Pair/Pear

A quiet day...

Bunny Luv

Here's a little felt bunny I made using this cute pattern from talented blogger Betz White (go check out her blog right now--I'll wait...{taps fingers...hums...wonders what to have for breakfast tomorrow}...Good, you're back!).

Unfortunately, my first attempt resulted in a mutant rabbit whose ears grew out of the middle of its back (cue horror movie music: dum dum DUM). Oopsy.

After some vigorous ripping-out--I sewed it really well because it's intended for a baby--I repositioned the ears to more closely resemble a non-genetically engineered bunny. (And yes, it's missing a tail; because it's meant for an infant, I didn't want to sew on anything that he could rip off and put in his mouth...)

Much better--now the baby for whom it is intended won't cry in fright when he sees it...

Mushroom Nerd

Fun Fact: In addition to being an enthusiastic bird geek (remember, always meant in the very best way!), I'm also a bit of a mushroom nerd. While I know a tiny amount about birds, I cheerfully admit to knowing absolutely nothing about 'shrooms. Aren't they cool, though?

Fun Fact #2: Miss Tallulah Mae has, twice, eaten mushrooms from our backyard--and twice, she had to go to the doggie emergency hospital to, in essence, have her stomach pumped. Good times.
These images were taken at the delightfully low-tech San Diego Mycological Society Mushroom Fair. Cute little tableau above, yes?
It's a bit unfortunate that, from the back, this little mushroom picker appears to be flashing his...hmm...toadstool, perhaps?

Spring, She Has Sprung

Even though the climate is so mild here in SoCal and there ARE things in bloom pretty much all year round, we definitely notice when it's Spring...there are flowers everywhere, blossoms big and small, shy blossoms and loud exuberant blossoms. Lovely, they are, one and all.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Tallulah Mona Lisa Mae.

Five Senses Friday

Sight

Ranunculus from my cutting garden...first time I've tried to grow them.

Sound

My beloved goldfinches are back in force this year. I don't really have them in my garden, but they sit in a tall tree just over the fence in my neighbor's yard and give forth with their sweet songs. (That's not a goldfinch above, alas, but I *think* it's some sort of finch.)

Taste

Irish soda bread from St. Patrick's Day--it was a BIG loaf, so we ate it for more than a week (and may I just say, yum!).

Smell

Sweet peas...I really can't get enough of their fragrance. I close my eyes and just inhale...

Touch
I found this gorgeous bee lying on the ground (RIP, Miss Bee) when I was walking the dog...such amazing creatures. They're really quite soft and downy...

Artie Choke

Last year I bought an artichoke plant in a 4-inch pot; this section of the garden also had 3 tomato plants, 2 tomatillo plants, and a Japanese eggplant. I harvested 2 tiny (and woody) artichokes and figured, oh well. Since my style of gardening is, "Leave it alone and see what it does; even if we don't want it there let's not rip it out until something else is ready to go in," we left this plant alone. No fertilizer. Very little water. And it grew and grew...and grew. Here's someone to give some context for just how large this artichoke plant is--and observe how very happy she is to be participating in the 0h-so-fun photo shoot: I went over to check it out for the first time in a while (even though it's 8 feet from my back door!!!), and lo and behold: Three artichokes!!! (Can you tell from the exclamation points that I'm very excited by this?!! I still get a thrill EVERY time a seed germinates or a rose blooms.) And a gratuitous close-up:
Just lovely, no? Fingers crossed that it tastes as good as it looks...