old suziebeezieland

the pet dish zone

I guess in the overall scheme of life, decorating for pets really shouldn't be a priority.  But if you have to look at it every day, might as well make it cute.  

Sally's food is on a step stool so Hyacinth doesn't eat it. 

one flower, three birdies, and a {doomed} tree

We have our first sunflower! It is very exciting.

About seven years ago, I received these birdy wind chimes for Christmas, and put them away because I never knew where to hang them.  This year, I ordered this hook that looks like a branch, because I liked it. But I put it away because I wasn't sure what to do with it. Tonight at dinner, I went "uhhh!" and jumped up and dug out the hook and the birdies. It's a match made in heaven, I think.

And finally, the news that is breaking my heart. See the view out our living room window? If you sit on the sofa, you just see all the green, and it's so lovely, especially at dusk. The green on the right is our tulip tree, close to the house.  See all the green on the left?  That is the big tree across the street. 

I sit on the porch at night and watch the moon go from the right of this tree to the left of this tree, and then I know it's time to go to bed.  It is my Moon Watching Tree. 

It's Katie's tree. Katie is the girl across the street. Katie is the one who is paying $2,000 to get this tree chopped down next week, because it is making her driveway buckle, and is messing up her plumbing, and is causing trouble. 

Goodbye, my Moon Watching Tree. Goodbye.

comments of the week(s)

"I have some orange cosmos that come back every summer. I love them even more because they were planted by a bird. :)" (Jenny L.)

"Do I overuse commas?" (Sara)

"Hi Sara, until Suzanne got me J.J., you were the closest thing I had to a Minnesota girl." (Lisa SP)

"I know I'm risking being "accidentally" left out of the next password change by admitting this, but I don't know if I really have a favorite book." (Sara)

"I've been to Harmony, Maine which ironically enough is also in the middle of having the earth reclaim it. A bait store, defunct mill and a diner is all there is if I remember right. When we went past one year, Stephen King had taken it over and turned it into the set for "Graveyard Shift" it was awesome!" (Marlene)

"i remember the first time i read the word "pumps" was in a Nancy Drew novel" (Sheri)

"My theory is that my general impatience which causes me to read the ends of books by the time I am on page 20, doesn't work so well for mysteries..." (Jill)

"Seriously, that chaps my hide." (Jenny L.)

"I've never been called a universal solvent before. But I think it's a good thing. Is it?" (Michelle D.)

"It's so nice to have you guys, a "portable" gang who always make me smile :)" (Tanya)

"katherine, we have two very possessed birds who thwhack into our windows all day long. does that fit into this conversation?" (Mi'Chelle)

"just to let you know i had a dream this morning that i won comment of the week. it was very vivid. tee hee" (Marie)

"This is fun. I'm feeling a little like a Hollywood celebrity; one that doesn't need to go to drug rehab though." (Lisaloo)

"remember that big hill that little Carrie tumbles down, on opening of the show Little House on the Prairie? As a child, I really wanted to roll down that hill." (Lisaloo)

"Sadly, they were unable to cure her craziness." (Elizabeth)

"i think 27 is still too young for any kind of opause" (Mindi)

"i see no reason why finishing a cheesecake shouldn't give you a feeling of accomplishment"  (Desiree)

the summer of savoring

Here's my sweet nephew Jonathan at his kindergarten graduation on June 12th. I am so excited to have the summer to play with him . . . we've missed him this year, with his new busyness.  He is loving school, doing well, and growing so fast I can hardly stand it.

This will be, I have decided, the Summer of Savoring . . . of sitting contentedly in each minute as it happens, and soaking up the season of these kids' lives . . . these little treasures who still run (rather than walk) everywhere, with their smooth, perfect skin and sunkissed cheeks and blond hair and blue eyes and goofy senses of humor and joys in the tiny things and sorrows in the tiny things and sharp, inquisitive little minds.  I will sit with my sister and drink lemonade and watch the cousins spray each other with the garden hose and track down ladybugs and devise elaborate plans to lure the cat inside a wicker picnic basket and play grocery store ("Would you like to buy this watermelon? That will be one hundred and fifteen cents.") and draw a hopscotch that goes all the way to 20 and eat peaches so juicy they dribble down their chins.

