Eye Exam

* * * * *
A friend and I are chatting on the phone.
I am on my cell.
I step outside
to check on the dogs.
I say something to the effect that
I think it's time for an eye exam
as I can usually spot them immediately, but
it appears to be dark all the way at the back of the lot.

She said "it's 8:10 p.m.....
It's not your eyes.
It's getting darker earlier".

"No-o-o-o" (I whine) - "not yetttttttt".

Sigh.
I don't need new glasses.
The dogs were in the darkest part of the yard
at the end of dusk.
At 8 flippin 10 p.m.

******************************

How about a few more cool clotheslines?

Clotheslines ~

* * * * *
From early summer when friend Shirley said she was hanging
her freshly washed bed sheets on the outdoor clothesline
I have pined for that chore.
Since then, anytime I've seen pictures of clothes
hanging from a line
somewhere in blogs or on the internet,
I had to save them.

Nothing - except maybe Italian ice - appears as refreshing.

I'm shooting for next summer - I will find that handyman
to install my clothesline...even if it's off of a telephone pole!!!

* * * * *

Supportive Quotes...

* * * * *
(I may post a little mush every now and then as the
journey begins...and flows....just bear with me)

(not let go of SELF - just the MUD that keeps one stuck!)

T G I F

* * * * *

"downsizing"

* * * * *
Ok, Girlfriends -
who called and want to know about my "changes";
yes, there are several of you and
no, I'm not cashing in my civilian world
to become a monk - or move to India

HOWEVER...
Things that are changing are in the planning stages...
some small...some big - to me.
Like, getting rid of things that don't hold
the same value they once had.

I asked a friend if she'd be interested in a
French antique birdcage. Nope - she's
in the process of "downsizing" herself.

I'm not sure that's the word for my changes -
my "alterations" are more profound than
reducing the size of my teacup collection.
Ok, fine...I don't have a teacup collection,
but there are a lot of horse statues
and ceramic chickens that are in need of a good home!

Then there's other things....friends...family...work
things that need...changing.

A little attention to some detail and the travel
I've so missed for too many years.

So - no kids, I'm not going to live with the Dalai Lama...
but you may get a postcard from Six Pack and me.

Giddyup

:)

* * * * *

Change

* * * * *
Change.
It's exciting
and scary...

and exciting.

* * * * *

Be Specific with the Wish Genie

click to enlarge and read...:)

* * * * *

* * * * *

Tell me and I'll forget;
show me and I may remember;
involve me and I'll understand.
- Chinese Proverb

* * * * *

No Apologies Here

* * * * *
Done. Over it.
I'm ready.
Bring on Autumn.

Gimme layered clothes...

and beautiful sweaters...

and cooler, clearer, cleaner air

via anthropologie and
the sartorialist

* * * * *

Heading Home

* * * * *

leaving Iraq

Difficult world we live in.
Some come back home to us,
thank God

* * * * *

Revisiting Precious Passages

* * * * *

“Everyone of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads—at least that’s where I imagine it—there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own little private library.”
— Haruki Murakami

via twenty three

* * * * *

When it all comes crashing in....

* * * * *

Maybe this melancholy was part loosing my friend and
business associate, Pat. I so will miss him.
He was 43. Brain cancer. Beautiful, strong young family.
This isn't supposed to happen.

Then...changes in my life brewing....some good/some scarey...
..as life always is.

And then friend Lynn sends me this.
I belonged to a riding club in high school.
I rode in my 20's.
I LOVE being on the back of a horse.

But this horse and rider.
Stronger connection than most humans.
If you love girl and horse interaction -
you'll cry - and it's beautiful.

...On the wings of a White Steed, Pat...

* * * * *

How do you smell things at the market?

* * * * *

I can't just stand in front of something and
take a big deep breath....

and I can't just get my nose

CLOSE to get the full bouquet...

THIS IS IT!
This is how to smell stuff at the market...
especially in summer when everything is so fresh..
This was me today...
I shoved my head into a bucket of freshly picked rosemary

and now some 'bunches' grace my kitchen counter.

Go ahead - plunge that old smeller into something fresh at the market.
You'll thank me.

* * * * *

Designer Briefcase

* * * * *
Why would ANYONE spend a DIME on a KNOCKOFF!

Coco Chanel Quilted Bag with silver link-chain strap

Cost: Grocery Bag
Sharpie
Chain somewhere in garage

via design crush

* * * * *

H A P P Y

Girls Gathering....

* * * * *

The very best part about getting together with the group
on the weekend...
we know we'll laugh 'till we (accidentally) pee
and it's ok

IT'S FRIDAY....HAVE SOME FUN!!!

* * * * *

Happy Anniversary, Honey

* * * * *

August 13th

Twenty Nine Years

* * * * *

My Kind of Date Finale...

* * * * *
After a wonderful dinner...
and dancing, of course,
let's do something silly -
like each of us get TWO Cotton Candy's
and see who can eat them first!
Then let's kiss sticky lips!

* * * * *

A Secret Agreement

* * * * *

Let's do it:
Let's plan a day where we all agree
that we will wear
Red Mary Jane's for the day.
Whadaya mean you don't have any?
Ok...then just red shoes.

Take a picture - just lean over and click
or have someone take a snap of your legs also
sent me the pic

and we'll put a collage together...
we'll call it
THE DAY WE WORE RED SHOES

we'll be connected - like a sorority...

wanna?

viaaudreyhepburncomplex

* * * * *

Truth

* * * * *

when you ask a question it means you are ready to face the truth

- by cynthia merhej

* * * * *

Fantasy Cottage....Could you?

* * * * *

Could you run away or escape to this little hide away?

So..maybe you wouldn't decorate so romantically...
but..could you retreat here for a little get away?

With or without someone?

ohhh, mama...I could.

via Trevor Tondro for the new york times
Sandy Foster's home and property in Delhi, New York.

* * * * *

"It'll be a little warm again today"

* * * * *

I think weather forecasters think we're stupid.
What is it about 94 degrees and so sultry my glasses
fog up when I leave an air conditioned building says "warm".

It's hot, damit. It's very h-o-t. Just say so.

* * * * *

I'm a 10-Month Girl

* * * * *

Of the 12-month calendar,
I get thru February by escaping
into a fireplace and reading and sleeping.

By August,
what was beautiful, fresh and new in April
blossomed in May
produced in June and July
and now a teensey yellow...
and insect eaten...
is a tad wilty in August.

And unless I'm very near, on or in lake water
I'm breathing nicely inside a closed-up-
air-conditioned-jail-type-house.

A little like February without the fire.

No...I'm not wishing time away;
I'll keep watering the poseys...
and I'll see you soon, my beautiful
scrunch-sock-sweat-shirt-neck-scarf days!

artwork via simpleblueprint

* * * * *

Elizabeth Gilbert

* * * * *

via designcrush

Oh.My.God.

Why haven't I read this book?

click click...www.amazon.com....hello?

* * * * *

Art on Mondays -

* * * * *

Swooping Down by Chloë Feldman Emison

"Be joyful because it is humanly possible" - Wendell Berry

via 3gracesgallery

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