sing it

 Last Saturday, the Reptile Wrangler and I went to a vintage market. "La Laaa"!  There were plenty of old goods to see and some of those goods were pretty... old. There were a lot of old things re-purposed into new things, which is a trend right now and something that sparks my creative side. You know... reduce, reuse, recycle.  I'm a lover of rusted metal, chippy wood and worn out paper. So, I had plenty to look at. We (I) only bought a few things as I was there mostly to look. While I was browsing in one small booth, the Wrangler spotted something in another booth and managed to make the purchase without me noticing. As we were walking back to the car, he pulled it out of the bag and said "here, I bought something for you."

An old book. That was the first nifty thing about his purchase because I enjoy old books. A red book at that and I do love the color red. The second nifty thing was the fact that my name was on the cover! 

It is the Opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini. Now, my name IS Norma but I never knew there was an opera with that very name, nor have I ever heard of Vincenzo Bellini. But just how nifty is that? 

"Pretty nifty", she sings in a soprano voice. Wait...you're saying "You sing?" 

Only when you can't hear me.

I checked Wikipedia to see who Vincenzo was. (Click his highlighted name if you want to read about him). A pretty good guess was confirmed; an Italian Opera composer. I thought I might have to have my Italian mother-in-law read the words for me to see what this is about.

And, I still might have her translate some of it, but I did further looking and discovered, like most opera's, this one is sad. Not that I'm an opera expert, in fact, it's not my favorite music, but aren't most of them tragic or sad?  So, if you want to read about Norma the Opera , click on it.

And then I went to i Tunes and searched for the opera. Guess what? Lots of selections. Who knew?  I purchased one of the songs for .99 cents, with the hopes of embedding it here for all of you to hear. Well, at least for the two Italian sisters that I know who might enjoy it. But alas, without college girl1 here to help me out, I wasn't able to do it.  I think you might have enjoyed it... or possibly thanked me for not having the skills needed to share. Either way, this opera book is pretty neat and I'm thinking a certain nephew of mine just might have to play it on the piano for me some time. Would that make your special request list? Would that make your day?

Reptile Wrangler made mine when he surprised me with the find of the day!

Now, just imagine my name belted out in a soprano opera singing voice . Go ahead, try it and roll the r just a bit. I dare you to keep it stuck in your head all day.

It's been in mine.

sunflowers on a rainy day

A certain nice guy brought home some AMAZING sunflowers for me! And I do love me some sunflowers. Especially on my table. Well, I really love them the very most when they are growing wild... by the side of the road. Yep, all that gold is lovely, lovely sunflowers.

When I took college girl2 to college, the sunflowers were blooming abundantly in open fields and along the edge of the highway. We were all smiles to see them, as they are a favorite of not just mine.

See what I mean? All smiles.

Today it has been raining. A welcome sight. After all, it is the monsoon season so we should be happy to see some rain. So much better than the dust that is less than delightful during the monsoon season here in Arizona. I've even opened the doors and windows this morning... just to tease me that it is fall. At least for today.

So happy to see sunflowers on my table.
So happy to see the rain.
So happy all three of the college kids are enjoying their fall semesters!

Happy friday!

P.S. Just a shout out to some of my Colorado friends. The cute red 'doily' under the sunflowers on my table was handmade by my friend's Mom. She makes them to be used as kitchen wash cloths, but I tend to love them on my counters under bowls, or on my table under blue pitchers full of sunflowers. I just love them. The doily's and my friends! And the sunflowers. But, I said that already.

phone photo & a painted pig

I was looking through the pictures on my phone and found this. I took it, once again, out the window of the car. (Yes, I was in the passenger seat.) It was taken along the highway between the towns of Telluride and Ridgway, in Colorado this summer.

When I see the quality of the pictures, taken on a phone for crying-out-loud, out the window of a moving car, I wonder how long the point and shoot camera will be in use? They don't call them smart phones for nothin'!  The view isn't half bad either.

I imagine the  mountain colors are starting to change to their fall splendor right about now. Fall is coming to this part of Arizona too, I'll prove it later.

I think the man should put this view on canvas and preserve it in oil forever. Don't you?

