the cotton anniversary

Celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss with a retro tee, rooftop dining with a view of the Arch, and a Velvet Elvis nightcap.

doggie vacation

I mentioned yesterday that Adam brought back a tub of cherries from Michigan, but I neglected to mention that he left our dog behind. She will be spending the next three weeks cavorting in the mild weather with our parents' dogs, relaxing on the beach and taking hikes in the woods. Our puppy gets more vacation time than we do.

I had a hard, hard time with this arrangement at first, especially having to come home from a week in the field to no puppy kisses. no puppy cuddling when I get home from school... no puppy waking us up at 5 a.m. --ok, that part's not so bad. But it is so hot here, and I am out of town so much and adam works such long hours that she was hot, sad and bored.

An update from the in-laws indicates that she is having a rather good time:


But you know how that summertime living goes once the parents are away -- it's all late nights at the beach with a bottle of rum. In fact, I worry that she'll fall victim to the bad influence of these other pups, who are used to this life of leisure and good times...


Maybe by the time we go back to get her she'll know how to mix a cocktail for me. Or at least pop open a beer. We'll save opening wine bottles for another time.

home again, home again, jiggity jig

Just back from a week of fieldwork in AZ, hence the posts-from-the-road.
It was lovely, as always:


But it is nice to be home again, even if it is about five thousand degrees outside. I have three days to do laundry and air out my tent before I head back out. Who wants to get together?


The dill is blooming,



the basil is finally growing,


And Adam brought a whole cooler-full of cherries back from Michigan. Two bins of sours in the freezer now for pies later, but first off we have to gorge on all the sweets. What a predicament. Anyone want a bowl of summertime goodness?

texas is everlasting

Oooooh, why is this state so big?

rain ahead

good-bye oklahoma

courtesy beacon

at least i'm findable

According to Google Analytics, some poor soul stumbled upon this blog by searching the phrase "Honey Clouds".  

Rather than focussing on how on earth that phrase would land someone here, I'm trying to decide if he was disappointed, or if this site was just the pick-me-up that he needed on his dreary, cement-colored day.  

hung out to dry

Did I already share this with you?

I think it is just hilarious.

sidewalk preacher

One very, very small old lady.
One very, very large white hat.
White blouse, white sneakers, long black skirt.
One tiny, child-sized plastic mega-phone.

Praise Jesus!

unsolicited

1. I read blogs about candy. Taste-testing blogs. Because there is a lot of candy out there, and I love it, but I really need to not eat so much of it.

2. I really like to eat cupcakes, but I like making them even more.

3. If you opened your refrigerator and all you had was a bottle of hot sauce, some mushrooms and half of a sack of tortillas I could make something for you to eat for dinner. 90% of the time it would taste really good. Sometimes I mess up, though.

4. I study plants outside, but as soon as I try to bring them into my house they die. It is one of life's cruel ironies.

5. I sometimes get stressed out because I'm behind on my podcasts.

6. If I had the chance to have another career I'd be a printmaker.

7. Nevertheless, I think being a biologist is just about the coolest thing ever, and I get a little thrill every time I get to say that's what I do.

8. I am not - absolutely not - a morning person. Sometimes I have to ask Adam to stop looking at me until I've had my coffee. And definitely not to speak. Sadly, I am also not a night person. I am very much a sleeping person, though. I can out sleep you six ways from Sunday. I often contemplate how much more I could accomplish if I didn't need to sleep so much. But then I figure that my life has been pretty good so far, so I guess I shouldn't stress out about it too much.

9. I don't have the attention span necessary for television watching. Unless it is Law & Order. I once watched four straight hours of Law & Order. The regular, classic version. That's the best one. But I kind of wish I had those four hours back.

10. It is absolutely impossible for me to brush my teeth without getting foam all over my face.

So, anyway, that's what I was thinking about tonight.

dilemma

I've been a person with a nose ring for about ten years now. It is small and tasteful and you probably wouldn't even notice it. I never ever notice it anymore, and even in this pic, where it shows up quite a bit, you can barely see it, right? It's just a part of me. Even more so than my wedding ring, which I feel I must remove when doing especially onerous fieldwork.

