Christmas Morning

After we open the presents while drinking a sparkling beverage, The Mister was a sweetheart and made bacon and eggs. That's my new coffee cup. I think it's a "J" for joy, but I'll take "J" for Judy.

See Si licking his lips? Bacon stealer!

The theme this year is Yellow Submarine! We all live in a yellow submarine!

The Mister's stash.

The Mister's Yellow Submarine.

My stash.

Little green man.

That's an inside joke.

Sandy, our neighbor's cat, lonely and forgotten. We decided to save him this Christmas from the rain and wind, so The Mister put up the old pup tent we used to use for our indoor felines, you know for fun.

And it looks like he likes it!

So probably out of some guilt he buys Si an indoor pup tent for Christmas. Awwwww.

Silas really liked his fishy mat, although he smelled himself and subsequently sprayed the mat at a later time.

Look a solar power welcome kitty.

Merry Christmas!

My 3 Season Bar

This little nook is where my three season bar resides. I have a shaker and an ice bucket. I include a couple of bottles of my high end liquor, some interesting glasses, and bar tools. It's so Mad Men.

Underneath is the wine selection, that is during the three seasons. Upon the fourth season, which I will deem the season of hell called Summer, this area is transformed into a nice spot for the fern, my amazing Jester. All the wine is moved to the summertime cellar saved from the inside temps of 85 degrees or so.

I guess that fern does have a jester-like splay of fronds (see the jester example below). Also notice the baby fern jester in front and to the left. He is still attached to the mama jester. Awww.

By the way, Si never wore this hat. That is the cardboard cat the hat came with. Si has green eyes anyway. Si has never wore a collar either. He's an au natural kitty. Plus try to put anything on him makes him into a ball of pointy nails and teeth. Guess who wins that battle?

Anyway The Three Season Bar has a goose neck wine bottle opener. Well. It works. But. It is so much easier to hand him the bottle and say, "Here. Open this." Because he will and immediately, knowing the just reward for doing so.

Notice on the goose neck opener there is a butterfly. That was my father's. It has a sensor in it that makes the wings move ever so slowly like a butterfly resting on a branch. The sensor, I am told, is the same sensor used in artificial fingers to stimulate touch and movement. And because it moves so gently and quietly, the butterfly can be on for hours, sometimes days before I remember I turned it on. 

Thank you for visiting my little bar. When I fill it back up with wine and booze, I'll take another picture.

Year of the Dragon

Winston

I guess Winston would be a more appropriate Fire Dragon, but that's okay. I'll pull him out for a viewing every 12 or so years if I can. At least I got the left over right on his robe correct.

Happy Chinese New Year!

My First Valentines Day Swap Card Arrives

I joined the second annual Valentines Day card swap hosted by crowandcanary.com. 

I thought it would be fun to make my own cards (this is encouraged over buying store bought) and then I proceeded to procrastinate. Finally with no more wiggle room, I sucked it up and made blank cards using my own art work, and I was tickled pink, as they said, that I plan to make more and try to sell them on etsy.com - I know that's crazy! (More on that soon!)

That was just the first good thing to happen to me with this creative spurt. The second was the actually swap and although I've only received this one thus far,

Anonymous from Portland OR

I feel a welling of generosity and good-will from a stranger who had only my blog to go on. The world isn't so bad after all. 

Shall We Do Some Resolutions

I strongly believe if you recognize that you have a "bad" habit, then you should break it. Don't wait to the new year. Just go ahead and stop it. And if you want to develop "good" habits, there is no time like now to start.

I suppose that is why I started The Classics Book Club back in September, and yes I'm still trudging along although tardy with the December read, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. By the way, it is turning out to be a good one. A real woman's voice with a keen wit. After a couple of misses, at last I'm enjoying an old book.

Anyways I'm here to discuss some ideas on how I want to change for the better.

For the past couple of weeks I've been returning books to the library. I'm a real hoarder when it comes to books. I think "oh I'd like to read that" so then I check it out and renew renew renew. Now I haven't maxed out my card but even if I did, I have another one. Shh don't tell the librarian. Seriously this is something so insignificant to most people, yet I feel I must address my addiction to The Check Out.

So I've already started working on it by returning about half of my stash, thus far.

