Juicy Juice

I've been on a bit of a "detox" thing this week, making smoothies out of veggies as breakfast/lunch and then eating a normal dinner. I like these recipes because you use a blender, not a juicer.

First up (above): Mexican Mind Meld (avocado, cilantro, cucumber, scallions). It was good, and I expected it to be my favorite since I adore all of those ingredients...
But then I made Spinach Spree, and it was YUM! Spinach, Greek yogurt, apple, apple juice, parsley. It was my fave.
This is pretty: Beta-Carotene Barrage. Pretty, but not tasty. Boo! I couldn't even drink more than half a glass of it. It's carrots, lime juice, orange juice, and coconut milk (yum yum). Each separate component tasted good, but altogether not so much. Rather acrid and an unpleasant texture.

Off to make something diametrically different from these: chocolate-covered ginger for the Bakesale for Japan, happening on Saturday. Check to see if one is happening in your area...a yummy way to raise funds for the victims of the terrible tragedy in that country (11,500 dead? 16,000 missing? 500,000 homeless? How can it BE? It makes me weep...)

The Eyes Have It

Not sure what this bug is--an eyeball bug?--but I felt I was being stared at...

Lazy Blogger

A pretty flower (also known as "It's late/I'm tired/time to eat/empty head/where's my beer"). Ya know...

OMG, Y'all!!!!

Check out this fabulousness that I got at an estate sale...it's a handmade Christmas carousel. The bottom is a wind-up music box; the different levels are styrofoam, as is the cone at top. And it is jam-packed with all of the little Christmas gew-gaws I love (remember my mantel filled with crazy Christmas Santas and elves like the little dudes on the top level. This is really almost a piece of folk art, I think. Someone made it with a lot of love (and glue!). And shiny stuff!

Alas, as you can see it is quite wonky and is starting to come apart.

I spotted it in the garage and asked how much it was, and I was told that someone else--in the garage--wanted to buy it. And she did, right in front of me!! The price was--wait for it--five dollars!!!! I HAD to have it, so I followed her into the house and bought it from her. As I was taking it out to my car, someone stopped on the street to look at it...
So much goodness on this piece!

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

So, Tallulah Mae, who were your ancestors? The DNA test results: primary/parental line was too dilute to show ANY breeds (!) That was a surprise...we felt sure there was some border collie in there (and there may well be, stirred in a DNA pot with who knows what else). What did T-Mae's parents look like, I wonder?

The next generation showed boxer and Staffordshire terrier (her lovely brindle coat could have come from either of these breeds, and she definitely loves to stand up on her hind legs and box when she's playing). And there were trace amounts of Cardigan Welsh corgi (yay, Annette, you were right, as was the person who put that picture next to Tallulah Mae at the vet's office)--and of Maltese (!). A little white floofy dog--don't see any traces of THAT great-grandmother here, do you? Whatever breeds combined to create Miss Tallulah Mae, the result is C.U.T.E.!!!!

A Tallulah Puzzle

At the vet's office, they have the display board above...it's a puzzle board where you try to match what breeds make up the four dogs on the left. All four dogs have had their DNA tested, and the pieces are backed with velcro so that people can guess which breeds. Who's that on the bottom?
Why, hello, Tallulah Mae!!! Yes, we've had her DNA tested...we thought she was a border collie/boxer/greyhound mix. Were we right? Tune in tomorrow...

One of the puzzle pieces currently next to her picture is correct...which one do YOU think it is?

Paradise, Bird of

Doesn't this Bird of Paradise flower really look like an actual bird in this photo? What noise would it make, I wonder?

Not the Brightest Ladybug in the Drawer (Or Something Like That)

Ladybug: "I wonder why this plant tastes so odd...rather metallic..."
"If I just inhale, perhaps I can squeeze through this aperture..."

Tightrope Walker

I present for your delectation: a wild parrot on a wire (very loud, too--I think it got separated from its flock and was most distressed).
Here he/she is walking, backwards, down the wire...cue the circus music!

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

La dee dah...


If you're looking for a way to donate to disaster relief in Japan (of course, the Red Cross is always a good place for a donation), please consider clicking on the icon at right...there you'll be able to click and donate to ShelterBox (see here for CNN story about them), which sends boxes filled with a tent, water purification supplies, a cooking stove, etc., to disaster-stricken areas. Each box costs $1,000 and will take care of a family of five.

Skies

Skies filled with puffy white clouds.
Skies with huge cloud/fog banks moving in.
Skies filled with words of love.

Rabbit, Weed/Weed, Rabbit

Love this...such a clever placement of the stencil, yes?

Pinky

I love the juxtaposition of the delicate papery petals and the sort of fifties satellite look of the stamen. This is either a flowering plum tree or flowering peach tree (I think plum, actually).

With a Heavy Heart

My heart is full of sadness about the tragedy in Japan, as I'm sure yours are as well. Good thoughts and positive vibrations go out to the lovely lovely people of that lovely lovely nation.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Tallulah was most disappointed that her breakfast pancakes did not come with a smiley face made from chocolate chips and whipped cream.

A China Holiday: Wrapping Up, Part Four: Food

Donuts, aka "Donald Rings."
A most fabulous scallion cake.
Baked beans on toast (veddy veddy British...at our hotel, for breakfast).
Lovely fruit juice.
Congee and sushi and tofu, for breakfast.
Something gelatinous...which stuck to the plate, even when turned upside down!
See?
Food: always an interesting part of travel, yes? Because I'm a vegetarian, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of fully immersing myself in a cuisine, but it's always fascinating to see how/what people eat. And don't you LOVE the little panda and bunny buns up top? They were filled with delicious--no, really, it's yummy--red bean paste, so as yummy as they were cute!

This is the end of my China travelogue...there are hundreds more photos, of course! Come on over to my house and I'll show you!

A China Holiday: Wrapping Up, Part Three: Bicycles

Bicycles of every shape and size (and a few scooters, too, like above). The bicyclists would just launch themselves out into traffic--either fearless or crazy, or a bit of both!

A China Holiday: Wrapping Up, Part Two: Dogs and Cats

Most of the dogs we saw all looked as if they had a common ancestor--they were short legged and had rather pushed-in faces (that cutie above is a repeat, but he's so darling I had to put him in again!).
The beagle on the Great Wall...
This one looks as if it might be part Shar-pei...
This one seems to be able to defy gravity (why, Blogger, why?)
And how cute is this little dude/dudette?