Title of work: "Funhouse Portrait Number One," 2008.
These remind me, for some reason, of one of these George Nelson clocks...I actually love all the different colors here.
...here is my other fabulous blog giveaway prize from December: it's an "eco print" from the very talented artist Alena Hennessey. Yay-o-yay...I truly love it--and it's extra perfect for me since I was born in the Year of the Rabbit.
...sweet and generous bloggers! I enter blog giveaways occasionally but rarely win (although I did hit a streak of good luck in December). This first giveaway was part of Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day on December 3; there were about a hundred bloggers participating. The sweet blogger at I Heart Linen had one giveaway, and then because she felt so bad for the more than 600 folks who commented but didn't win, she added another--and looky looky what I won! Some lovely Japanese fabrics, Japanese rick-rack (I loves me some rick-rack!), and a skein of Japanese linen yarn. Thanks so much, Rashida...I'm so thrilled with my goodies. BTW, she has an Etsy shop, too... 
Official blog giveaway inspector...
Pop quiz time, class (please take out your No. 2 pencils). 
Acceptable answers include: A) rip your sweater off while proclaiming that you're about to burst into flames; B) fan yourself wildly with anything to hand, even if it's floppy and doesn't generate any air (napkin, post-it, handbag); C) lie back on a couch in your silk slip and talk about always having depended on the kindness of strangers. 
Or you could just do what Tallulah Mae does...BTW, for this technique to succeed, it's absolutely crucial that your back legs are up the couch and that your tail is tucked. 
Cue the Mamas and the Papas...
Blorpety-blorpety-blorp... 
This one is camera shy: "No paparazzi!!"
The end.
P.S. This post is meant to express my gratitude and amazement that I live in such a place; it is NOT meant to rub it in for those folks who live where it's decidedly more winterish. Come visit us and warm up!
This... (which, hilariously, looks as if it has soaked up all the water in the birdbath)... 
...belongs to him/her. After I took these photos, he/she proceeded to spend some time removing small pieces of the bread, bit by bit; the bulk of it still lies moldering in the birdbath. 
If you saw this, you would just have to smile, right? I mean, the car itself--a BMW Isetta 300--just makes me grin, but look more closely at the passenger... 
Let's have a closer look, shall we? 
But wait! Someone else is there...is it the doggy driver, perhaps? 
Look closely and you can see both of our canine motorists' faces. Cute!
See? It's...a tractor. It sits outside of the--what else?--Tractor Room, a cool restaurant where we like to go for breakfast. (Their site has music, be warned...) 
Aren't these wild? They are called Buddha's hand, and they're a kind of citrus fruit (they smell lovely, by the way).
This turtle was at a Mexican restaurant--note the outstretched back leg... 
The final three photos are from a nursery along the way (I've forgotten the name--eek).
Tallulah Mae was hoping to camouflage herself in the pine needles so that she could menace the skwerls...it was not successful.
Stanley was hoping for some treats, and that WAS successful--look at that face. Who could resist?
And an anonymous monarch butterfly, whose agenda wasn't clear to me... (isn't it gorgeous!?).
It's a one-dog night...brrrrr!
I love how this liquidambar tree (also known as the sweet gum tree) still has its "fruit" from last year even as it has new leaf shoots. The old and the new, in harmony...
A confession: I could totally be a bird geek (not that there's anything wrong with that, said in Seinfeld voice). What are these pretty birds, I wonder? They're unusual in my neighborhood. They are a lovely subtle shade of yellow on their chests, and they're rather large (in other words, they're not goldfinches). Tweet! 
Ahhh...I never tire of the sunset. I stand, take a deep breath, and say thanks for another day.
Cue the