Savor, savor, savor. Slowly.

the black is outer space. and that's a rocket on the right.

My Aunt Gen died last Wednesday.  She was my great aunt, actually ... my mom's mom's sister ... and she was very good to all of us, always. We are so sad.

Today is her memorial service.  My mom and dad and sister flew out to St. Louis, and I am in California watching the kiddlies.  (I am happy to do it.)

I have Aunt Gen's obituary here and was going to share that with you, but I don't like it.  I almost never like obituaries, because they just don't do. 

But Jonathan just made me a drawing that seems a good tribute, somehow.

birds of a feather

I told you I'd show you the lovely things I picked up on vacation at Birds of a Feather in Cambria.  It is my favorite store in the United States. 

harmony

Harmony is a tiny town (18 people, according to the sign) just south of Cambria on the 1, up the coast from Santa Barbara. 

I've always wanted to stop there, so this time, we did. It is about one block long.

If you ever go to Harmony, you should buy a bottle of cream soda at the Pottery even if you don't like cream soda, because it is delicious.  

things we're excited about in our june garden

Remember the seedlings? We're excited that they have turned into flowers (marigolds & cosmos).

We're excited that peaches are coming.

We're excited about color, and new seeds (coreopsis & columbine) just planted.

We're excited about the sunflowers (planted from seed) that are grow-grow-grow-GROWING along the fence.

We're excited because this is the first year the hydrangeas have really taken off.

We're excited because we're going to try to wind a vine around the telephone pole to disguise it.

We're excited that the impatiens are so happy this year under the shady pergola.

We're excited to have found sweet plump succulents that can survive in tiny pots on the driveway during the blast of afternoon heat.

And Sally is excited about the birds.

 

this & that

Claire has a doctor's appointment this morning because she is still periodically complaining of a sore tummy since her surgery. It's not severe, but it's persistent, so we're going back in to get it checked out.

I got stung by a bee Saturday while working in the garden (I pulled a weed and grabbed a bee), and am allergic to bees, but, mysteriously, the reaction was very mild. (I had garden gloves on so maybe that caught some of the poison.) My finger is just itching like crazy.

My parents are getting new bathrooms in their house and they have been under construction for the past five weeks and we haven't visited, so I'm looking forward to that being over so we can go over there and see them. (Them = them my parents and them their new bathrooms.)

My nephew Jonathan graduates from kindergarten tomorrow morning so we are all attending that. I'm trying to figure out how crowded the gym will be if each kindergartener has a 10-person entourage in tow as will Jonathan. We'll see.

I'm relieved because my Greek final is open-book take-home and I have about 10 days to do it, so hopefully I won't embarrass myself too much. The class is down to just three of us: me, my friend Kim, and my friend Jean. Kim has three kids under four and one due in July. She works outside the home and is doing very well in the class. Jean is our Greek teacher's mom, and is also doing very well in the class. So my planned excuses for not doing well of (1) busy-ness and (2) age aren't going to fly. I have to come up with something else. Maybe something contagious. Achoo.

My college friend Tim -- the one who is a missionary in Japan -- has met a girl named Wakako and is getting serious about her! This is very exciting.

comments of the week

Good luck with people and annoying questions. I wish I could be of help, but my solutions are primitive and involve sticks. (Mi'Chelle)

I got pregnant a month after we got married. That brought up a whole other set of questions. And I lot of people doing quick math in their head. (Lisa SP)

"Someone is staring at you from Personal Growth." (Carrie Fisher)

Oh and, she also likes to have a kitty face drawn on her hand at all times. Anytime she sees an ink pen she demands - Meow...which is what she calls a cat...then she will proceed to say "Hi, Meow" to her hand all day long. (Nicole, speaking of Delaney)

she lived in one of the 'M' states (Desiree, speaking of her childhood pen pal)

Y'all go through a lot of RediWhip? (Lisa D)

some day my fridge will come... (Marie)