Elegance

Don't you agree?

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Remember this F.O.T. (Friend of Tallulah)? Here she is again, in all of her blue-eyed glory. Sweet sweet little cat...

Blorpety Blorpety Blorp

Munchety munchety munch...this dude was chowing down on one of my tomato plants. And pooping. A lot. I removed him/her/it, broke off a big stem of the plant, and put the whole shebang over in the greenery recycling barrel. Hopefully it will turn into a chrysalis before it's recycling day! I actually think these are quite beautiful. And the "horn"? That's its butt end...

These turn into sphinx moths, quite cool themselves--they're so big and move in much the same way that hummingbirds do, so they're often mistaken for a hummingbird as they fly around at dusk. {Beep--move the filmstrip forward...}

Where I Live

...it is very beautiful.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

That age-old question: "Are we there yet?"

Lepidoptera Stalker

I literally ran after this butterfly...it was HUGE, as you can see; I tried to take a close-up of it, but it flew away. I think it would have put its hand up over its face to hide from me. If it had hands. Or a face.

Sewing Mojo

Look what I made on Sunday! A cute and comfy cotton/linen sleeveless pin-tucked tunic! Yay! I made it at a class at this swell place, Home Ec Studio. It's not finished (need to tack the neckline and sleeve openings down and hem it...and it needs to be pressed, of course). It's from a Japanese pattern book (love love love them), and in the course of modifying the (super small) pattern, the sleeves got f'ed up so we just decided that I should make it sleeveless ("we" is me and Roselle, my super-cool instructor).

I plan to try to make another one, with sleeves (I think we corrected the pattern properly). I sooo enjoy sewing and I think this has jump-started me to want to pursue further projects. Practice, practice, practice, as with all things. My mom is an impeccable seamstress, so perhaps I can live up to her talents one of these days!

True story: I never took home ec in high school because I was in band/orchestra--can you say "Band Buddy"--so no time for another elective. I'm home ec challenged!

Tower, Water

I'm hugely attracted to water towers. Why? Who knows! I like the look of this one against that blue sky.

Vintage Lovelies

Just some pretty white vintage buttons--no deep thoughts, just . . . pretty buttons. Which I love. A lot. And I have (ahem) a lot.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

This reminds me so much of those tragedy/comedy drama masks . . .

Encore Presentation

Kitten lip!!!!!
Green kitten eyes and razor-like kitten claws!!!!

She is living over here, at the home of Miss Various and Sunday, but there has been some disturbance in the cat-o-sphere over there. Things are slowly improving, but if someone might be interested should the two cats not come to an understanding, do let me know! (This means you, my L.A. friend who called about this kitten--come on, you need a kitten, you know you do!)

Kaboom!

That was the sound of my head exploding...and no, she's not mine. O.M.G., though, am I right? The darlingness is off the chart? Kaboom!

Round Two! {Ching!}

The artichoke plant, it's a real go-getter! I thought it was done for the year, but looky here!

Benign Neglect Wins the Day (Again!)

Can you hear them? They're singing "I Will Survive (despite the fact that all we ever get is water once in a while)."

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

"May I be of assistance?"
"Did you want something of me?"
"WHAT?!?"

Real Maters

Look who's lurking in the vegetable garden.
Sir G. Rasshopper, that's who! I find them fascinating...it kept sort of inching its way around the stalk, hiding from me.
It's tomato (plant) mania over here...the plants have officially gone berserk.
This is only four plants (and some basil and sage in front). Nutty!
Very few ripe tomatoes yet, however--it's been super cool all summer so I think they're just not producing fruit. They all have some green fruit on them, though, so fingers crossed...

Faux-Mato

On the left: a big yellow bead. On the right: a yellow grape tomato from my garden. Faux tomato = faux-mato.

Scenes from a Lovely Long Weekend

Naps.
Gardening.
Drinks.
Men with ZZ Top hair and beards.
ZZ Top.
Chocolate donut (since I only allow myself to eat them about twice a year, all the more delectable!).
Horse racing.

And how was your weekend?

Happy Labor Day--Hope You Didn't Have to Labor

Tallulah Mae is showing off her best chilling-out technique...hope your day was full of relaxation too! And also ice cream (mandatory on a federal holiday!).

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Rin Tin Tallulah.
Here she is alerting us not to the fact that little Timmy fell down the well (I know, that's really Lassie), but to the fact that someone has had the audacity to walk down the sidewalk. Across the street. In the next block. Yesterday.

How YOU Doin'?

Apropos absolutely nothing, for your consideration: an animatronic T-Rex.
"Rawrrrrrrrr....{waving tiny little arms about}."

Bright Star

Check out the star shape in the middle of this flower. The title of this post also refers to the film Bright Star, which I just watched--it's about the love between John Keats and Fanny Brawne; unfortunately, as you probably know, Keats died at age 25 of tuberculosis. They couldn't marry because he was basically penniless and she had no dowry; he died thinking himself to be a failure as a poet. The film has lots of shots of the breathtaking English countryside, as well as lovely clothes (I adore women's dresses during that time period, which is around the same time Jane Austen was writing).

Here is Keats's sonnet "Bright Star":

Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.