Happy Birthday, everyone!!

Yes, I'm here...

I haven't posted in oh-so-long.  I've been busy. Well, busy at times.  At other times I've been lazing around.  Reading. Knitting. Crocheting. Not sewing.  I'm almost done reading The Help.  What a WONDERFUL book.  I wanted to read it before the movie comes out in August.  I've joined a knit along for a summer pullover sweater.  I've just about finished a crocheted Japanese Flower scarf inspired by Lucy at Attic24 and I've started some Christmas gifts.  So, though I have been flying under the radar, I've been here reading blogs.  Sounds like everyone is having a great summer so far, there is so much productivity and REALLY lots of everyone enjoying summer after the long, long winter in most parts of the country (and world, actually.) Yay for summer!  I will be going back to my little house soon, too, so then I will KNOW summer is truly here =-)

I have a new post on my other blog, for the Magpie project.  Blatantly autobiographical, as most of mine are. Go over and take a look at some of the other posts for some good reading.  This is the new prompt:

Have a great week everyone!

Swooon...

Have I mentioned that I love my sink?

So lovely!  I wish them all the best!

I have a new Magpie post up on my other blog.  I missed at least a week, I think. I'm back to reminiscences with this entry.

I'm off to NY tomorrow night for a visit.  I'll be bringing my computer,though, so will not be incommunicado.  I'm looking forward to my NEW kitchen!  Especially my 'new' vintage SINK!  And the bead board walls and the new appliances and the light colors and the CLEAN!  I'll have pictures to share in a few days.

I am also looking forward to the FLOWERS!  I hope spring is in full swing cuz I can't wait for a NY spring again. It's been awhile.  It appears that I am getting out of here just in time since the day after tomorrow the weather report says S.D. will be having mid to high 80s...yikes!  I am hoping to have at least a couple more weeks of what I consider to be sweater weather.  Of course, in NY people will be in short sleeves and flip flops in weather I think of as being nice and chilly =-)  I love it!

Ok, I do need to tell you that I am so looking forward to the royal wedding.  I think either people love the idea or they don't, and I do.  I am a hopeless romantic, I am an Anglophile, and I can't wait.  I think it is a bit of fairy tale in a very scary and huge world, and I love the two young people and the fact that we get to watch all the goings on of the day.  William and Kate seem so refreshing and hopeful, and I like the things I have read about them.  I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch Wills's parents' wedding in my cozy flannel night gown, while I was hugely pregnant for my sweet, sweet son.  It just seems right watching this lovely young couple on their special day, and I am happy for them.  So, I intend to set my alarm clock and DVR and enjoy it all to the fullest, in all its spectacular glory.  I might even be seen consuming copious amounts of tea and scones this week in celebration.  Cheers!

Hey! Yay!

I meant to write this earlier but got sidetracked =-) I'm watching my recorded Civil War programs (Ken Burns on PBS, a rerun series) This is such a good series and I am engrossed!

So, I got myself into the endo yesterday, Wednesday (my appointment wasn't until Friday,) because I just could NOT take it any longer.  I called yet again and figured if I refused to hang up the phone and did not give up they would figure out how to fit me in...and, guess what, they did!  Boy, was the endodontist, himself, angry that the receptionists (two different ones) had made me wait when I was in such agony!  In a way, that made me happy, but on the other hand, it frustrated me that I had to go through so much so needlessly since he would have had me come in had he known the true extent of what I was going through.

Well, anyway. Here I am. Let me tell you, I never looked forward to a root canal or dental office visit more than I did this one!  And I am SO enjoying being able to drink hot tea again!  It is a.MAZ.ing to not be in constant pain or dealing with vicodin induced lightheadedness. The endo said I would have residual pain for a few days but, really, I haven't noticed it at all and have not needed any pain meds since I walked out of there yesterday afternoon.  I felt good enough, in fact, to go watch DS and the country folk/rock band he plays bass in perform at a restaurant/pub at the beach last night.  That was fun! It's one of my favorite things to do =-)

Just wanted to let all my sweet friends and family who have worried about me and sent messages of comfort that I am GREAT now!!  Thanks for thinking of me and sending me your love!  Love you guys, too!

