walls, the Basset Hound is not the breed for you.

Ours was from a Basset Rescue Mom, we were told.

But Basset Rescue Mom's are neutered, aren't they, so there shouldn't be any Basset Hound Mom puppies, should there? Who knows?

Ridiculous, but wonderful. Messy, but loving. Give me a basset any day!

Except of course the day they're alone and the neighbors complain because the howling is driving them out of house and home!

Or the day they get loose, follow their nose, and are found 15 miles away exhausted in some kind person's back yard.

Or when they are really hot and jump into a putrid mudhole.

Then, the best thing to do is have a friend that has a Basset for patting therapy sessions.