This morning I am looking at a couple of unfinished projects ... the ottoman (it's going to be so happy looking) and a section of CAP knowledge stuff (tedious bc I have to do it on a laptop different from the one my fingers are used to ... windows stuff). I'm having trouble getting started today!  This is the last week of summer vacation for Four and Five ... I would like to treat them to something special ...
 .
This morning I'm thinking about a guy at the little lake party asking an airline pilot what it looks like up there ... he had some specific questions.  The answer he got was ... I don't know.  Maybe the guy had been kinda pestering him all day about flying stuff ... some of those old captains just want a day off on their day off.  When I have a seat very high, back in the back, sightseeing, what I see is geography ... and I notice that stuff looks a lot like other stuff ... for example, waves in the gulf aren't sorta parrallel lines as they seem from the shore, rather they are crisscrossing lines and look exactly like the wrinkles across the top of my hand ... near the thumb they are roughly parallel and fanning from the web between the thumb and the index finger, the bulk of the skin is diamond patterned though and it stretches to smooth with the slightest flex ... the fishnet shape of it allows for directional flexibility ... if I could really see it, the same bit would look totally different under different magnifications.  I take it very much for granted, but it is truly spectacular.  That's what it looks like up there.
 I looked at pics from a few trips this morning.
One really can't describe what it looks like ... you're moving pretty fast and ... it moves too.These pictures were all taken from altitudes around 11,000 give or take a few thousand ...  one or two of them may be as low as 7000MSL ... and on the ground for that landing shot.

These shots are a click apart ... the next click would be all white.  Sometimes it's white like the inside of an egg with no spacial information ... sometimes it's white like a gaseous cloud white with tints of grey ... clouds end suddenly.  It's super cool to blast from the white in to a cloud cavern streaming light.
These two are also a click apart

We were heading generally West, into the sun.  I was thinking about how like a temple it sometimes looks up there ... I like how the red spectrum licks at the enveloping dark.  In picture two proximity to that rise in the cloud layer makes it appear to open up like a crocs mouth.
How do you describe how it looks up there?  It looks great mostly.  Sometimes it looks scary as all get out ... I don't fly towards that.

hot relatively dry air

 cold relatively wet air

boot check check
between layers

I like the icy blue lines  between layers
this is smooth cool air

different day
between layers
these clouds are somewhat energized, but not much

was all in ... breaking through the bottom of this layer for landing

I never get tired of seeing this ...

out of a cloud with back light

cloud valley

the sun, like a solitaire on the finger of an angel 

night roll

how does it look up there ... it looks good.

Lately I have been dreaming about monstrous mega cells ... ummm storms, with high winds and dust clouds ahead of AK7 type hail fire ... in the dream I am not feeling afraid, rather alarmed ... I am figuring out the choices most likely to render survival in a situation that looks ... not good.  In the dream, I find myself responsible for three children, an infant, a toddler (who is asleep) and a young child who is aware enough of the myriad dangers to be a problem ... fear doesn't wear well.
The dream dictionary doesn't have much good to say about any of the words associated with the images from these dreams.
I sure was relieved last night to dream about swimming in a pool where the surrounding rocks warmed the water to ... just right.  I could lift my head in to cooler water which was like a waterfall's mist in the air. I love swimming dreams.  This dream place was a perfect place ... like a pool behind the veil of a waterfall, it felt almost like a cave, but not dark and creepy ... I haven't seen a place like this, but it felt real.  I haven't looked at the interpretive words for it.  Maybe it was inspired by the boat ride yesterday ... if so I need to do more of that!
From my reading earlier today:

⁶ O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.

⁷ Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

⁸ Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time; And in the night his song shall be with me, Even a prayer unto the God of my life.

... from Psalm 42 stood out.  
I think the writer is saying ... I am discouraged, therefore I remember these times when God seemed nearer ... the deep of those times calls to the deep of these times.  I am again in those waters and the outcomes will be as they were ... God is near by day and by night ... my soul reaches, leaning towards Him.

Grace ...

 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, 

O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 

 Psalms 139:17&18

Grace ... what a great set of lyrics ... and the music flowing ebbs and surges so gracefully, giving receiving, like the gift of a wave lapping at the shore ... traveling from the deep  ... cooling the feet of those who venture in.

