Author: Becky

Food and foolishness

Today, The Brides joined Tom, Debby, Timothy, and me for a fun brunch of pancakes (some plain; some with blueberries), fresh fruits, bacon, scrambled eggs, and coffee. This gave us the opportunity to hand Lindsey my camera so she could shoot a lot of photos in hopes that one will go out with our Christmas and holiday cards this year. I’m way behind on that task, but now that I have photos to choose from, I can take care of it.

We had so much fun talking and eating. Jack always sequesters at Debby’s to keep him away from Tim, and this time Delta decided to hang out with Jack (she loves Debby’s guest chair and thinks it belongs to her). That worked out, because sometimes Delta gets testy with Pollock, and since Pepper couldn’t come with Rhonda and Lindsey this time (she recently had some surgery–all is well!–but she’s on crate rest still), Pollock could join us with Tim (like Jack and Tim, Pollock and Pepper are a pair best kept separated, in their case because they amp up each other’s energy too much with the possibility of things ending in tears).

The second Rhonda and Lindsey came through the door, I was all, “YAY! You just gave me my Saturday purple-themed photo!” It’s Rhonda’s usual hair color shade, but this time, Lindsey’s was also purple, in a slightly more muted shade.

We hope we’ll all be together again soon. =)

Photo Friday, No. 940

Current Photo Friday theme: Rustic


Prickly pear cactus and echinacea purpurea (purple cornflower), shot in June 2011, at Green Acres. Lucky that I had this photo, and of course Lynne had purple flowers so I could stick with the week’s purple theme.

When Lynne confirmed for me the names of the plants, I texted her a memory I had about today’s theme word:

And I know this memory won’t surprise you because it’s my weird brain, but the first time I ever heard the word “rustic” spoken aloud was from your mother. I’d only ever read it and in my head mispronounced it, so that’s when I learned how it was pronounced. Furthermore, I remember what she was speaking of—the natural environment of your father’s country club where we used to swim.

This was truly a “country” club where her father and sister played golf, owned and operated by a couple in a rural area in foothills outside our small town. Most of the time, Lynne and I had the pool to ourselves, and the woman made the most delicious sandwiches from her home-baked hams.

Purple is for birthdays


Happy birthday to Mark, far away in England. I had an extra cake layer in the freezer, so I defrosted and gave it purple candles so everyone at the Hall can have a slice to celebrate you this evening.


Today is the day our nephew Aaron was born in 1993. Because he often came to see us, he had his own napkin ring among those I painted for family and friends who visited The Compound and shared meals with us. Every wooden ring was painted a different color, and Aaron’s is purple. It’s kept in one of the display cabinets in the Houndstooth Hall living room. We will love and miss Aaron always.


Aaron and Tom in February 2011 celebrating Debby’s birthday along with her, David, Geri, and Timothy.

La vache violette

Je n’ai jamais vu de vache violette
Je n’espère jamais en voir un
Mais je peux te le dire, de toute façon
Je préfère voir que d’en être un

My mother used to recite this Gelett Burgess poem to me (in English). I have it in this book, first publication date after I left the right age group, but this edition was also before the time of my nephews and nieces. Who knows how or where I acquired it. The lines around the poem are part of the way the publisher decorated the page. No child scribbled those.


Since this was the first of my coloring books in which I could find a page with a cow, I decided I must do a little more to make her très chic to match the week’s purple theme. She’s definitely outstanding… out standing in her field, as my Uncle Dwight might have said.

 

 

Tiny Tuesday!


A small bottle ideal for perfumes and scents. Also purple.


I thought the bottle might pair well with my “Bridgerton” coloring book. Based on the Regency romance book series by Julia Quinn, the fourth season of the TV series returns in 2026.


On this page, the anonymous “Lady Whistledown” is making a surreptitious late-night visit to her printer so all the gossip about London society (and a bit of the royal household) can be consumed by anyone with around five cents to spend. (They were free at first, and once the populace was hooked, she began to charge for her sheets.) This coloring page was a big help to me yesterday.

Regarding the rest of today’s post: I don’t think today is necessarily the best place to share this information, but it’s uppermost on my mind and is impacting what I feel like sharing here and how this kind of thing can dominate my thoughts and my days. For example, I can color, because it’s soothing. I can manage my household and my health because I have to. But I can’t write. Writing fiction demands that I tap into a full range of feelings, many of them including conflict.

