Thursday, April 25, 2013

Painted Floor on a Deck

This is the first deck I've ever seen painted in a checkerboard pattern and I love it. I painted a kitchen floor in these colors at my last house and loved it too. Click here to see the one I painted.

Manhole cover with Lady's Slipper Design


Downtown Minneapolis. The Lady's Slipper is the state flower for Minnesota, I love it! via

Three Tulips

In all stages of the bloom cycle. my iPhone photo

Open Tulip iPhone Photo

I took this photo yesterday with my iPhone while on a real estate appointment with a buyer and her builder. Tulips are so beautiful in all the stages of their bloom cycle. This one looks like a kaleidoscope in the center, doesn't it?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Best Library Ladder

“Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.”
― Arnold Lobel

Organized Work Space


This is the first of a 13-photo slideshow of the same work space rearranged. Make sure to look by clicking here. Miss Vu has the magic touch, doesn't she?

Purple Pollen Rain Anemones


Beautiful photo by Magda Indigo I love Anemones and so do the deer so it's a losing battle at my cottage.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Big Yawn from Webster

We worked outside today and we're both tired. Goodnight. my iPhone photo

Nice Greenhouse

Let the lusting begin. via

Wild Violets, Cropped.


This closeup of my wild violets is my original photo cropped to show how beautiful they really are.  I did not know they were called Viola Sororia or that they're the state flower of New Jersey. How nice.

Wild Violets in my lawn.

They're back in all their glory doing their appointed job of keeping me from mowing the grass. I took this iPhone photo very late in the day after supper last night. Don't you love their pansy-like faces? HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Owl and I Say Goodnight

See you tomorrow. via

Crime-solving quartet premiers tonight on PBS in 'Bletchley Circle'

BLETCHLEY CIRCLE
A new miniseries premiers tonight on PBS @ 10pm in my area. Set in Britain in 1952, this review says it's supposed to be smart and highly suspenseful. I have already set my DVR. When the sisterhood of four detectives gets together to discuss a case, it is under the cover of a book club. I like it already!!!

The story of The Migrant Mother

“Migrant Mother” was one of thousands of pictures Dorothea Lange took on assignment for the federal government, documenting the poverty of the Dust Bowl. Before it had that iconic title, the 1936 photo was captioned “Destitute peapickers in California.” But this was the one that stuck, coming to symbolize all those suffering in the Great Depression. Later, Lange would rage, “People think I haven’t made anything else!”
As you all know, I am a huge fan of NPR and rarely listen to anything else on my radio. I watch a little morning tv while I'm having coffee and then it's NPR all day until the evening news and the tv goes on again. I listened to the story behind this iconic photograph this morning on Studio 360 and then listened to the podcast again on my laptop while I was unloading the dishwasher. It's very interesting in case you want to tune in when you have 9 minutes to spare -- or you can just read the article. Podcast and article at Studio360.org. There is also a slideshow with 5 more views of this migrant worker's camp featuring Florence Thompson and her family.
This photo never fails to move me. It has become the symbol of hard times but has been exploited by the advertising industry to sell products from perfume to luggage. That should make you want to listen and I hope you will.

Beautiful Home Library

I hope there's a nice comfortable club chair and ottoman in this room somewhere. It looks like a very nice home office or study but comfort is needed in a reading room. via The Belding Group in Landrum, SC.