This is one of my very favorite songs.
I like to remember everything about a pearl ... and grace ... I'm learning about grace.
And I like to remember the idea of how those pearly gates might have come to be.  I know Christ affirms that he is the way ...
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
and the entrance is via
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. Revelation 21:21(NIV)

grains of sand x 250
@ Dr. Gary Greenberg

I like to think about how a pearl is formed ... and that it isn't necessarily formed around a grain of sand (I love those microscopic photos of sand)  ... his images are available to purchase here, on Dr. Greenberg's site.  Genius.

Anyway ... thinking about sand has distracted me!
Pearls ... more likely the result of  protective layers collecting over a parasite.  I wonder if "sin" is sorta like a parasite.  ummm ... a destructive parasite is what I mean, an irritant to our souls.  Well, I'm thinking about that a little bit.  I do like the idea of a life nurtured by grace approaching a gate which is a pearl. Back in Dec 2010 I was thinking this:

By the way ... that song, Pearl ... today was the first day I have heard it. Last week I was talking with H and I said I think those 12 gates that are the entry in to heaven ... it says they are made from solid pearls. If our souls are the same size as as the current body to pearls ratio then those heavenly pearls are some big pearls. Pearls are formed via aggravation. By my calculations big pearls must required some pretty intensive aggravation! If our life experiences shape us for eternity (which I think is the whole point ... well, maybe for God's amusement as well - idk) then maybe there is something to how we choose to deal with all these aggravations ... while those pearls are being formed.

... and today, the idea of that is on my mind again.  
Our life creates a pearl ... or a whole string of them.  I am feeling especially aggravated lately.  I'm grateful that grace is available to help me add another layer to my pearl.

Too funny ... I remembered this busted up junk store find ...  faux pearls ... and I made this bracelet today.   I sat on the front porch and stuck my feet out in to the rain ... and called Ds, chatting, laughing about her mom teaching us how to macramé back in the day, and here I am a hundred years later this over that, that over this  ... and smiling about her little grand daughter and old mardi gras beads ... and my brother extending hospitality for us to hang out at his house ... .  She and I both need a little end of summer break!

94/1000 ... mushrooms popping up

Two has a vegetable garden going ... big time for my idea of what a backyard garden in my backyard might be.
My Dad enjoyed growing food ... tending his fruits, vegetables and flowers ... we had Organic Gardener strewn around the house with his copies of Field and Stream, and National Geographic.
It is such a delight to me to see how much she loves her garden.  I garden in the landscaping vein ... most of my effort goes to weeding and edging.  I'm trying to root a couple of gardenias in the kitchen window ... that sort of thing.  It is so much fun to see her come in with tomatoes and peppers.  Now she has planted a box of cucumbers, radishes, peas ... more tomatoes with the peppers which are still going strong ... pumpkins ... zucchini ... yellow squash ... and a big tub of carrots.  Every morning she pours her coffee and takes it out to her garden.  This morning she came back inside so excited and said, "Mom, you've got to see this ... and you'll want your camera."  I thought maybe the pumpkins were flowering.
These two perfectly white ... crystal like ... mushrooms where snuggled up against one of the planting boxes.  Beautiful.  She tells me they are from a lobster fungus.  She says the lobster shells in the composite must be asserting themselves.  Ah ... so cool.

Misgoded.

Some one intentionally created this new word to express an old problem.  I can't stop thinking about how perfect the word is. Misgoded. ... it's pretty easy to be misgoded.  I mean ... really, isn't that the one thing we all seem to have in common?  I hear the call of little gods ... they are pretty loud.


Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 

People are trying to make their lives "work" with the information ... experiences ... impressions ... that they have gathered over their lifetimes.  I bet I have figured some of my stuff out all wrong.  I can see my kids doing that sometimes ... they think they are so right when in fact,  inexperience has jumped them to an inaccurate or incomplete conclusion ... then they make decisions and choices based on ... ummm crap.  I'm not trying to think about a/the kid/s right now.  I think we all do this thing ... and it makes a pretty big mess over time.  In that story from I Kings 19, Elijah, who had witnessed the reality of God ... I mean he had seen with his own eyes some amazing stuff ... Elijah was hiding out ... scared. I'm not thinking that the story didn't go exactly like the Book says it did, I'm just thinking about  the places where we might go to hide out ... ummm, little hobbies, distractions, treats ... off track things, things we know are enticing us off track.