Maybe soon I will have a photo or two of projects I've been working on...now that would be new and different after all this time =-)  My cable cushion is nearing completion; I think I like it...

So, stay tuned.  I am not planning on writing any more of these boring, whiny, photoless posts!

xo, D.

Monday, Monday

So, my tooth hurts a little less today.  I think I may make it until Friday... As I told Rian, I would rather have a baby than the pain I had on Friday and Saturday. So, um, you know it hurt. A lot.

Sooooo, anyway.  Onward.

The new Magpie Tales prompt is up.  I couldn't decide so I posted two.  Go on over to the Magpie site and check out the writing.  Always something fun there.

Hope your week is spectacular! Go April!!

Still waiting for a cancellation at the endo.  Otherwise, my appointment is for the 8th...better than the 12th...but still not fun to have to wait...

Been reading, knitting dishcloths and cushion covers, and even started some counted cross stitch yesterday (which I haven't done since my 29 year old son was a newborn!)  in the hopes of my attention being so focused on the chart that maybe I wouldn't feel the pain...yeah right...we'll see how focused I was after the vicodin wears off.

Keep me away from the tall bridges, people...

What a pain

Sooo, went to the endo yesterday.  We are trying to figure out which tooth is giving me the pain.  This entails some excruciating trial and error involving hot liquids and ice =-(  We have eliminated anything on the bottom.  Now I am home testing the three most likely candidates on the top.  Jeezus, I have been through the dental wars in my lifetime.  I'm exhausted.

So, what fun things are YOU up to today?

Smile even though you're hurting...or hiding something...

New Magpie Tales prompt is up...it could get interesting =-)  I think mine is a bit predictable but, oh well, I have a toothache...maybe that was her problem, too...but I don't think so...  At 1:45 pm, please send good, non-invasive-or-at-least-uncomplicated-dental-procedure thoughts out into the cosmos for me...=-/

Check out all the good writing on the Magpie Tales site.  Photo provided by Tess Kinkaid.

Went for breakfast and a walk around an urban neighborhood the other day after DD's dentist appointment.  We went nuts for all the flowers that are out right now...especially the wisteria...gosh, I love wisteria...

 

We walked by one of my favorite houses... it's pink.  Well, now it's being fixed up and probably won't be pink when they are done.  I pretend it is being fixed up for me.  It is going to be beautiful.  I would LOVE to live in this 1886 house.  They are few and far between around here, I can tell you that.  So, if the lavender house doesn't work out, maybe you can find me in this pink (or whatever color it's gonna be) one...

A quick catch-up...

New Magpie Tales prompt is up.  Do pop in to read what everyone has written in response to the prompt; there is some really good stuff over there:

Photo by Tess Kinkaid

My entry this week was a just a tiny bit dark...  But, kinda fun, too...in a dark, kid-brain way... =-)  Yeah, so, anyway...

I've been knitting a lot the last week or more.  Easy stuff. (Avoiding the 2nd sleeve on my sweater cuz I won't get to wear it this year, anyway, at least not until December probably, and, well, it's BORING!) A cabled cushion like Mia's over at Mia's Landliv...  How I love her cushions and her crocheting and knitting...and entire house, actually.   I also made a vintage looking pot holder and am in the middle of another dishcloth, both for my new kitchen in NY.  I'm going from a pink and green kitchen there to a blue, white, and cream color scheme so I have been making and collecting things =-) Oh, and I might have ordered some most delicious yarn for a project that Lucy at Attic24 has tempted me with. =-) God, her photos and projects are the happiest on the Web, I swear.  I credit her for getting me back into crocheting again.  I have always crocheted, since my mom taught me when I was 6 years old, but knitting took over once I learned how about 5 or 6 years ago. But after seeing all that yummy stuff at Lucy's I was bitten and got right back into it again!

