Happiness Times Two

These two videos are really inspiring. I couldn't decide which I liked more, so I put them both here! The first one is about a new movie coming out called The Shift. This is the trailer. It's a bit foreboding in the first 30 seconds, but then it's very hopeful and inspiring. And, I feel that it rings very true. We can do these things. I liked the part that says leadership does not require you to be an elected official. Service can be done by anyone. You. Me. Everyone!
The second video is so great. I watch it every few days - ha! The song is called Praan and it is by Gary Shyman (I bought the song from iTunes). Gary's myspace page is here and he has a play list that lets you hear the whole song fo' free. The video is called Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth. It's just beautiful. Enjoy! The words to the song are beautiful too - here they are - but in the song the words are sung in Hindi or some other language:

The same stream of life
that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world
and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life
that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life
that is rocked in the ocean-cradle
of birth and of death,
in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious
by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages
dancing in my blood this moment.

Kitchen Poetry -- #5

Kitchen poetry, Katie style. There was a nice breeze coming in the window this morning and the girlie was sniffing all that was in the air. It's starting to get cooler, off and on. Yay! We tend to be somewhat season-less here in Cali, so it's nice to feel some sort of weather change from the sunny and 76. I know many folks will tell me to nip it. But I would honestly love to have more of a fall. OK, maybe I have to draw the line at the white stuff. While it is pretty, I am so not good at walking on it!

Kitchen Poetry -- #4

The morning coffee and bread ritual. A life without bread is a life not worth living. There are so many diets that tell you to nix the bread. These are not my diets! OK, so certain sizes of jeans of days past are in the very back of that drawer, and may never come out, but I happily munch my sourdough toast in the morning and I'm not looking back! Bread does the heart good. Actually, whole wheat IS good for you. I usually have whole wheat, but that loaf of sourdough caught my eye yesterday, and I enjoy its chewy goodness.

Happiness Abounds

There are some great posts out in blogland about the election. Love this one that I saw today at simplesong.

Kitchen Poetry -- #3

Ahh, the kitchen poetry continues. Some of my favorites are here and here! The second one is in Italian!

Mr. Owly here was picked up at an estate sale. At first, he held dish towels, but now he's the keeper of paper napkins. I wonder what his original purpose was? Hmmm?

Yet another little corner. The big red pepper mill and my favorite instant coffee. Kosher salt is kept in the Italian Food Seasoning jar. And above it all, a pic of sweet Saylor when she was but a wee pup.















Deliciously-scented Mrs. Meyers kitchen products. The dish soap and hand soap are so fragrant. She also makes a great all-purpose cleaner that is so nice for floors; makes the whole house smell great. Yummy scents. The lavender dryer sheets are also wonderful.

Oh Happy Day

Two magnificent events occurred today and my heart is truly filled with joy and hope. Barack Obama won the Presidency and Prop. 2 passed. Last, but not least, votes are still being counted for Prop. 8, and we are remaining hopeful.

(Edited 11/5: Looks like Prop. 8 did pass which means the few folks I know who actually got married during the 5-month window will be at the mercey of the courts to find out if their unions will be rescinded. Pitifully wrong.)

Kitchen Poetry -- Part 2

At the end of the night, before we hit the hay, the last thing on the day's agenda is Katie's evening eye drops. She gets desmopressin drops for her (rare) diabetes insipidus condition. Twice a day. It's not true diabetes, just a mimicking of symptoms. Poor girlie, but she is so very good taking them and they work great to alleviate her issues. She just lays in James' arms, and we hear not a single mew. Of course, it is immediately followed by treats! The kitchen is usually cleaned up by this time and just the under counter lights are on. The low lighting called out for a couple more kitchen pictures for the Simple Sparrow blog challenge!

Kimono as Art

On Saturday, I went with James and my in-laws to the Itchiku Kubota show at the SDMA. It was truly breathtaking. Kubota's son, Itchiku Kubota II, spoke first about his father. A truly touching fact that he revealed is how this show marked 6 years since his father's passing and that Buddhists celebrate 2 years, 6 years, and 12 years after someone dies. I felt honored that we could be a part of the 6-year marking.

