Like the cake says...

Catherine turns 27 today! Happy Birthday, sister dear!!!

There and Back Again, a roadtrip tale part 1

Recently Ben and I went to Austin Texas, road trip style. We left on Wednesday at midnight and arrived at our destination at 11 pm on Thursday. Non-stop, it was awesome.

This could have been Arizona or New Mexico, we drove through both.

Ben was in charge of taking most of the photographs, there were a lot of me driving. Ugh.

These Saguaro Cacti in Arizona reminded me of wedding cake toppers.

More than once did I think there were people trying to run up on freeway traffic.

Look at this island of capitalism in a barren desert.

Loan Cholla standing in a field, at dusk these also looked like people. Freaky.

Birthplace of middle sister (me) and youngest sister (Catherine)

This was at a gas station, we didn't buy gas from them. I bought gas across the street.

Rock on rocks on rocks.

Texas wild flowers, formally known as Mexican Hat Flowers.

Rest stop romance.

Patiently watching a grasshopper with one leg. Sad.

More things to scare me while driving in low light.

This Little Mermaid blanket that my girl Jenny made me comforted Ben and I while away from home.

Of course we saw plenty of these, but can you see the windmills in the distance?

Scenery.

Fire Ants!!

This thing!

And that was a summary of the trip to Austin. There aren't any night pictures because Ben took that driving shift on the way there, but don't worry if you love the desert in the dark we have plenty of pictures from the drive home when I took the late shift. The best part is why we went to Austin...stay tuned for part two to find out.

Visiting Mother

I made a quick trip to Tacoma this weekend. I'll give you a moment to roll your eyes and think, Awesome, now I get to hear all about that. Pssh. Other people's weekends. Sometimes you just need to go home, right? Well, I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that we didn't do too much--Mom and I ran errands and puttered around the old homestead and went to a hoarder's estate sale. Uhh, yeah we did. We also visited Catherine and Nick in Olympia, ate pizza and carrot cake, and went to see The Hunger Games. (Oh, Hunger Games...why are you such a disappointment? Actually, I know why. I have a mental list, which I compiled during my drive back across the state, but let's not get into that now.) 

Part of the errands was to get Mom a new camera--her old camera stopped working after getting hit with too much sea spray on a whale watching excursion--and even though we had to go from Puyallap to Federal Way to Tacoma, we accomplished that mission. Here she is delighting herself while conducting a bit of a test run. 

Poppies are my favorite. They used to grow on the hillside across from our house in Bad Kreusnach, Germany. Monika and I
used to find baby snails amidst the poppies and let those little snailies crawl on our arms. True story.
Mom's poppies were closed when I arrived, but a couple opened Monday morning! 

I'm fascinated by the poppies' bud casings. They're like little animals! I petted this shed casing for quite a while. 

That's a C-17 Globemaster flying over the house. 

Mom spotted several robins while searching for a subject on which to test her 20x optical zoom. Dang.

A pair of woodpeckers is working away at one of Mom's trees. Doesn't this one look annoyed? I see it in his beady bird eye. 

I look forward to pictures of cats, birds, and flowers, as well as terribly unflattering shots of me and my sisters. I can only assume it's a mother's duty. Don't worry, Catherine, I took it upon myself to erase those pictures from Sunday. You're welcome, sister. 

tossed and found

Green bottles and containers 

Oil, Alcohol and Drugs

I ran across these intriguing photos on The Etsy Blog yesterday. They're the work of Barry Rosenthal, a photographer out of New York, who creates collage photographs of found items. From his website: The Found in Nature series is created using plastic objects, garbage, plastic waste and detritus found on beaches polluting our water and land. 

You probably know by now, I'm always game for plucking interesting items from around the high tide mark, and if it helps clean the beaches...well then, that's a terrific bonus. Way to tidy up, Mr. Rosenthal! 

Disposable Lighters, Beach Haven, NY. 

Tampax, Brooklyn, NY.

Combs, Beach Haven, NJ.

