Who goes there? Please leave comments so (An Aries Knows)!
I’m a fan of floating frames for artwork (glass on front and back) because then mats aren’t used and you never lose any of the art or artist’s signature. One of my Christmas presents from Lynne is this 5×7-inch canvas of guitars that I hung in the writing sanctuary. I like the colors and the style. When the artist painted it, she was ten years old. I hope she continues to create!
How many tiny cardinals do you see outside Satellite Office North? Don’t include the wooden one sitting atop the red bird feeder.
Photo A.
Photo B.
Photo C.
White-winged dove does not count, though you’re welcome for the Stevie Nicks ear worm.
Photo D.
Photo E.
Photo F.
Photo G.
Photo H.
Photo I.
Photo J.
Trick photo! This is a tiny dog.
May as well stay with a theme, right?
My deeply valued Hot Toys 2011 Superman I ordered in 2019 because they really got Christopher Reeve right (a year later, I was a LOT more cautious about ordering items from outside the US because they were sometimes NOT as advertised, lol). Here with his tiny friends, Action Figure DC Superman, DC Super Friends Little People Super Man, and his League of SuperPets dog, Krypto.
Tiny tears.
If your memory is even better than my blog’s search function, you may remember that back in August of 2012, Lindsey brought her late Aunt Gwen’s sewing case to a craft night. She gave me carte blanche to go through it and take things I might need for all the sewing I was doing then, and I took some of the sewing notions and especially several spools of thread which I’ve used a lot and still have a supply of.
Last fall, when The Brides packed up their home so extensive remodeling could be done, they did a lot of purging, and Lindsey asked if I would like to have Aunt Gwen’s sewing case for keeps. OF COURSE I WOULD. I may have never met Aunt Gwen, but I feel a connection to her, and she was part of a lot of the doll fashion I made back then for Runway Monday.
I got to explore the sewing case again.
There was something new/different in it: this little black zippered case.
When I opened it, I found these beautifully crafted Marks cutting tools. SO NICE.
Please note the silver bullet, which is a needles case, and the thimble, both of which tuck snugly into their own places.
Such tiny surprises, and I hope that when I sew again, using these scissors, I can fashion something as beautifully crafted.
Thanks, Lindsey! <3
I decided to do a photo today for Instagram because I last posted on February 3. Though I almost never sign into Facebook, and checking Twitter gets more infrequent, I do still scroll my Instagram feed daily, but I forget to post. I figured it was time to say, “Yep, still here.”
While setting up a photo to note–what else, Valentine’s Day, I took out this wee box from one of my display cabinets. I THINK I know who it’s from, but there are three strong candidates. So if you happen by and you were the giver, tell me! I’m freaking old. I forget things.
Shot next to a Hershey’s Kiss for scale.
Writing (yay!) and will add today’s playlist later.
ETA: Started off with Hole, Live Through This. I included the actual CD because it has a heart on it–Valentine’s Day and all.
Kept going with The Hollies’ Greatest Hits; Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View; and Chris Isaak, Forever Blue.
Yesterday, I got my best writing done before noon, without any music, because I had to stay laser-focused since I knew I had to leave the house at twelve. By the time I got home mid-afternoon, I was tired and drained*, though I did work a little bit more in the evening before I had to call it a night.
So this morning, I took a suggestion from the book that launched Tiny Tuesdays in the first place.
It wasn’t quite as glorious as it looks with the Instagram filter, and it was more brunch than breakfast (because I have to wait at least an hour to eat or have any dairy products after my first meds of the day, I usually forget to eat and end up doubling up breakfast/lunch, then have a snack mid-afternoon to tide me over until dinner). One egg that was supposed to be over-easy, but I broke the yolk so ended up scrambling it, a mini bagel with cream cheese, a small apple, two strips of bacon (halved so I could fit them in my favorite small frying pan), with coffee, water, and a wee glass of orange juice.
This is the music from yesterday. I have more Fleetwood Mac, but there were a lot of repeats found on the CDs I’d previously listened to, so I finally moved on to the “G”s. Who’s up next, I wonder? (For part of it, my timing is perfect, because Tom is working in the office today. He wasn’t at all excited about maybe having to hear one of my favorite bands from my early teens. He doesn’t mind when my iTunes shuffles them in an occasional song at a time, but entire CDs in one sitting are a nope for him. 😂)
Fleetwood Mac, Behind the Mask and The Dance; Peter Gabriel, US.
ETA: *I’d forgotten to put a note about one reason I was drained. Too much news. I get so exhausted by our national news when I see news from other parts of the world–like southern Turkey and northern Syria right now, dealing with the devastation and loss of life from earthquakes. So many parts of the world have to cope with those things when they are already reeling from humanitarian crises. Here, we have so much and often give so much, at home and abroad, but we behave so deplorably toward one another within our borders. Even bringing these things up publicly, one runs the risk of accusations of performative politics, being “woke,” being a sheep and a “libtard.” If that’s what compassion and hope and the occasional plea for awareness, kindness, and education are, I reckon I’m guilty.
Maceo and Frankenstein (“Frankenstrat”) just hanging out with a couple of friends, Bumblebee and Eruption, and playing some Van Halen tunes.
And yet Maceo is a keyboard player.
The weather got a little crazy in Houston today, but we’re okay here at Houndstooth Hall, Fox Den, and Fairy Cottage. I’ve heard there was tornado damage, but I tried not to stress out about it because the dogs pick that up. Instead, I stayed in cozy PJs all day while it stormed and wrote and rewrote and rewrote again the chapter that I just finished. I think I probably can’t write any more today, though I might edit a little after I cook and we eat dinner.
This is the wee boombox that now sits next to me while I write. I also picked up the kind of old-school headphones that I like and longed for after the previous boombox got unreliable.
I continue to think having music playing while I write is helping the process. Back in the earlier years of this century, when Tim and I wrote in the same room or at least one of the two homes on The Compound, he always had music playing. But for some reason, when I’d try to write alone, I didn’t want music. Maybe I overthought what I should listen to. Now that I’m just going alphabetically through the CD binders, no analyzing required.
These were today’s choices:
Patsy Cline, 12 Greatest Hits; Leonard Cohen, More Best of Leonard Cohen; and Paula Cole, This Fire.
Yesterday…
Front and back covers of B.B. King and Eric Clapton, Riding With the King; Eric Clapton, Reptile; Eric Clapton, Me and Mr. Johnson.
That was a cool selection because it set the mood for an entirely new character I introduced.
I have an anxiety-inducing phone call tomorrow afternoon. Another day to stay away from news and social media. Please send good vibes.
Another tiny box came to us at Christmas, this one from Tom’s parents. It contained a USB flash drive of 1700 photos and documents related to their family history. I can only imagine how daunting it was for the two of them to take on that project: going through photos, reading documents and letters, and scanning/cropping all their choices.
I can’t even manage to get my solo stuff organized, and I also have many things relating to my parents and our family genealogies. I did get my parents’ home movies onto VHS tapes for everyone once (siblings, nephews, nieces, sister-in-law), and I have no idea if anyone watched or kept them. And now the original films are gone, and we need to find someone who can move our lone tape to something more tech-updated, if the VHS will even play.
Tom has saved all his family material to his computer, and I hope he and his siblings, who received their own flash drives, enjoy journeying through their family’s near and distant past.