I can’t watch anything (movies, television) that will have too much emotional impact.

I don’t easily handle small frustrations (yet I STILL feel grateful for all the things that go well and the wonderful parts of my life, because I’ve hardwired myself to do so).

I’m doing what I can to proceed with Christmas (still don’t have a holiday photo for our Christmas cards/letters this year, and still haven’t mailed out the packages I’m running out of time to send).

I need the normalcy of updating here. I need the structure it provides. I’d rather not be thinking about yesterday’s event or letting it affect me, but these tragedies always do and likely always will. I won’t rant. I’ll just provide a graphic and talk about my website. (After a cut, so if a coloring page and a photo of a bottle is what you can handle today, I completely get it. For me personally, the amount of news and social media exposure I’ve cut out since November is necessary for my emotional and mental health.)

Continue reading “Tiny Tuesday!”

Sunday Sundries and WYR? No. 5

Some random things that are purple:


A Christmas angel. A perfume bottle. An inner self manifestation bowl. An amethyst crystal point. Tiny medicine sachets with herbs and spices. And the 3000 Would You Rather Questions book, from which I chose…

No. 409. WYR take a photo with Santa or the Easter Bunny?
Santa!


Mother, Debby, and me with Santa in Salt Lake City, 1990.

Nothing much to say


I’m tired today and though a lot of household and taking-care-of-business things have been done by Tom and me (with some help from Timothy), I don’t have much to say. Thought I’d just share a photo of some of the blossoms on our bougainvillea. It likes the new place it has against the fence, which is only a few feet away from the old place it had against the fence (it’s in a pot), but I will not argue with a bougainvillea. It has thorns.

Photo Friday, No. 939

Current Photo Friday theme: Cinematic


I’ve shared this photo before, taken somewhere in the Texas Panhandle in 2014 when Timothy and I traveled from Houston to Colorado and back as part of a rescue animal transport. I kept telling Tim I was looking for “the last picture show,” and in this moment, I found that mood. I converted it to black and white and quoted from Larry McMurtry’s novel, later a movie, The Last Picture Show in my post back then.

I’ll post the McMurtry excerpt here, too.

Sometimes Sonny felt like he was the only human creature in the town. It was a bad feeling, and it usually came on him in the mornings early, when the streets were completely empty, the way they were one Saturday morning in late November. The night before Sonny had played his last game of football for Thalia High School, but it wasn’t that that made him feel so strange and alone. It was just the look of the town.
Larry McMurtry, The Last Picture Show

Christmasy stuff, etc.

Before I write another word of this post: I FINISHED CHAPTER freaking 16 15 (I somehow skipped a number, so all these times I’ve called it 16, I was wrong) in book seven of the Neverending Saga. It’s a Christmas miracle.

Meanwhile, this holiday-themed book was only released in 2023, so I don’t think I’ve colored out of it before. I really like its drawings, but yesterday, I was confused about some ornaments.

I texted Lynne, hoping for clues to the questions, What the heck are these; how do I color them?


She texted back: Pine cone or artichoke or pomegranate or all had a baby. Deferring to that botanical wisdom, here is my finished page.

And a couple of close-ups so you can see most are shiny in some way.

Also, this happened today.

Just like every year: Mrs. Claus has to mend Santa’s hat. Santa is painting another yellow skateboard. One of those elves looks like he’s taking a knife to a small child.* The wee reindeer keep watch. The tree has been decorated. Toys a’plenty are ready for Santa’s bag.

This is my yearly reminder that I was lucky enough to know Liz, who helped me love Christmas again many decades ago and painted and gave me Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and some of their workshop accessories. Lynne has a matching set (in different colors) painted by their mother. One day, Lynne’s set will be given to her granddaughter, and my set will be given to Lynne’s grandson. This is one tradition I hope will continue long after I’m gone.

Even before Santa’s Workshop opened for business this season, Tom’s Workshop was busy repairing several broken ornaments that I found when I unpacked decoration bins in late November. News flash! TOM IS SANTA’S HELPER. Did anyone ever doubt it?

*ETA: If you doubted me. Tom says the elf is whittling a doll. Sure, Tom. That elf chose violence.