Another issue I need to work on is staying organized. Getting there is easy. Staying, not so. I discovered an empty surface has a half-life of 6 hours around me. I don't know why, but I need to pile things upon a clean table. And I have a ready available deluge of "things" to pile. So perhaps I need to get rid of the "things" to make this work. One of the "things" is library books (see above). So I'm working on that. Another "things" is catalogs sent in the mail. I don't often buy from catalogs, but I look at them, sometimes. Really when I look at how the catalogs can accumulate, especially during the holidays, I worry for all the trees. And you know all that ink just can't be good for any living thing.

So this past year I started Sake Sunday, which combines my love of Japanese food and drink with a sneaky once-a-week organizing trick. That is, every Sunday I clear off the dining room table to serve a small meal with hot sake. And I sometimes take photos of the event and blog them at Foodie Judy.

This was sort of working. At least I was semi-dealing with the table build up problem, but by the next day, shiny clean surfaces had new piles. This how I know about the half-life.

Anyway, I read that if you have basket (for your table), then you put "things" into the basket, and when you want a clear table you remove the basket. But I've lost a lot of important "things" doing this method than I care to say. So I'm still searching for way to keep my surfaces clear.

Another quirk I have is I'm obsessed with calendars. And I'm not going to change either. So the first of the year is a huge day for me. To put up brand new calendars in every room. "Superb Day!" I'll write in my engagement calendar because most years I keep an engagement calendar (book-style) where I write a couple of sentences about what happened on that day like the weather, a conversation, a plumbing problem, what was for dinner, and so forth.

This past year I also kept another engagement calendar (a "My Neighbor Totoro" from Japan. So cute!) where I would write only good things that happened on any given day. This has been great to review what I considered fun for any given month. "Played with Si." "Beatles night." "Stuffing!!!" This little calendar also verified that I was indeed happy whenever I pursued a sewing project or worked on a drawing, and that reconnecting with an old friend was the highlight of the year.

So if I am to build on my successes this year (and that is The Plan), I will gab more on the phone, eat lots of stuffing, draw silly pictures, and of course, play everyday with my Si.

My Favorite Things

Si's eyes, 
Totoro bento, 
Weird clouds, 
Pinwheel lunches, 
and Purple flowers.


Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

Sculpterra

One of the advantages of living in wine country is enjoying the various wineries at leisure. No need to hop from one to the other down the road getting rather blotto in the process.

We just single out a winery for inspection. Is it inviting? In a friendly and free sort of way? Some wineries, as you may know, charge to taste. This practice made popular by the bigger well-to-do wineries reek of crass commercialism. I refuse to taste at these places unless they have a clause that if you buy something then the tasting is free. I almost always buy at wineries.

One sunny weekend morning we took to the backroads to visit Sculpterra. Mainly because I had seen a fellow local picture's on myspace and thought "How bizarre!" That is usually enough for me.

And indeed How Bizarre!

The gardens are full of very large sculptures of animals.

Since I kind of knew what to expect, we strolled around the gardens before entering the wine tasting bar. I would recommend the opposite course of action.

Also there was bee bushes lining the walkways, and the bees were quite happy doing their bee business. Millions of bees buzzing back and forth, all at knee level. I kept on telling The Mister, "This is bee hell !" He suggested a drink.

Inside there was more sculptures. These were for sale too.

Only $5,400 if I remember correctly.

This was a smaller version of the one outside that I didn't get a picture of, but there is a picture of it in this picture.

All in all, this was a fun winery, if a bit gimmicky. The grounds were limited, yet the wine was tasty and the shop was unusual. I would go back with friends and relatives, maybe enjoy a picnic and a bottle of wine on a cloudy day.

Happy June!

This is a partial scan of Evening at Itako, 1930 by Kawase Hasui. It is June's picture from my Japanese woodblock calendar.

Many of the 12 paintings on this calendar I recognize from a set of stationary cards I bought as a young adult. Beautiful cards, a few designs for each season, and blank on the inside.

So this slightly crazed thing I have for Japanese art and food is not new.

I also like this month's picture because it is set at night and the kimonos are still drying on sticks. I also like the full moon.

