Tag: tiny tuesday

Tiny Tuesday!


From The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures:

Timothy, Debby, Jim, and Tom

It was the last night of Jim’s visit, so we did Thanksgiving in March for fun!

On the menu: turkey breast, cornbread dressing, fresh green beans, fresh squash casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and rolls.


I also prepared a dessert table for the pies we’ve been eating since Saturday that included apple, peach, and Key Lime, but we forgot all about dessert because of the lively conversation. Family and friends: what it’s all about.

One of my house and home projects is to clean the display cabinets in the breakfast room, including the glass shelves and doors, but especially because I’m way overdue to polish the silver. I got a tiny head start today by polishing the butter dish given to my parents on their 25th wedding anniversary by Aunt Lola and Uncle Gerald.

Tiny Tuesday!

She’s like a small but deadly insect, threatening everyone this character loves and tries to protect from her malevolence. If there’s any battle in the Neverending Saga, it’s this one, between mother and son, but also the one he wages with himself out of fear he will become like her.


©Becky Cochrane 2025

These sticky poetry words and phrases include lots of given names, and when I saw hers, I knew I had to give him a poem. I’d never give her one.

Tiny Tuesday!


Eva, weighing in at under six pounds, looks so big compared to Delta in the distance, who weighs twenty pounds. Perspective…

However, this week’s theme is craftiness, not dogs. I watched something on Netflix that I won’t disclose; the very name connected to it is triggering to some people. I found it relaxing, and it made me think of this past weekend, when we gathered at Houndstooth Hall to belatedly celebrate Lindsey’s and Debby’s birthdays. For Lindsey, I usually bake a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Debby’s favorite is coconut, so she usually gets yellow cake, white frosting, and coconut. I decided this year to bake cupcakes and put out Duncan Hines Creamy Milk Chocolate and Duncan Hines Dolly Parton Creamy Buttercream Frostings, along with a bowl of shredded coconut and spreaders so everyone could choose and use their own frosting choices. When Lindsey saw that was my plan, she said, “AND SPRINKLES?” To which I said, “Yes! I have lots of sprinkles.”


It went so well that I think this may repeat for future birthday gatherings. I also keep a large assortment of cake candles in that cabinet, so we’re covered.

Back to my Netflix viewing: One focus was on ways to make a guest/friend/visitor/relative comfortable in your home. That made me think of one of my characters who lives in France, for whom a guest’s comfort has always been important. I flipped through my French Countryside Coloring Book because I remembered something specific about it.


Here’s the page I liked. On the property in the Neverending Saga, there are no vineyards, but there is an olive grove. I imagined Madame arranging a table outside on a pleasant afternoon, setting out breads, wines, cheeses, and fruits for friends. But today is TINY Tuesday, and that’s a big coloring page.

Fortunately, this book provides an option. Mini versions of all the coloring pages.

Voila! A scene I colored that measures less than three by four inches.

Whether you call it Tiny Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Shrovetide, I hope you find your place of comfort and celebration.

Tiny Tuesday!

Today, Debby and I had a couple of errands to take care of, but we got a late start. My brain had spent all the time I should have been sleeping last night rerunning old conflicts and disappointments, among other things–until 5 AM. That left me dragging all day, having had only around four hours of sleep.

By the time she and I pulled back into Houndstooth Hall, we were caught in a torrential thunderstorm. We sat in the driveway, talking and listening to music. Finally, the rain abated enough that I could use my umbrella to keep from getting drenched while I opened gates, backed the car into the carport, and we could both hurry inside our homes.

From the Tiny Pleasures book (above right), this page reminded me that the smell of rain was indeed nice, though the dogs were more than ready for their hemp chewies that keep them calm during thunder. I had to change into dry clothes–my third outfit of the day–and dry my hair. The whole thing, from errands to dodging rain, made me late to compose my Black History Month post to Instagram, though I think I actually did my Blue Sky book-cover post sometime in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep.

This evening, I was thinking more about author Tom Robbins. It will take me a while to get through Another Roadside Attraction. Since Robbins and his books have turned into this week’s theme, I decided to let my mind wander and see where it took me. One place was the memory of a 1987 movie called Made In Heaven. The principals were Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis, as star-crossed lovers who had to find themselves and each other during lives on earth and in heaven.

This was not the cover of my original VHS copy, which was dreamier and more romantic. When I got rid of my VHS tapes, I bought this DVD. It still has the shrink-wrap on it. The reason I thought of the movie was because it’s filled with cameo appearances: Debra Winger, who was married to Hutton at the time, made an uncredited appearance as a character named Emmett. Others who popped up in the movie included Neil Young, Tom Petty, Ric Ocasek, Ellen Barkin–and one character called The Toymaker was played by none other than writer Tom Robbins. I remember how that delighted me the first time I saw the film.
ETA: I finally had time to watch the movie on Saturday. Except my little DVD player that works with my laptop had stopped working. Tom tested to make sure it worked in the big TV player, but in order not to cheat him of his TV viewing, I asked for and he picked up a new player. I cried through a lot of the movie, which is fine. I’ve been trying to cry since last summer with little success. I figured I needed it.

When I googled “Tom Robbins” and “Made In Heaven,” besides the movie, my search pulled up a quote from his novel Skinny Legs And All. I took this photo back when Eva was our foster fail because one of her endless nicknames was “Skinny Legs.”