I've been reading a lot, too.  I just finished The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl, who wrote The Dante Club also (which is waiting for me in the stacks.) The style of writing and the story reminded me a lot of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and The Lady in White.  I enjoyed it a lot after I got into it.  It did take me a few chapters to feel that way, though.  I started The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth yesterday...just my kind of book: WWII England, mystery, etc., etc. It is the third of a series but I have not read the previous ones so I hope it doesn't matter.  So far I like it.

We had a HARD, windy rain last night, and some today, off and on, as well as some hail, briefly, so it was a good day to sit and read and drink tea, and knit.  We probably will not get too much more of this kind of weather here this year.  I have enjoyed it so much.  And the hills!  They are so green!  Something we truly appreciate in SoCA...it does not last long so we drink it up while we can.

Happy Spring!  Yay!

Magpie Tales 57

photo by Tess Kinkaid

The new weekly prompt is up along with some fantastic entries on Magpie Tales. You can read my post on my other blog, Pieces.

3 words

about my birthday surprise:  raised garden boxes!

(Pictures to follow soon...)  

I guess my blatant begging hints worked =-)

Birthdays are the best!

First, I've been buying myself tulips

whenever I go to the grocery cuz I love 'em and they are only in season for just so long, and well, I'm worth it.

Anyway.  Birthdays... Yesterday DD and I spent a lovely day together at the Art Museum. 
 

 Saw the Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman Exhibit,

 

had a little shop meander and soap, lotion, and candle buying,  then a late lunch at a creperie in a hip neighborhood...with crepes and cappuccino for dessert, of course. The day was her sweet gift. 

Today is breakfast with DS and DDIL at one of my favorite places for that...not sure what I will have but it will be great, it always is.  And, of course, the company will be the treat!  I'm looking forward to the love and the laughs.  DH is on his way home from out of town but thinks he can catch a cab from the airport and be there for most of the meal.  And, people!  One of the best gifts of the day:  another hour of daylight!!!!  Whoopee!  Yep, I do love birthdays.  Well, except for that number thing...

I have another blog.  I just reactivated it to post a Magpie Tales thingy.  Magpie Tales is a cool blog where writers and poets create to a photo prompt.  The posts are generally short and so incredible.  I am taking a big leap here, so I'm a little first-time-jittery, but I wanted to share.  I've always written.  I love to write.  But I don't often share my writing other than newsy blog posts and emails.  Anyway, I thought I'd shake things up and give Magpie Tales a try.  It can't hurt...right?? Right??

In other news: we went to the circus yesterday!  It was a wild hair.  It was cheesy.  It was old school.  And it was fun!  This was not the Ringling version.  This was Circus Vargas.  Which is what I was after.  It was one ring, under a real "big top."  And we had a blast.  I read Water For Elephants awhile back, quite awhile, actually, and now that it is a big time movie about to be released, I had a hankering.  I generally am not a circus-y type.  Unless you count the circus that is my life.  But I and the fam had a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon.  And I wasn't even creeped out by the (one) clown.  He was actually pretty funny.

 Under the trapeze!

Hope your weekend was fun and that this week is especially nice for you.  This marks the countdown to my birthday...and daylight savings time...now THAT is a fantastic present!

It's a sweet day.

 Buckingham Palace, a year ago this week

 
Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet girl.  What would I do or be without you ?  You bring out the best (and sometimes the worst! haha!) in me and you help me to see and know who I am.  And, you have a way of getting me to do that damndest things...like driving out into the middle of the most deserted and/or far-flung places I've ever seen to visit hometowns of famous folk singers, or driving scary, winding, edge-hugging roads to obscure desert towns where mama donkeys put their heads in my lap through the car window, or traveling across the world (in winter for crying out loud) to towns so far north they never warm up, or riding roller coasters over and over even when I'm so tired I can hardly walk another step.  Btw, thanks for the laryngitis today!  Is it time for cupcakes?  Cuz I'm ready...

