THE DUST WILL WAIT

A short note as I am posting away from home. I heard that Glenn Ford passed away today at the age of 90. He starred in some wonderful movies: Cimmaron, The Teahouse of The August Moon, The Man From Colorado, The Desperadoes, Cowboy - and the list goes on and on. He never won an Oscar. In my humble opinion that is probably a compliment. A great one. Rest in Peace .

Blog Day August 31, 2006 Oh how I love to read blogs. I have around 10 that I pop into every morning before I head to work and nearly always spin some kind of comment, just to let them know I've been by. Sometimes (always) I'm late for work and just breeze in and out without a word. I do have some other blogs I read. They run the gamut - anything and everything. Here are five that I think you will enjoy visiting.... at least once!!! One of my favorite is Middle East Journal by Michael Totten. He is a professional journalist who has been traveling and writing an independent view of the happenings in that part of the world. One of my favorite posts was his strange trip to Libya, also pubished in the LA Weekly . If you don't get a chance to read any of his other works, do take the time to read that one. Another fascinating tale is his BACK TO IRAQ series, part 1 , part 2 , part 3 , part 4 , part 5 , and the finale . Let me know if you think he is crazy or a 21st century explo...

The first two weeks of The Contessa‘s sojourn in our house she spent under our bed. She was probably traumatized by the four weeks she lived at the animal shelter and needed some time to be by herself. The hubby and I put her food, water, and kitty litter in our bathroom. It was apparent that she was venturing out that far while we were at work. Then one evening she made an appearance in the family room where we were both reading. She spent a lot of time inspecting the furniture, bookcases and the warmth of the fireplace. She jumped up and walked across our laps but didn’t linger. Once she spotted the kitty door to the garage, she made a beeline to it and through it. We figured she’d seen one of those before. (The litter box followed her out there that day. Yes!). We were happy that the season under the bed had ended. The days passed and changes in her demeanor were barely apparent. She would jump if we moved too quickly, she would only let us pet her for short moments, she would hide ...

Amanda is here for a visit (with little Curly Mop), so the hubby fixed her favorite dish for dinner. She said, "mom, post a picture of pop's stew on your blog." So here's dinner. Yes, those are green olives in the stew! Later, when Curly Mop was fast asleep, Amanda headed out the front door to meet up with a friend just back from Iraq. She poked her head back in and said "Mom, there is a slug on the sidewalk." She placed her key beside it just to prove we weren't photoshopping. We could rope and saddle him up and attempt eight seconds without sliding off. You first. It was officially 97 degrees here today in spite of the heavy layer of blue smoke in the valley. Slugs are the wet and rainy lovers so I was perplexed. Hey.... maybe he's a Blogger Tech? (I've been hoping for some help on step number four on the back up your blog instructions.) Perhaps word is out about the new pond in the back yard. The pink lily bloomed today.

I pulled out my watercolors this afternoon. I wanted to begin a portrait of my Benjammin kid. I have a camping photograph with a real smile on the kids face, so I knew that it was one I could use. I chose the colors that I thought would match his blond hair and pink cheeks. Hair color is the more difficult of the two. I tested on scratch paper that I save for just that. The water was prepared and the brushes were chosen; I laid out a clean towel for my little brush rituals and for spills. Then it hit me, just like it always does. The fear of the first stroke . I just sit there...frozen, scared, wondering what the heck I'm doing thinking I can paint a picture. (In this case a portrait of a grandson.) The feeling does not pass. I just have to force myself to pick up the brush and find a spot to begin. I hope to start another watercolor class this September so that I can learn more skills and become more confident. My teacher is amazing. I watch her in fascination and envy. I want to...

In case you don't know what you are seeing, the term is 'COOLING GARBAGE." I put it off as long as possible. Why do we put leftovers in there? We know their ultimate destination is the garbage can. Is it guilt? Waste not, want not? Full to the maximum capacity and nothing for dinner. I'd like to see a show of hands for all who have experienced this phenomenon. How about, looked once, looked twice, and still went back a third time to see if anything has appeared in there since the last time you looked. Deed is done. I cleaned it. I thought I spotted Elvis's blue suede shoes in the cream cheese. Does that count as a sighting?

Ran across this at another blog I visit daily, and I had to share it. Just needed to prove that there are aliens among us. Enjoy!