In our back yard, along the wooden privacy fence there is a raised flower garden...mostly tropical plants. This image is of the shadows cast from our Tombstone Rose bush on a few of the Bird of Paradise plant leaves...I love the BoP leaf that reminds me of canvas...or sail cloth...how the sun's light is filtering through. Then, recently there is so much "haiku" being shared on several shadow shot sundays' posts, I thought I'd give it a go and then state my thoughts on the idea of what some call Haiku [don't misunderstand me...I enjoy reading the works of others very much, and I've written these a few times as you can see by the link on my sidebar!!!]. But to refer any work to being Haiku - it's really a misnomer. A misconception of having 17 syllables [in all actuality it's called morae or 'on' and in all honesty, NOT the same concept!!] and is derived from 'kiru' meaning "cutting". And usually drawn from nature. Traditionally it's composed vertically, but "English Haiku" is composed in three horizontal lines. Haiku is a Japanese art and the English versions should never be considered as such. Following in the theme of shadows for today, my attempt at a
poem [then, my concept]....
Faint kiss of shadows
Passions of mine unseen stir
Absorbed reverie or with Translator:
影のかすかなキス
私の目に見えない騒ぎの情熱
吸収夢想which actually translates back to English like this:
Faint shadow kiss
Passion of my invisible commotion
Absorption reverieCount 'em...that's 20!! morae [syllables] instead of 17 - so all in all, in my opinion, any English Haiku [including my attempts] is
not really a bona-fide art in relation to the true form. In English, oftentimes, there is no word that can translate to Japanese, so it's not something that could be done poetically as the real Haiku should be; it's closely befouling the Japanese traditional ingenuity. [my opinion only]
CONNECTING TO:
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SUNDAY'S SUMMARYStarted the annual Spring Cleaning during the day - watching movies after dinner!
MONDAY - 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Master Bedroom --
Scrubbing and cleaning --Ruby glass, Cardinals, Movie Memorabilia, Books, Jewelry box--along with washing walls, curtains, venetian blinds, waxing furniture, dusting, cleaning drawers and washing windows and Gone With the Wind figurines, and bed linens. Vacuumed when done. CHECK.
TUESDAY - 8:15 a.m.
Enroute to my appointment to get my hair cut for the Spring heat that will arrive shortly. Driving in FOG!! By 9 a.m. I was coming home and the weather had cleared and blue sky prevailed. Reaching home, I then began and finished the 3-room master bath with adjacent walk-in closet. Not much to do but dust wallpapering and scrubbing lavatory, mirror and bathtub/shower stall - cleaning cupboard and waxing. Was quite tired after this day, so secretly was thinking, "I'll take tomorrow off".
ME with my recent haircut
which I'm now using as my profile image
WEDNESDAY 11:55 a.m.
...which I did. I took the day off from cleaning. --walked along the shoreline drive by the marina and bay - after about an hour of walking, we crossed the boulevard and stopped at Subway sandwiches and ordered the Wednesday Special [Turkey breast on Honey Oat bread], and crossed the boulevard again, back to the other side... over to the seawall where they have benches for those who just love to sit and watch the sea. We ate while watching the pelicans and gulls and viewed the tranquil water. CHECK [btw, Bud took my new haircut photo when I got home --he liked it...he said "It's a Judy Dench cut"...which is one of his favorite British actresses.]
THURSDAY 5:30 a.m.
I woke up early and raring to begin another room. But my idea was nipped in the bud when I all too well knew that Bud was still sleeping. So, I got to my computer and started working on getting some posts and images loaded to Blogger for future use in blogging. Last night we watched an older movie that was an academy award winner [I think...LOL] CHICAGO, the musical with Reneé Zellweger, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Richard Gere. It's been a long time since we've watched it...a LONG time. I still like the music, and the 1920s fashions. My favorite song segment is Cellophane Man [the song and the whole scene of Roxie Heart's husband being invisible to the world]. So, with Bud getting up later than usual, I didn't get to begin the living room and the one big chore in that room...the cathedral ceiling all finished in cherry wood, until around 8:30 a.m. But, the dusting, waxing, cleaning walls/fireplace, picture frames, venetian blinds, windows and curtains, disinfecting the sofa and love seat and then, vacuuming the carpet! Finished the room around 1 p.m. CHECK
FRIDAY 7:30 a.m.
