My Happy Place for the Week: Almalfi Coast

I keep looking at catalogues that were shot on the Almalfi Coast and find myself  wishing I could be sitting on a sun baked terrace looking out at the sea. Even though it has warmed up considerably here along the northern coast of the US, the photos of Italy's coastal towns seem so full of warmth. I just want to walk into one and smell sea air. Oh a nice filling plate of pasta would be nice too. Monday take me away.

Little Treats, Big Love

Sometimes after I've left the iPad sitting around, little treats turn up like this photo of our grumpy fat cat Lola. The little one would chastise me for saying that about her cat. Lola was my cat but she has definitely become her cat. 

The two of them have, despite some jealousy and a less then perfect feline disposition on the part of Miss Lola, forged a close friendship. Scratches have been forgiven, imperfections overlooked and space on the bed negotiated. 

Every time I hear the little one tell Lola (or Whowa as she pronounces it) "you are the most beautiful cat I the world", I want to laugh. It makes me smile that she finds her pet perfect and beautiful. The power of love at work. The world as seen through the eyes of a six year old is full of superlative beauty. 

So here she is the most beautiful cat in the world, as photographed by the little one. Feel the love.

The Night Sky

The night sky seems most beautiful to me in the winter. Maybe against the starkness of the winter landscape it seems extra rich and beautiful. I'm always glad when I take time to look up and see what is going on up there. 

Image via Limilee.

Fall

On the way out the door this morning my little one found a leaf and ran back inside asking if she could keep it. She was so pleased with her find and asked "Isn't it beautiful?" I took a quick snap of it that doesn't do it justice. But yes it is beautiful. Leave it to a six year old to stop in the middle of the morning rush to see the beauty in a fallen leaf. 

Photo Booth Fun

Why is mugging for the camera do much fun? I love old time photo booths but they are hard to find, require change one never seems to have or are sadly broken.

Hurrah for apps like Incredibooth that let us make fun funny faces and pose to our hearts content. Last night we were in a mellow mood. The lighting was too low and and my co-model was reluctant at first, but I got a few hugs and kisses out of the deal. All in all not a bad photo shoot.

Favorite Summer Things: Black Eyed Susans

Our Black Eyed Susans rallied after a deer attack earlier this summer (not so our beautiful tomato plants). Now, they are blooming away and cheering us with their simple beauty. If all flowers have a certain character and mood to them, then Black Eyed Susans are straight forward and happy and a perfect reflection of a sunny summer day.

Sculpture Studio

I'm amazed what my little one can do with a pack of Play Doh . I don't remember ever being so creative with Play Doh when I was a kid. I just made some stringy shapes and ropey twists with the contraption that came with the Doh.

Maybe I would have gotten to cool sculptures if my mom were not secretly throwing out my Play Doh as quickly as she could. I remember catching her. That's a whole story in itself. Me asking where my Play Doh was. Mom saying I must have misplaced it. Me finding it in the garbage.

I guess I can forgive her now considering that Play Doh can ruin a carpet faster than anything and seems to naturally find its way to the nearest susceptible floor covering.

We are solving for this with a kitchen only rule and dinner plates as a sculpting surface. I have to say I love the stuff my little artist comes up with. I still need to photograph the bowl of corn flakes she made.

Knitting Wars

I saw the poster and thought I bet that would be a funny show. I missed the other half of the poster where PBS asks "What does it say about the state of television that you thought this was a real show?" Well the joke was on me, because I didn't know Knitting Wars was fake until I googled it to see when it was going to air.

What does it say about me, that I would rather watch middle aged knitters battle it out, than witness the Kardashians strut their ample figures and even more ample plastic surgery? Hmm, what can I say in my defense?

I knit. I like seeing people get ridiculous on TV. I would prefer to see some, more on the dumpy side women, get their hackles up over who does a neater cast on. I'm sick of watching people who have more money than they deserve rub it in to the rest of us. Yes, that includes you Housewives. Each and every one of you.

