Life's a Dance

It's been a heck of a ride the past few years, and the last week culminated in one of the most exciting events of our life. After seemingly endless years of waiting and an anxiety filled week, we have a monumental announcement to make. Princess Cupcake is officially a member of the family, in every way, (as well as some that make things a little confusing!) Before you say "What ??" allow me to explain. As her grandfather and ever present, stable male figure in her life, Hubby has pretty much been the only "dad" Cupcake has ever known, and this week it finally became official. We all - Hubby (Papa), me (Nana), daughter (Sweetpea) and granddaughter (Cupcake) all share the same last name because Papa is now Cupcake's legally adoptive father, and here's where it gets confusing, in kind of a fun way for us. Cupcake has always had an amazing mommy, our daughter Sweetpea, but to make the family whole, we made some legal changes that took a few years to accomplish, and now her grandpa is also her dad, making her mom legally her sister, her uncle- her brother, her aunt - her sister in law, and I'm not even sure I want to know what that makes me, but you get the picture. And yes, in case anyone wonders, she is a very happy little girl who totally "gets it" and is thrilled to pieces with her new status. He's been there from day one, and while he has always been her one and only Papa, he is now, and always will be, her "Dad" too.

Camera Critter Sunday

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PhotoHunt: View

Some recent unusually clear skies and a full moon have given us a particularly spectacular view over the water lately. This is the moon rising in the early evening, while the trees are still lit by the setting sun behind us.

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Sky Watch Friday

Another shot from the same beach where my favorite picture of my husband was taken. The light and atmosphere was just incredible. I wish I'd taken even more pictures than I did that day. Click on picture to enlarge and see that incredible light!

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Thanks-Giving Thursday

This week, I would like to say a big Thank You to Brits Pub in Pasadena, California, for serving the best traditional English fish and chips dinner I've had since I was a kid. Brits was one of my favorite places to eat when I lived in CA, and I was happy to find on this trip that Peter and Elizabeth are still running it and still serving up the most authentic British fare in the US. Accompanied by bottles of Heinz Catsup, HP Sauce, and malt vinegar, I was one happy camper at the dinner table.For my friends back home, this is what fish and chips is supposed to look like! To put it into perspective, that is a 12 inch platter, and that fillet (which I had already eaten the end off of before I remembered I had my camera with me) is about 9 inches long, 2 inches thick, and 3 inches wide at the fat end. Yum!

If anyone who reads this is ever in the Pasadena area, Brits is a must to eat at! Peter is from Liverpool and makes all the traditional favorites. Their motto is "Warm Beer, Lousy Food" (an inside joke only a brit would understand!)

Wordless Wednesday

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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

For simply elegant foliage or flower photos such as this, try these techniques: Take your pictures in the shade, no direct sunlight, making sure to use a shallow depth of field. Focus on a single or small cluster separate from the rest of the plant or bouquet, and adjust the angle you are taking the photograph from to keep a darkish background, like more greenery or ground (as opposed to sky.) With enough separation between subject and background, your subject will stand out, well exposed, and the background will be out of focus and dark like shown above.

bookMobile Monday: What's On My Reading Stack This Week?

I admit it, I'm an eclectic kind of reader. This week's selection of reading material is representative of many genres, but I like variety, and it keeps my reading time interesting, to say the least!

Check these titles out at Amazon dot com or your favorite public library.

Camera Critter Sunday

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PhotoHunt Saturday - Round Robin Photo Challenge

The theme for this week's PhotoHunt is "road" and the Round Robin Photo Challenge is '"green". One picture says it all for me, and is one of my favorite places to be - walking through the emerald green of the forest on the road to my mailbox.

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I Heart Your Blogs Too!

I have been honored twice this past week with this award and would like to thank my blogging buddies at Zip n Tizzy and The Pond for thinking of me when they were passing it out. I heart your blogs too!

Sky Watch Friday

Dear Husband-of-Mine,

I love this picture of you. It's always frustrated me that I could take beautiful pictures of anyone or anything else - all but you, it seemed; they just never turned out like I envisioned. The one exception to that has been when you are on the beach, and I suspect that it is because that is where you are the happiest.Today we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. I always knew we would spend forever together, hoping back then that forever would be someplace like what we have now, and you made that dream come true. Robin's Woods is a fantasy come to life for both of us, and there's no place else on earth I'd rather be or anyone else I'd want to spend my forever with. Happy Anniversary, my love.



