Reluctantly

It seems the rain is over for a few days, but the skies are still gray. Beau, against his better judgement, gave me a photo for the day. He tried to fight looking anywhere but down, but I was waving a stick and he had to look... eventually. Eyes in focus? Yep. That's a wrap!

No Birds

My latest project is cleaning out the 'studio', returning it to a guest bedroom. My 91 year old mom, though not at all fragile, is getting past the point of (safely) making her way up and down the stairs to the loft bedroom. The studio was filled with lights, a background stand, a still life table and too-numerous-to-count backgrounds & props (pedestals, etc.). 

So... things were separated into throw-away and keep. The throw-away part is easy, the keep is another story; where to store? In a closet? Fine, but something already in the closet must then go. I'm trying not to just relegate everything to the basement because once it's down there, it's down there for good. And forgotten. You know what I mean... six months from now I'll be asking myself what I did with such-and-such. I call it 'the dance of the stuff'.

I made a lot of progress on this mostly rainy day, but the sun is shining now and the outdoors is calling me. Oh by the way, the 'pedestals, etc' have been relocated in the garden, though their permanent spot is still undetermined.

Faeries

This little garden faerie needed some repair. The cats (outside) had knocked her off the retaining wall and her head broke off. I finally brought her inside today, to re-attach her head with some super-duper glue. This photo was taken pre-glue, and the crack is visible.

When I was young, I hated it when people would tell me that my name meant fairy or faerie... Fairy Faye. Ahhhh, kids...

That Heart Day

I made heart-shaped, whole wheat pancakes for my breakfast this morning... see how much better I'm doing with this day-that-is-meant-for-couples?

I walked into the grocery store yesterday and it was wall-to-wall with valentine everything - balloons, cakes, cookies, flowers... and I'll bet that it has all been sold by today. 

I never realized how many heart-shaped items I have in my house. Pot holders, jewelry, photo frames... I have a valentines Pez dispenser for crying out loud! And of course, a heart-shaped mold for pancakes. 

Love is all around.

Solo

"Heigh-ho, the derry-o,

The cheese stands alone."

Projects Galore

The first project today was to shoot the tulips. I love tulips... they're so graceful. I'm going to shoot these 'til they die and then I'm going to shoot them some more.

When it warmed a bit outside, I tackled one of my outdoor projects - raking the leaves away from the base of the fence. The lawn guys have always blown the leaves against the fence and the rotting leaves are going to rot the fence. So, I've begun getting the three-to-four inches of decaying leaves away from the fence. And I've notified the lawn service people to keep the area free of leaves.

Another outdoor project was to disassemble an old wooden swing and chair that had decayed (there's a lot of that going around) so badly that they were not usable as seating. Last week, I removed the support beams and hauled them to the curb; the city sanitation took them away. Yay! I had intended to take apart the swing seat (and the chair) too, but I've decided to move them back towards the tree line and leave them for the cats to lounge upon.

Now... back to work.

Update: 

The final project: for today: Photo coasters with maps of the places I've visited. Got the idea from Pinterest.

On the mend?

This is Tux, one of the feral cats that I feed and water twice daily. A few days ago, I noticed that he had some sort of injury to his right, back leg. I couldn't see any obvious injury and the leg didn't appear to be swollen. He has been eating and drinking every day... hobbling to the bowls on three legs (sometimes running). These cats won't let me get close enough to touch them, so helping him presents a dilemma. I could try to trap him, but the odds of getting him instead of six other ferals, three-or-more ferals that come around after my seven have finished eating and the raccoon and possums that I have inadvertently trapped in the past... is slim.

This morning, as he hobbled up the driveway, I noticed that he is tentatively putting his weight on the injured leg... so I am hopeful for his recovery.