Category Archives: Photos
Saturday Snapshots
A few peeks from our week…
Guess whose big sisters got hold of him? He may have the villainous beard, but they’re the ones with nefarious purposes.
Rilla needed a sling to match mommy’s. Mine, by the way, is now serving its sixth baby! I’ve had it since Jane was a bairn.
I am in love with this sweet dolly. Jane made her for Rilla, totally by herself. I want a big sister like Jane.
(Psst DHM and Mama Squirrel, thanks for reminding us of our dear Miss Suzy! Rilla had not met her yet…)
Day 8
When You Happen Upon a Scene Like This…
…there's only one thing to be done.
Sprint for the camera. (Or waddle, as the case may be.)
His Daughters Too
You would never guess from the photos that they're listening to Stairway to Heaven, would you?
Our Staycation Winds Down
I have lots to write about this past week, but we're heading into
busy breakfast time so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, a few more
photos. Lots more at Flickr.
(If you have a Flickr account, let me know so I can Friend you.)
Day Four: Old Town San Diego. Fun and free—can't beat that!
One of the beautiful rooms in the hacienda that belonged to the commandant of the Spanish fort circa 1825.
Candledipping takes fierce concentration.
Stencil on the wall of the visitor's center.
Like Father, Like Daughter
This was Scott's favorite book, too, when he was a little boy.
Saturday Snapshots
I promised to show a picture of the table runner I made. It’s not a
great picture, but that’s okay because it’s not a great table runner.
But I’m pretty pleased with it. The runner, I mean. The other side is
the same green floral as the ends here. The checked fabric—which has
green in it and isn’t as orange in real life as in this photo—was a
long scrap from the curtains I made for the kids’ craft room.
I had fun with Flickr’s "add a note" feature if you want to click through for commentary on the photo. Well, actually, it’s another photo almost exactly like this one, revealing what happens when Scott walks into the room.
I’ve been in a very handcrafty mood lately, as my last couple weeks’
worth of posts probably make obvious. I tried my hand at the zipper
pouch from Bend-the-Rules Sewing, inspired by Jenn’s lovely pink patchwork pouch. This was my first-ever attempt at putting in a zipper, and, well, it zips. Just don’t inspect the ends too closely…
And now that it’s finally feeling cool enough (in the mornings, at
least—we’re melting by noon) to think of baking, I’ve been pining for
my lost sourdough starter. We suffered a little fridge snafu a while
back, and room temperature was way too hot for my starter, which had
been living in the freezer through the hot months. It got moldy. Sob.
Also, ick.
So I’ve been tempted to order a new one, but I thought first I’d try my hand at starting one from scratch. Some sites describe this as a ridiculously easy undertaking.
Other sources say ominous things about poor success rates in arid
climates, which we certainly have here in the decidely dry eastern half
of San Diego County. But hey, a cup of flour and a cup of water is
pretty low overhead for an experiment. So on Thursday morning I mixed
up a batch and put it in a warm corner. By Friday it was already
looking promisingly bubbly.
I fed it twice yesterday, and this morning it looks frothy and
vigorous. (Blurry photo: snapped hastily in the midst of getting
breakfast for my little people.)
Think I’ll give it one more day to get established and maybe try it
in some biscuits tomorrow. Just about time to move it into the fridge,
too.
And finally, a little backyard beautification project: the kids are
decorating our side of the neighbor’s big ole wall with sidewalk chalk.
It’ll last a long time here in did-I-mention-it’s-very-dry? San Diego
County. I think we’ve only seen rain once in the last four months.
San Diego October
My blogroll is bursting lately with beautiful autumn posts and
pictures. After so many years on the East Coast, I’m still not used to
fall here in Southern California.
Around here, autumn is blue and green
and hot pink
and candy-apple red
and sunny gold.
It’s definitely fall, though: nippy mornings, Santa-Ana-hot afternoons, fruits ripening on the neighbors’ trees.
The bees here are pink and white this time of year, did you know that?
This one could be a New England forest floor carpeted with pine needles
but really it’s a close-up of a palm tree’s trunk.
Ah, here’s an honest-to-goodness autumn color shot:
This one seems more like spring-comes-to-the-woods than suburban-yard-in-October.
But these are San Diego’s true colors:
We took these photos on a walk around the block earlier this week.
It wore some of us out.
Snapshots
Can someone tell me the name of these trees? We see them all over Southern California. They’ll be an entry in our 100 Species Challenge after one of you IDs them for me.
Here’s another entry waiting in the wings: morning glories. These
are everywhere around here as lush groundcover and picturesque
fencecover. I know they can be invasive, but I love them, love them,
love them.
This next shot is almost one of the best pictures I ever took. If
only I hadn’t cut off its head. Drat it. I was snapping quickly, not
even sure I was in focus, certain my small subject was about to fly
away.
My online friend Helen takes amazing bird photos. And butterflies, and flowers, and western landscapes, and churches. My kids and I love to explore her website. I think her "year in the life of a butterfly bush" is my favorite page.
Morning has broken and I must run, but you know I can’t leave without including the obligatory napping child photo.