Speaking of paint on canvas.

The pig painting on the wall was done by Rachel. She painted it and gave it to the owners, her bosses,  at the BBQ restaurant she worked at for the summer. It was her thank-you gift to them for giving her the opportunity to work there. They loved it and hung it right by the register! The gallery owner next door has already approached Rachel to do some paintings to hang and sell in her gallery. She likes to promote young, new artists in the area. Wow... that made the college girl smile! Since she has been back to school, we have heard that customers have asked about some commissioned paintings. So, in her spare time, after her homework and studying is done, I think she will be painting.

Very nice!

to the west

As we were driving home, after being "up north" dropping off college girl2, I snapped this photo.
It had been raining... rain drops casually mimicking the water I had in my eyes. The windshield wipers were the only sound in the car. The two of us were quiet, deep in our own thoughts.

A busy week had slowly come to an end. Tuesday had been move in day for college girl1. It was 100 and who-knows-what that day, with a rare humidity level of close to a sauna degree. A slightly aggravating hour and a half situation with her new apartment key, long trek from the parking garage in the before mentioned mostly awful heat, a car battery that died in the hotter-than-who-knows-what parking garage, resulting in bodies that have never experienced sweat like that before, ended in a mostly organized apartment bedroom that the girl was pretty excited about. (yep, that is a long sentence... probably full of misplaced commas and probably causing all the teachers that read this to wave their red pen at me... wave away!)  But, despite the heat of the day, we left her with one cool looking room! Oh, and a few hugs too. Classes have started for her and she is enjoying them. Yesterday, she found out the instructor for her geology class is friends with a high school buddy of her brother's! From Colorado! That made her day.

Thursday, of last week, took us to the north to meet up with college girl2. She had already been up there for her much anticipated Wilderness Welcome trip to Utah. She had a great time camping and hiking for 5 days. And for us, what does a higher elevation bring to move in day? Cooler temperatures. A welcome relief. Until we complete the check in process and pull into the "30 minute unload zone" and it proceeds to rain. Pouring rain. With our rain jackets on, one umbrella and thankfully some recruited help, we sloshed our way up to the third floor ( no elevators). After living at a high elevation for nearly 20 years and now living as low-landers, it's amazing what an elevation of over 7,000 feet carrying loads of dorm stuff up three fights of stairs soaking wet will do to you. Go ahead, imagine it!
We stayed the night at a hotel, she in her new room with her cute new room mate, and then we spent the next day organizing and making that extra trip to Target. Her room looks great and she is happy in it. We gave our hugs and said our good-byes.

The two of us headed home in the rain. Which brings me back to the photo above. The falling rain. The seeping water in my eyes. The dark clouds. And then, as the sun was getting ready to set, the clouds parted and for a brief moment the sun burst through. I picked up my phone and snapped the picture. That photo is unedited. The pink sun spots were an added bonus when I viewed the picture.

A sunset alert with epic proportions. A sunset worth all the sunsets our family enjoys while always looking to the west. A reminder that no matter how far we all are from each other right now, if we just look to the west... we will see the sun set. And think of each other.

the nest

Here it is... the empty nest post.

Empty. Nest.

But really we are not empty.

We are full of pride for them.
We are full of excitement for them.
We are full of a little envy for the new things they are each doing.
We are full of memories.
We are full of the crazy great 24 years of having kids around us.
We are full of...

A little emotion.
A little missing.
A little quietness.
A little thinking.
A little thankfulness.

So, no real empty here. Just fullness.

Fulfill your dreams young 'uns!

We sure do miss you though.

bobcats in the yard

When it is hot outside, like it has been lately, I don't open the blind on our sliding glass door in our bedroom very often. I prefer to keep the heat out. But one morning, I decided I wanted to see the light of day for a little while. So, as I opened the blind... to my surprise... I was greeted by this sight. A snoozing bobcat up on the brick wall. I quietly walked away to grab my camera and then caught a couple of pictures of her while she was getting her morning beauty sleep.

 Beautiful sleeper. See how the fur comes to a point at the top of their ears? I love that.

And then she woke up and stretched. Good morning! I was wondering what she was looking at on the other side of the fence?