Walking the trail was really very cool ... not that we did much of it, but enough for me to notice that the proper path was clearly discernible  ... not always easy to walk; there were slippery spots, and almost too steep spots, places where rocks jutted punishing edges, places where trees had fallen, places where a slimy bridge demanded one careful foot in front of another ... occasionally the trail was wide enough to walk along side a buddy, but mostly it encouraged single file passage.
You knew when you were venturing off track.  I was pretty serious about staying on the trail ... bears.  I never say them, but I smelled them which is pretty impressive for a nose educated in the city ... you know how it is near the bear houses at the zoo ... same smell in the woods ... it squinted my wary eyes and keep me moving away from the berry bushes.  Bear stink.  Also off trail ... poison ivy.  

The vines were kept trampled down on the path, the easy work of many feet going before, and my little chacos did their part, but stepping off the path was to invite any type of epic allergic reaction.  Spiders ... Snakes ... thorns, holes, hideous multi-legged stinging wormy looking things ... all sorts of unpleasantries lurked off the narrow way.
There were places to climb to that felt like walking in the clouds ... well, that's exactly what we were doing, and the views, when they opened up, were suddenly so majestic that I felt tiny even without looking at the stars.  Just here, under this living canopy  ... is big enough, has been here long enough ... was fantastically created ...  from the process that makes trees green all the way out to the panorama of the seemingly endless forest cradled by an arching sky.
Sometimes in overwhelming delight or other times in soul sapping weariness, you get to a place on the trail where it's just so much ... and for what ever reason you decide to sit down and try to take it all in ... next day you're rewarded with the realization that you are working with chigger bites where you don't want bites of any kind.  Little insidious pains in the behind.  Invisible, but they make themselves known.  They encourage you to stay on the path ... .

I've climbed some mountains that I wouldn't have believed could be torn apart ... seen more then a few shattered rocks that bare silent witness to forces greater then the mountains which appeared unmovable. I've felt what I thought was unshakable ... crumble away to pieces smaller then the dust we're created from.  Earthquakes are scary ... scarier then bears. And fire.  I need fire to to ward off the chill, to bake the bread and ripen the vine ... fire for light ... fire to refine ... but ... gosh it's scary to be drawn to a flame, seeking warmth ... naively seeking a little warmth, and finding yourself on the brink of consumed.  Pretty easy to be misgoded.  My eyes haven't ever seen the guide ... I can almost always see the trail though.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  

Why does God whisper?

I think I'm starting to know.
I close my eyes and remember whispered moments. Tiny sweet smiles ... sparkling eyes ... precious delights.  Whispered words are intimate words ... words shared close among chosen companions.  Whispers ... closer then close relationship, close enough to breathe each other in ... .  Close close.

Acts 17:27  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

I think He whispers because he is near.   The guide whispers.

Well ... that's what I'm thinking about today.  I started a new time in my little life by reaching for something different and the experience ... whispered ... helped me to collect myself and get still ... all that scary stuff in the Elijah story ... well, Elijah was basically running scared ... running for his life.  I think the events of his life had PTSed his earth suit.  I think his earth suit was in survival mode.  It's hard to hear a whisper when you're really really scared. And ... hiding out in a cave didn't turn out to be as relaxing as he must have imagined it might be.

Well ... times up ... I get to finish up my pretty walls today and ... I have another room needing my attention.  Three has flown the nest and Four has begun moving her things in to his vacated space.  We're going to work at sprinkling some sugar and spice where snakes and snails and puppy dog tails have recently been.  This is her first time to have a room by herself ... . Pretty sweet stuff.

92&93/1000

This is the complete shot of the photo I use as the header photo for this blog ... I was actually heading North when I took this photograph ... evening ... really sweet.  I like that I am able to get to the place where pictures like this can be snapped.  I am thankful that I can fly airplanes.  Yesterday, I saw my elderly buddy who recently lost his wife.  He was so happy to share with me that his son has arranged a flight (on a small plane) to the Keys for him.  That is a great airport ... it will be a wonderful experience for him.  I am so happy to think of him making that trip.

horizontal stripe tone on tone (eggshell and gloss) paint

Last night, after dinner, I cut the ceiling and doors in ... woke up this morning ready to paint.  This hall makes a right turn from the foyer ... straight ahead from the front door is the den, beyond the door pictured here.  One can also see this paint from the living room which is painted dark grey.  This color is the same as the ceiling paint in the living room and dining room.  For the ceiling I chose a matte finish paint.  The foyer and hall will be painted in something more "washable" ...

first photo is the "before" ... the rest of these photos show the three broad stripes freshly painted ... 18.5" in eggshell. When completed there will be five stripes ... two in high gloss.