Happy, happy day! I love you!
xoxo, Mommy

In a Lavender House

As I promised:

 The front porch where I would devour books and cookies and drink cups and cups of tea. There's even a porch swing!

The south-facing side porch where I would sit on winter mornings, listening to the birds, and saying hello to the neighbors walking by with their dogs. In summer, I would sit here in the evenings because the front porch faces west and this side of the house would be much cooler then.  Iced tea would be in order...blueberry iced-tea, I think...

More of the side porch, the beautiful white chimney, and the greenhouse window over what I imagine would be my kitchen sink.  The barely visible low roof to the far right is a lavender single-car garage, built extra long for storage, or maybe studio space.  Sometimes in these neighborhoods, garages are a luxury because so many of the lots have been split to add another residence, and the garages have disappeared or been incorporated into the 2nd building (as you can tell by all the vehicles that are parked along the streets.)  Not so for my little lavender house; its garage appears to be original to the house.  I've thought of everything...

I cannot stop thinking about this darling house.  I do believe my blue eyes have gone more than a bit green.

Have a lovely Sunday!

xo, D.

The dead of winter... really?

 

 We were warned of high winds inland and high surf along the coast yesterday...uh, looks pretty flat to me...

Ok, a little rougher when the waves crest...but still...not what I would call high...and we here have all seen it high...

 Pretty, though...

 He's tired of the...

 ...traffic.

 Kind of a tight squeeze by the jetty when everyone wants a piece of the wave...    

Supposedly all this wind and surf was happening yesterday but I, myself, didn't see any high surf while I was there, and the wind was calm out here in the foothills. I guess it's all gonna "happen" again this weekend and into the beginning of next week.  I'll believe it when I see it.  But, in the meantime, it was oh-so-nice to feel and smell the ocean air, and I was able to make a much needed stop at the Ocean Beach People's Organic Food Market co-op. 
 

 

 

 (Both photos from People's website)

It's SO nice when the veggies  and everything else are organic and priced so affordably.  The cafe is always great to visit, too, for a yummy veggie lunch =-)  Ocean, soft air, good company, and veggies = happy Debby.

I'm gonna take pictures of the lavender house tomorrow! =-)

Have a fantastic weekend! 

XO, D.

I'm pretty darned excited!  I just got off the phone from talking with my Amazing Cousin with the magical carpentry and building skills and it looks like I am going to be getting, in my NY kitchen that he is remodeling for me, a real live un-chipped-and-in-mint-condition vintage one of these (or similar to this one, anyway...it does have the all-important drain board, which is what I am mainly after.)  It's perfect for the age and style of my house.   I have been lusting after these for years, and now it looks like all that drooling over magazine and innernet photos has paid off =-) I have one word for this news: WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So... I'm thinkin' I need an airplane ticket...cuz I wanna seeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =-)  I mean, I really don't think I can stand it until June...seriously, right?!?!???

Ahhhh, Saturday. And, I just found the most wonderful blogs...

"All that I desire in my life...first I must uncover it..then I must bring it into my life....and I can, I will, I must." A quote from Suz at Begin Again and A Garden Wench.  I just HAD to share!  I got lost over at Begin Again for a long time today, just reading Suz's musings and poetry.  Sometimes a person's writing just grabs me and holds me, and hers definitely does.  Do go over and visit!


Went to my second drawing class today.  As I noted in my journal this afternoon: it's HARD.  But I know that it's hard because it's worthwhile.  My left brain is in a bitter, petulant struggle with my right brain.  It is tenacious and not going to give up control easily.  But I am determined.  The result will be worth the struggle.  I have nothing to show as far as photos.  We are still in the blind contour and semi-blind contour phase, and just touched on negative space.  We did the Face Vase exercise today...again, HARD, especially because the teacher wanted it exACT.  But I am pleased to say that I am happy with my efforts.  I am better at all this than I would have thought and actually was pleasantly surprised.  The only problem is a standard one for me at any kind of workshop or class, whatever the subject:  I am SO SLOW, and always the last to finish.  But, oh, well, right?!

