Mostly Wordless Wednesday...

Mornings at Foolsewoode...

Are not complete without a little cream in your coffee.

During my first trip to Italy (after sleeping not even 15 minutes of the night) I awoke to stagger lightly dance down to the continental breakfast. In Italy, no meal is complete without Espresso (and I'm not sure what they do to their coffee there, but I can drink coffee there all day long and not be one bit jittery...If I did such a thing in the states, or didn't adhere to my strict half reg. half decaf. I would be committed...) and my espresso is not complete without latte.

In Italy, they happen to have warm latte.

This made me put down the latte that first day after pouring it in my coffee, look my companion squarely in the eyes and say, "I am not going to want to go back home!"
(and I actually felt more like that after I'd gotten a good night's sleep later, but for totally different reasons.)

You see, warm latte and not chilled cream, was a total novelty to me. I could add the perfect amount of cream to my coffee and not cool it down one little bit.

LeSigh.

As I mentioned before, no morning is complete at Foolsewoode without a bit of cream...and while I don't actually heat my cream (and it's soy) I do pour it out into a little creamer I rescued from somewhere...so that at least it is room temperature when I pour it into my coffee.

I actually have a few creamers in the kitchen, but I have been using this one the most as it's my very favorite. First, the weight is perfect...it is nice and heavy and sturdy, like vintage restaurant china...and second? Well this is the reason I bought this baby. If you look very closely, under that flower decal someone put on there is the logo for The United States Army...

I am tickled that someone thought to put the little flowers over this instead of getting rid of it because it's wasn't decorative enough for them...

And it's perfect for my Latte...

It Must Be The Moon...

The other night while out slogging hiking through Willow Lake underbrush, mosquitoes...and doing a bit of rock scrambling (which just may be where my sore shins originated) I noticed that when I looked up in the sky to the East, there seemed to be an almost full moon hanging up there...

::blink blink::

Do you think it's natural for one to fall to the ground, curl up in a fetal position and start rocking back and forth when seeing the moon? All while thinking, "Oh no! Now What?!?!"

I mean, I've heard of people changing into werewolves...but this reaction?

I know that the moon affects the tides and a lot of other natural rhythms of this fair Earth (and the moon is in fact 100% full today) but the sheer fact that I winced (and tried to run) when I saw how close to full the moon was going to be...and felt a shiver run up and down my spine made me wonder what exactly is up?

Apparently this particular moon is a Full Moon Eclipse in Capricorn...my sister is a Capricorn and we've been known to butt heads (Ram and Goat? Yeah...) But upon further reading of that link there, I have some positives coming through the career sector...and partnership matters kind of secondary. Well, this explains conversations lately.


I can now say...after looking all of that up, that I feel a little better, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Now I can just enjoy this Full Moon Eclipse as the beauty it brings...and the light it shines down in the middle of the night, so I can see my footing while out walking. Of course, this also means it's shining in my window at night making it very hard for me to sleep lately...Ah yes, this could also be another reason that I panicked when I noticed the moon the other night...little things are taking great hold on me right now...Probably because of the lack of good deep sleep.

Oh wait...apparently eclipses always arrive in pairs...and we will, in fact, be having 3 eclipses 2 weeks apart...is it too soon for the next fetal position?

The Fourth In Photos...

Complete With Commentary...

The start of the kiddie parade
Look at those pinchable (spellcheck is telling me "pinchable" is not a word...but, punchable is. This puts a whole different spin on the kiddie parade however) cheeks...they're so little, I wonder if they even know what's going on?

A Fantastic Cowgirl!
Doesn't she look like she's having a great time?
I am also wondering if that woman in the background is knitting...this makes me feel a bit guilty as I only had my hands full with a camera.

Cattle Roundup.
Using saw horses...actually, dragging them down the street. I wonder at what point someone wished they had installed wheels or in line skates on these babies (what? Cows totally in line skate for your information...)
I love that the boy in the background has entirely given up dragging and just picked his up...probably because the rhythm was drag. drag. fall over. pick up. repeat.

Boy in a wagon.
I have nothing to say about this except that I thought it might make a nice shot...especially if The Square wasn't so crowded. Alas, parades, children, and holidays make people flock here...That's half the fun...the jostle factor.

May The Force Be With You...
In the form of the Star Wars Pooper Scoopers. The pooper scoopers were entertainment themed this year and totally made me crack up! There are a lot of pooper scoopers for The Big Fourth Parade, mostly because there are a lot of horses...
stay tuned for more on that...