Once this paint is "right" I'll tape the lines and in order to get a perfect line I will paint over the bottom edge of the tape with this eggshell paint ... tape, no matter how awesomely applied, allows bleeding ... little crumbly edge bleeding.  By painting over the tape line initially with the eggshell (color #1) all the bleed paint will be the color I wanted there in the first place.  After that dries, I will paint the high gloss stripes.  When the tape is removed, the lines will be ... uh, perfect ... as perfect as they can be at least.

H suggested I go just a little lighter color on the gloss stripes.  I can't wait to get some of the gloss up so I can see the difference between the two.  Paint store mixologist said the gloss automatically makes my paint lighter.  So ... this paint is the exact same "color" varied only by the amount of gloss added to the paint.  I want something very subtle ... to tell the truth, I'm not even sure I'm going to like horizontal stripes here ... this isn't a formal house, but ... well, we'll see!  The tedious part is getting it up for a look see ... rolling over the gloss would be a piece of cake if we don't love this treatment.  

Unfortunately, I have a couple of places in the sheet rock that want attention.  All those little dings call out when I start putting up fresh paint!

I'll post the results in a day or two.

Taping is ... a grind.  I don't know if it would be a lot better to have a tape buddy or not.  I am so glad that there are only four tape lines per wall on this pattern.

So ... tape goes up and I rub over it with a safety razor then I paint the same color as the paint under the tape.  That's drying now ... next I'm going to paint the high gloss stripe.  This wall probably gets the best natural light in this area ... can't wait to see the results!

Like every other DIY project, this is taking a bit longer to do then I anticipated.  As I marked the walls for the tape line I realized that there war place where my paint wouldn't fill in its entire stripe.  Third coat ... .

I really like it  ... cabana stripes.

A quart of the gloss wasn't enough ... Lowes run coming up ... so close!

Well ... taping all by myself took a ton of time and I was thinking ... I hope this is worth it.  When began pulling the tape away I was so happy.  So happy.  Exactly what I hoped for.

the ceiling and the walls stripes really are the same color ...

Job on hold til Monday ... when I will go get another quart of paint and ... new switch plates (ewww ... ahhhh).

There are a couple of places that need a little touch up ... and a pencil mark or two.  Looking forward to wrapping this up tomorrow.  Love it.

Finished ... brushes washed pictures hung kinda finished!  

a sorta lazy day in the life ... last pick up run of the summer ...

text from C:  where are you

me w photo support:  enroute btb230 ... 

C:  where are you now 

me: idk ... here-ish

  C:  now?

me:  right here by this guy

C:  ok drive safe

C: what have you been up to?

me: now I'm looking at these ... in Homewood

C: where is that?

me: basically B'ham

C: 5 points ... oh, Homewood ... never mind haha

(just sent photo ... )

 me: would you like something like this in your room?  

C (much later): awww that's cute! We're done!

(just sent, no text, thought she'd know exactly where this was ... just prior to the exit, 217 on the clock)

and here we are ... 

I had a lot of fun goofing off in Homewood ...H gave me the names of several places she knew I would enjoy browsing through ... perfect little day ... coffee at O'Henry's and a few neat shops ... big hug from my girl ... and she drove us home!

last mile before turn off on our street ... prefab roofing system
a neat stack of wood

Sermon notes ... I am just someone who needs to be writing down notes when I am supposed to be listening to a sermon ... if I don't, I drift too much, and I start counting the light bulbs in the chandeliers and wondering how they are changed and by whom ... and if there are spider webs up there ... interesting stuff like that.  So ... notes ... these notes aren't necessarily what he said, they're just what I wrote down. It's what I heard, and maybe what I thought.  In other words ... this isn't going to be recognizable as his sermon.

