Not Again!

The black kitty on the right is Stella when she was a kitten, but her look captures perfectly how I feel.  My computer got the SAME virus that it had a couple of weeks ago.  SCREEEEEEM!!

When I got it back this time, it didn't have all my photos in it where they should be, so I'm hunting through the hard drive, finding them from the list I have on Seagate (thank God/dess I backed everything up).  When I copy them to the proper folder it makes 3 separate copies in a different file.  If I delete even one of these copies, they ALL disappear.  FOREVER! 

So I'm finding that screaming every now and then acts like a pressure release valve.  Plus, it scares the heck out of my husband .... and that always makes me laugh! 

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!

The Past Two Weeks

Sunday Sunlight

Taken 7-8-2008 from the top of the ridge west of my cottage.

Faeries Friday - Amie

This little rabbit has a hurt paw, so he has come to Amie because he knows she will heal it.  Many Faeries are friends to the animals and will help them when they need it, but Amie is well known as a superior healer.  I'm sure she'll have him healed and happy in no time at all!

Lilacs

They're blooming all over here.  Some put out leaves and buds too early and have no blooms, just new leaves coming out.  Some, like the one above managed to save a few blooms.

Others, like this one, and the one below, did pretty well considering what a crazy Spring we've had.

The air is wonderfully scented with lilacs.
                  

I wish they would last longer, but I'm very grateful that I have them.  They won't grow down in the valley where my sister lives, so I take huge bouquets to her every spring.  Funny...I won't cut them for myself to be in my house but I can justify cutting them for her since she doesn't have any.  Ah well, I suppose we all have our little quirks.

I'm Watching You...

This is a Steller's Jay.  I love their beautiful blue colors; unfortunately I can't say the same for their voice.  They have a harsh sounding caw most of the time, but sometimes they do make quiet little whortling, churring, and squeaking sounds.  They only make these sounds when they're by themselves, so I suppose they're talking to themselves.  They're great imitators.  This one (I don't know if it is a male or female since, unlike most bird species, they both look the same) always imitates the sound of a hawk when it comes to the feeders.  Of course all the other birds flee and it has the feeders all to itself.  Clever bird! 

Dreams

The greatest achievement was at first, and for a time, a dream. 
The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, 
And in the highest vision of the soul, 
A waking angel stirs. 
Dreams are the seedlings of realities.  ~  James Allen

Art by Gillian Gamble Illustrations and Photography

A Belated Mother's Day Gift

The best kind!  I haven't seen Mr. Darcy, one of the feral cats, since October of 2010 and I had guessed that he had passed away.  But he showed up this afternoon, sitting in his 'asking for food' spot and giving me his 'well, I'm here and I'm hungry, hurry up' look! When I called to him, he came, meowing, and sat down about two feet from me, which was exactly the way Mr. Darcy would do.  I couldn't really believe it was really the same kitty until I got back in the house and compared this cat's appearance to a photo of Mr. Darcy (the one above, taken in 2008).  He has the exact same notches in his ear, the same large orange freckle on the left side of his nose, and the same orange band around the top of his left leg. The only thing that had changed was the size of the two large ...er... round things on his bottom. They have shrunk considerably, so I'm guessing that someone finally managed to catch him and have him neutered.  I wish he could talk!  He didn't look thin, in fact he looked like someone has been taking good care of him, which made me even more ecstatic.  What a happy day!

To Everyone...

who is a mother, whether your children are human or of the fur baby variety, I wish you a Happy Mother's Day!

Vandalism

I just finished this commission for a client who is also a good friend.  She showed me a picture of the style of painting she wanted.  This is not normally the style I paint in, but she likes it, so I said I would design something.  Then she said she wanted me to paint it on her antique butter churn.  I said, "Annie, you can't be serious.  That must be over...well, I don't know how many years, but I don't think I can deface it, even if you are going to call it 'art.' "  As you can see from the photo, she's very persuasive.  Most importantly, she loves it.  But, I still feel guilty.  I feel like I sealed all its stories under layers of paint.  I feel like I committed vandalism.  If it had been anyone else but Annie, I would have declined the commission.  But, she loves it.  I just keep repeating that to myself...

A Quotation and a Question

The tree which moves some to tears of joy,
Is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way.
Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all.
But to the eyes of the human of imagination,
Nature is Imagination itself. ~~ William Blake, 1799, The Letters

My apologies Mr. Blake; I changed 'man' to 'human'.  Perhaps you meant it to be all inclusive, but then again, perhaps not, considering the time in which you lived. 

Why is it SO hard, even in these supposedly enlightened times, for so many people to add the two simple letters 'hu' to the front of the word 'man' when they are speaking of the human race?

Perigee Moon

I had a terrible time getting a photo of tonight's moon.  I wanted a photo of it rising over the lake, barely clearing the trees, but I foolishly listened to the scientists about the time she would make her arrival.  When I got down to the lake, she was well above the trees. 