The quote: Some marriages are made in heaven, Ellen Cherry thought. Mine was made in Hong Kong. By the same people who make those little rubber pork chops they sell in the pet department at K Mart.

I’m sure that quote always made me laugh, because our dog Pete LOVED those squeaky plastic pork chop dog toys. Maybe I even have a photo of him with one somewhere.

Tom Robbins’s prose always delivers on many levels.

It’s too late to rewatch Made In Heaven tonight. I’m hoping when I shut down the computer and crawl into bed, I get a full night’s sleep. I need it so much.

Tiny Tuesday!

I don’t think anyone could miss how my personal favorite symbol is one that represents Aries (March 21 to April 19), the Ram! While I happily embrace being the first sign of the zodiac and its more admirable attributes, I never deny that I also have some of my sign’s less-stellar qualities. In typical Ram fashion, I see even Ram’s flaws as things that give me a necessary fire.


It wasn’t intentional that three of the characters in the Neverending Saga would end up as Rams. Their birthdays are stretched out over several years and months, with one male having an almost cusp-like Pisces influence, the same for a male with a Taurus influence, and one woman who is closer to the middle of the Aries calendar. Aries can get along well with other Aries–then again, they don’t have those amazing horns for nothing. Butting heads is inevitable among these three, and that’s part of the fun unless you happen to be another character (Pisces) who has close relationships with all of them. Of course, dramatic Pisces would find life boring without them. (As least that’s how the Rams see it!)

Tiny Tuesday!

From this wee book, I’ve found an opportunity to elaborate on my week’s theme: Time. Or rather, I’m letting a couple of poets do it for me. Right now, I seem to be letting others do the heavy lifting on most of my other social media. I’ll elaborate on that some other day so that I can revel in the delight today’s post provides me. I hope it adds something good to your day, as well.

I’ve never been better prepared by my past interests and my theme for this page. I LITERALLY followed directions.

poem

what time is it? it is by every star
a different time, and each most falsely true;
or so subhuman superminds declare

— not all their times encompass me and you:

when we are never, but forever now
(hosts of eternity; not guests of seem)
believe me, dear, clocks have enough to do

without confusing timelessness and time.

Time cannot children, poets, lovers tell —
Measure imagine, mystery, a kiss
— not though mankind would rather know than feel:

mistrusting utterly that timelessness

whose absence would make your whole life and my
(and infinite our) merely to undie

© e.e. cummings 1962, or estate

And this beautiful one, for which I’ll provide the lyrics, but also a moving rendition you might have seen in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Interestingly, the original version of this poem was written to be performed on stage in a play.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

©W.H. Auden, 1938, or estate

Tiny Tuesday!

I’d have sworn I’ve used this book more than once on this site, but I could find only one instance back in September of 2019, which was of course before the world went into lockdown. I didn’t realize in those months of 2020, when my life altered so much (as did most people’s, worldwide), how an old companion of mine, Anxiety, came to stay. Even now, though I don’t navigate through the world quite the way I used to, I grapple with anxiety every day and do at least one thing that scares me.


I like the concept of “shrinking the wolf.” On this site, when I share a personal story and photos, or a bit of fiction, or lines of poetry, or a painting, even a coloring page, or post a photo on the Photo Friday site, or express a political opinion, I’m shrinking the wolf.

When I’m out of my comfort zone and out in the world (grocery store, drug store, bank, doctor’s office, retailer–it’s a small world!), I look for and try to extend only kindness (caveat: you would not believe this if you’re a passenger in my car, but none of my muttering is heard by its deserving recipients, so I give myself a pass).

It’s always reassuring how much kindness I’m given when I’m out and about. Kindness inspires me.

Whatever your fear is, today or any day, I hope you can shrink that wolf.

ETA: I got this book/journal in February of 2015, so this is officially the THIRD time I’ve posted it. I need to use it more often.

Tiny Tuesday!


Those shoes are mine, betch. Lyric from “Kelly” and the song “Shoes.”

In 2008, when I was in New Orleans with Lynne during a chilly February, I made a visit to Greg’s apartment to see him and his and Paul’s cat Nicky, perhaps better known as Skittle. Greg gave me that parade throw from the Krewe of Muses. It lives with my other Mardi Gras memorabilia in the living room display cabinets. I gave hundreds of Mardi Gras beads and throws to my grand-nieces and -nephews when they were little kids, but some treasures will always remain with me.

Carnival began in New Orleans on January 6 and will end March 4 on Mardi Gras Day. The 2025 Krewe of Muses parade will be on Thursday, February 27.


These CDs will take me days to get through, because I find them so effective that I tend to let them repeat multiple times. They were produced by New World Music, and if you follow that link, you can find the links for getting them in your country. They’re also available for resale on ebay and many other online retail sources, and there are undoubtedly different offerings in this series from the ones I have.

I used these CDs for myself and much of my practice in the late ’90s, early 2000s, and they remain my go-to choices for resting, relaxing, or centering myself. I probably bought the “Reiki” CD first, from Body Mind & Soul in Houston at their previous location (close to The Compound), and I kept going back to get the others. In the store’s current location (closer to Houndstooth Hall!), it remains one of the best places in Houston for gifts and for all your metaphysical needs.