August 15, 2009 ... My 60th Birthday

My Hands

While the LEFT is really in charge, they both have served me well and I am thankful each day to have them both.
The RIGHT is generally accommodating, but specifically uncontrollable.
However, the LEFT and the RIGHT come together in an opposite way to write simultaneously on a blackboard...the left writing BACKWARDS, the right writing FORWARDS.
(Being a leftie has its peculiarities)
They come together to make, to do, to care...and did nicely for this photo.

The Handgrown Flowers in the Handmade Basket
Found on my doorstep w/card from my dear neighbor/fellow gardener.
She claims to have no skills, talents...yet she grew the flowers
& made the basket !

Wise Women, The Button Collector Faery & The Bacon Chocolate Bar
Gifts from my longtime employee, Rose who seems to know me quite well.
The beautiful book inspired the photo of my hands.
Being a button collector, the faery appeared when Rose was on the prowl for my gift.
The bacon chocolate bar is...gone :)
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I'd like to start a few days before my birthday even though I make it a point these days to celebrate all year long.
My recent affiliation with FaceBook has brought me in contact with several people I know from high school. And this lot managed to narrow itself a bit until I found that three others and myself had arranged a lunch (in my BDay week). Almost the night before, I begged off and almost the night before, I reconsidered. I'm glad I did! Haven't seen these girls in 42 years! ... amazed how our lives have developed in that time, how different we are, but kindred as well...I think we were surprisingly comfortable with one another and hope to meet once a month, hereafter!

One day the weekend before was spent with my new friend/neighbor/master gardener/artist
enjoying the Cleveland Museum of Art followed by a three hour drawing class across the street at the Botanical Gardens...a nice lunch, a bit of goofing around before home.

I've taken a couple of days off giving me a stretch of time to just BE...enjoying the garden, my home, my chum, books, my art... One person said to me in a monotone voice..."at least we made it another year". Well, yes of course, but let's be a bit more joyous than that! The number isn't a sign of being old, it is an achievement! I have assessed and have concluded that I am proud of who I grew up to be

... even though that growing wasn't a possibility until I was free.

Thrift stop...

the ABC&D... of smalls

The Red Geranium sale....07.31.09

...more stuff

Not a great deal of stuff considering how much stuff they have in their shop! ...but I was there only a few weeks ago (when I bought all those birdcages).

The kimonos were spotted within minutes of getting there and a fabulous brilliant red one would have come home too if I were half the size I am (or it was twice the size). I stayed in the shop for hours enjoying the time and opportunity to really comb through the merchandise...this is what caught my eye. The wooden bowl caught my eye last trip and I'd already paid for everything else when I decided to get it too...afterall the BIG sale comes but once a year!

Photos of the Day...

Smile...!

Hummingbird Moth
taken today 07.21.09
aka Hemaris thysbe - Hummingbird Clearwing
(thank you BugGuide.net)

Here's the HIGHLIGHT of my every day...

The Be All, End All
My Chum

Flea Market /Resale Shop Finds...find a new home...highlights of the day

This is THE MOST fabulous little lamp!
Itz retro, itz AQUA!
(had to have it & if you understand, you can be a friend)

Photo sans 2 wire bird cages & wooden type
(must remember to not back out over birdcages in garage)

Quite a day & rain did NOT impede treasure collecting! Small Asian figures, old calipers, child's cat plate, linens, old wooden hangers from a New York hotel (a Bing Bing hotel)...

3 birdcages (found one yesterday w/stand at a garage sale...also a 3 ft. mermaid...had to have it!) , old handmade wooden napkin holder, the smallest pair of Mexican feather birds w/May Co. labels, a huge tray of wooden type (oh what a find!) and the lamp...if I take a photo of anything it will be this lamp...funky, retro with an aqua plastic shade, glass base. Itz the bees knees!

A good day concluded with market stops (marinated eggplant slices, melons, Portuguese bread...) and a little Italian meal with the Canon Fairy.

(if something doesn't make sense itz because the pics were added the next day)

Perfect Summer Days...

I had just spoken to a fellow gardener/nature lover of not seeing any hummingbirds thus far, this year. Just standing near the sink, the sound of the house wren made me turn to look out and there it was...hovering over the hanging impatiens. And THEN...zoooooom! Joined by another! NEVER ever ever in my almost 60 yrs. have I seen a pair of hummingbirds! In the last few years, I have seen a hummingbird at rest and I swear I stopped breathing both times.

Hummingbirds were followed by a pair of black-capped chickadees at the small bird bath...their mee mee meep sound unmistakable. Cat bird (there has been a pair here since Spring) arrived thereafter and the yard is a sanctuary with bunnies and birds.

I caught a good close look at the adorable house wren when I heard an unfamiliar bird sound...a constant clucking communication between two birds...almost a sound of agitation and there it was. Yes, reddish, a little speckled, a little striped and with quite a vocabulary. They also have THE most beautiful and lengthy song for such a tiny bird. I am honored to have them nesting in a gourd hanging in my ancient dwarf pear tree.

These last two days have been THE MOST purrrrfect of summer days and I made sure to pry myself away from art to sit in the summer sun reading, languishing, listening...

...life is good !