Smokey The Bear and Bernie The Sundog (right hand corner)
It was nice to see all the "mascots" out and about on Parade Day...I was wondering though, if they would get in a fight and we'd see fur fly?
They did not and we did not.
(this is what being packed in a large crowd of people who were holding those weird plastic clapper things will do to you...make you think about violence. I am wondering if people are just too lazy to clap using their own hands now?)

The Mountain Men...
This is a loud fun group, but every time I see them, I wonder how they manage in all that leather and fur in the intense Arizona heat?
Maybe this is explainswhy they're always yelling and whooping it up?

The Rodeo Queen...
Love those saddles with all the silver on them...just beautiful.
I included the uncropped photo because of what's out there on the street...oopsie. This is why there's a need for all the pooper scoopers...
Parade Day is a bit messy and quite fragrant when all is said and done.

Howdy.
I included this picture just because it looked as if this cowgirl was posing just for me.
How nice!
(It is at this point that we must face the fact that the heat makes me loopy)

What The???
I was absolutely stymied at this one. I don't recall taking this picture at all, and who are these guys?!
Then I realized that that is John McCain. Yep. Right there. Yeah-huh...he's the one in the baseball cap, chambray shirt, khakis
(not too fashion risky.)

OK.

This is the back of John McCain.
He was participating in the parade and didn't even look over our direction.
People got a bit flocky when he walked by, and it was hard to get a shot in...
(this is my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

Other Observations About the Holiday Weekend:

*The front of my shins hurt. Then again, I suppose when it comes to shins, they only have a front. That being said, I have no idea why this is (why they hurt, not the other part, although that makes one think)
*I badly need a tripod. I did not get one picture of the fireworks this year, and it was the best show I've ever seen them put on. We watched them from Willow Lake. In a swarm of mosquitoes (I used spray and only got bit 4 times!! Cause' we all know what happens when I get bit...)
*I realized on Sunday night in bed that I totally got eaten alive by mosquitoes (20+ bites thankyouverymuch...) but only on the outside of my right thigh. I have no idea when or where this happened? I am thinking at the bar-b-q/party/reunion on Sunday? But then, why didn't they go for my exposed skin?
I am totally confused.
*I had an absolutely fantastic time at the above mentioned bar-b-q/party/reunion on Sunday. I did not even unpack the camera making me wish I had my own professional photographer to follow me around and document these things. I did get a couple of pictures on the cell of very large fish that were caught at the pond
(perhaps the pond is where the mosquitoes were all hiding? Well that, and under my shorts...on one side. Apparently.)

And The Rockets Red Glare...

I hope everyone has a festive and fun Fourth of July!

Myself? I live in the town that boasts The World's Oldest Rodeo...and we celebrate like a real old western town...with a lot of root-n-tootn parades, craft fairs, fireworks, and street dancing. We also happen to have a Boot Race right in the middle of historic Whiskey Row...which is a hop skip and a jump away from Snap Snap.

I will be attending both the kiddie parade (which makes me cry my eyes out, and I'm not even related to anyone in it...it's just the pure joy that small kids that show on their faces when they dress up and people wave at them) and the big parade (which only makes me cry because of the amount of horses and car clubs in it) the boot race (which makes me cry because I'm usually laughing so hard) and I'll probably catch the fireworks somewhere before going home to bake a gross of rice crispy treats for a bar-b-q and reunion of sorts on Sunday.

I'll try to capture something on film...

Focusing On...

::On two different views::

::Things in the Distance::

::Looking into the window...and almost being able to see the mantle decorated for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday...and the lights twinkling therein.

::Another fantasy photo shoot...props gathered, photos taken, stories written...hopefully at the end of this month.

::Designing and completing a book based on the pictures and story from The Mad Tea Party for Clay, Lo Sciocco Favoloso...to express my thanks since he is currently without a computer.

::On things that are right in front of me::

::Kickin guacamole (my own special recipe...and a meal in itself) with a good friend.

::The sound of rain pouring off the roof, flowing right out of the gutters...the thunder in the distance...the reflection of lightning bouncing off the walls.

::My grandmother being rushed to the hospital and having trouble breathing...taking charge of Rozz, cooking her dinner, and watching tween TV. Waiting for updates via cell phone...will GG be admitted or not? She's 95. I don't suppose this is a great surprise, but it always is, isn't it?

::Laughing uproariously during phone updates with my mother about the conversation when she went to get GG...

As my mother tenderly threw her arm around GG, "It's OK mother. We'll get through this together."
GG stopping to look at her, "Good Heavens! Have you been eating garlic?!?!"