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New! Thanks-Giving Thursdays

Inspired by so many positive influences and happenings in my day to day existence, and driven by a desire for a regular outlet for recognizing them with thanks, (and a perpetual lack of Thursday blogging material!) I am starting a new Thursday blogging tradition. Rather than jump on the bandwagon of existing memes, I choose to start a new one, with (almost) no rules, that anyone can feel comfortable joining in whenever moved to do so.

Let's face it, giving thanks for the good things in our lives is fun and healthy, andon-denominational. So, here's the rules: Leave a comment here if you'd like people to have a way to find your post, and no spamming please. I'll do a Thanks-Giving Thursday post somewhere around 12:01 AM EST every Thursday so there'll be a consistent place to post your "mine's up" comments. Feel free to grab the graphic if you'd like to display it in your post or sidebar, and link back to me. That's it. Let the thanks begin!

I'd like to say a huge public thank you this week to a fellow blogger who has gone above and beyond the call of friendship to give me numerous special gifts. Gail of Juicy Julz lives in my birthplace of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and upon finding that her mother and mine had both owned identical sets of pearls, purchased in the same place no less, went on a quest to provide me with dozens of pictures of my mother's childhood home, neighborhood, and family cemetery. Thank you, Gail, for all you've done for me. I hope everyone who reads this take the time to visit Juicy Julz and check out the gorgeous jewelry Gail makes and sells in her Etsy store.

Wordless Wednesday: Mission San Juan Capistrano

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

More of the loving couple.

Weekend Snapshot #54

Our unseasonably fair weather continued through this last weekend, so I took advantage of it and mowed the grass, which is no small undertaking; including the area around our "guest" cabin pictured here, I maintain about 2 1/2 acres of "lawn" all told. Don't let those blue skies fool you though, because fall is already here, as evidenced in the pictures below the cabin!

Camera Critter Sunday

Remember these guys? They're almost all grown up now, and are some of the loveliest, friendliest kitties I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I wasn't able to find #4 for his portrait, but I will soon!

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Photohunt Saturday: Wild

A few different interpretations on the theme. We have two (wild) chipmunks playing wildly, having a difference of opinion over the water dish (no, they did not get hurt, just chased each other around.)A wild weed gone to seed that caught my eye; I love the chaotic nature of these, like tiny whirlwinds on a stem.

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Sky Watch Friday/Wordless

They're Baaack!

Well, not the original crew, but I do have chipmunks again, if only for a short while. We've had a run of unseasonably nice weather for the past week - clear blue skies, breezy, and not too warm. Mother Nature had a little help in the way of some favorite seed mix and peanuts scattered around the patio, and I think they finally succumbed to the temptation. These three little gals are new to me, and just cute as the dickens. One of them has been scaring the bejeezus out of me everyday for a few days now; she likes to try and go up the drainpipe attached to the wall outside my office, and the sound of little feet scrambling comes right through the wall. No names, and none of them itch, (plus I'm plumb out of ideas, and Cupcake isn't here to tell me the difference between them!)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Back in 2004, I was privileged to be allowed into the defunct Knight Foundry to take pictures of the remains of this historic water powered ironworks from the gold rush era. I wasn't sure at that time what I would do with the results of this rare look into a piece of California's history, but started going through them again recently and decided to start sharing some of them here.

Thank You!

From Alison at Eleanor Blog comes the I Heart Your Blog Award. Boy, all these awards (blush) are keeping me busy! Some come from people I have "known" for awhile, but many have been from bloggers that are new to me, and I cannot believe how many talented writers are out there. My daily must read list just continues to grow and grow! Thank you again, Alison, I like your blog too!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

Some pictures from a trip to the Seattle Aquarium this summer. I love the lighting in their tanks!

I Guess I'm Doing Something Right...

Because I got another award! (And I'm blushing now from all this attention!) Thank you to Karen of I'm Just a Little Fish in a Big Pond for thinking of me when she passed out the BFF Gold Card Award the other day. I'm of a bit of a rebellious nature when it comes to passing these along in the traditional manner (and I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've received more awards than I have friends to pass them out to!) but I do have something special up my sleeve. Thank you again, Karen, and all of you who have honored me so thoughtfully.

bookMobile Monday: What's On My Bedside Table?

