My Own Cheshire Cats

I loved the Cheshire cat in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The sharp teeth, the smarmy voice.

Am I the only one who thinks the original Cheshire cat was, in fact, a raccoon? These 3 brothers greet me every morning: clinging to the branches in the big fir tree, watching my every move as I come downstairs and walk about the kitchen...awaiting their breakfast. My own Cheshire cats.

Earth Day

Yesterday, Earth Day, I spent a bit of time weeding and pruning, just to celebrate! Then I walked to the beach during low tide. I always hope to spot sea creatures, and have certainly been rewarded handsomely at times. However, on this day I didn't come upon any, well, except for a sea lion watching me, but I had some great bird sightings. I saw 3 bald eagles; 2 adults and 1 juvenile. A really special treat was watching an adult dive in the water to retrieve a small fish, perch nearby and eat it. All within 100 ft of me. Then I noticed another adult at the tippy top of a fir tree, overseeing everything. An osprey cruised overhead, high, and I wondered what the eagles would do as these 2 species compete for food. Apparently the osprey kept the appropriate distance.

The belted kingfishers are back patrolling the shoreline.

As are the Great Blue Heron; 3 of them. When I returned home I noticed that Mrs. Robin Red Breast has taken up roosting on the nest on top of an outdoor light at the garage. What a great Earth Day I had.

Steam Punk; fini

I found this theme, Steam Punk, especially challenging to capture for the Alphastamps.com ATC swap. Above is "Two for the Road".

Here is my "Love, Steam Punk style".

Lastly I have "Wanted". All righty, then. What's next?

Easter, finally

Bob and I were both sick on the real Easter, so we postponed it for a week. Only a small group of family was able to come, but it was good to see everybody and to once again feel well.

Because my flu had segued into a cold, I hadn't seen my mom since her surgery 2.5 weeks ago. She looks good; a little weak still, but GOOD.

We celebrated my nephew's birthday. And that means cake. Lemon with cream cheese frosting and cherry filling. Then the usual staples for an Easter dinner, but I must say it was tasty. And I was only in the kitchen, oh, maybe 8 hours!

Steampunk. Huh?

The AlphaStamps.com Yahoo group has proposed a "Steampunk ATC swap". Uh, OK. But what is steampunk? I mean, I've seen it, but I'm not sure I know how to illustrate it. While of course AlphaStamps has fun supplies in this theme, still, I'm searching for the essence. What to do but go to Google and Flickr. Where I found the fine gentleman above. This is Daniel Proulx. He seems to fit the definition I liked: "Steampunk simply embodies a time and a place. The time... the late 19th century. The place... a steam powered world, where air travel by fantastical dirigibles is as common as traveling by train or boat or submarine. A place where the elegant and refined are as likely to get pulled into a grand adventure, as the workers, ruffians, and lower classes. A place where the idea of space travel is not so far fetched. A place where lost civilizations are found and lost again. A place where anything is possible, and science can be twisted to meet ones own ends." The movie "Kate & Leopold" comes to mind, as I just watched it on Encore TV. Think "Mad Maxx".

However, I don't need to dress for the swap; I need to craft for the swap! Daniel has something for that, too. He makes very nicely handcrafted jewelry and odd bits from the Steampunk Era. (There really isn't such an era...it's all imaginary which makes it so exciting!)

Prior to doing my finger-walk through Google I made a couple of ATC's yesterday, just to limber up. I used nothing but products I had already on-hand from AlphaStamps, on the left. Not of the appropriate theme, however; may be punky , but not steamy. On the right I used stuff from my inventory. Meh. No punk. I'm not in the Steampunk zone, yet. But I'm working on it.

Happy Easter

A Good Hair Day

My great-niece Jacey asked for something special for her upcoming 13th birthday gift: She wanted a haircut and highlights. I immediately said yes, and decided to take her to "my girl". I knew that my girl, the stylist I use, would give Jacey a great haircut that would last a good long time, and that she would appropriately highlight the hair. I had visions of bleached stripes in Jacey's hair and nobody wanted that! I must enclose a BEFORE picture, above, so you will see that there was a lot of raw material to work with.

Jacey is an honor student, plays flute in the school concert band and plays saxophone on her own. She has just started photography class but has been making home movies for some time; scripts, sound track and all. She is kind and very sweet. It was an honor for me and Bob to give her a gift that will help her look as pretty as she feels. First, just a little bit of process had to be tolerated.

I realized after I made the appointment for Jacey that I badly needed a touch-up on my highlights, too. The salon squeezed me in with another stylist, so here's the home team ready for the unveiling.

Here we are near the finish line. I know, I know, this photo is badly overexposed, but look at that FACE! And that HAIR!

Et Voila! Gleaming, sun-kissed tresses fit for a princess.