The best part of drawing class today?  I parked across the street from the most gloriously lavender (!) and white Craftsman.  I found myself smiling from ear to ear as I walked past.  And it's on a corner lot so I got to see a lot more of it than if it weren't.  I was looking forward to walking by it, and studying the lace curtained windows and the kitchen window filled with all kinds of crystals, and maybe even getting a peek inside one of those windows or an open door (80 degrees here today) as I walked by, all the way back to my car after class.  I will take a picture of it next week if I remember because you ALL need to see a beautiful lavender house.  I would SO live in this gem. (I KNOW, huh?!?) And, OH, the flowers I would have in its flowerbeds.  And the comfy chairs I would have on its porches.  And, OH, the tea I would drink while sitting in those chairs as I read the most engrossing books.  Yes. In a lavender house!

Ok, things are looking up...

The breadmaker came today, the Xmas tree is out the door, the decorations are all packed away, the Xmas cupboard is re-organized, my cleaning lady comes in the morning, and the washer is being delivered tomorrow between 11 and 3.

Now, I'm ready for my ice cream =-)

PS:  Gee, I really cannot get into Brad Womack as the Bachelor again; he was not my favorite even when he was on before.  I was hoping for a real cutie pie this season... =-/

I'm tryin' to stay positive in the new year, but come ON... =-/

Wellll, I was going to show you pictures of my new refridge cuz it's really groovy and shiny and clean and purty and I was pretty excited about it...well, as excited as I could be having had to replace the old one the week or two before Christmas...But, oh boy, guess what...NOW I have to replace the washer since it died day before yesterday...with a load of clothes in it, of course...is there any other way to actually KNOW that it died? No, there isn't.  I just bought the new one, it will be here Tuesday...so no laundry till then (and probably no groceries for awhile, gee whiz!)...and the excitment of the sort-of-too-expensive fridge has lost its glow, now that I had to spend sort-of-too-much for the washer, too...The dryer still works, and we're keeping it until it doesn't, or at least until I can feel better about buying one to match.  All this is not sitting too well with me right now.  Especially since, as other NYers can verify, one of the 3 (!!!!!!) yearly tax bills for the NY house came recently. 

I tell ya...I think I need some chocolate or something...probably more something than anything...

Finished and worn already =-)  It was simple to make, and is nice and soft and warm and cozy, just what I was after. I used one of the $$$$ wool and silk skeins that I had in the cupboard.  I'm going to a snowy place soon for 3 days and I wanted something to go with my black coat and sweaters that was comfy.  This is definitely that.

We went to San Diego's opening of the national touring Broadway production of West Side Story last night.  It was fun.  It was West Side Story:  gangs dancing (original Jerome Robbins choreography) and singing and snapping their fingers...always a little cheesy (well, it IS, ...but we know that and love it anyway), always Romeo and Juliet, always poignant...and lots of fun.  The dancing and music were great,  the subtle additions of authenticity adding layers to the Arthur Laurents story and the Bernstein/Sondheim score.  It was a sweet gift from friends to DH and his brother for their birthdays, and we DWs got to come along.  To top it all off, for dessert (actually, for beer, not dessert), we went to watch DS and the country/folk band he plays bass in perform at a local pub! Dinner, theatre, and watching DS...a very nice night out.  

Happy Wednesday.

xo, D.

10-20-17 - 1-4-05

I'm still following the map, Mom.  This is the hardest day of every year.  I love you.

2011, Day 2

It's raining again.  I don't care.  I've been puttering around this weekend, mostly reading, doing a little knitting, a little crochet (pics of that in a couple of days).  And I've been busy on the innernets =-)  Spending a gift card and spending a little on myself.  With the gift card I'm getting this:

And I bought myself one of these (cuz my old one just doesn't do it any more, and I neeeeeeeeed that smell, especially if it's going to rain):

So.  Now.  That's done.  Back to my book.  And tea.  And next week, BREAD.

Let's get this party started!!  Happy New Year, everyone!! xoxo