Day 29 "Reflections Of Daffodils"

When I saw these daffodils poking up between the deck boards, my first thought was to grab my camera. Before even framing the first picture, I decided to dump the dog's water bucket to add shine and interest to the tiny daffs and dusty decking. I got lots of nice shots and was very pleased with myself for thinking of the water idea.

While reviewing the new pics on the computer, I called the hub in to see them. I could feel him processing the shiny deck info because he knew it hadn't rained, then he said, "Oh, you watered them."

Uhh, yeah. I watered them.

Day 28 "Got Gas?"

Propane is like homemade soup.

It's good to keep a big tank full around during the winter months.

Day 27 "Potatoes"

Mmm, potatoes!

One of my favorite food groups!

Day 26 "Garden Flag"

Look at the lower left corner. It was a still day (unlike tomorrow) and the flag was barely moving. I love how just the corner was flipped up a little. Another picture in the series was perfectly flat.

A very dear friend gave me this flag as a gift more than a year ago. It has faded quite a bit, but I like it even better now. The colors look so much softer, like a watercolor painting.

Day 25 "Waiting And Planning"

My chaise lounge is going to be in that spot, right there. In that very spot in the late morning sun. I've been scoping out the best spot for about 3 weeks and it's going there for sure. I can't wait!

I'm already wishing for spring and planning the best time to open up the deck and heat up the hot tub.

It was all installed last summer in the heat of July, so we have no experience with spring use yet. We didn't get to enjoy dining out there very often because of the blazing sun, but this year we'll have a much earlier start and we plan to enjoy it a lot before the summer heat sends us running back into the air conditioned house. The hot tub began its life here as our *cool pool* and was used almost every day for 3.5 months.

Did I mention that I can't wait? I WON'T WAIT!!

Day 24 "Bump On A Log"

This is a really interesting tree trunk. I wish I knew what caused it to grow so deformed. It almost makes a little ledge or shelf.

Day 23 "Lean On Me"

Day 22 "Empty Nest"

Day 21 "Self Protrait"

Wow, never knew my stainless steel pans had so many waterspots?!

But I did clean off the control panel with my first ever Magic Eraser, and it worked better than anything I've ever used on the stove. I'll never be without those guys again!

It's going to be the end of an era. We bought a new stove today. Soon there will be no more white kitchen appliances for me, and not a moment too soon.

Day 20 "Still Winter"

But spring is hot on its heels.

Day 19 "Up A Tree"

Day 18 "Homespun"

Homespun is to fabric what chicken soup is to comfort food.

My mom bought this homespun tablecloth for me while on vacation somewhere. Although I alternate with a couple others, this one is my favorite and has graced our dining table consistently.

I've been trying, to no avail, to remember where she was vacationing when she bought it. I don't even have the faintest of clues.

And it was only 26 years ago.

Day 17 "If You Can't Stand The Heat"

. . . stay out of Thai restaurants.

Just thinking how much I would love some #3 0f 4 heat levels Pad Thai. Then suddenly remembered the picture I took last year and have no real use for, yet can't seem to delete.

It was a fun place to dine, in Chantilly, VA. I had seen the Throwdown episode on The Food Network a couple of times and figured it was the closest I'd ever get to a Throwdown with Bobby Flay. It appeared that Nong was entertaining a private party with a cooking lesson at a nearby table.

I can say with certainty, that #3 heat Pad Thai was the hottest food I have ever eaten, yet it was truly delicious on so many levels. I have eaten all of the different chilis in New Mexican cooking, but none compare to this level of Thai seasoning. The highest heat, #4, would have blown even my head off!

Day 16 "I Conduit Myself"

I'm generally a realist, but playing with focus and color is fun sometimes.

I'm such a renegade!

Day 15 "Hit The Brick"

This might look like an innocent red brick to some, but to others, such as me, it's a spider condo 10-plex waiting to happen.

Day 14 "Tissue Tutu"

Who knew that tissues were so hairy? If there weren't something already tickling our noses, no doubt the tissue itself would do the trick.

Day 13 "Running Blind"

Day 12 *Bottom Of The Barrel*

I thought it was about 50* today.

The ice at the bottom of the barrel was only too pleased to point out my foolishness.

Day 11 *Winter Tree*

It was very windy and cold today.

The winter tree stretched its arms upward toward the sky as far as it could reach, delighting in the sun's radiance. I think the tree had the same idea I had.

There's no argument that this is still the middle of winter, but the Carolina blue sky and sun's warmth gave us both the promise that spring is really going to happen again, as it did last year, and always has before, and always will, forever and ever.

On beautiful winter days like today, sometimes the promise of spring is almost better than spring itself.

Day 10 *Going Against The Grain*

Day 9 *Fan Club*

I remember as a child, lying on my back on the floor and imagining that the ceiling was the floor.

It looked so neat and clean that way, and walking around a room was unhampered by furniture and other clutter, like a sleeping dog. Nothing to step on. I could walk through the room with my eyes closed because there was nothing to trip over, except the light fixture in the center of the room.