"Biblical Pattern of Leadership"
Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Be sure to appoint a God chosen leader ... they had a prophet who helped out with the culling process.  Saul---> David ---> Solomon
I Sam 16:7 God looks at the heart
Pastor said, the land could be synonymous with an abundant (Christian) life
v 15 says ... don't place a foreigner over you ... I thought maybe that's where the Founding Fathers got the idea for a natural born citizen ... also ...  maybe a foreigner might be a person with totally different sensibilities then you
v 16 says  ... the King, moreover,

• must not acquire great numbers of horses
• must not take many wives
• must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold

Pastor said:

• horses = power
• wives = pleasure
• silver and gold = possessions 

any of which would be a distraction from the peoples work ... ruling well ... leadership

he drew on this quote:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot

And alluded to the ministry of  U.S.Senate Chaplain Barry Black ... wow.  The Pastor made this statement, "There are saints in Caesar's household" as he referenced Rev. Black.  Here is an interview with him, I am so glad to learn a bit about the life of this man.  Love this:

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, we do not doubt your generous love. ... ~PRAYER FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL CEREMONY
Tuskegee Airmen 

and this story:

Small Enough...
After an evening of talk, perhaps about the fringes of knowledge, or some new possibility of climbing into the minds and senses of animals, we would go out on the lawn, where we took turns at an amusing little astronomical rite. We searched until we found, with or without glasses, the faint, heavenly spot of light-mist beyond the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus, when one or the other of us would then recite:
“That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. “It is as large as our Milky Way.
“It is one of a hundred million galaxies. “It is 750,000 light-years away.
“It consists of one hundred billion suns,
each larger than our sun.”
After an interval, Colonel Roosevelt would grin at me and say: “Now I think we are small enough! Let’s go to bed.”
We must have repeated this salutary ceremony forty or fifty times in the course of years, and it never palled.
From The Book of Naturalists (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1944, page 234); quoted in The Interpreter’s Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956) volume V, page 436, in connection with Isaiah 40:12-17. *

I like that the message was intended to help us think about not only our leaders ... past, present and future, but our own leadership roles as well ... and our role as followers.  This is a turbulent time ... yet God, whoever he exactly is, is the same as always.  I like it a lot ... significantly insignificant and yet He is mindful of us.  Wow.

*Isaiah 40:12-17
New International Version (NIV)

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, 
    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? 
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
    or weighed the mountains on the scales
    and the hills in a balance? 
¹³ Who can fathom the Spirit^[a] of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor? 
¹⁴ Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge, 
    or showed him the path of understanding?

¹⁵ Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
    they are regarded as dust on the scales; 
    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 
¹⁶ Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
¹⁷ Before him all the nations are as nothing; 
    they are regarded by him as worthless
    and less than nothing.

Wow ... it was five and now it is six!  I thought to quickly check in on a couple of blogs which I read and read an interesting comment and I thought ... what kind of person made that connection ... curiosity encouraged me to make a jump and on the other end, I fell in to a photo blog of shots from Alaska.  Wow.  I made myself look at the time when I was really just wanting to go google earth in search of more info on a runway.  It looked either too wide or too short or possibly both ... and ... well to fly there is primarily why I want to spend time in Alaska.  I secretly wonder if I won't think I have arrived home.  Husband says one winter in would probably remind me that I am a beach girl ... idk ... the area around Anchorage looks like it might be one of the last "stations" before heaven.  Well ... suddenly I have a handful (that's five) blogs that I especially like for very different reason ... .  Oh!  Excellent!  Just became aware that it is raining here ... bedroom window now open.

So ... this morning, on the way to the coffee machine, I was thinking about a ginormous oak tree which I took several pictures of on Sunday.  L, taking a side road, showed us a little early subdivision of mansions built by executives at a now long defunct mill.  I was impressed by the trees ... and the street lights. C took a picture of one of the homes for her oldest brother ... they were on the phone with him when we stopped for me to get out and really see the trees.  I think it's nice that my husband will stop and wait patiently while I take pictures.

Picture of one of the homes ... taken for One so he could be there with us ... pretty fancy.

A really big tree ... probably a 30' drip line at very least.  While approaching the tree I thought there is no way I will be able to capture the majesty of this ... it is a tower ... at the base six men could stand shoulder to shoulder  and we would still see trunk on either side ... my camera can not convey perspective, there was nothing near by to scale the size of this tree ... and that's what I was thinking about this morning as I walked through the house ... I knew I was walking through poisonous ivy on the way to the base of this tree.  I hoped my camera would be able to capture a reminder of the awe inspired here ... this morning I can feel the tingle which will be a full blown rash by this time tomorrow ... I wish the picture were better, but I'd do it all over again for even this little reminder.