Sweet as Peach

A Jump on Spring

The unseasonably warm weather allowed me to clear the front garden. Just as well, the warm weather has given the plants a head start too. The oregano and our Miss Dot grass have already started growing into the dried out stalks from last year. I trimmed back the old growth and raked up a surprising amount of left over leaves from the fall. The leaf clean up revealed lots of spring buds and what's left of the tulips. I have a sneaking suspicion that our tulips are also being attacked from below. Are the chipmunk's pulling them right into their underground tunnels?

While I was bagging leaves and puzzling over our missing tulips, my little one was busy building a fairy house with her cousins. They made good use of the remains of Miss Dot and twigs from the yard. They were not a 100% happy with their fairy house, but I think it turned out first rate.

In the late afternoon, I took a walk in the back woods and came across some shed antlers and two tiny deer skulls, little victims of the winter or more likely a coyote. A strong reminder of the cyclical nature of things, which made me even happier that Spring is almost here.

Fall Back

Yesterday was a nice long day that allowed us to get a lot accomplished. Dinners for the week. Some over due gifts wrapped. We made a play-doh rainbow together. Two bushes were planted before it gets too cold. A massive pile of branches and sticks made their way to the curb. Garden gnomes were tucked away for the winter. And best of all leaf jumping. We raked just enough leaves to jump in and then enjoyed the fun.

I kept thinking some people are running a marathon today (people I know!) and felt like I should be accomplishing more. Then again, even with an extra hour, there is just so much time in a day.

A Wintery Halloween

The drastic weather from this past weekend had me scrambling to find a warmer Halloween costume for my daughter. Her butterfly costume was set aside and instead she made the rounds as a "baby witch" in a very over sized hat. I in a coordinating costume, went as the "mommy witch".

The funny thing was she didn't want to be in matching costumes. I had my witch gear left over from last year, so I thought she'd be pleased (and warmer) with her own witch costume. Well she was, but she stated very strongly that everyone should have their own costume and I should go as a duck.

Well I love her madly but that's where I draw the line. Even if I could have found a duck outfit, there was no way, I was going around the neighborhood as a giant water fowl. Hmm, was that witchy of me? Or her? I mean a duck, really? I wish I knew where she gets her ideas. They are so wonderfully kooky.

Image: ANDY WARHOL Witch, from Myths

Lady Bug on the Loose

Lady bug, lady bug
fly away home

Wednesday night we found a lady bug in the bedroom and my daughter became very concerned about it's welfare and instantly attached to it. The little thing had no spots which made it a bit of an oddity and perhaps more deserving of sympathy.

I scooped it up on a card and it ended up flipped over on it's back. Once we got it righted, it was very still. My daughter was very worried that it wasn't moving any more.
I told her it was scared and she looked very sad and asked "Is it scared of me?" I reassured her it was just scared. I blew on it gently and it started to move. She was delighted.

I asked her if we should put it outside. Her lower lip went out and tears were immanent. "No, I'm going to miss that ladybug." It was pouring outside, so putting it out the window did seem cruel. After a discussion of where it should live and more concern about Lola the cat getting it, we settled on leaving it near her dollhouse in the other room. Of course it made off and now there is a ladybug on the loose, but tears were spared.

Quilting blocks designed by Phyllis Dobbs. Pattern available at the TLC.

Fall

My daughter was explaining "Fall" to me this weekend. "The leaves fall and so it's Fall and we have to hurry up so we don't miss it."
She's very excited to rake and make leaf piles. And indeed the leaves have started to fall suddenly.

The long grass under the cedar trees has turned golden brown and the deer have moved in from the back woods. Now they are spending their days resting together in the grass. They chose their spots, sometimes shifting configurations a few times, before settling in. It's almost like a scene from a safari, all these elegant heads and long ears sticking up in the grass.

The male deer are suddenly very visible with their antlers fully grown. Jousting playfully or just making a grand entrance. Surprisingly they often show up in pairs or small groups as well.
The twins that were born this summer visited this weekend, their spots are completely gone and the edges of their ears have turned black. Their coats have lost the burnt reddish brown of summer and are now like mocha - a sure sign of fall.

