as a woman, i feel lucky that i get to use makeup on a daily basis if i choose to. i know some women hate it, but i don't.

i love everything about makeup. i know i'm not alone. i remember my sister-in-law plunking down her ginormouse makeup tackle box in front of me one day. it was loaded with every kind of color and tool you could ever imagine. she laughed about how ridiculous it was that she had such an extraordinary amount of makeup, but i was in awe.

whenever my friend sharon and i see each other, we sit on the bed and spread our makeup out. we try out each other's colors and talk about life. it's a ritual we started when we were college roommates and we do it to this day.

now i watch the p.b. kid's fascination with makeup. i've taught her how to unconditionally love all things mac and smashbox and she teaches me about other lines of makeups and different ways of applying them. and probably one day when she's my age, her daughter will be teaching her...and maybe me also if i'm lucky enough to live that long.

my fly fishery man

mr. ntm has been fly fishing for years and years and he still enjoys it just as much now as he did when he first started. he says he is still trying to master the art of tying his own flies, but i'd say he's pretty darn good at it now.

it'll be fly fishing season again in the fall which will make me a fishing widow once again. i've learned the only way i can get attention when it's that time of year is to break out the trout suit.

guess i better get it out of storage.

the only thing standing between me and shooting a beautiful field of lovely pale pink hibiscis was this:

well, let's see. he can out run me, he outweighs me and those horns look like they should be registered with the tactical threat division.

luckily, the big guy was feeling charitable, so we made friends, and i got my shots.

a little levity

because i've been taking myself a bit too seriously lately...





1 & 2. the p.b. kid and me 2. my niece ashley 3. my friend tim

rhythms of the day

wondering if these ruby shoes still have some magic left in them....

but then again, what would i do with them if they did? i'm sure i could think of something...

pink

i think geraniums are like the clowns of the summer annuals. they're so in-your-face bright. i love them.
the p.b. kid's summer ritual...the afternoon nap. she's got to keep up her strength for lifting those heavy spoons of peanut butter.

my brother-in-law told me the other day that he's dealing with some mid-life crisis issues. i told him that i was dealing with the same.

honestly though,mine feels more like a full-blown psychotic state. the thesaurus defines crisis as: "A highly volatile dangerous situation requiring immediate remedial action."

there's just no way to administer immediate remedial action to this kind of crisis however. it's just something you have to sort through and it takes time. probably the universe figured that by mid-life you'd have the patience and tolerance to be able to navigate the relentless, nagging doubts and feelings that spring up right about this time in life.

what was the universe thinking?

why is that whenever we're sitting on the fence about a decision we're trying to make, that the fence we are sitting on always has to be barbed wire? sometimes we just need to be on that fence for a little bit but the barbed wire makes it so prickly and uncomfortable that we jump off of it and end up making a decision that may not have been the best choice.

maybe the trick is to learn how to sit differently and endure that prickly feeling.

there are many rivalries between the southern states over various things. one of those rivalries is about who grows the best peaches. georgia says they do, south carolina says they do. it's debatable in my opinion because they're both wonderful. but the one thing that south carolina has that georgia can't compete with is this clever water tank.

i've driven past this steel peach a million and one times over the past twenty two years on my way back and forth from georgia to north carolina. when the p.b. kid was little, she used to call it the big peach butt. i finally stopped this past weekend on my way back from atlanta to shoot it.

it's located in gaffney, south carolina and it was built in 1981. the artist is peter freudenberg. it's called the peachoid water tank and its capacity is one million gallons.

it wouldn't make a very good cobbler, but it sure is fun to look at.

life

order
chaos
rinse and repeat

i found the key...now if i could only find out what it unlocks...

i have a drinking problem.
i know i am powerless over it.
i put it above all else.

and yes, i've basically turned into a bag of coffee at this point but i don't care. at least i smell really, really good. people always like the smell of french roast. my brother-in-law told me the other week that he was back "on it" but only for a short while until he quits cold turkey again. i don't buy it though. because coffee is the nectar of the gods. plain and simple. i came across this the other day. i won't say how much it would take to kill me because then you'd know how much i weigh, but let 's just say i've come dangerously close.

but i don't care.

all the farms down my way are disappearing. they're being bought up and turned into dry cleaning businesses and nail salons. it's disturbing, but i'm a part of it i suppose because my house sits on what was once a cow pasture.

for now, i will enjoy these cornfields and wonder what great recipe my friend tracy would have for this beautiful silver queen corn?

ironic

8:05am me and trixie on the way to work. drizzling and dreary.

4:50pm me and trixie on the way home. sunshiney bright.

what did i see today?

sunlight and shadows through ms. b's curtains
virginia's timeless sense of style
me
the windowsill of an empty room

the sage is called "hot lips salvia" and it blooms forever. it's like a bar and grill for the hummingbirds who adore its nectar.

today is your birthday.
my world became so much better when you walked into it and i thank god for that.
i thank god for you.

happy birthday, love
with all of my heart

marriage

"are you sure you know where the nearest coffee shop is around here? because my feathers are draggin' and i am so tired."

"trust me. if you follow me, i'll get you there"

sometimes i'm following, sometimes i'm leading, sometimes it's just time for a coffee. the trick is knowing which one to do at which time.

for some reason, these pictures remind me of that

i loved the classic t.v. show moonlighting. it was pure 80's.....all tones of mauve, silver/gray, and teal with diffused lighting. shoulder pads, big hair, and clutch purses. sigh.....

cue al jarreau........

what are these? they look like little popcorn balls on a stick. cute.

i think sometimes in our lives we must be destined to have periods of time when we go to the outer limits of what we've always known as our existence. we hang out there for a while testing new things out and sometimes creating all kinds of chaos for ourselves. eventually, we start the journey to finding our new middle ground. maybe all we can do is hope to survive it with the least amount of damage to ourselves and the people that we love.

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