I am thinking about perspective, as in how one may train their way of seeing things.  I am very tempted to look at the way things appear to be ... the entire planet seems to be in a real crap basket ... Preacher did a sermon on "Biblical Pattern of Leadership" and I immediately noticed that neither of the likely candidates for Leadership of my country qualify for consideration, much less occupancy.  I'm running out of time for note making ... better get to what I told myself I would do early this morning ... sermon notes.  First this though ... 

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." 
-Eric Hoffer

~found earlier this morning on the Alaskan Photoblog accompanying a photo of a branch of green hosting a string of crystal water droplets ... tiny blessings.

The exercise of 1000 Gifts ... back a year ago when I decided to note my way towards a perspective of gratitude ... I didn't realize that an attitude of thankfulness would be like that tree.  Yeah ... it's like that tree.  The root system collects "stuff" ... I can't see any of that going on, but I know it's there.  The leaves collect "stuff" ... I can see the leaves and the elements, but I can't see the any of the process, only the results ... a few of which are a very vibrant plant life providing support for all kinds of wild life and protection for these delicate little delights ... the truck branches out in all directions as it reaches for the light ... no telling how long it's been growing there, or what might happen around it in coming years.

The runway I was looking at this morning ... I know runways ... unmarked runways especially, can fool the under informed eye ... weather around runways can significantly impact perspectives.  We "land" on notions the same way.

 

I think I better come back later to note my sermon notes ... they would be lost in the hodgepodge of these musings!

Reading this:  we're not there yet ...
The Alabama bushwhacker was an 80 dollar fail ... have to say I do like coconut infused rum, and the Bacardi 151 ... comes with a warning : flammable.  I'm thinking, doesn't anyone capable of reading the label already know that alcohol is flammable ... maybe even in more then simply the most obvious of ways.  All this to say ... that 151 is delicious too.  Maybe I like rum ... who knew?  I have studiously avoided umbrella drinks ... now I wonder what the occasional splash of fruit juice would hurt.

Yesterday (sermon notes to follow ... I obviously need to review those as often as possible) the preacher said what the parents enjoy in moderation the children will indulge to their ruin. Scary words ... of course I thought of the devil's brew ... . Well, everybody has their opinions about ... pretty much everything ... so far so good with all the older children though (knock on wood).

So ... back to that little blog.  These guys have edited their lives back to a point where what they have may be carried on two bicycles and where they are going is where the day takes them ... one, educated to earn a living as a big city (yeah ... maybe headed towards slick) attorney the other ... as yet undisclosed (I think I am in the first couple of weeks out on the road and I think they intend to pedal their way to Central America ... I jumped ahead in the recipe section and found them somewhere in Mexico) ... yeah ... the other I think cooks because of the very specific culinary curiosity.  This morning I read about a roll stuffed with fried pig skin ... from the chapel of baked delights ...  it must have been fabulously inspiring, because today (that day) they became engaged. Crackin's ... who knew? So ... I thought I was reading a sleep eat pedal post sort of thing ... but now, personalities begin to emerge.  One is up for it ... whatever it is ... one would like to plan some of the its ... the photography is light filled and expansive ... .

Last night I read a couple of days worth in bed ... and I said to L ... this is just great ... we could do something like this ... just a couple hours earlier we had shared the road with a couple on a big bike, snuggled in together, they appeared to me to be less on their way to somewhere, more just right there ... together.  I liked seeing them.  At a stop light on the way through one of those sleepy Southern towns, they pulled along side us.  Both smiled over and their happy faces crinkled my eyes ... L said they sure were playing their music loud ... several miles back I had said that I'd read somewhere that you can get intercom to make communications pleasant and ... even a little heating boost that somehow plugs in to the bike for comfort on a cold day.  I like that couples can be together zooming through their own air.  Or, as these kids are blogging ... meandering towards something ... becoming more together.  All good.  I seem to be spending a good bit of my time thinking about together ... both together with God and together with my husband.  Souls seek together I think.  Snuggled in is a worthy destination.

We could do something like that I said as I turned off the lamp.  He said ... We are in no shape for that ... how about a loop around the neighborhood and we sleep in our own bed every night.  It makes me laugh. I know I will do something like that some day ... seeing the coastline may be even more appealing then walking the trail ... these bike bloggers are definitely on to something ... camping out some, bread and breakfasts and hot showers some ... interesting food everyday ...wonder filled things to see ... it's really good.  Maybe my buddy will get used to the idea of something like this eventually ... I am working on it.

