Da Goddess

For those who didn’t chase down the answer on FB or Twitter, my guess what post was:

It’s my one-earred rhino keychain.

As some of you may recall, Orthodox Easter isn’t always the same day as “Western” Easter, so this year we get TWO!!!

For those of you celebrating Easter with most of the world, Happy Easter! May the bunny bring you many yummy treats.

For the Orthodox amongst us, we’ll be back to do this again in May.

If I told you what it was, you still probably wouldn’t believe me.

Okay, the item in the photo is indicated by the white arrow.

And now you know.

I’ll try to come up with more “guess what this is” posts if you’re up to playing them. Once a week sound good?

Any guesses as to what this is?

He’s a handsome boy and he knows it

(more…)

Because this is what I get when I go out in the backyard.

I know I’ve posted photos of the oranges I picked before and this looks like I’m just bragging, but C’MON! These are like sunshine you can touch and taste.

Since I was flat broke this year, I had to make my gifts. The following are what I gave to family.

You may recognize these images from photos I’ve posted here. Yep, that’s where the inspiration came from!

Going from photography to painting (with watercolor pencils, tentatively at first, and then using a wet brush to finish the job) was a big jump for me. I was nervous as hell, but I’m happy with what I accomplished. I’m also feeling braver and will tackle more of these projects in the future. It’s kind of exciting! It’s like I gave a gift to myself in the process of creating presents for others. Woo hoo!

LD was over yesterday and he helped with a few projects around the house. He helped me get a couple of trashcans separated (the one was so heavy, it took both of us to pick it up), helped water all the plants in the backyard, and he helped me pick some of the tangerines I couldn’t reach.

He was sent home with a bag of them. And he took a tomato cage, too. He’s turning it into a Christmas Tree for his room.

We also worked on some beading (thanks to Pam) and listened to Christmas music (thanks to Patti). Mr. Creative came up with a very smart way to get one of the bracelets we were working on to fasten properly. Clever kid.

Dad felt good, I wasn’t dead on my feet, and LD was funnier than ever. At one point, I couldn’t stop laughing. In other words, it was a good day.

And now for those tangerines. This particular version has seeds. In fact, I was surprised that one of the small ones had three seeds in just one slice! Go figure. The last batch from the other tree — well, you’d be hard pressed to find even one seed in the entire thing. No matter. Both types are delicious!

More photography cliches and I just don’t care. I love orchids!

I think my favorites is the one in square format.

Bird of Paradise. Kind of a photographic cliche, but definitely one to revisit regardless. Bold colors, slightly masculine parts, definitely feminine parts, otherworldly. How else would you describe it?

I couldn’t resist a B&W version of this feminine view. A little darker. A little more sensual. Just the ticket.

Three types. Don’t remember which is which, though. However, in my search to identify the varieties, I couldn’t find anything that resembled these images. Either I misread the signs in each plant’s pot, or they were mislabeled. I’m going with the latter.

Eh, no matter. I think they’re lovely.

And Kimberley and I had fun cruising around Balboa Park that day.

Love love love this plant! I’ve been fascinated by it for years. It took until recently for me to learn more about it.

Calotropis gigantea has beautiful, waxy flowers that just don’t look of this world. The aroma from this plant is somewhat on the pungent side (although some sources claim it’s not scented, they certainly weren’t sniffing the plant I was). I wouldn’t dab it behind my ears. Actually, that’s a bad idea anyway, since the sap can be extremely irritating to the skin. It’s part of the milkweed family, which, if you know anything about milkweed, can be very toxic to humans if not handled or prepared correctly. So, it’s not a plant I’d play around with much without knowing the exact side effects it can have on the body.

And with that, I will leave you to these images.

Purple Heart Wandering Jew, to be exact. Actually, to be precise, it’s Tradescantia pallida. And it’s lovely.

I think I’d rather have that in a yard than standard ivy.