My camera was behaving very badly, too.  It would do ok in the close-ups, but I could NOT get it to focus when I tried to get the moon and her path on the water.  I had my DSLR with me, but I didn't have the tripod with me, and it's just too heavy for me to hold and get any kind of a decent shot. 

Oh well....

Blossoms

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom."  ~  Terri Guillemets

Gorgeous Grosbeaks

The Grosbeaks are back, so maybe Spring is here to stay for a bit.  That's a little female in the photo above and below.  They're slightly smaller than the males and more of a peach color than an orange color.

A male Grosbeak letting me know he's keeping an eye on me.  The two pictures below are also of male Grosbeaks. 

The last few days have been wonderful 'Spring Cloud' days, foggy and drizzling lightly.  I, along with everyone else up here, am hoping that we have a very wet, long Spring.  It certainly would help lower the danger of forest fires.

Weather Whiplash

Yesterday was beautiful, although it was was too hot for this time of year.  The bees were buzzing happily in the blossoms and it felt like Spring had finally arrived.

But by early afternoon clouds had moved in and it started to rain lightly.  As I left my studio to walk down to my house, it was snowing lightly and my poor little witch weather vane was getting cold!  The weather people are predicting snow only above the 7,000 foot level so, hopefully this bit of snow will turn to rain. 

I had more pictures for this post, but ... (don't read any further, dear readers, I'm going to yell) ... BLOGGER WOULD NOT POST THEM!!!  BLOGGER, THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, NOTHING, WRONG WITH THE OLD FORMAT....QUIT FIXING THINGS THAT AREN'T BROKEN!!

Seeing Beauty...and Other Things

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." ~ Confucuis

This is a close-up of a Pepper Tree. They don't grow up here, but they grow all over down in the San Bernardino Valley. In the upper center of the hollow I see what looks like the little face of something...Other. I also see what looks like a tiny hand with one finger upraised. I didn't see it until I uploaded the photo. Maybe it's the tree's spirit, or its guardian spirit. Or maybe it's just a trick of the light. Hmmmm...

Just One?

Even though it looked like this up here just two days ago, the snow is melting really fast.

In a sunny, protected spot, these violets are already free of the snow and doing just fine. These are special violets, so I'm much more grateful that they made it through the snow storm. Why are they special? Not because they're a unique hybrid or anything like that. They're just regular garden violets, but I transplanted them from my mother's garden...and she's not in this world any more. She passed in January of 1994. Every year, fewer of the violets bloom and the size of the patch shrinks, even though I never pick any so each blossom can make a seed head. I suppose someday soon there won't be any blooms at all and, while that won't be a huge tragedy, the joy in my world will be a little less for their passing.

Maybe I should pick just one blossom and press it?

Sunday Sunlight

Completely Crazy

O wind, where have you been,
That you blow so sweet
Among the violets
Which blossom at your feet.
The honeysuckle waits
For Summer and for heat
But violets in the chilly Spring
Make the turf so sweet.

Christina Georgina Rossetti

The violets and the other flowers which are blooming right now (not many; just daffodils and a few tulips) are soon to covered under a not so comfortable blanket of snow and buffeted by not so sweet winds. We got a mix of rain, snow and sleet yesterday, nothing today, but the weatherman has predicted that the mountains where I live will get 8 inches to a foot and a half of snow tomorrow. At least my apple trees haven't blossomed out yet, thank goodness. Snow is not unusual for April up here, but usually we don't get so much of it.

I wish the weather would go back to behaving the way it did when Ms. Rossetti (1830 - 1894) lived. I'm sure spring was still unpredictable back then, but I know it wasn't as crazy as it is now!

Wordless Wednesday - Glow

The Reason For Cats

"Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man." Paul Gray

Wordless Wednesday - Hopeful

And the Insanity and Hatred Goes On...

The latest attack on women is over the Violence Against Women Act.
The last time this program was reauthorized, it passed nearly unanimously through the House and Senate — but incredibly, the ALL-MALE REPUBLICAN BLOCK on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted down the bill.


That's right: Republicans are now standing in the way of reauthorizing an incredibly popular and successful program that has reduced domestic violence rates by 58% since it was first passed in 1994.

Voting to defund Planned Parenthood, redefine rape, and block access to contraception has not been enough for anti-woman members of Congress — they now want to block funding for victims of domestic violence.
Although Republicans in the House blocked the first attempt to reauthorize this important program, a victory in the Senate would put more pressure on the House to pass the legislation.

There is a petition at CREDO to let the Republicans who are blocking this bill that their actions are unacceptable. Click below to automatically sign the petition:

http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5542989&id=37722-4199556-W9NQq8x&t=10

Or, if you're not comfortable signing an on-line petition, please send an e-mail to your senators and representatives to let them know how outraged you are by the misogynistic actions of the men who are voting against this bill. 

5.1.14 - It did get saved, some time ago, thank goodness.