I imagined that the light on the floor was a campfire, and we could all sit around it and toast marshmallows on sticks, and the goo wouldn't fall on the carpet in a sticky, sugary blob. We didn't have ceiling fans in our home when I was a kid, but if we had, I imagine I would have thought it a fun game to turn the fan on low and jump each blade as it went around. Like jumprope with a painful twist if I missed.

Too soon, the innocence of childhood is swept away and our perception changes as we become responsible for our surroundings. Now, as an adult reflecting on inverted floors and ceilings, I just think how much easier it would be to keep the *floors* clean.

Day 8 *Suprise!*

Wow. Funny how many great things we can find if we just pay attention. Things we didn't even know existed.

I found this in my own home, on a piece of exercise equipment.

The suprise was the equipment's. Suprised I was using it!

Day 7 *Holey Moley*

Are there any among us who would regret the advancements of medicine over the last century? I sincerely doubt it.

Modern computerized robotic surgery and assisted lasers have all but eradicated the old folk medicines and the silly products of by-gone quackery.

I wonder how it is, then, that the only method to relieve my back pain is to hang upside down on an inversion table. It used to be a form of torture to hang someone on a *rack* and stretch their spine unmercilessly. How did this inversion table become the accepted method of choice for so many of us to relieve the pain of a compressed spine?

I guess no matter how aware and educated we become, it is still difficult to let go of our Barbaric side. But I wouldn't be suprised if, 100 years from now, pickers combing landfills know exactly what this machine is and what it was used for.

Day 6 *Life Is Like Zucchini*

The zucchini I steamed for dinner was a bitter disappointment. Literally. Then I started thinking more about it and after some time, I came to the conclusion that life is very much like zucchini.

It's all pretty, squeaky clean, and shiny on the outside. You want it and you think it will be wonderful because it looks wonderful. You know it's good for you and can't hurt you, unless you try to swallow one whole.

Then you carefully wash it and chop it. What is revealed inside is suprisingly slimy and seedy, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just not what you expected, given the lustrous beauty of the outside skin. Although life is generally good, it's not usually as good as it appears on the outside. It's also often seedy and sometimes even slimyy. As we view other people's lives, they appear to be blemish free and vibrant because we rarely get to see their seedy, slimy side.

I seasoned the cooked zucchini, and after much anticipation, took the first bite. The skin was bitter! I've always liked zucchini and don't remember it ever being bitter. The pretty side was bitter and the seedy side was, well, seedy but not half bad. And at least the slime was gone. It was an unexpected disappointment, as are many things in life that we think could only be beneficial. And yet, remarkably, the bitter outside and the seedy inside are still really very good for us. Life's bitter disappointments, seedy pasts, and slimy transgressions become interwoven with all the beautiful, shiny, and smooth to form the fabric of who we are and who we will become. And in that way, I believe that life is remarkably like zucchini.

Now stick that blateration in a hole, add a seedling and water, and you can grow a garden full of zucchini that you won't be able to contain or give away. But at least you won't be very upset if it turns out bitter.

Day 5 *Let It Rain*

The mares had their brand new rainsheets on and were waiting for the forecast torrential rain to begin. A friend was here and brought a friend of his, a general contractor, to dash my dreams of building a master bathroom addition, which they did very well, thank you. Then we wandered into the kitchen to ask questions about that room. Friend, who also owns horses, poked his friend to come look out the window. He said, "You have to see this! And you thought we (he & his wife) were crazy. Their horses are wearing blankets!"

Gee, don't all horses have full wardrobes of clothing for different weather conditions? And a servant to apply and remove them as needed?

I've had neighbors stop in the summer months and ask me why my horses are blindfolded.

You've never heard of flymasks to keep the bugs out of their eyes? After all, their tails don't reach that far and they don't even have hands for swatting bugs away.

People can be so funny! How could any horses have survived here before I brought my new-fangled ideas in?

Day 4 *Green Eyed Ladies, Lovely Ladies*

"Green eyed lady,

windswept lady,

Moves the night,

the waves, the sand."

"Green eyed lady,

ocean lady,

Child of nature,

friend of man."

Half-wild and green eyed they are, but ladies they're not. Friend of man is yet to be established. Für Elise and Capriccia ae twin rescues that moved in and took over both the property and the pecking order. They are ghastly mean to their old sister, Jasmine, and keep the big Collie in his place with only the lift of a paw. They're pretty nice to me, but largely because I'm the *feeder of the pack.*

These two bookend black cats crossed my path first thing this morning. I hope it isn't a harbinger of my luck for the remainder of the day. I've had to endure too many black-cat-days lately.

Day 3 *99 Bottles Of Wine On The Wall*

When I happened upon this display in a general store in Honolulu, the first thing that came to my mind was, "What's keeping the bottles from sliding off the shelves?"

No, I'm joking. That would be just plain silly. In reality, my very first thought was of an old George Carlin skit where he is the announcer for "Wonderful WINO Wadioooh, in Western Wallawalla." And that's certainly not silly.

Then I thought it would be fun to photograph the bottles from a totally different and more interesting perspective than we're likely to see in retail. As I stood there, camera tilted and head contorted to all sorts of strange angles, I got the strangest looks from passing shoppers. Questioning looks, wondering if I had inbibed of the grape before wandering, unbalanced, into the store.

No, I don't drink. I always look like that - just moreso when holding a camera in front of my face!