Vacation rocks

(Sloooooooooow dial-up innernets here, so don't expect much from me for a while.)

Welcome aboard!

'Am I going to be famous?' the flight attendant asks.

Mmm Cinnabon

Traveler's indulgence

Good omen?

Snakes on a plane!

Plus a dragon named Sparky.

Dam!

With a stop in Chicago, where I'll get off. Hope my bag does, too.

This socks

How does this happen? I've done all the laundry in the house. All of it. So how is it possible that I have 12 (twelve!) single socks? Meanwhile, household tools can come in handy when your belt needs some new notches.

Fat Boy

Right about now, the funk soul brother. Check it out now, the funk soul brother ...

Every time I pass the ice cream vending machine I get this song stuck in my head.

Dang camera

I'm sure the problem is really operator error, but I just could not get decent photos today. We stopped by Bell Gallery to say hello to Lily the standard poodle and Pluto the greyhound, and discovered they have a new sibling, Moses the Afghan hound. He's adorable, and very wiggly. But I just couldn't seem to get a good shot of him or the others. I took 100 pictures of the dogs, and got maybe 5 that were even acceptable. All blurry. Maybe it's time to RTFM.

Dog days of summer

A month ago Sophie really needed a haircut. The groomer I wanted was booked solid, but I made an appointment for yesterday just in case I had to clip Sophie myself and needed someone to clean up the mess. As it turned out, she got a good clip from Gidget's and didn't really need another so soon, but it's been so hot, I thought what the heck.

Ain't she purty?

Don't ask me when I got my hair cut last.

Squash porn

The giant zuke got its wish today, a matchup with some luscious blossoms. First, a little rendezvous between the garlic and onion to set the mood, then a trip for the zuke through the mandoline ("Eek! Ow! Ouf!").

Then some bondage. ("This wasn't what I had in mind!")

At last, after a long, hot bath with some tomatoes and chicken stock, they met and mingled. Some linguini joined the fun, as did one last, whole blossom to gussy up their sordid affair.

This week's haul

The booths at the farmers market are so alluring. It's hard to resist buying some of everything!
I like the stands that sell by weight, rather than having everything pre-weighed in bags. I can say, "I want three tomatoes, three peaches and a handful of Satsuma blood plums" (which I'd never heard of).

I couldn't resist the squash porn; I haven't cooked the blossoms before, so that will be an experiment. Fresh spinach. Asiago basil bread. Saffron linguini. A nice little haul.

Sophie met a smaller cousin. She always recognizes other poodles.

Turn your back for one minute ...

My friend Heather brought this monster zucchini to brunch this morning. Later, I caught it surfing for squash porn on my computer.

Rainbow delight

We did get a rainbow after all, when a second sunshower marched through. It was faint; I had to mess with the exposure a bit to get it to show up. But, pretty!

I should know what this plant is, but I don't. Do you?

I'm also thrilled that I just saw a hummingbird at the honeysuckle out front. I never got hummers in my other yard; it seemed like they just never made it that far east. They're very common in the foothills and mountains here. I'll have to put out a feeder.

Downpour

I used to go to work at 4 p.m., which I really liked. I had all day to do my own thing: shopping, gardening, dog-walking and, most important, napping. I got really good at the 20-minute lie-down at 3 p.m.; just enough shut-eye to rev me up again for the evening.

Now I work at 1:30, and while I've been good at getting up earlier to compensate, I'm always pushing the clock ("Crap, is it time to go already?!"). Yet every day I still feel like I need a time-out, usually right about 4:30. The squishy wrist rest in front of my computer starts to look more and more like a pillow, and it's all I can do not to put my head down on it. That's usually when I get up and walk to the coffee shop for a double latte.

So when I have a day off, going with the impulse (if sleepiness can be called that) is a real pleasure. The new window seat is an ideal napping spot, with a firm mattress and lots of pillows, and room for the dog, too.

Today was a good napping day because it was hot out, but the new swamp cooler is doing its job. There was thunder rumbling in the distance, which I find soothing. I conked out for a couple of hours, had some bizarre dreams, and woke up to a sun shower with hail.

The downspout off the front porch was gushing, while across the street it was sunny. No rainbow, though; I checked.

Guess I should go be productive now.