wordless Wednesday - leap year edition

the crud

Thanksgiving break saw an unwelcome squatter in our house.   The Crud™ has loosed herself once again upon our home and, more importantly, our chests and nasal passages.  I'm looking right at the six-year-old.  That girl, I tell her "You know, Missy, you'd stay healthier if you'd keep your fingers out of your nose.".   She fixes me with a devilish grin, blue eyes sparkling, and promptly shoves a finger right up her nostril.   Cute, kid.  Real cute.

Regardless of sinusitis, I'm feeling cheerful.  It's a beautiful morning.  The sun is shining.  I'm holed up for an hour (or so) at one of my favourite coffee haunts.  It's deliciously chilly outside today - - for coastal Texas, 35F is about as cold as we get - it gives one leave to wear fuzzy, warm sweaters and my new-to-me brown corduroy pants and drink this big ass cup of coffee with  no guilt.  I'm not much one for guilt, mind you, so that's not really a stretch.

This is a big week for me, full of plans fun and exciting.  Myself and some friends are meeting up for what will be a chilly early morning nature shoot tomorrow morning.  If anyone takes a picture of me in my fuzzy toque, they're getting it.    Thursday night I will be attending the opening for a Juried Exhibition in which I have a piece hanging. My very first time having work displayed in a juried show!  Very excited about that, I am.   Friday night I perform with my choir at a local, Christmas festival.  There is no time, you may note, for The Crud ™ in ANY of this.   Shoo, bug, shoo!

In honour of Meatless Monday, I'm going to be making this later on today ~ Mushroom Hot Pot.  First off, it is visually stunning (click to see the photo).. second, coconut milk, lime, lemongrass and chiles?  How can you go wrong?   I don't have any star anise, but I've got everything else covered.  I think the dish will survive without it.   I even some have lovely, lush cilantro in my garden to serve alongside.

A fiery photo to warm you on this crisp, Autumn morning ~

Today I....

• made it to the Thursday morning early Yoga class.  Yay, me!  The Instructor lulled into a false sense of security by being all stretchy-focused, and then - BAM!    Threw Bird of Paradise at us, she did.  Dang.  I *did* manage to get it going on, at least to some extent.... if you can ignore the fact that I was kind of hunched over...   Hunchy Bird of Paradise is not quite as cute as non-hunchy;  just sayin'.
• I found the time to toss back 20 oz of Christmas Blend.  Hey, for the months of November and December, it's my duty.  
• I finished "The Happiness Project" (whilst tossing back the coffee).  I really liked it - I liked how "real" Gretchen Rubin comes across.  She is Gretchen.  (That'll really only make sense if you've read the book;  if you haven't, you're probably just thinking, "Yeah... so?")   I am thinking of embarking on my own Happiness Project, just for kicks.  I've already found many ideas in the book that I'd like to incorporate into my life (and some that I already had been doing).    It's a book worth reading;  I recommend it.
• I came home and threw the ingredients for Dal in the crockpot.    Yes, actually making dinner gives me a very high sense of accomplishment.  
• I took care of three errands that had been  nagging on me for waaaaaaaay too long - - a parcel that I've been trying to mail since August (Have I ever mentioned I loathe mailing things?  It's one of my weirdnesses).   I took care of my ... *ahem*... traffic citation (FIRST dang one since I was 17, y'all.  What a supreme PITA.).   Hit the Indian Grocer for some ingredients I noticed were lacking as I put together the dal this afternoon.   Returned borrowed coolers to a friend.
• Fed children and hit the rink with them for the organized "Skate Night".  We had a blast.  I have one arm longer than the other from my youngest's clutch of death, but it was a great time.   My eldest really got to zooming around the rink pretty good, especially since this is only her... let's see... third time in skates, and it's been 9 months (or so) since our last outing.  I also did a fine job of refraining from dancing as I skated.  I was under STRICT instructions that I may.not.dance.  At all.  Like, not even a hip shake here or there.  Believe you me, even the slightest indiscretions were noted by the wily eyes of my eldest.   

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.  Everyone's sleeping but me and I'm about to join them.  Clothes are laid out for the morning, kitchen is cleaned up.  Time to hit the hay before I start to scour the shelves for tucked away chocolate....

Today's photo - from Monday morning's venture.   A good reminder.

wordless Wednesday ... the wrong side of the tracks.

first photo

I decided to process and post the first photo that I took on a photo outing this morning with a good friend - at first glance, I thought "Drat. Fudged this one."  Not sharp, etc.   You know?  It's really grown on me.  I think I like it.

My brain, it be fizzled tonight.   I had a really good day - culminating in getting some wonderful news: I have a piece accepted to a local, juried art exhibition next month at a local gallery.  Very big deal in my World, and I'm excited.   

Tired, too, though.  Time for some book & early-to-bed therapy, I think. 

wordless Wednesday... Autumn garden

migration

The long, hot & ridiculously dry summer down here in Texas has had long-reaching effects that go beyond limiting how often you can water your garden, or causing some to sputter,  "Hey, I can't pressure wash my driveway?  WTF?"  (Yes, people actually DO that.  Go figure.)   I heard on NPR the other day that there are dramatically fewer Monarch Butterflies seen heading down to Mexico & South America.  The reason?  Dead bushes and plants that would have offered the blossoms they depend on for sustenance.  Our own backyard, with luck, has been able to keep many of the flowering trees and bushes alive.  We watered according to the rationing schedule, and the warm Autumn temperatures have kept the flowers coming.  This afternoon, I headed outside with my camera for a few minutes and saw four Monarchs dizzily swooping around the garden.   

They are a sign that we've been able to maintain a strong ecological habitat in our backyard, something that matters to me a great deal.  And, they're pretty.  They make you smile.  There's hope in the return of the Monarchs each year.  It's kind of cool to see them coming through, and you can't help but want to ask "Hey, how was your Summer?"

top 10

Yeah, yeah... so it's 10:30 and I have Friday brain and can't string together 5 sentences;  what can you do?

Here's an idea - the top 10 things about my day:

1. It was *beautiful*.  Sunny and crisp, the perfect Fall day.  Jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, no jacket needed.  Perfect.
2. I had a breakfast date with my husband.  Much laughter and catching up after a busy week for both of us. The coffee was good, too.
3. A book that I'd ordered came in the mail from Amazon today.  Just in time for the weekend - gotta love it!
4. My house is clean.  I'm really trying to do a general, quick tidy each evening and not let things get out of control.  As a result, it only took 15 minutes after school  to get it ship-shape:  I vacuumed, my eldest girl mopped.  Voila!  Clean house!
5. I enjoyed a backyard fire with my girls after dinner.  I loved sitting with them, talking about their days and sipping a mug of tea.  The stars twinkling overhead, and barely a breeze on this warm, clear night.
6. Connecting with a friend this afternoon.  I'm grateful for the meaningful relationships I have in my life - people that I can really talk with.
7. Fun time Skype'ing with my sister-in-law tonight.  
8. The Thanksgiving Blend cup of coffee I treated myself to this afternoon.... well, it's a limited time thing, ya know.  Who can blame me?
9. A new candle burning on the mantle - cinnamon pecan.   It's a little thing that makes me feel happy.
10. Soon to tuck into a warm, cozy bed with a new book  - the night air cooling down and making it feel even more wonderful under the covers.

"Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere."  - Margaret Wise Brown