§ Shadows and Summaries

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SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY







A KOKOPELLI
(pronounced coke-ah-PELL-ee)
Bud made from
scrap fence lumber
and
1x2 pieces [for feathers]

Read more on Kokopelli HERE













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SUNDAY'S SUMMARY


This past week, it's been way too hot and humid to do much outdoors except for the early morning. And I think it's kinda odd that the air can be so filled with moisture, and the skies oftentimes show a threat of rain...but nothing, nada. We are once again in a drought!! By midday, it's too hot for this ol' lady and I'm in where the air conditioning is on. Anyway, one morning walking along the Shoreline Blvd, where the downtown yacht club and marina is, we timed it as two shrimp boats were coming in. [I'm only sharing the one boat tho. Will show the other one at another time.] I love the activity that surrounds the boats...the birds! The pelicans and the seagulls go absolutely berserk in anticipation of the shrimpers' castaway catch. So, I took some photos. We had gone out to breakfast, and we were walking off our meal. In the car was the camera. I grabbed it and we just stood on the boardwalk and watched it all. From the arrival to the seawall, to docking at the pier...







. . .to selling their catch. Large shrimp [as seen in the photo] were going for the price of $8.00 a pound. Trust me, it didn't take long to sell...people are always waiting for them to arrive daily. I ask, how can anything so ugly taste soooo good?!!! For me, personally, I'd much prefer they come off the boat, breaded, butterflied and deep fat fried to a rich golden brown with marinara sauce or tartar sauce...I'm not picky or choosy; as long as I have some dipping sauce. When I look at the closeup photo I've added, it reminds me of lungers with eyeballs staring at me. No way. Gimme cooked shrimp any ol' day.



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On another day this past week, we took a jaunt over the harbor bridge on the north part of town and drove over to Portland, Texas. While perusing the aisles at one store Bud found a treasure. Something we've been tempted to order online before, but we both are sticklers on keeping the local economy going if at all possible and buy locally. He found me in the clothes section and came up to me and said "I found the DVD package we've been wanting!". He was thrilled. It was the 1st mini series of all the episodes of ROOTS! It was fairly inexpensive, considering all the episodes from Kunta Kinte to the Civil War breaking out...so, we bought it. So far we've only watched episodes one and two, but we finally have it. We're still looking for two others and will find 'em....Rich Man Poor Man and Backstairs at the White House. Some day. Let's see, what else this week? Took Bud to Blackbeard's Seafood for his birthday. And believe it or not, he ordered a burger of all things! Me? I ordered those delicious COOKED shrimp in a basket. I also made a favorite dish for him that he asked for...goulash. And a blueberry pie. Neither one of us is much on birthday cakes, so pie it was. And blueberry is his favorite. We also have waited patiently for some of our hibiscus to return from the ice storm back in Winter. Most are now coming up from the root systems, but two just broke off and we figured they were not going to come back, so Bud dug 'em up [shown in the Kokopelli shadow photo - on each side of him, above, and since the legend is a native American fertility god...guess the 'fertility' of it all isn't working! LOL] and I planted "Hot Lips" Sage to take their place. As I read the tags on the pots at the plant nursery, they will withstand down to ZERO degrees and are also drought resistant. And a big plus is they attract hummingbirds. The photo on the container shows some dainty white flowers with red 'lips'. Oh, and to conclude my week, I purchased three small geranium plants the same day and put all three together in a large hanging pot that is now hanging from the eave of the house in the back yard off the patio. One more thing, then, I'll let you go....while spending so much time during the afternoon indoors, I finished putting the edging and the closures for our lightweight binoculars' crocheted case! It took me only a few weeks to actually get it completed. LOL It's very nifty...especially being able to carry our bird book in the same case. That, alone, is a brain fart I had that paid off!!


If you're one to celebrate Easter...have a super, wonderful and very peaceful holiday. Egg salad tomorrow?

Sunday, May 31st, 2009
4:27 A.M.



For Sunday Stealing, scroll down below my "walk about", or CLICK HERE

A walk in the yard showing off all the 'whimsical' things, and some more flowers [are y'all tired of me posting posies yet? Y'know during the spring and summer months...it's all about flower gardens in our yard...] the 'trinkets' are mostly hidden until you're right up on 'em. Thing is, we still have a lot packed away. Our yard is much smaller than the one we had in Tucson. There just isn't room for it all. We've trashed some, we've packed others, and we've given other things away. But anyhow, I thought I'd do a walk about...

First, on the west edge of our patio we have a plant...a yellow trumpet. I've seen others in our neighborhood that are large enough to be considered small trees. I always cut it down over the few years we've lived here...goes to show you what I know. Maybe now I'll let it grow higher. Who knows. I do like the compactness of trimming it down tho...

In bud formation-

Beginning to open-

In full bloom-

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We have accent lighting around the flower beds for the effect. Among our rose flower bed is a hidden Frog...with a dragon fly on his tongue...

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Out front, off the porch the Esperanza is in full bloom...

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In the corner by a huge tree and pyracantha bush is some stuff of the 'oriental flair'...a couple of iron pagoda candle lights and a few white figurines among the orange flowering bush [I can't recall the specific name for it...it starts with an "I"] and the purple geisha girl flowering bush...