Later, I found out. Peering over the fence in the backyard was a youngster. It was being very curious and looking all around. I was being very curious myself and went from window to window to get a good look.

And then before I knew it, this little guy was scaling the fence and disappeared on the other side. I mentioned to Leah that I had seen them and she said "Oh ya, I forgot to tell you, I saw them the other day too." So it looks like we once again had a little family of bobcats.

A couple of days later I was walking through the dining room and caught sight of a little movement. Here were these two just playing around in the corner of the patio. We watched them for a few minutes before they took off into the yard. They rolled and tumbled and turned upside down for quite awhile. The momma joined them and played around too.

Just as cute as ever. I know, they are wild animals and I'm not too keen about sharing our outdoor living space but, they seem to stay their distance from us and they are pretty fun to watch... especially through the windows.

Ok... sometimes I take a sneak outside and use my maximum zoom and try to grab a few shots from a different perspective. If the momma isn't around I will venture a little closer (still using my zoom, don't worry I would never get this close) and get a few pictures. I always watch out for her but on this particular morning I think she was out and about leaving them to play alone in the yard. Or hide in the foliage as they were here.

I do think they are pretty. And I do enjoy seeing them. However, whether it is the extreme heat right now or because of their occasional visits to the yard, the birds are staying away. I do know (as awful remnants of their feasting has been found in the yard) a few birds and a rabbit or two have been lunch for this little group. Also, and I'll say it as delicately as I can... this group has not been very cat like when it comes to burying their... poop. They have been Yuck-o, with a capital Y, in that particular habit. And I'm sorry, but I really don't want the yard to smell like a zoo. So, precious bobcats... find a different spot for your ins and your outs... if you know what I mean.

Yes you. You're cute and all...

I put together a little video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. Don't worry, it's just the cute stuff. Just a little bit of them rolling and tumbling and turning upside down.

And as you guessed...the Reptile Rodent Wrangler has a new job.
He's a good guy I tell ya.

And actually, since I took the video of them and we/he cleaned up all the "remnants", we haven't seen them at all.

Perhaps it is a bit hot for them now too.


video credit:  
filming-Me   
editing-Rachel

new home for a plant

 This post is for you Mom. Smile.

The year was about 1975. We lived in Carrollton, Texas. A new family moved in up the street from us. That's kind of an ironic thing to say because, we were the new family in the neighborhood too. But they moved in after us so they were newer. They had a girl that was my age and we became friends. Her name was Kelly and I thought it was pretty neat to know her because she moved there from Hawaii. AND... she knew how to hula dance. Really well. She even did it at a talent show at school and impressed every one with her hula skills. During the summer, they went back to Hawaii for a vacation. She brought me back a gift. It was a Hawaiian bulb. 

My Mom planted it in a pot to enjoy as an indoor plant. She has had it ever since.

It moved from Texas to New Mexico with our family. And then again to her new house down at the lake in Southern New Mexico. It moved again, years later to Colorado, where it has been in her home there. It has only bloomed once in all of those years. It was when she had it in her garage in her home at the lake. The bloom surprised her after all those years. It is a plant that has not required a whole lot of care. We don't really know what it is.I think Kelly had told me it was a Hawaiian lily.

My Mom is planning another move in the near future. Back to Texas. This time she said the plant would not go with her. She is scaling down the size of her home and it is just not on the top of the list of things she will take with her. So...she said..."It is your plant. I don't want to move with it. Your friend gave you the bulb. Take it if you want it. The table it sits on goes with it."  Ok, I said and we loaded it into the car.

I know that she is wondering how it made the trip. It made it just fine, Mom. The leaves are all still green and not bent. It has a new home in front of our window. So far, it doesn't seem to notice it isn't in Colorado anymore. Or Texas. Or Hawaii, where is started over 35 years ago. I'm hoping it will decide to bloom another time now that it is in a warmer climate again.

So Mom, thanks for taking care of that little bulb Kelly gave me all those years ago. I hope it will continue on as it has all these years while you had it. I'll keep you posted if it happens to bloom.

And, you can visit it any time you'd like. Smile.