There's something about these photographs that makes me feel very quiet. Does that make sense? I just think about all the things we've created and discarded and how they've had a life beyond their intended purpose. The unexpected life of objects beyond us. It's like getting a glimpse at a secret world. And really, everything that comes out of the ocean is mysterious, yeah?


View more of Rosenthal's mesmerizing work on his website: Photobotanicus. 

plaque

This is my favorite plaque in Olympia (and there are plenty to pick from).

I think that plaques are entirely underrated. Behind every plaque is immense effort made by someone or some group that thought some event was important enough to be commemorated.

This plaque happened to be placed by the Sacajawea Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution in Olympia (you see I know this since it's on the plaque--brilliant!).

Treasures from last weekend.

Picked up these little treasures at an estate sale. Everything here and below was $1.00 total.
Monika promptly laid claim to these baby beasties, and I told her: "Eff no you won't." 

+

Yes, I picked up more random keys. Um, I'm going to use them for something...someday. 

+

And I had to satisfy my spring fever with some flowers and tomatoes. I'm well on my way to having a crazy plant lady front porch. 

=

And I picked up a free photo editing app: Pic Collage! Totally free, ladies and gents. Check it out. 

Instaweek: California Edition III

Yeah, this actually falls under the insta-a-couple-of-weeks-ago-gram. I was waiting for one of the sisters to post something about Disneyland, but no one did!!! So now we're going with CHRISTINE'S DISNEYLAND. Mwa-ha-ha-ha. (That's supposed to be a villainous laugh.)

Here are some wicked fake crags at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
We rode a couple times, including once after dark. Monika is convinced
all the rides are faster after dark. Where's the logic in that?
 Any Disney insiders who can support or refute her claim? 

MONSTRO!!!! You can ride a little boat through his mouth. I think that's
part of the Storybook Land ride or something. Monika kept talking about it,
but she never delivered. Rudeness, sister, rudeness. 

Sadly, the Matterhorn was closed. But Monika has heard tell that the Disney
engineers or Disney-neers, as I've just decided to call them, were doing a
Brave makeover. 

Catherine smashed this quarter. Hold up. A quarter, you say? Yes, she is that
ritzy. And then we talked about how her hand looks like a butt in this picture.
True story. 

The ferris wheel in California Adventure. We didn't actually climb aboard
because the park was closing, but Monika, Ben, and I did take a wild ride
on that rollercoaster: California Screamin'. Hello? It goes upside down.

Lanterns suspended over the Teacups. The last ride of the evening was,
fittingly, Alice in Wonderland. Pretty black-light. Pretty magical. 

I feel like this caption should be: Y'all come back now! Too much?

In spite of the fact that I went into Disneyland without the necessary excitement (Catherine, especially, seemed bummed that I was not more psyched.), I had  a terrific time. I know, I know. Who would go to Disneyland and come away with a ton of complaints? OK, maybe me. But I didn't! So, you see, that counts as a Disney win...or maybe a sisters win.

Brief Musical Interlude: She's a rainbow.

Such a sweet goodbye for Kristen Wiig. What a swell group of folks. much hugging and dancing and trying not to cry. It makes me love her all the more.

P.S. Catherine informed me that the Hulu clip wasn't working. It only played a Target ad when I clicked on it. Lame-O. Let's hope the NBC clip isn't so jerky. Oh, it works. YES!!!

Cold in May

It's past the middle of May, but it's a chilly and rainy day in the Pacific Northwest.
You know that rainy days make kitties want to do?

It makes them want to be super snuggly.
Sometimes it is hard to tell where one black & white cat ends and the other begins.

Beads + paint = necklace!

Beads and chain

Plus paint...

Equals cute little necklace.

Even better--Peanut approves!

all keyed up

So, I ended up with a pile of keys (we cleaned out last year's lost and found at work), and I'm in search of a project. I love these bells suspended from twine, but would it be cool with bunches of keys? Questions, questions. 

rustic bells via Vintage Luxe

Any advice? Sisters, friends, fellow crafters, come to my aid!