Woke up and read my phone texts I had
ignored missed this week....Erik didn't get accepted into Rice for his PhD. He also added to thank everyone for the prayers. I know I'm more highly disappointed than he is even tho we all realized at the very beginning that it was
truly a long shot - only 20 out of thousands who apply get in for graduate work; it's just me wanting everything 'good' for him and he's man enough to accept the outcome. More power to him. Maybe it is working out for the best...who knows what tomorrow will bring, loss of job, no income and then a student loan to pay off = poor house?!! You know the drill of a mother's thoughts and how things work. LOL
I wasn't in a 'cleaning' mode that day, so instead I made a batch of brownies with pecans. While they're baking, it makes the entire house smell heavenly. Oh, and while they were being baked, as I took out the mix and trash to the outdoor trash bin, I noticed the hawk I photographed a few days ago, and shared his picture, had returned. I watched him for several minutes and couldn't resist trying to go walking over to see if I could again photograph him. I got three more pictures of him that I'll share once I get 'em off the camera's media card. We then [Bud and I] got ourselves caught up on watching the TV program Alcatraz online. We missed the airing last week on live streaming --so watched two episodes. This is quite a puzzling and interest catching mystery. I like it. Then, while eating dinner, we watched the latest episode of GRIMM. They are good too. NO SPRING CLEANING - check!
SATURDAY 6:00 a.m.
While my early morning ritual started online as the norm...I soon got side tracked. But, still online. I'm sure we've all done this a time or two. I had to find out just who this guy was...y'know...you see someone and can't place where you've seen 'em? After dinner Friday evening, we sat down and watched one of our DVDs --V for Vendetta. And the chief inspector, I could not for the life of me remember in what movie I've seen him before. And of course, during the movie, I asked Bud where...he thought Waking Up Ned Devine [oldie, comedy] , and I was sure it was in the movie CRYING GAME [yes it's also an oldie, I liked that movie and recall going into the conference room with one of the psychiatrists I worked with long ago...we BOTH really liked the movie and had a good hour long conversation..."on the clock" LOL ...suspenseful]. I just had to find out where...before I had another 'sleepless' night trying to remember. LOL Anyway, it WAS where I'd seen him. But he got older looking somehow. [snort!!]
Stephen Rea About 7:00 a.m. With the temps dropping to the low 40s and raining heavily, I began the dining room and hallway of the usual as mentioned above in the other rooms...yada, yada, yada.
Around 2 p.m. the dining room sparkled, and the hallway and woodwork was complete. I took pictures of what this all entailed...mostly washing and more washing ---of all the shell collections and cobalt glass along with the collection of glass dolphins...lordy, I do have a lot of junk...y'know? LOL Now, I just began my last load of laundry, and plan on posting this early - take a shower and read my book 'til it's time to prepare dinner. Turkey meatloaf, twice baked potatoes topped with cheese, tossed salad with creamy caesar salad dressing, warmed dinner rolls and leftover brownies for dessert. Done 'til Monday...tomorrow, another day off from cleaning. CHECK Time to call it a 'day'...I'm tired.
That's it for the week...
Th-t-th-h-that's all folks!!