::The reminder of the strong women I come from, and the fact that whatever happens, we will indeed get through this together...and we'll be going down laughing.

::UPDATE::

GG was sent home last night after being in the emergency room with my mother for about 6 hours. I "guess" she's fine now, and they didn't really find anything wrong?

In The Fading Light...

...of the summer afternoon, I often find myself on the porch of Foolsewoode...drinking in the last bit of sunlight...watching it shoot through the clouds that often cover our skies. Clouds that make me delirious with joy. I can sit and watch clouds for hours, and I have been known to pull over and grab the camera that sits next to me in the car, to capture such skies.

Sometimes this makes me late to places that I have to go.

It's always moments like this...in this light, that I feel I can do anything. That anything is possible...and it's all at my fingertips ripe for the asking, if I can just compose the question.

Because the dusk is magical that way...chasing away the sunlight before it turns to dark and the stars come out to visit and play.

And then, I totally forget all about questions...my mind drifting elsewhere.

Sometimes it drifts to the corners of my home...to the boards that were replaced many years ago when we first bought this house when we put on a new roof, back even before the we turned into an I. And they still aren't painted? (this is the impatient part of my mind that is logically always trying to whip me into some semblance of shape and order)

But no. They are still not painted. Maybe sometime this year?

Instead, I jiggle my feet which are propped on a chair, and look up and through the branches of the ornamental cherry tree (although, I suppose that isn't fair...because once? Once I found a cherry hanging around in there for no apparent reason other than it just grew that way)

...and then I remember that I'm supposed to be reading. I just started the book Practical Magic...it jumped off a shelf at a thrift, and I was happy it didn't land on my foot. So, I picked it up to take home, and have been lost within the pages since.

Maybe I should ask the dusk to grant me the wish of being able to write a magical story such as this...or lyrics like Iron and Wine. Which is playing in the background.

I have a set of outside speakers that look like rocks, you know.

They match the large rock that my patio is built around (my house has a couple of rocks like this in it, rather than working to remove them...they were just sort of incorporated) A fun game is to turn on music and watch new guests look around in confusion as to where the music is coming from.

Things like this make me smile.

And then my attention wanders over to the portico...and the mercury glass acorns that adorn the entryway to my home. I immediately compose a shot in my head...and jump up to grab the camera.

And then I get impatient again, because as I have the shot already set in my head, and I happen to know it will look better when my colored twinkle lights come on. So, I devise a plan...and come back and wrap my nightgown around the timer (my timer comes on just after dusk, and turns itself off a few hours later...controlled by some high tech light sensitive sensor) and sure enough, after the nightgown is in place...the lights come on. Although, now? I don't know if I got the shot I had intended...

But I celebrated the magic of the dusk anyway...

And then I vigorously shook out my nightgown before I retired for the evening inside so as not to be covered with spiders later, because I don't care how amazing the light is...no one looks good covered in spiders.

Why, Hello Stomach Flu...

...and where did you come from?

The most direct answer would probably be from The Maestro...whom I hung out with most recently, but honestly? It seems to have been going around town...from what I understand (and Vanessa said she was ill the day of The Mad Tea Party, so I think it may be possible that I caught it there? Sometimes this happens when you're out party hopping and you're not well rested...plus? All those delectable sweets...swoon)

I'm not totally done for, mostly because I have to work (when you own a shop, there's no one to call and see if you can get your shift covered...yet another thing no one tells you about owning your own business) and usually, I don't get too sick. usually. It's almost like I can't really afford to. Perhaps it's just a simple case of mind over matter?

At any rate, I have a low grade upset tummy...nothing that's going to keep me from leaving the house, but something that's keeping me from eating. I'm half wishing that this stomach bug would either explode into something more dire or just go away. The bug is also causing me to wander around looking for something to wear that doesn't have a waistband in it, because the thought of pressure in that area is worse than the thought of eating...I find myself alternately throwing my fist in the air and curse the fact that muumuus aren't in style.

Rats.

I'm also thinking that there may be a lot of sitting in my future (seeing as I haven't quite perfected laying down at the shop and working at the same time) and crackers...and most likely both at the same time. Perhaps there will also be some left-over rice and peas from last nights dinner (does anyone else notice that I'm starting to resemble a toddler here?) a comfort food that is filling and somewhat light...and one that I happened to make a lot of last night...cooking for one isn't always what it's cracked up to be...but, there is the added benefit of knowing what you're going to be eating for the next few days.