violetismycolor

IF...cake...

*click on the illustration to see it, full-size*

Oooo...do you know how MUCH I love cake?  I love it more than my size implies, mostly because I only eat cake a few times a year.  NOT as often as I would like to...like every day. 

In other-than-cakely news:

Bonnie is in Turkey safely, and is so far having a wonderful (and, she assures us, an educational) time.

Adam is home from Scotland. He is here till Saturday, when he drives to Bozeman to begin his adventures in Solar Theory. Though he tells us he doesn't exactly know what that means.

Ross is graduating tonight and my parents and my MIL are coming out to dinner with us to celebrate. Ross managed to survive the 2-hour (!) graduation practice this morning, while Adam and I waited for him by shopping and drinking frappaccinos.

I have been asked by several neighbors if I am up for hire for weeding and carrying around barkdust, since I have been spending so much time doing it. Heck no, I've still got tons of work to do in my own garden, thank you. More later.

home again...

Yay, Adam comes home tomorrow...

IF...sorry...

*click on it for a larger view of the image*

Sorry...

What is she sorry for?  She's not stepped on the flowers or broken the window but by the look on her face, she's feeling guilty about something.

This illustration was prompted by a memory of my own.

When I was younger, I used to like to 'spin'...go around in circles till I would fall down in the lawn, all dizzy.  Not sure why this was fun, but it was.  Once, while spinning, I was holding onto a tin coffee can (don't remember why) but it flew out of my hands and into the window behind me.  I felt so guilty, but when asked, I lied about it.  I didn't want to get punished and my dad was a spanker and he had a BIG hand.  So, I lied.  Did I feel guilty?  I would have said no but since this is such a clear memory, I must have.  Anyway, I can now confess to my parents that I broke that window and I am very sorry.  Too little, too late, I assume...

IF...angel/devil...

*click on image for the full size *

This was an incredibly fun illustration for me to work on.  I used the same face but flipped over the eyes/eyebrows/mouth...and it made all the difference in expression.  I liked the idea of the devil wearing the smart but uncomfortable suit and the angel wearing the comfy shirt and pants.  The devil's hot color scheme just feels so heavy versus the cool colors of the angel's, which feels so light. 

catch up...

Bonnie:  Bonnie flew home on Saturday night and is home for 2 weeks before she takes off for Turkey with her extended studies class from Colgate.  She will be there for 3 weeks and then home again for the duration of the summer.  She had a very long day of flying and then put on a brave front when dragged all around for Mother's Day.  She started her new job yesterday and everything. 

Mother's Day:  What a full day!  After church, we headed off for lunch with Bonnie, Ross, and my Mother-in-Law, to the Chart House.  Lovely view and a gorgeous day for the setting. 

Then we headed over (with every other mother in Portland, I think) to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens near Reed College.  The rhodies were at their highpoint, the ducks and geese were at their fattest (and yet demanding more), and the sun was warm and beaming down on us.  Perfect! 

Next we dropped off my MIL and went down to Mt. Angel, where my sis Karen lives, and where my mom and dad were celebrating both Mother's Day and my dad's 82nd birthday.  Lots of family visiting ensued and Bonnie managed to doze off on the sofa. 

In the evening, Bonnie and I headed out to see the gymnastics movie, Stick-It (think Bring it On for gymnasts).  'Lite' and stereotyped to the sky but cute.

My Mom:  Ended up in the hospital Monday morning.  She had chest pains and then fainted (at Mass) and got ambulanced off.  They released her today after doing lots of tests and not being sure what had actually happened.  She seems fine, so no worries, I guess.  When I went to the hospital last night, we all got shooed away at the nurses' shift change, so my bro Brian and I went out for coffee and spent a fun hour just chatting.  So, that was good.

Craftiness:  On Friday, I went to a class at something called The Paper Event.  I made a fun little box filled with pictures in paper frames.  It was a blast.  I filled the frames with b&w baby pictures of John and I and the kids, and gave it to my MIL for Mother's Day.  I really like the way it turned out.  This Friday morning I have another morning class....Woohoo...check it out at http://www.paperevent.com/

Head examined:  Well, it felt like having my head examined.  I had my every 2-yrs eye exam this morning.  When they look in there with their big bright lights, I always swear they must be able to see into my brain...I have been practically blinded ever since due to having my pupils dilated.  The good news.  I have very healthy eyes.  And my prescription hasn't changed once in the 28 years since I started wearing corrective lenses.  That MUST be a record, right?

