a bit of fluff

"Find a job you like and you add five days to every week."  ~H. Jackson Browne

I haven't had much time for blogging this week (although I always make time for reading blogs, even if I don't have time to write one!), so I thought today I would just check in with y'all and post some pictures that are from last year.  My youngest lovely, Schyler, lives in Greensboro NC, a whole three hours away from me, which I'm not all that happy about, but I try to keep in mind it could be so much worse.  Anyway...until about a year ago she lived in this completely awesome space.  She has a really good eye for design (both of my girls do!), whether it's interiors or fashion.  This place was a big, old open loft near downtown.  I think most of us think of lofts as being on an upper level - I know I do - but this was a former grocery store on street level.

Schye and Zac - cute, huh?

I

Hey!  There's my little Jack!  And Schyler's shoes as home accessories!

Dining room on the left, kitchen on the right, and the huge old window divides the bedroom from the rest of the space.

Zac's shoes as accessories in the dining room...

The living room space - with real fireplace!

The front door!

It was a great space and I know she sometimes misses it.

So, the reason I've been so busy this week is that this being a movie town, we have an internationally famous yearly film festival here called Cucalorus (anybody else know what that word means?).  It's a completely community funded festival that doesn't cost the filmmakers, who come from all over the world, a dime. In order to do that, the organizers (and my boss is one of them) do a big Oscar Night Party as a fundraiser.  It's a lot of fun, with everyone encouraged to dress like they are actually going to the real Oscars, but this is an artsy kinda town and people show up in everything from tuxes to tennies - and sometimes both at the same time.  It's held in one of the giant stages at the movie studio in town, and there is food from some of the best restaurants in town, lots of free alcohol, and they show the Oscars on big screens.  So I've been busy this week making arrangements, deliveries of goods, etc.  I'll post photos on Monday to show you what I wore. (and maybe what other people wore - that would be more entertaining!)

sushi and daffodils

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


Kendra (my oldest lovely) and I went out for a little lunch this past weekend, and afterwards she asked if I would mind going to a nearby Ulta so she could pick up some of her favorite shampoo.  I got a new lipstick, and then as we were leaving I remembered there was an asian market across the street.  On a whim, we went in.  An hour later, after much ooohing and ahhhing over some of the merchandise and the foodstuffs, we walked out with some seaweed, some sticky rice, and a sushi roller.  We stopped at the grocery store to pick up some crab and an avocado.  Once we got home we experimented until we got it down (well, pretty much down, anyway).  Have you ever tried making your own sushi? After a little experimentation, it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. We ended up with some asparagus rolls and some crab/avocado rolls with spicy sauce and they were delicious! If you haven't tried making your own sushi, I highly recommend a little experimenting.




Bottom left is our first attempt - we got better with each try!

 


They were 100% yummy!  After I took the picture I remembered the spicy sauce and the sesame seeds, but it was too late to take more pics - we weren't waiting any longer to try these!

 Oh, and the daffodils?  Well here ya go:

The cute little flowers are from one of the mahonias in the yard.  Not my favorite plant, but it does have cute flowers!

It was 70 degrees today, and we are expecting more of the same for the next 5 or 6 days.  I know. It might not last.  We still have a couple weeks of winter.  But it sure is fine while it lasts! With a little luck, the worst of winter is behind us and Spring will be here before we know it! Happy dance!

every day we get a little closer...

"A hush is over everything, Silent as women wait for love; The world is waiting for the spring. "~
Sara Teasdale  (and no one more than I, I might add!)






A beautiful day today!  The sun was shining, with highs in the upper 60's, and even better - it's supposed to stay that way all week.  Most years this would be normal for us.  Not so much this year, though.  It makes me appreciate it all the more.  So I spent the entire afternoon out in the garden, doing some much needed clean up work.  Ahhh...it felt so good.  Jack spent the afternoon outside with me, following the sun across the yard and laying down in the warm patches of sunlight.  I'm a summer person, he's a summer dog.

As I worked, I noticed all the little (so far) signs of Spring:



Tiger Lily, just poking up.




A few Azaleas already!




The moss on this rock is amazing.  Once it warms up that probably won't stick around.




Hydrangea leaves are budding.



Of course the Camellias are budding.  They're late this year.  Normally they would be flowering now.



Buddha has moss all over his head and on his right arm! (The stone in his hand says "imagine".)

 Guess where I'll be again tomorrow?  A happy week to all!