But last month I worked for a week at an ill-fated catering job, and they wouldn't let me wear it. Normally office/ workplace rules about this sort of thing annoy me, because seriously? The secretary is allowed to wear those gigantic dangling beaded monstrosities from each of her earlobes, but somehow my tiny little stud is distracting? But at this job all earrings and other jewelry were pretty much not allowed, so I took it out. Up to this point I had taken it out before, but always put it right back in. But after 7 hours on my feet I just kind of forgot about it by the time I got home, and since I don't really notice anymore I kept forgetting about it for the next two weeks.

And this is getting long and rambling all of the sudden, so I'll spare you the gory details, but basically the hole has closed up. And now i'm left with a decision.... to re-pierce or not to re-pierce? Adam has never known me without it... I've had it most of my adult life...
I don't necessarily strongly identify with it or anything, any more that someone would identify with a pair of earrings (which, incidentally, I don't wear. except for a really nice pair of pearl studs from my in-laws that I wear on special occasions...I digress..)

Maybe it is time to move on. My nostril is all deformed now, much large than the other one. But then again, I don' t think it will ever shrink back to its original size so maybe what the heck. And it is so very much me.

I know this is all so ridiculous to think about when there are real problems in the world. Real problems in my world, even. But sometimes the little decisions are all we can manage.
What do you think? I'm taking a poll.

on why i shouldn't be allowed to email

My sister is getting married in 7 weeks.

Remarkably, she is cool, calm and collected, despite all the little details that start to pile up at this point before the wedding.

I was just remarking the other day that she has managed to ride this whole planning-process out with no stress or drama, and so then what did I do?

I went and made some drama for her.

Accidentally! I just inserted myself into an email conversation that I really shouldn't have been a part of in the first place, created some misunderstandings and hurt feelings and then sat back, oblivious.

Over and over I tell myself: read the emails, then close the emails, then think about your response, and THEN hit Reply. But I don't learn, no matter how many times I put my foot in my mouth.

Granted, I'm helped along by the fact that you just can't read inflections in email, so

"oh, please" meant in a heart-felt pleading way really tends to come of as "Oh puh-leez" in a patronizing tone. But that is really a poor excuse for typing before I think.

I am sorry Laura, Adam and the rest of the emailing world.

treasures!

I came away from this past week in Michigan with quite the haul.

Took the obligatory trip to Gwen Frostic's studio to load up on stationery. Her pieces are lovely enough as it is, but then they do such a wonderful job of wrapping everything into a sweet little parcel. Charming.



While we were in the area, my mom and I also stopped off in Beulah for lunch and popped into a resale shop where I found 3 of these cute plates for just $3!


Also in Beulah, I picked up a new rug for our front porch. Bright and cheery and made from recycled plastic!

Another bit of bright cheeriness from Diane:

And a set of heirloom treasures.

Grandma's handmade quilt:


Candlesticks that belonged to great-grandma:


And a table linen hand embroidered by great-great-grandma:


Also a big bag of dried cherries and chocolate covered dried cherries that I am trying very hard to forget are in my cupboard.

hold on to your hats

Never before has such cuteness been captured on film... or rather, film's digital counterpart.

The fact that it was so cool and breezy in Northern Michigan that I only went swimming once was offset by the fact that I just played with puppies all week instead.

happy fireworks day!

I like the sizzling ones the best.
Hope your day was grand.

where i am now

On vaca. in northern Michigan.
Everything is perfect here.

I am playing with puppies and eating fresh strawberries and whitefish. The sun is warm, but the cool breeze off the water means I have to wear a sweatshirt (which I love).

It's a good thing that Adam is so cute or I might never go back.

I forgot the cord to my camera, but when I get home I will post pics of the craziest puppiness you have ever seen. Just wait. They are unstoppable.