The colors here are not as vibrant as the calendar and you are not seeing the foreground. I love the blues and greens and the trees poking high in the clouds.

It is serene yet fully engaging.

Do you have a favorite style of art or artist that you are drawn to?

Charles Robinson

We are seeing my love for illustration if nothing else this November.

Creatures of the forest

I like the bear. He's all what up man. Wild boar don't look that sweet in real life. And rabbits are cuter.
Maybe I should do REAL LIFE embroidery. Or has that been done?

Namaste Hello Kitty

Namaste Hello Kitty, originally uploaded by Judy's Notebook.

Wow I love the internet! Bentobird found this photo and it inspired her to this!

Calendar Shopping Snowride

We did our annual calendar shopping expedition to B&N today. Plus he needs something to read. I am bathing in unfinished books, so that was not my purpose (however, that never stops me from looking).

I, for some reason, need a calendar in every room. Including the loo. Interestingly or not, my father must have a clock in every room. Including the loo. So there you go. Genetics.

Sort of. (Fessing here: I have a clock in the loo too. One that Dad gave me.) Oh God. Oh Internet.

Back to the point Judy. B&N is a strange little world, is it not? It looks like the possibilities are endless, but actually the place is quite limited. Sure calendars abound.

I always get Ansel for my office, and Llewelyn for the hallway. (Plus more. A lot more.) Well this year I bought neither. After 20 years of B&W just over there, and horoscopes coming out of the shower listing bad days and good days (really!! enough already), I said "Fuck it Pawtucket" and went down a different road.

Still with calendars though.

Maybe I'll do a calendar round up later this month seeing how that sounds so "blog worthy."

Cowabunga Hello Kitty

I relate to Hello Kitty in a one piece. With a red hibiscus in her ear.

And a blue board with pink fins.

I'm like that, you know.

Si's Halloween Costume

You'd think I was torturing Si trying to get him to wear a little jester's hat. Even when I bought it at Target, The Mister said "ahh, good luck with that," and kind of laughed.

But the hat was so cute, so apropos. *sigh*

So I modeled it on Zelda the Zebra and Roo the Kangaroo. Zelda has the most piercing gaze. Si won't have anything to do with her. Roo, however, was a favorite from the beginning. The jolly big butt kangaroo that Si adores.

Of course, the hat looks fab on the cardboard cutout, as well as it should for marketing purposes.

Oh well, at least I'm not one of those people who dresses up their animals ... technically.

Good For Me

Origami Earrings by Sheri Chen

I purchased these charming earrings from allmydreams on Etsy the other day. They hang down about 2 1/2 inches and are absolutely adorable. I met the artist through my bento excursion of late and became re-acquainted with the now huge Etsy shop. Sheri was recently highlighted in a New York Times article for her beautiful bento box art that she makes for her family. She also makes really cute baby and toddler clothes, and you know, Christmas is just around the corner.

Chinopolitan

Chinopolitan, originally uploaded by Memeopolis.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a big city or any city really. Because I used to and it was fun. You could go to the movies. See your friends. Go out for a drink. Be out there. Be fun.

This photo by Amanda wins the spacey photo award, and it has clouds, and y'all know I love clouds.

Fun Friday Night

I was looking around at blogs I haven't read for awhile and found this.

  

I had a good time with this even though I had to register. Good time to use that old hotmail account.

Check it out. I bet you look smashing in red white and blue too. 

Things I Like

1. Double rainbows

2. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
3. Fun New Projects
4. Sleeping In (till 9:07am)
5. Rosso Di Montalcino

Spinning Wheels

What happens when you fill up your Blogger account to the brim and have no more space? I don't know. I'm not even close. However I have this reoccurring problem with Blogger not wanting to upload my photos. So Amanda from the many lakes state was kind to offer advice using Flickr. Yes, you have to make the photos small or they get cropped, but that isn't so bad. The big tear jerker is if you use Flickr, even if the photo is first in the blog, the photo won't show in the blogroll sidebar. Boo hoo. I kind of like seeing the little snapshots.

So I'm trying to determine how important this is to me, and after trying to load the rooster and the margaritas (other blog) the last few hours, I have determined what the hay!

This is the Rooster that is now the banner for Judy's Garden & Recipes.

Colorful dude!