Great desk for Bloggers . . .

Somebody should make this.
Seems like an idea whose time has come! Love the bed drawer!

You can click to enlarge this hilarious NewYorker cartoon.

Slug Portraits ~ Not for the Squeemish . . .

I seem to be having great luck lately having invertebrates pose for their portraits! This guy was washed out by Hanna's big rain and landed on an extremely prickly object. I always wear leather gloves when I rake up these American chestnut pods. They really hurt! I guess slugs feel no pain because the thorns did not seem to hinder him. Mr. Slug moved right along and found safety rather quickly. All shots are right out of the camera and some are fuzzy. I won't leave them up forever, so look if you dare.

D-Day at Target Sunday, Sept. 7th . . .

Just a reminder! The John Derian items will be offered for a limited time beginning Sunday, September 7th. The weather here in New Jersey should be fine tomorrow after the Hanna aftermath blows over.

For a while today, it was raining sideways! All of my inside window sills were soaked and as I was wiping them off and closing the windows a light bulb went off in my head. Since everything was already presoaked, it would be a good time to wash the part of the sill that touches the screens. I had done them earlier in the year but they needed it again.

I got a stainless steel bowl, squirted in a little Dawn dish soap, added some really hot water, grabbed my favorite round fat paint brush and a cloth, and off I went. I did 19 windows in no time at all. I was really racing to get finished before dark. No need to worry about the soapy liquid running down the outside of the house either. The rain washed that off too. I am thrilled that I tackled that chore.

Late on a Saturday too ~ how pathetic is that?! Made me happy though...that's all that counts.

Begging dog balances duck on head . . .

Webster has absolutely no trouble begging. I taught him this trick very easily when he was just a young puppy by putting a Cheeze It cracker in my mouth and holding him up manually. He quickly learned that when he begged by himself he could get a free treat. He was pretty wobbly at first but now he can hold the pose for as long as it takes to get what he is after.

This head balancing thing is going to be a little more difficult. It is hard for me to grab the camera after the object is in place on top of his head. I am not going to cheat with double sticky tape or anything like that. He wasn't any good at all with my cup full of sharpened pencils. The rubber ducky was better.

He is pretty humiliated right now so I'd better stop.

Dog balances coffee on his head . . .

The first photo is one of my very favorite things. It is a life-size begging dog stand. It was probably originally used as a smoking stand because there are burn marks on one edge. He even has an old brass dog license hanging from his collar. It is stamped with the number 41.

I like to think that it was made in woodshop by a boy or girl. I took woodshop in 4th grade, so it could be a girl! It is the perfect height for holding my mug of morning coffee; it sits next to my computer chair.

The second picture is the real-life version found on flickr. Dogs are so smart and so wonderful!

Pitbull with Lipstick . . .

I could not resist posting these timely images.
Sarah Palin photo courtesy of Getty Images; dog from flickr.

Fabulous Fotos Follow Fall Foliage . . .

Images captured on my morning walk; coffee cup in one hand, a camera on my shoulder, and a dog at my side.

What could be better?

Peter the Bulldog with his owner circa 1925 . . .

PHOTOGRAPH
Kathlyn Newby and Peter the bulldog
ENGLISH, c1925

This is a scan of a postcard my friend Jill brought me years ago from Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood in London. I had an English Bulldog at the time and I know just how this little girl felt about her pet.

The dogs in my life thus far have been muts, Scottish Terriers, English Bulldogs, and my current and all-time favorite is Webster. He is mostly chocolate lab with a little pitbull thrown in for good measure.

Pets add such dimension to your home and your life.

An organized craft cupboard . . .

Another page from my magazine clippings drawer. Once again, there is no information on either side but we all know where this came from, don't we? Martha Stewart Living, year unknown.

It would be nice to have a free-standing antique cupboard to use for this purpose but you could probably do the same thing with something new from Ikea. It is not too early to be thinking about gift wrapping either. The season will be here in a flash. I always marvel that June and July sort of drag by, and then somehow August evaporates. After Labor Day the days just whiz by and then all of a sudden the holidays are here. The more organized you are, the more you can enjoy them!

I am posting this as inspiration for myself. I am going to tackle my studio today. It is a real mess; mostly just paper and "blog clutter" if you know what I mean. I will be able to work more efficiently when all of my horizontal surfaces are free again. I have to wrap and mail a big package today and it is virtually impossible right now.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. Maybe I will even Whistle While I Work! I think I am going to enjoy today's project.






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September in a nutshell . . .

SEPTEMBER ~ Back to WORK, Back to SCHOOL, Back to BOOKS!
This historic reading poster says it all, doesn't it?

I always loved the first day of school with everything new. New clothes head to toe, new bookbag, new 3-ring binders covered in blue canvas, new pencils (always painted yellow), new black and white speckled composition books, new lunchbox, new teachers, and new butterflies in my stomach.

Did I forget anything?