Up on the Roof

My husband and I needed to trim the tree that was hovering over one end of our house. It was banging on the little metal things that stick up, up there, during our last windstorm. Since wind is a big part of our lives, we thought we’d better get at this.

We bought a new extension ladder and I actually got onto the roof. It was just too much for me to move from the step ladder to the roof before. It was a great day for it. Not too hot or cool. The pitch of the roof is not steep, so once there it’s not too challenging.

Of course, I had my husband bring up the camera when he went down to get the saw attachment for the extension pruner. The view was kind of amazing from up there!

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Snoopy Runs in the Flock

You were expecting, maybe, a dog running through a rising covey of quail? No, just me observing that my parrot, Dodger, is as snoopy as I am.

The window in my studio was open and the neighbor was helping her son load stuff from her house into his SUV. Loading and unloading his stuff is a pretty regular event. He moved out. Wrecked his brand new truck. Moved back in to save for another vehicle. Now drives an older, decidedly less shiney SUV. He came with a U-Haul. He was only taking away a trunkload yesterday. L is very patient with him, it seems. Dodger is fascinated with the goings on.

When there was an exchange of slightly heated words, Dodger crooned, “Oh… Oh… Oh…” in very sympathetic tones. Jeez, they were only a few feet across the road. I tried to keep my eyes on my screen, but clearly I know more about them than I’ve strictly been told by L.

Yes, that’s a stick holding up the window. Something needs to be done about this.

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Reality bites

Today calls for a return to sanity. No more diner breakfasts for a while. (No more breakfast potatoes! sob.) Breakfast at my desk is much more the norm.

Okay. I admit it. Mini frosted shredded wheat isn’t the height of health and self-control, but it’s a move in the right direction. This got a little soggy while I photographed it from various angles.

Ah, the sacrifices we make for our art.

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Breakfast at Papoo's

Once you get started having breakfast out, it can be a hard habit to break.

I got to work early this morning and the server was down, which just logically leads to “I deserve” thinking. It seemed that I really deserved a bacon breakfast burrito and a Diet Pepsi. It sort of soothed my 43Things addiction shakes until I could finish what I needed to do there and pack up all my work and bring it home. Er, and get on 43Things while I do said actual work.

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Mine aren't like this!

How come my impatiens never get this big? These are growing in the very well-tended sidewalk garden of the theater down the street from my office.

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Breakfast at Dinah's

This is a great place to stop for breakfast on your way to LAX. It’s on Sepulveda, about 10 minutes from the airport. It’s become a tradition with us.

Mom and I feasted on the fabulous $3.50 breakfast special. One of us ordered the pototoes, the other the pancakes with it, so we had tastes of everything. We share a passion for not having to choose. (Some call it sharing.)

Then I dropped her at the airport. We talked about how it was sad when we stopped being able to get to the airport early and hang out to say goodbye (due to 9/11 changes), but that this new tradition is a good one. Change isn’t easy but sometimes new benifits unfold.

Sniffle. I miss her already.

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Wildflowers

Again, I nursed my cold in the morning and started feeling better in the afternoon. Went to sit on the front porch with Mom, me sipping a little medicinal brandy, and we ended up weeding. Then planted those poor geraniums that I posted a photo of so long ago! They survived on the front porch all this time and seemed happy to get into the newly-weeded ground.

We sat down again to enjoy the tidied up view, and the sun began to slant across the slope and light things up from behind. I think I actually have another shot that’s better, but this one is nicer in the small size.

I don’t know what the flower is… I threw a mixture of wildflower seeds on the slope a couple of years ago and these have been a real joy.

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