You can view some of the exhibit at this site. And a cool video here. One of the most interesting points of the discussion was learning about Kubota's moment of truth. Although he began studying yuzen (rice-paste resist) dyeing at age 14, six years later when he was 20, he stumbled upon a fragment of elegantly patterned cloth in the Tokyo National Museum. "Trembling in the face of such mastery and refinement of beauty," he relates, he stood transfixed for three hours. "In a sudden moment, I encountered a source of boundless creativity which revealed to me my calling." Oh, would not any of us not relish a happening such as this? To be propeled to do something with such conviction? Another amazing fact was that after he became so inspired it took him another 20 years to perfect the technique and then another 20 years to have his first show.

Kitchen Poetry

There's nothing like a little blog challenge to get your blog mojo going. Sometimes I get in a slump over what to post. But, over at Simple Sparrow, Toni is looking for photos of kitchen life, or her term: kitchen poetry. Neat. Last night, part of our dinner consisted of an organic tomato salad with balsamic vinegar and snipped herbs from the new herb garden, which is growing I might add! BTW, I heard about this challenge at the one and only Foziewisp.

SpookTabular Halloween

One of my favorite holidays, after maybe Thanksgiving, is Halloween. And, OK, so I get pretty giddy around Christmas, too. And Easter and all those bunnies isn't exactly not fun! I love holidays. But, here we are on Halloween!
Check Miss Kate looking through the front screen as I decorated the outside of the house. She would run when little goblins walked up.

I was dressed as a witch this year - my usual costume, except when I do Country Woman which consists of this long, green vintage skirt and a white shirt and boots! Ha.

Funny pic! Guess I needed a little red eye correction feature, but for a spooky Halloween picture it works great!





















How about this adorable little Spider Man!? He and his Mom live in the neighborhood and they walk with their rottweiler every day past our house. So glad they stopped! He's just darling.

Birthday Goodness

Hi everyone out in blog-land. I hope this post finds you delightfully well. I am great, and even recently celebrated a birthday - on Tuesday the 28th to be precise. I got a gaggle of cards which ALWAYS makes me smile. I love seeing the mailman arrive on the days before, and on my b-day, because I usually have a card or two each day and it's so fun to open them. Here's my haul:








OK, so this next bit falls into the 'funny or sad' category. So, during my birthday shopping trip, I was walking by Godiva chocolate and saw this chocolate cat in the window. It was really cute, and it looked just like Kate. So, in I go, and buy it. Well, I sat it by the window where I had all my cards standing and it somehow melted.
















So . . . now it looks like this - kind of like it's turning it's head waaaaaaaay sideways. I cracked up when I discovered it. Because ya know? It's still tastes good. I just had a little nibble off it's melted paws. I couldn't resist posting the melty picture. It's pretty hilarious. Poor chocolate kitty!

A Sunday Herbal

Today I spent the late afternoon planting herbs! It was very relaxing and grounding. No soil pun intended. There's marjoram, basil, mint, chives, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and dill. Except for the thyme, there's a Mammas and the Papas' song in there. Ha! They are now all nicely situated on a plant stand that was a gift from my friend and Foziewisp blogger, Ms. S. I adore the stand, and love the way the terracotta pots look on it. Fun! Some of the herbs seem kind of small in the pots, but fingers are crossed that they'll sprout up!













At another corner of the house, I planted some of the herbs in vintage California pottery pots I've picked up at estate sales. The yellow ones and the green one were each 50 cents. Gotta love that. I just realized the white iron tables are also from Miss Sherri - purchased at one of her yard sales! Stuff doesn't really ever go away, it just changes addresses!

A Wonderful Wedding, Oh Happy Day

The happy event has taken place! (Just look at this lovely program and fan that was on each chair. The calligraphy is amazing.) On Saturday, Oct. 18th, Erin and Colin tied the knot in the Bahamas at the Ocean Club. The garden there was just gorgeous, and the happy couple were beautiful and shining with love. Since the marriage had to comply with Bahamian laws, there was E.'s grandfather, Charles, who conducted most of the ceremony and then a Bahamian pastor who did another part. But, before they could pronounce them husband and wife, the bride and groom had to step behind the altar and sign their marriage license. It was all very Bahamian.

This is my brother Guy, Erin's Dad, standing at the altar with E., right before he stepped away (on his terms, of course) to "give her" to her husband-to-be, Colin.













Here they are listening to their vows. I'm so proud of my sweet niece. She said her vows with such strength. Of all of the ceremony, this part made me cry a bit.








This was the walkway next to the area where they were married. A couple other detail pics follow of the garden structure. It was so beautiful. I will get some history on this for another post.