September 2008 Archives

Store-bought. Vanilla. Much like the others in the box, I imagine. I'll leave those - untested - for school lunches.

We are well into the season for local apples. I can never remember which variety is which, but that's o.k. - all taste good, and some are phenomenal.

As one phase of a project winds up, another set of work begins.

We had some of these with breakfast this morning.

Her sketchbook balanced on a pillow - she concentrated on drawing everything on the mantelpiece - a complex arrangement in pencil. I watched her work, half-listened to the debate, and added layers of color to a quick ink sketch.

Up late reading the news online. And playing Miss Milligan.

I found five pennies over the course of our walk home from school today - first saw two together on the sidewalk, then found another a little further down the block, then there was one on the next block, and I found the last one after we'd gone around the corner and two blocks further on. "You are lucky times five," said my daughter. "Someone is leaving a trail for you."

The sunflowers from ten days ago have only just now begun to shed petals.

Is the roll half-full or half-used? How about half-full and half-used?

Lights are on in one window across the street. I see the shadow of a houseplant on the shade. The neighborhood is quiet.

One from a batch bought this summer. We were making L.E.D. Throwies, where you tape the L.E.D. to a watch battery (size CR 2032), and then use a magnet to stick it somewhere. (We weren't tossing them around, but using the magnets to put them on our shirts or in our hair.) Lots of fun...

Friday night - we made popcorn, listened to music, and then read aloud.

Living room lamp, like much else in our house, not quite at a right angle to the floor.

I have a weakness for ginger-flavored anything.

More than a year since I got my first cell phone. Still have it. Most of the time I use it for everything but phone-calling, and I'm always surprised when it rings.

The harvest moon, I think. Shone bright through the clouds tonight.

This is roughly two inches long. I rescued it from the wastebasket when my daughter cleaned her room. It has been beside the books on my bedside table for a while, but now that I've drawn it, I think it belongs with a small collection of hands and found doll arms on a shelf in my study.

From a bunch my husband bought to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has invited a few local bloggers to cover the coming season, and I am one of them. They will give us tickets; we will contribute post to their blog.

Tonight was the season preview - with hors d'oeuvres-sized portions of the full programs to come. If a concert isn't sold out, I can get a pair of tickets to anything. And I have an excuse/permission to draw or paint there...

Quiet day at home. Dozed and drank fluids. Was feeling much better by nightfall.

Youngest reads to me and then I draw and then doze.

That slight edge of fever - am willing myself not to get the flu. Not this week.

What a wonderful name for a tomato.

Tomatoes are near the height of their season for flavor and quantity. I find a reason to eat them at every meal. (And if I could see the moon tonight, it would be waxing.)

Our penultimate Saturday errand was to stop at our favorite ice cream parlor...

And still they come...

I can tell that the beginning of the school year has arrived when No.2 pencils nest near the phone. Soon they will have migrated south for the winter, or wherever it is they all go. Until then, though, I can take messages for my children.

Given to my daughter as a back-to-school present from a friend. I love the calm, reserved expression. The bird will not judge your work.

From a Mardi Gras celebration past, or perhaps they came from those brought back from a conference in New Orleans five years ago? I can't tell. Someone left them in the living room, and they remind me of that city tonight.

Up late with coffee and copy editing after the long weekend.