Neither Bud nor I enjoy being in large crowds, so we left. Besides it was getting hot and I wanted a quick stop-over at another large city park. Each time we go there [which isn't but maybe twice a year] there always seems to be a lot of long billed curlews. And those birds didn't disappoint. Dozens. Everywhere we walked. I took several photos of the curlews, and we then walked around the duck pond. Ducks and geese. My other curlew images will be shared on my bird photo blog sometime in the future. With the hot sun beating down on us by mid-morning, I stopped under the shade of a live oak tree and let the soft breeze cool me down a bit. Bud took a photo...this is for Phil in the UK, he tells me in my comments that I always have photos of Bud and not me...here I am in all my glory. [lol] 
I wasn't in a 'cleaning' mode that day, so instead I made a batch of brownies with pecans. While they're baking, it makes the entire house smell heavenly. Oh, and while they were being baked, as I took out the mix and trash to the outdoor trash bin, I noticed the hawk I photographed a few days ago, and shared his picture, had returned. I watched him for several minutes and couldn't resist trying to go walking over to see if I could again photograph him. I got three more pictures of him that I'll share once I get 'em off the camera's media card. We then [Bud and I] got ourselves caught up on watching the TV program Alcatraz online. We missed the airing last week on live streaming --so watched two episodes. This is quite a puzzling and interest catching mystery. I like it. Then, while eating dinner, we watched the latest episode of GRIMM. They are good too. NO SPRING CLEANING - check!
Then...progress on my newest crochet project for Halloween: I've only found time to do a few rows so far [I had to rip out and begin anew because of my stupidity, actually. Don't ask!! LOL] But now that the stitch count is correct and everything is flowing smoothly, it'll be a lot easier. The pattern is actually one that I'm supposed to crochet in all one color [the entire block in green], then embroider with cross stitching the scene, I've been using the graph to just crochet a certain amount in green, dropping the green, and picking up the color needed as you can see in the photo...the white so far is skeleton legs. For the making of my large entree for the week to reheat, was meatballs [I made twenty small meatballs...cooked them, then reheated just a few for each meal] in marinara sauce served on hoagie buns with melted mozzarella cheese. Again, with the marinara sauce being better reheated. Served with mustard potato salad and tossed salad. 
For a light dessert [and cold, icy and refreshing] I tried to replicate one of our favorite fast food hang-outs that can only be found in Tucson, Arizona - EEGEES. They serve the best tasting fruit filled icy drinks...with a different flavor each month. My favorite was for the month of February [cherry cider with huge chunks of dark cherries]. But, for us this time, I made Lime "eegees" slushie. In a blender, mix equal parts of juice, flavored sherbet, and chopped ice. Blend until ice has become creamy. Simple. 
Scoop up into a large glass - eat with a spoon. Delicious on a hot, sultry, summer evening. Low in calories and the sherbet I use is fat free! For two large 12 oz. servings, I use equal amounts: TWO CUPS LIME JUICE [I use MinuteMaid], TWO CUPS Fat Free LIME SHERBET, and TWO CUPS ICE. Blend at low speed, maybe needing a 'stir' now and then to redistribute the ice chunks. Chopped fruit can also be added, limes [rind and all, with seeds taken out of course] 
The finished slush should be thick and scoopable as seen in the last photo!! Not runny...like an Italian Ice...and the best serving glass is the insulated kind to keep from melting too quickly. This summer, for afternoon treats while we play Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble, I've made us a few variations to this --Pomegranate/Raspberry, and Orange Dream...the first made with V8 Splash Pomegranate/Cherry bottled juice drink and raspberry sherbet [with canned dark cherries or frozen red raspberries if desired]. The orange with Orange Juice and orange sherbet [and orange slices, mixed in blender]. All refreshing, and delicious. About 200 calories per serving with no fat. Not too nutritional, but oh so good when it's hot outdoors. Great for Summer. And trust me, I've even emailed the headquarters of Eegee's Restaurants in Tucson to expand their franchises to Texas. To no avail. Bummed, I am. They have told me that they'll ship their products nation-wide, but just how they can ship their Italian Ices is beyond me. On the same subject, they have the best tasting deli ham sandwiches I've ever had. Let's see....it's about 900 miles to Tucson from here. I could be there for dinner if I left here around 2 a.m.!!!! OH....another thing that I worked on this past week...struggled on is more like it, but I finally figured it all out. I learned how to make my own smartphone ringtones. I saved 'em, and went to get 'em on my cellphone and the app for G-mail, I realized, did NOT have a download option. I diligently kept working on a 'fix' and went through my browser to my email...got it up on the phone and set it as my new ringtone. I love having my 'own' ringtones instead of the limited choices that come with the phones. I now have the THEME FROM NCIS. roflmao.
