THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--Day Six

A photo a day for thirty days.

Daffodowndilly

By A.A. Milne

When We Were Very Young

I MAY BE EASILY AMUSED BUT...

Yes, I'll admit it I'm easily amused.

But I just want to share a few things I've found

on the internet that make me smile.

"Einstein the Crazyhaired Dog"

This one is a photo on sale at gandolphoto's shop on Etsy

These ladies really have an eye for clever and unusual.

...an speaking of Einstein, one of my favorite quotes from him.

...Speaking of bicycles

Wicked Witch Bookmark

made for you by Olena Mysnyk in Kiev, Ukraine

Then there are the cat photos plus captions

 My sweet hubby when he sees anything electronic.  

But I admit he's a genius and can make computerish hardware do magic.

Who can not laugh at fart jokes.

Nuff said

Hahahahah!

Hope you enjoyed.  Maybe think about these on Monday morning

when you need some cheer.

CARIBBEAN SKETCH BOOK

(More stories of our ten day visit to the Yucatan in January 2011)

We didn't bring back a lot of souvenirs from our trip.

Mostly because we spent a lot of time doing nothing but this.

 I did bring back a few watercolor sketches.  

We stayed in a little guest house called La Casita Sombra

behind a big condo right on the beach.

No one was in the big house so we were given the run of the patio,

the hammock and the beach chairs.  

 A short walk down a path from our bungalow put us up to our ankles in coral sand.

 We could see sailboats taking advantage of the warm breezes on the sea.

Most days the weather was passing clouds and always warm temps.

There was never a big rain storm, but there were occasional brief showers.

One time I left a painting in progress to make a visit to the loo.  

In that short time a cloud opened up with liquid sunshine.

I could hear the rain through the open windows and ran out to save my painting.

Fortunately it was just enough under the shelter of the patio.

We got supplies in the little town of Akumal.  It has a beautiful bay

sheltered from wave action by a coral reef.

Canons used for defense in earlier times point out toward the open water.

 Coconut palms shaded our beach.  We found a coconut in the sand one morning 

so DH took it inside and opened it.  We mixed the milk with fruit juice and drank it.

Then we dug out the fresh coconut meat and ate it. Yum!

The people who were staying next door offered to buy a couple of my sketches.
I said I'd think about it.  I know they could have paid good money because they mentioned
owning three homes.  They asked what gallery I had my work in.  I told them,
"The Box Under The Bed."

THE SNOWY DAY

When the wind isn’t blowing, a walk to work in falling snow is good fun.

  Although crossing streets is a little chilling, especially in a town

 where college students are still learning to drive in slick white stuff falling from the sky.

 But I wear my knobby treads and give the traffic lots of room.

Even though I promise myself to allow extra time to enjoy the expedition,

 I never quite do.  So I have to hurry along without the spare moments…

 to look at my footprints.  Or to kick trees…

to see how much I’ll get dumped on.  

I did stop to snap some quick photos with my little pocket camera.

Snowy weather keeps aromas close to the ground 

so I savor the scents of fried chicken coming from the grocery deli, 

and the heavenly fragrance from the donut shop.  

It’s all I can do to walk by the bakery …

 where I can see back through the store to the warmly lit kitchen.

There they are preparing dough for cinnamon rolls and whole grain breads.

On I trudge through the softened morning light. 

All sounds are muffled.

 Even the big trucks hauling sand to spread on the intersections 

whisper by.

The city crew has decorated the streets for Christmas 

and the snow adds to the holiday look.

 I sneak some photos of a resident artist putting final touches on a window painting. 

 She gets extra work this time of year when merchants are in the mood

 to fork out a little additional cash to bring in shoppers.

“The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats is a wonderful children’s book.

 It’s a Caldecott Medal winner from 1963 and is still a great story to share or give.

Halloween Stories from Ewix

I won a copy of Elizabeth's  book JANE IN WINTER not long  ago.  It is "A Traditional Tale of Magic and Enchantment" of "a  young girl's quest to set the world to rights and bring happiness to a very tragic family." 

Jane has quite and adventure.  She travels underwater and finds a magnificent palace. She goes on a quest to rescue May from the evils of Queen Ida.  The story also contains wonderful details of life in England in the 1950's.  I sympathized with Jane having to deal with a big brother and his friends.  They offered to let her play Risk with them-- just this once.  "only so you could wipe me off the face of the earth," said Jane.  She hated it when people ganged up on her and her last soldier fell in Kamchatca or somewhere weird like that.  I've died in Risk's Kamchatca more than once myself.

Elizabeth is putting together a spooky Halloween story on her blog, The World Examining Works.  I'm excited to see the next installment. 

Thanks, Elizabeth, for the fine children's book!

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE--save your money and don't send your kids

My copy of Wild Things--a bit shabby but still with its Caldecott Medal intact

I really wanted to like the new movie Where the Wild Things Are, based on the book by Maurice Sendak. But once again Hollywood has ruined a children’s classic. DH and I went to see it last night and came home disappointed.

The wonderful monsters and the little boy are faithfully reproduced on the big screen. The young man who plays Max is cute and real. The story is followed as it was written. But all the fillers really left a bad taste in my mouth. Max is dealing with normal frustrations at home that come with a single mother and a big sister. He acts up, gets in trouble and ends up in the boat.

But The Wild Things are even more dysfunctional than Max’s people. They loom and argue. They whine and hate and destroy. They ostracize and sulk. No escape for Max here. Nothing funny. Nothing exciting. At one point Max divides them into gangs and leads his group into pelting the smallest Wild Thing with dirt clods until he is injured.

The kids in the theater with us looked confused. We all expected a fun adventure not bad group therapy. At least Max realized his mom was valuable. He told The Wild Things he wished they had a mom, said goodbye and left for home in his boat where he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot.

SIDE TRIPS part one--THE PURPOSE

A transparent watercolor by Mr. WBL graces the cover of one of my favorite instruction books. I own, and have studied, one of his training videos and one of his teaching books. So when I learned he was traveling from New England to conduct a watercolor workshop in the Puget Sound area I was certainly interested. Here was an opportunity to see him in action, ask questions and be taught. I sent in my deposit, made reservations for accommodations and began preparations to go. Since I would be spending the five days at the workshop, Hubby offered to take care of things at home. I would go alone. There were two basic ways to travel to my destination. The more scenic route went along Interstate 15 into Montana to connect with I-90, the east-west artery where traffic flows across the northern part of the U.S. Then to I-5 which channels travel from Canada to Mexico along the West Coast. There would be a lot of driving seventy miles per hour between semi trucks and a good view of the center line of four-lane highways. I decided speed was not the priority on this expedition and made plans to take roads less traveled when possible. There were side trips that would get me there and still provide opportunities to see more countryside and points of interest. Saturday, August eighth, I filled my little blue Subaru with my painting gear, a couple of suitcases, said goodbye to Hubby and Son, and left.