I love our bookmobile. Until I moved out to the boonies, I had little knowledge about how a library on wheels functioned, having only some archaic, preconceived notions from heaven knows where. The reality is, our bookmobile librarians are one of our greatest resources. It's hard to believe, but they manage to pack more variety into the limited shelf space of their mobile library than I ever experienced in the immense, county run system of the libraries I left behind in California. They actually pay attention to what their patrons read, and always try to keep the selection fresh and appealing. It's a bookaholic's dream; there's so much to choose from. I inevitably end up with my limit, (and sometimes more than I can realistically handle), but I plow through as much as I can anyways, and share the gems here with you.

I'm a Top Dropper!

Angela at Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy has created a new award for her top Entrecard droppers, and she sent one along to me. Thanks, Angela; it's been a pleasure to drop on you and visit your blog!

Camera Critter Sunday

From the archives, two old friends, both gone for awhile now, and sorely missed. These two were so close, they were like an old married couple.





For more Camera Critters, click on the puppy!

PhotoHunt Saturday: String

Dear Mom,

(Click on picture to enlarge)

When I was a little girl, you used to take these out and tell me how precious they were, your first string of pearls, a gift on your wedding day. I loved the beautiful box you kept them in almost as much as the pearls themselves. I knew someday they would be mine, but it never occurred to me then that the way I would get them would be when you died. Now they're mine, and I'd give almost anything to give them back to you. It's your birthday today, so I took a picture of them to share with everyone. Happy Birthday Mommy.





Love,
Jennie

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My Lucky Week!

Thank you to Wendy at The Domestiquette for bestowing upon me the Internet BFF Award. Hardly a day goes by that I don't find something to laugh about over at Wendy's blog; we must have been best friends in another life because we have so much in common. Be sure and pay a visit to her sometime soon!

Sky Watch Friday

One from the archives, this was taken on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, on an uncharacteristically pretty December day. I don't remember the name of the lighthouse; maybe someone recognizes it?

Be sure and check out all the other Sky Watch participants by clicking on the Sky Watch Friday widget.

Thank You!

For my latest awards, the Brillante Weblog Award, from the Tomato Lady at Little House in the Suburbs, and a new one for me, the "I Love Your Blog" award from Claire at The House that Koen and Claire (re)Built. Be sure and visit their blogs. Thanks folks, I'm honored!

The Little Girl In Me

My apologies in advance to any men who read my blog regularly, or come across this post today. This blog is, after all, about nostalgia too, and despite my penchant for cross dressing bears, today's is a girlie girl post. Sorry guys.

Do any other little-girls-at-heart remember these?
When I was young, it seemed my cousins got all the neat dolls and accouterments - my aunt's sewing room was a veritable cornucopia of wishful delight for a little girl like me. I wanted these outfits for dolls I didn't even have.

Despite having been trusted with needle and thread from the age of 4, I was not allowed to touch a sewing machine until I was 13 years old, an age when I was much more interested in making clothes for myself than my dolls. I never did get around to making them; there wasn't much point, not having a doll that they would fit.




Fast forward a few decades, and thanks to the advent of online auctions, I have my baby dolls now, as well as the same patterns that used to tempt me in my aunt's sewing room, but still have never gotten around to making those outfits my heart desired so badly as a child.

These patterns are part of a larger collection of vintage patterns I have framed and displayed around my personal sitting room, their graphics, soft colors, and associated memories a constant source of pleasure and inspiration.

Every once in a while over the past few years, Cupcake's outgrown wardrobe has yielded something made of fabric that was timeless in quality and design, or that reminded me of a remnant from my own childhood. I think about these patterns, and I tuck it away with the intention of re-purposing the fabric for doll outfits that, maybe someday, she and I can enjoy together.

Wordless (Almost) Wednesday: The Fairy Pond

We have this tiny pond under the trees on our beach; a small stream runs down the slope of the hillside and onto the shore, where it forms this magical little pond in the gravel before flowing out into the fjord. I saw the dappled sunlight shining on it and just had to take this picture. It felt as if there might be fairies hiding in the shadows, watching me.

Click on picture to enlarge!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

Wow, do I miss these little critters being all over the place. Itchy is the only one still hanging around close to the house, storing up for the cold weather ahead. She's not as tame as the others were, but I was able to get this cute shot of her. Just look at that guilty expression on her face!

Weekend Snapshots #52

Some Photoshop fun with recent shots from a weekend walk on the beach. I just love the way our beach always has such a desolate, timeless feeling to it. It's not your typical "beach" at all!