I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this morning. I even went as far back in time enough to actually put a photo of myself as a kid for my profile!! I realized when I came into my blog admin I didn't have a post ready for Tuesday. We weren't home much yesterday, shopping, driving around the islands birdwatching, just taking it easy...enjoying the wonderful weather here. Oh well. It won't 'kill me' that I didn't get online to take time to prepare a Tuesday post for the memes I participate in weekly. So, in order to call this 'Ruby' Tuesday, I'll add pink to the photos' frame backgrounds, and call it sufficient. Thing is, today is my favorite aunt's birthday. She passed away several years ago tho. She was the last of the previous generation to leave us all behind. As I said, she was my favorite. We were always very close. She always told me in secret that I was HER favorite too. She had five sons while two [twins] died in infancy. Being that she had no daughters, I was the chosen one. We always got along well. She doted on me. Altho, I left Nebraska at a young age, age 6 or there 'bouts, we always kept in contact. She'd send me gifts, we'd visit even up to after I married Bud. We'd talk on the phone, share secrets...you name it. 
And, to be honest, I think Mary [Aunt Mary] was my father's favorite sister too. He had another sister, but she was much older than the other two in his family....Mary and my dad were nearly inseparable. Anyway, thinking of her this morning made me want to boast about our relationship a bit...and I got in the mood to share a bit. The two photos are of my father, and of Aunt Mary. Then...being that I mentioned Nebraska...this is the house I lived in from birth, up to the time we made our nomadic trip to Colorado. Yes, I did attend kindergarten in Lincoln, Nebraska. Believe it or not, it was called "Clinton" Elementary. I even walked...by myself...boy have times changed, huh?!! to attend class. Who would've known we'd have a president with the same name after I grew up?!! Eerie. 
Anyway, walking the few blocks from home to school, I had to cross a busy street...the street was actually cobblestone! I can hear the traffic traveling over those stones in my sleep!! Awwwwwww, to go back to the more trusting days of yore! Heck, even today, I feel now I'm not all that safe walking by myself...imagine, walking at the age of five to school...by myself?!! That's what you'd call the good ol' days!! I guess. Of course, in the future I'll look back to this moment right now as I blog as 'the good ol' days'...it's just a frame of mind.
My cousins, from Aunt Mary, tell me the school still stands, tho the cobblestone has been removed and covered with asphalt today. I can remember a time I really didn't want to go back to that school...I cried and insisted to never return. My mom got the 'niddy griddy' from me eventually and found out I did NOT like the 'milk break'....they'd deliver milk to our classroom, and invariably the delivery man would set the crate of milk glasses [yes, they were GLASS back then] on the steam radiator..............making the milk terribly warm by the time our milk break would come, and I don't like warm milk. Even to this day I won't touch warm milk. In fact, the icier the better. It's just a nasty memory I think. But, once the teacher and mom found out the reasoning behind my hate of school, I wasn't forced to drink the milk. And I returned happy as a lark. Loving school from that day forward!! My home in Nebraska still stands. As does my aunt's home.
Of course, when we left for Colorado, dad sold the house...but, my Aunt Mary lived in this house on Madison Avenue for decades. Only to be sold when she became unable to keep it up by herself. My grandfather lived with her for years...she was a widow around the age of 50 or so, being that her husband was wounded in WWII and suffered from his wounds only to die at a young age also. I remember staying overnight at her house a lot...she had an upstairs room made up just for me. I so often remember waking up with the smell of breakfast being cooked downstairs and the bed being by the window and a huge walnut tree just outside...and cardinals singing to me each morning. She ended up selling it, moving into an assisted living home in Lincoln and died years ago. By the way, the stories my grandfather could tell...one was coming to Nebraska in a covered wagon in the late 1800s. I swear I could go on and on with my nostalgic look back in time. But, I'll stop here. There is a need for me to get busy for the day's work. I'm gonna make sure I get outdoors and spread ground pepper in my rose gardens and tomato 'patch'. Yep, I do that and it works. You see, the neighborhood cats love to use our yard for a litter box. Putting ground pepper on top of the soil works...keeps them boogers from diggin' and poopin'!!!