Elections:  John and I are going to the election results party for Ted Wheeler, who we support for Multnomah County Chair.  I think he's going to unseat Diane Linn, the incumbent, since she has made so many, many mistakes that they were impossible to hide or obfuscate about.  Should be interesting.

Portland:  is in the grip of the weirdest weather ever.  We had a record-breaking 93 degrees here yesterday and the coast was in the 90's, too.  I can't believe I am running the air conditioner and the sprinklers before June 15th.  Thank God for air conditioning and automatic sprinklers.

Blogging:  I promise to get around to reading and responding to all my blogger friends out there.  I haven't disappeared.  I'm just overwhelmed.

IF...fat...

*click on photo for better view*

When I thought of what to do for the prompt, fat, I thought of the butterflies that are already starting to flitter around my garden, greedily sucking up the nectar of the many flowers planted there.

When I was a child, I used to sneak up on butterflies and pick them up off the flowers they were feasting on.  My dad says he used to watch me from a window inside the house and he was always astounded that I could actually catch them. 

We also had a picnic table in the yard that was (apparently) the perfect place to hang a chrysalis.  I used to love to sit underneath that table and watch the progress of my almost-butterfly friends.  I still love butterflies more than any other insect in the garden.

can't see the forest for the tree-pruners...

I have three flowering plum trees in my front yard.  They are gorgeous when they flower and gorgeous when they turn red in the fall.  In between, I could take them or leave them. 

They need pruning, since they are reaching towards my house with threatening outstretched branches and will soon engulf us in leafy darkness.  Since they are now finished flowering, I decided to get someone out to do this aforesaid pruning.  I went to the yellow pages and was stunned to find dozens and dozens of 'certified arborists' who are ready to meet the onslaught of demand that MUST exist here in the land of trees, aka Portland, Oregon.  How do this many people have ongoing businesses?  How does one chose? 

I looked through the ads, found a name that was familiar (I assume from seeing their trucks out and about in the neighborhood).  They have been in business here for 25 years.  They have a website, so they don't live in the dark ages.  The arborist who returned my call was easy to talk to and seemed very knowledgeable.  Hopefully, he won't knock me out of my socks with the cost of his estimate tomorrow. 

IF...under the sea...

*Click on the image for a closer look*

I'm not sure why we did the Under the Sea prompt here, since we did one called 'Sea' just a few months ago. 

Ah, well.  I decided to go with the theme of a ruined ancient temple under the sea, complete with little fishies and sea horses.  I had fun playing around with putting textures into the stone surfaces and the sea background.  It was so flat looking, before that.

Hope tomorrow's prompt is more original...

Jon says...

I know I have said this before, but I love Jon Stewart.  The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are (to me) the most entertaining, smart, and interesting shows on television today.  We watch every night that these shows are on. 

Tonight, Madeline Albright was the guest tonight, talking about her new book,  The Mighty and the Almighty:  Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs.  Interestingly, I had heard her interviewed on NPR this afternoon, so I knew what her themes were.  Jon Stewart always takes things in a slightly skewed direction, though.  So, when she spoke about George Bush's belief that God wanted him elected president, Jon commented on how it's too bad God was doing such a bad job in Iraq.  Cracked me up.  Maybe you had to be there...

free association...

While in Davis on Saturday, I walked by a little boy and his Dad, the boy chanting:

• Ring around the rosies,
• a pocket full of posies.
• Ashes, ashes.
• We all fall down.

First off, I thought, 'How cute!' and 'I remember loving to sing that and fall down on my behind...not sure why, though'. 

Then I thought, 'How odd that we encourage our kids to do this little routine, given the meaning of the song. This was  a plague song...describing the bubonic plague.  The 'rosies' and 'posies' were flowers that one carried around and sniffed to get rid of the stench of dead bodies.  The ashes were from the burning piles of clothes and possessions of those who died of plague.  We all fall down refers to falling down, dead.  Sounds cute but is so macabre!

This then made my mind move to the book I had just purchased at The Avid Reader in Davis.  The book I bought was March, the book that won the Pulitzer for fiction this year.  It is about Rev. March, the father of the girls in Little Women, who has gone off to serve (as a chaplain) in the Civil War.  It was written by Geraldine Brooks, whose last book was Year of Wonders, about a village in England that decided that its members would stay put during an outbreak of plague, while others brought them food and other supplies.  This book is fiction but is based in fact.  And was wonderful, you should read it.

Synchronicity, again.  Which often happens in our lives, right?