Dropped C off for another week of helping out at camp ... she is life-guarding this week ... last week while here at home, she got to participate as a judge at the State dive meet ... very cool.  L and I drove on, in to town, to confirm the color and comfort of the dining room chairs I am saving up for ... and ... we sat on our favorite sofa and looked at the coffee table which inspired the one I want to have crafted by a local welder.  L likes the table well enough, but he doesn't believe the craftsmanship  can be reproduced.  He may be correct.  Industrial furniture (like everything else I think) is about attention to the details ... otherwise you get ... junk that nicks the knees of the uninitiated.  I am willing to spent a hundred bucks on a frame that might be exactly what I want ... and/or, I am willing to work towards a plan B.  That sofa ... rocks ... it is as deep as a twin bed ... and long, I love the leather wrapped luxurious comfiness of it ... too big a scale for any of the rooms in our house, but absolutely a perfect piece for somewhere.  At least the chairs passed the scratch and sniff test ... . He offered a Starbucks stop, which was tempting, but I know we would get to the counter and I would be the only one asking for a treat.  It was a gracious offer, but when I suggested browsing through FreshMarket instead, he was amiable ... we found fresh ripe peaches, salty cashews and those little sesame crunchy things I like so much ... I was really happy to see that he picked up two huge bottles of ice cold water while I was visiting with the fresh sushi (too much food for one person ... I passed).   Perfect car picnic for the ride home.

So ... today ... menu/grocery list planning ... time to empty the pantry and make sure everything goes back in shipshape ... that wipe the walls with bleach water sort of thing.  This week I'll work on the yellow ottoman and I hope to paint the foyer and hall on Thursday and Friday.  I'm going to do a horizontal tone on tone stripe ... 2 gloss and 3 matte.  It makes me smile to think of how perfect its going to be ... like the ceiling in the living room where I'm sitting.  I tilted my head back and looked up ... my ceiling looks like a bucket of milk where the cream has floated deliciousness to the top.  I'll be applying  the ceiling color on the wall through the doorway ... they are very close to the same color, but different I think.  The ceiling in that space is a very light grayish sea salt color.
*picture ... gun metal grey bucket, fresh white milk, thick cream ... the cream floats to the top.

91/1000 ... spoons ... full of sweet memories

 A Tupperware container, out in the garage, holds a bunch of mostly mismatched silverware ... I've had this since college.  From who knows where, a wild hair to decoupage magazine images ... primarily color ... on to them.  These five are actually from the same ... family.  Similar, different ... like my five.
once I get the "paperwork" done on these, I will do something (that I think is ) cool with colored embroidery thread ... and I'll hang this/these in the kitchen as a reminder ... not like I forget, more like a smile maker.
... finished project to follow ... may take a while.

• 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
• light rum
• coconut rum
• kahlua
• Bacardi 151

Mix equal parts light rum, coconut rum and kahlua.  For each drink, take 2 oz. of that mixture and blend it with the ice cream.  Put into a glass and  top with a generous splash of the Bacardi 151.  Swirl the 151 into the drink very lightly, and top with a cherry (or a dusting of cocoa powder, or cinnamon or nutmeg).

and ... this is where it's found ... we're not there yet ... a blog that I think I am going to really enjoy.  Ds set this recipe along because ... hmmm ... why?  Probably the drinks name ... Alabama Bush Wacker.  I will have to ponder the implications there ... ice cream ... a delicious forbidden yumminess infused with four types of alcohol.  I would probably get whacked on this.  I don't even want to think about it which is why I posted the pic and ingredient list right here I guess.  

Hey Ds, does this presentation remind you of street margaritas in Mexico?  Yes ... we survived our youth and may now taunt one another!  Will let you know how this goes ... and thanks for the pointer to my vicarious trek about.  LY (I absolutely do).

I thought it would be fun to sit outside and watch the stormy weather roll in while we enjoyed these delicious cocktails ... music via the iPad ... but, not so much.  It was .. too muggy ... this didn't taste enough like the cocktail ... movie night but no movie to see ... it was pretty much a no start, but definitely over for me when the question of how many calories did I estimate would be in this concoction.  Too many.  Too many things not Friday night.