What if?

What if we could change our planet one person at a time?

 

 Song - It's Not Easy Being Green - Kermit

Chive flower

I have a friend, Taya -  who just began a blog about composting, cooking and giving back to the earth.

http://meandmygreenbin.blogspot.com/


Hope you will check it out and say "Hi" to her for me!

A little friend on my tomato stakes

Meanwhile, I have had several friends and family members dealing with various surgeries and healing.


So last week Mr. B and I did up a few dinners to try and help out.

Mr. B marinaded flattened chicken overnight and then grilled it the next day. It was super moist and tasty.  Here is the link for Ina Garten's Tuscan Lemon Chicken

I made a Orzo Salad with Asparagus and tomato.  It was good but needs some livening up.  I would probably add more garlic and some Champagne Vinegar next time.

Orzo Salad with Tomatoes and Asparagus

I also found these cute little candle holders just that morning and they added a "Tuscan" feel with some garden Lavender and Lemons. 

So to bring it full circle....Taya inspired me to start composting again!

Go world!

 

“Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow.” - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Something Squirrely is Going On

Song - The Sounds of Spring - Bird Song

This is really a story of determination verses stupidity.  I am not sure which side I am on!

How do you keep squirrels away from your bird feeders?

I have spent - well, a lot on anti-squirrel devices.

It is not like I don't like squirrels as they are funny little characters but I am going broke buying birdseed! They will just hang upside down on one of my feeders and drain an entire feeder in a day or an hour.

Getting ready to attack a freshly filled feeder

Fill 'er up!

They lay in wait to see what I will come up with next.

Watching me through the kitchen window

I have bought domes and caged feeders.  I have even had two that would spin and supposedly send the squirrels flying.  I kinda liked that image - ha!

SloMo Squirrel Flung

I have tried pelting them with ice cubes figuring that it would at least water my garden when melted.  After breaking some garden lights, I decided that I needed a new approach.

"Hey Charlie, what do you suppose she will do now?"

I don't want to hurt them but I really want to discourage them from eating the birdseed.

Super Soaker to the rescue!

My two new anti-squirrel devices

The first one I bought was the pump action kind and by the time I got it pumped for power and firing, the squirrel would be gone (after having a good laugh at me!).


Then I decided to buy a battery operated one.  Perfect, I just pick it up and shoot.  Only problem was that the water was just a little light spray. 

Just waiting for the perfect moment to attack

The squirrels just lay on our pergola laughing and enjoy the cool mist that I am providing for them.  Ha Ha - the joke is now on me.

This one is giving me the "skank eye" and wondering what lame idea I will come up with next!

Shhh......

Don't tell them.....I have attack dogs.....

"But tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her.

barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my window

in one of the fragile cotton dresses of the poor.

She will look at me with her arms extended,

offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light."

--William Collins

Begin Again and Again

Song - John Lennon "Starting Over" 

This weekend I began three paintings.

I was so happy to have three full days of uninterrupted painting and I rushed in with a childlike eagerness. 

My reference materials were ready.

I had lot's of blank canvases and plenty of paint.

I was pumped up and was swimming with ideas.

Only thing was, none of them turned out like I envisioned.



Painting number one....was of two Peacocks outside a Parisian Orangery. After working on it for a full day, it just felt flat.  I want to paint something fun and different!

Painting number two....very different for me.  A combination of two photos.  One of the beach in Lake Tahoe, with the beautiful colors of water in the background and a sea shell from my collection that I photographed outside on my deck Sunday morning.  Voila!  Not quite. Something doesn't feel right and I am not sure what.  Is the shell too large?  Is it too "fussy"?  Maybe the shadow is too dark....or the wrong shape?  Since I was having trouble trying to figure out where to go with it, I went forth to a new large scale painting.

At this point it kinda felt like "Romey and Michele's High School Reunion" where they are going on a road trip but the car keeps dying on them.  It starts up, they turn on the radio, put it in gear and it dies again and again.  I just love that part, they have such enthusiasm....it has me laughing all over again! 


Oh yeah, back to my "backfires".





Painting number three.  Combining about five different photo's.

Never, ever a good idea........

All of the photo's are shot under different lighting.  How can I combine them and have it look natural?

Arrghhh...  I wanted bigger Adirondack chairs.  Maybe I should of turned it vertical instead of horizontal?  

So this morning my sweet "hunter-gatherer" - Mr. B took me to the Nursery.  I think I will go out and garden to get a new perspective on my life!

Maybe I should paint this pretty little Daylily? Mmmmm.....

“The problem is acceptance, 

which is something we're taught not to do. 

We're taught to improve uncomfortable situations, 

to change things, 

alleviate unpleasant feelings. 

But if you accept the reality 

that you have been given- 

that you are not in a productive creative period- 

you free yourself to begin filling up again.” 

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life