My Favorite Winter Accessory

Janet at the thegardenerscottage.blogspot.com asked readers to post pictures of their favorite accessories, and I thought that would be fun.  In the winter I am rarely without a scarf.  I have many, in all different colors and styles.  Most of them can be worn either as a scarf or almost like a shawl, if I'm cold. More often I wear them like this:



A few from my "collection".

 Come Spring (it won't be long now!!), I won't be wearing scarves any more.  I'll have to think of a new "favorite" accessory, I guess.

Yoga Love

"What is behind your eyes is more powerful than what is in front of them." Lorrie, my yoga teacher in class last night.

I am passionate about yoga.   I'm not what most people would call the passionate type.  I'm sort of the calm, cool and collected type - detached, almost.  So for me to say I'm passionate about something is really saying something.  Among all the other benefits I receive from it, yoga makes me feel empowered.  The idea that I can change something in my life just by how I look at it or think about it is awesome to me. A big part of yoga practice is spiritual.  I don't mean religious. The philosophy behind the spirituality in yoga is simple: you have everything you need for happiness in life inside you; have compassion for yoursef and for every other living thing on earth and remember that you may not be able to see their struggles; and alway strive to treat others as you would like to be treated by them.  Pretty simple right? I don't know how that belief system could be offensive to anyone.  But earlier this week I picked up a small local "lifestyle" magazine that showed a woman in a yoga pose.  I looked forward to the possibility to an article about yoga.  Instead I found an editorial, written by the editor, proclaiming that while yoga is good for the body, "good Christrians should be careful in any yoga 'spirituality' that might turn one's eyes away from God." Really?  I don't get that.  The word yoga means "a yoking" or "a union" of the body, mind and spirit (soul). I can't imagine a yoga class without the soul.  But it inspired me to do something I've never done before - write a letter to the editor.  I'll spare you all the details, but I tried to (calmly and politely) share the yogic belief system and show her the similarities to Christian teachings. I ended the letter by telling her that if she and other Christians who agreed with her wanted yoga classes without any fear of spirituality they should have them - but they should call it by the correct name : a stretching class. 


And this is what we worked on in class today (this is not me - I don't usually take my camera to class!  However, that is me in headstand in the sidebar!):



Scorpion pose!
photo from google images

 Namaste y'all!

late to the party...

"One sure way to lose another woman's friendship is to try to improve her flower arrangements."~
Marcelene Cox



Jane, the lovely hostess (is that the right title? proprietess?) of the blog  smallbutcharming@blogspot.com had a really fun party last Monday, where everyone showed what they had blooming around the house. For reasons I can no longer remember (just too much going on at work, I think), I didn't join the fun that last week, but thought I would instead, do it today.



The first bloom on my Christmas Cactus.  A friend gave me a little cutting last spring and it's grown fast.  I wasn't sure it would bloom this year, but am happy to see it did.  It looks a little washed out, but it is a beautiful salmon color with white stripes.  A lovely thing to see on such a dreary day as today was.

 And then there's this:



The Daffodils are up!  Spring can't be too far behind!




Here the flowers will be out in a matter of days!

 I think at Jane's next party I will be sporting some Daffodils.  In a little silver julep cup, perhaps? Come on Spring!

Today is my day!

Today is the day, once a year*, when I tell my mom Thank You! Thanks for all your hard work on that February 2nd, all those many, many, many years ago when you brought me into the world and started me on this adventure.  Thanks for giving me this life! 

That's right...my birthday is on Groundhog's Day. 

Today is also the one day a year I eat a real, red-meat hamburger.  I stopped eating meat 10 or so years ago.  I never really miss things like steak or a roast, but the thought of going without a good hamburger for the rest of my life was agonizing, so I decided I would let myself have one once a year. On my birthday.  So that is what I'm doing today.  Lunch with a dear friend and a hamburger?   A great way to celebrate life.  Tonight will be my favorite yoga class (with my awesome new Manduka mat, birthday gift from the bf) and my favorite sweet potato roll at our local sushi bar.  Life is good.

*Just so you know - I tell my mom thank you more than just once a year.  It's just that today I thank her specifically for having me!

And a note to all who expressed such nice words about Jack and his diabetes - he is doing really well so far.  He gets such a small amount of insulin, and it's such a small needle, that he doesn't even seem to notice, which makes my job a lot easier.  It hasn't slowed him down a bit!