Calgon Take me Away! + Magazine Winner

Hi there!!

Where have I been?

I've been here, there and everywhere.

Spinning busy as ever.

Busier than ever.

Mad lady.

I hardly have had time to breathe or sleep.

My brother is here from LA.

(I went to see The Conjuring with sister and brother, eeee!)

Mombie and Dad were in town for Mombies lovely b-day.

We went into town to celebrate with them.

Got dolled up.

Darn, that takes time, I forgot.

The peaches kept coming in in droves.

Freezing, preserving, canning, baking baking baking.

Picking.

Making pot after pot of midnight jam.

Jam from here til winter for sure.

I made hundreds of peach empanadas (Mexican pastry), boxed as gifts.

And dispersed.

The cicadas flew in to gobble peaches, haha, we were on to them.

Acreage needed mowing.

(I am the mower, I love mowing even though it's pass out hot)

Peaches needing slicing, hundreds and hundreds oh my!

More than hundreds.

I had a deadline.  Details, photos, wonderful work, love it! Working away with that.

Mowing by night, and early day light.

Trees needed trimming.

Tending + harvesting.

More and more veggies coming in.

Washing, chopping, refrigerating.

Eating.

Custom pendant, custom sculpting.

Can I please put my feet up for a second?

Just a second though, as I have a lattice peach pie in the oven.

I want to give it to the couple at the end of the lane.

It is mad busy round here, isn't it?

Mombie says, and you don't even have kids.

And I said, well, if I had kids I wouldn't be doing all of that.

Would I?

Wait, I do have two kids.

Furry.

Does the older curly haired man count too?  Umm, yes.

He counts as 4 screaming children me thinks 😉

The good news is, it's time to wind down a bit.

Although, the mess that is my house, oh!

Wanna help me clean it?

 

How about some random photos of where I have been?

Let's see…

I went to an old hotel.

Lovely lanterns and stars hanging everywhere…

There were cocktails in a curiously shaped room with interesting edging, and a slice of Mombie's face.

A treasure in Tucson.

The Arizona Inn.

Go there, it's awesome.

Beautiful desert.

I love the desert so much.

Of course, I went up winding staircases and found little doors, with creepy squeaks and faint laughter.

I swear.

I had tea for dessert.

Move dad, I am trying to take a picture here 🙂

(Poor Dadly)

My sister and brother said it was The Conjuring armoire and scary lady would come out.

Darn that Bathsheba witch, scared me crazy.

I repeated her name in my sleep all night after the movie.

Serves me right.

Lovee wore bee stripes to dinner.

We love bees.

Save the beeees!

I wanted the kumquat trees in big pots.

We laughed so hard we nearly died.

Laughter upon laughter when you get my family together.

Oh my!

We are just so wrong.

Laugh so hard your head and stomach hurt.

It's no wonder they didn't kick us out, with their fancy 7 courses of perfect bites.

So yumm.

Duck, and scallops, and lamb, and salmon, and vichyssoise – and who knows what else we ate.

Asparagus, tiny edamame scattered across the plate with carrots, like art.

And the desserts.

OH MY!

True art on a plate.

I just looked.

As you know, I really have to be in the mood for dessert.

Lemon water to rinse your hands after dinner.

Nice get away for a girl who runs around with mud feet and unruly hair these days.

But wait, I forgot the wine and cocktails.

Lovee and I had water, how boring we are.

But we both feel rotten if we drink.

Although, we did share a thimble full of Six Grapes port last week.

(it's excellent by the way, I keep it around for guests)

There were paintings whose eyes followed you around.

And libraries.

Such old novels, the oldest locked up.

We snooped, and got into all sorts of shenanigans, sis and I.

(sis below, aka Bobbypin Bandit)

My brother and I pretended we were in The Shining movie.

We strolled after dinner…

As Mombie sat in front of the giant fireplace.

(that's her foot and arm)

We'll be back in winter when the fire can be lit, we agreed.

(Mombie is hipper than I could ever hope to be)

Mombie and Dadley stayed in the piano bar requesting songs from the pianist.

And I rushed home to finish my work.

 If you go watch The Conjuring, take a sweater or poncho to cover your face/eyes with.

I did.

It wasn't soooo scary, but maybe I had already scared myself enough before watching it.

Plus I had been listening to all sorts of interviews Andrea Perron was doing.

So, I was prepared, a little.

It was really creepy/unsettling middle to end.

But, what would I know, I covered my face 🙂

 

OH oh, almost forgot…

Magazine winner per random number generator is…

Lavender Dreams!!
Yipppee, please e-mail me your snail mail addy.

 

Thank you for playing, I wish I had a magazine for everyone.

 

Okay, off to check on that pie.

 

Back soon this time 😉

 

Love, V