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We have a few pots with flowering annuals, hidden among the flowers miniature gnomes and fairies...

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Turtles, turtles, and woodland creature...oh my!

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Fox family...

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Raccoon family & Coyote...

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A wooden Kokopelli [life size, Bud made] and a full [but, not for long] bird feeder...






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1. Name one person who made you smile today: Dunno, just got up from a night's sleep.

2. What were you doing at 8am this morning? Ummmmm, it's not 8 a.m. yet.

3. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Did I mention sleeping?

4. What is your favorite candy bar? Now you're talkin'!!!----Altho, from a box, turtles...since the question is 'bar'...I'd have to say Big Hunk


5. Have you ever been to a strip club? Does Hooters count? Well, then....no.

6. What was the last thing you had to drink? Water

7. What was the last thing you ate? Cereal

8. The last sporting event you watched? LAD & Chicago Cubs game on TV

9. Do you go to church every Sunday? No

10. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? No way...love both, but would opt for pizza if given a choice. Actually, I cook my own 'Chinese' food....when you go out, they usually cook Chinese with MSG...that's lethal.

11. What are you doing tomorrow? Probably grocery shopping.

12. What do you think of when you hear Australia? Hugh Jackman

13. Biggest annoyance right now? I have this electrical outlet that I use to charge the cellphone...and I keep plugging it in....and the top socket is burned out!! [a creature of habit]

14. Last song listened to? Beautiful Day by U2

15. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Ya...most definitely. It's called Anni's House Cleaning Extraordinaire ...

16. Are you jealous of anyone? No way....why? Well, I may say I'm jealous of someone, but in all reality,.........I'm not.

17. Is anyone jealous of you? Dunno

18. What do you usually do during the day? Computer, crafts, shopping, eating, cleaning, reading...you name it.

19. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Again....why? That's a waste of life...my motto....don't hate.

20. Are you thinking about someone right now? Yep, I need to call Irene. There's a project I'm tinking of doing and it's about Irene. Need to ask her a few things first....so I can begin.


NOTE: I guess I should clarify this one photo ABOVE, IN MY FLOWERS SECTION OF MY POST TODAY...it's not moonflowers --the kind that bloom at night. Nor does it have fragrance...it blooms all day long. To clarify it, they're not just yellow trumpets...their common name is Angel Trumpets. They are grown in white, purple, pink [salmon] and yellow.

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Now, for the Show N Tell for the week - - -


While first retiring in Arizona and living there for nearly 12 years, I developed a fetish for the Native American Folklore Symbol, the flute player. Commonly known as the Kokopelli.

Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with a huge phallus and feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has been venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music[citation needed].

Among the Hopi, Kokopelli carries unborn children on his back and distributes them to women (for this reason, young girls often fear him). He often takes part in rituals relating to marriage, and Kokopelli himself is sometimes depicted with a consort, a woman called Kokopelmana by the Hohokam and Hopi. Courtesy of Wikipedia. You can read much much more if you so desire, here.

Each time I would see a silver work of art that had the Kokopelli I would have to stop and gander and ogle them. So many different styles, so many different designs...and so so expensive when you find them in tourist traps like Tombstone or the gift shops in the cities around the southwest. But, there is an advantageous area in and around Tucson....Old Mexico! And sometimes you could get a good bargain on the Indian Reservation just a few minutes drive from the city --the T'hono Odham Reservation near the San Xavier Mission. Anyway, my fetish grew a bit and started to get out of hand when I'd buy identical items then have to send the duplicate purchases to Irene. I put a quick halt to shopping for more Kokopellis and was satisfied with my collection. But, around this area of Texas, not too many people are seen wearing any Native American items....it's mostly Cowboy/western and Mexican items---I will wear them occasionally, but not as often as I used to in Arizona. You can read more about my collection with a mouse-over on the pictures I've shared here........















~...end Show N Tell
[scroll below book review for commenting]


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I saw this advertised as a Lifetime Movie about a month ago, and it really piqued my interests since it was about a Down Syndrome baby. So, when we were at the book store one day, following the ad on TV...I bought it.

I was disappointed after the first few chapters. It turned out to be a bit of false advertising...yes, it was about a Down Syndrome child, but she wasn't the main character. In fact, there was hardly anything about what her life was like.

It turned out that it was more or less on the edges of a romance novel. Of which I don't like. But, then again, I found myself reading and turning the pages; all in hopes of perhaps soon it would lead me to the girl with Down's and what she was like! Sorely disappointed.

If you like all the romance novelists, and Lifetime movies on television, this book may be for you. The girl with Down Syndrome has a twin brother, and he was raised by the natural mother; the mother [wife] is told by her doctor husband that the twin girl was born dead. And of course, she grieves for many years afterwards only to find out in the decades that follow her stormy romances with other men...[ack!! this stuff isn't for me...] that her daughter IS alive!! But at the beginning, the Down's baby was taken away upon birth....

It just wasn't quite what I expected. But I did finish the book, so that tells you something. Of a 'five star rating', I'm giving it one and a half.


The Memory Keeper's Daughter
by Kim Edwards