Hopefully this great weather will hold so that they deer can enjoy sunny naps and we can enjoy deer watching and jumping in lots of leaf piles.

Never Small Again

Last night my little one was talking about how her cat Lola was small like her. Lola (or Whoa Wa) is by no means a small cat. There are times when I am feeding her, that my daughter cautions me not to give her too much food or she'll become too big for the house and have to live outside. Looking at Lola, you could almost picture this scenario coming to life.

I was amused by Lola suddenly being referred to as small and remembered where some photos of Lola as a kitten were stashed. I pulled them out to show my little one. Lola was once truly small. She came into my life at the McCarren pool in Williamsburg. Approximately four weeks old, I needed to feed her with a special tiny bottle for weeks. She was just bigger than my Nokia cell phone.

At first, when my daughter saw the photos, she insisted it was not Lola. When I finally convinced her it was, she burst into tears. "Lola will never be small again." I could not get her to stop crying. She was so genuinely upset by the loss of smallness. Upset that she did not get to have or know the little kitten in the photos. She just cried and cried, saying over and over " but Lola will never be small again." I tried to comfort her by telling her Lola wanted to grow up and get big. It took at least a half an hour to restore her mood.

The photos are tucked away again, but I was saddened too. If my little one only knew the pangs I feel each day as I witness the loss of small. You my sweet little one are growing everyday and will never be quite so small again.

No More Kisses!

We have entered a stage of not wanting kisses. This coincided with turning four. At least that was the initial excuse. "No more kisses now that I'm four years old!" Now I also get - no kisses when Thomas is on, no kisses when it's dark outside, when we are drawing , in the car, and the list goes on.

There's some hope, as I'm sometimes told "No more kisses till I'm five years old." So until next year, I guess I'll be sneaking kisses while she sleeps. I'm hoping this phase passes more quickly than that. Oh and if you're wondering, Hershey's chocolate kisses have not been banned, which makes me think bribes may be in order. A kiss for a kiss!

Monday Inspiration: The Power of Small Things

I'm going to try and use the power of small things this week and see if it works. It seems to reason, that small positive steps will add up, in the same way small troublesome things seem to snowball.

So it's Monday morning and I'm going to try and take a positive attitude in to the week and rather than become overwhelmed with all there is to do, just work on taking small steps, getting little things out of the way. Let's see if I can get a snowball of good rolling.

Here's an inspirational post from Professor G for anyone else interested in exploring the power of small things.

Image: Small Things Work # 755, Martin Creed.

Now We Are Four

Yesterday my little one turned four! Seems unbelievable to me that she is already four and wearing 5T clothing and size 11 shoes. She's grown so much this year. The baby is disappearing and the little girl/teenager is emerging.

Yesterday for her birthday, I signed her up for Soccer, so I guess I'm officially a soccer mom now. Yikes! Not looking forward to getting up early on Sunday mornings, better figure out the auto timer on the coffee pot, so I have hot coffee for cold mornings standing on the sidelines cheering.

Let's Join The Circus

My daughter was tight rope walking the other night along the metal support of her canopy bed. She would hold on to the dresser and steady her self before edging towards me and using my shoulder for support before shimming to the bed post at the end of the bed. She would grab it with great relief , a satisfied sigh and a look of pride each time she made it across. She was really enjoying her death defying feats.

I'm very tempted to indulge her inner circus performer with one of these Cirkustalt tents from Ikea. How much fun to have a circus tent of one's own? Ever want to join the circus?

Cirkustalt tent available at Ikea.

Sells Floto Circus Poster various available on eBay.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining, it's pouring.

The old man is snoring,

He went to bed and bumped his head,

And he couldn't get up in the morning.

I've known the first two lines of this nursery rhyme since I was little and taught them to my daughter recently. This weekend we were repeating it in the car as the rain came down, and she asked me what the rest of the song was. I had no idea, so I looked it up today and was a little surprised. It's a little on the grim side. I guess a lot of nursery rhymes are though.