Any Given Sundry

Hightailing It - Thursday 7/16/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000

This is it for my Blogger blog. I'd have stayed, but I topped my photo limit. So dear friends, readers and followers, please come along with me to www.anygivensundry.com and we'll continue the journey.

Thanks for reading and commenting and making this blog so much more interesting with those comments!

There's a capacity?!

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:29:00 +0000

When I tried to publish a new post, I found out that I'd used up all the photo capacity that I've been allotted by Blogger. Well, I guess it had to happen. It's been four years, after all! Will have to buy space or make space.

I'm taking some time to copy the whole thing, using Copy and Paste functions, into a Word file. Sigh.

Catting Around - Saturday 6/27/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Nice try, big guy.

One of the resident peacocks at the Cat House Feline Conservation Center. We planned to do this with CuzP and CuzM about a month ago, but then he got tickets to see the Detroit Redwings in the Stanley Cup playoffs. His excuse was as lame as this guy's hiding place. ;)

One of the boys takes a nice dirty bath.

This fellow was quite upset about his food dish being moved. Jumped up on the bars at head height when the volunteer pulled his dish out of the enclosure.

She must be able to read him well, to have the confidence to let him lick her hand within seconds of snarling and jumping. Yipes. Not me!

Cuz-M goes eye to eye with the big cat.

Wonderful grounds. Many of the enclosures have running water in pools. Most if not all have living trees or shrubs in them. Lots of shade in a park-like environment. Which is amazing, given that the area around this is serious Mojave Desert.

Can you see the grooves the big cats make when they play with a bowling ball. Yipes!

Cats are cats, no matter how big. Roby enjoys a good scratch from an official volunteer.

Do not try this at home.

Hydra flirts shamelessly with a female peacock, offering her water from the palm of his hand. She comes closer, closer...

And decides he needs a good dirt bath before she'll consider his advances.

Doc spent a lot of time hollering for his human mama, who raised him. Finally, he climbed into his water trough and used the sides to amplify his voice. Yeah, animals act on pure instinct. Sure.

Here and Here - Monday 6/23/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Mom made graham cracker cookies! Okay, just one.

Stopped on the way to meet up with Pegerty to take a shot of Green Gables, at Big Lake. The first house my parents shared.

Breakfast at Bob Evans in Columbia City at 11 am. I waited till the last to have this, because it's seriously addictive and I didn't want to have it more than once. Pegerty was the voice of reason. We got two orders and a side of fruit for three people. Thank goodness.

It's soooooo good.

Drove to Indianapolis for the flight back to L.A. It actually felt kind of right to spend a couple of hours driving.

Somehow the Theme Restaurant looks even more futuristic during renovations.

The 405 was a mess, so we cut across town. Hydra drove, so I had time to take a photo of this pretty door along Highland Boulevard.

It's nice to be home, but as soon as I get here, the homesickness sets in. How is that?

Sailing the Corn - Monday 6/22/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:44:00 +0000

B shares her freshly picked peas with me! She also pulled radishes for our lunch. Mmmm.

J aboard the Hasty Decision. Great name for a sailboat, huh? Seats six. When are they gonna give her a maiden run on the Pacific is what I want to know.

B in her kitchen. This is typical B, telling a great story.

View of the pond from the lovely newly enclosed front porch. Family wedding photos on the wall there.

Hoosier sunset, on the way back home...erm, to Mom's house.

Um, yeah. Gotta say, that's a little sad.

Commemorates three of Indiana's 5 vice presidents: Dan Quayle (Huntington), Thomas Marshall (Columbia City), and Thomas Hendricks (Shelbyville), all of whom lived along State Road 9.

Hoosier Sunday - Sunday 6/21/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Mom holds a nest I found while trimming one of the shrubs yesterday. Isn't it beautiful?

Cool mural in an alley in Churubusco, IN.

Mom, Pegerty and I ditch our shoes on the way into the maze of plantings that is Joy's Flowers.

They look like blossoms, don't they?

Interesting little platforms leading up to a tiny window. Hmm.

Worked up an appetite, so we stopped at the Magic Wand in 'Busco. Great sign. Inside the diner: grilled tenderloin. Wish I'd seen the huge, decorated (presumably empty) hornet's nest hanging over the booth next to ours before we walked out. An interesting addition to the clown motif inside.

Turtle Days just ended last night. They used to think there was a giant (Loch Ness style) turtle living in a lake near Churubusco. The rumor was still going when I was in school. Here's the story as it's told by the Chamber of Commerce.

Ended up in Columbia City again, where Pegerty and I walked downtown and spent a little time chatting in the gazebo on the courthouse lawn and watching the sunlight drain from the sky. Stopped by Beans' place on the way home.

Sigh.

You Don't Remember Me - Saturday 6/20/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:22:00 +0000

...but I remember you.

Those are just song lyrics. We were a small class (90 graduated) and although sometimes it was hard to recognize people, we figured it out. I could usually get people when they smiled.

I've hashed and rehashed this on Facebook and Kodak Gallery, so I'm a little over it.

It was nice to catch up with people, but it's hard to talk about much more than job and kids. I really loved that we had it at a class member's house and it was all very casual.

Bonfire of the Sanities - Friday 6/19/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:43:00 +0000

My sister feeds me weeds! And she always has.

She used to make a violet and nasturtium salad for me when I had a cold. The photos I took of the wild sorrel frittata she whipped up for breakfast didn't come out, but here are the original herbs as picked from Mom's yard. Served alongside freshly picked strawberries and chai. Mmm.

I met up with Mom after her line dance club and we went to visit Aunt Gertie. She'll be 100 years old in 4 months! She's delightful and interesting. I'm related to her both by blood (Dad's side) and marriage (Mom's side).

And they wonder why all us kids married people from out of state. Gotta dilute that gene pool a little every so often.

Lunch at The Nook in downtown Columbia City. Mom and I split a Coney Dog basket. Had chocolate Cokes to go with it. Used to get vanilla Sprites, but they haven't carried an uncola for decades now, they say.

Cool mural on the wall at The Nook. Painted by Kenny Allen in the early 80s.

The picnic table awaits our family and friends get together. Bonfires are our traditional way to celebrate, and it was wonderful to see a bunch of my cousins and their kids. Some friends from elementary and high school came too, so we got a jump on tomorrow night's reunion.

The un-flat version of Flat Brayden was there, and we had a group photo taken... Brayden, Flat Brayden, me, and the copy of Flat Stanley they brought for me!

The weather kept toying with us all night long. It finally really started raining around 10 pm, which broke it up. Except a couple cousins and I stood around talking in the soft warm rain. Guess we never did have enough sense to come in out of it, even as kids.

The Bug Island Trio Rides Again - Thursday 6/18/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:56:00 +0000

On the way home, we drove down Groveland Drive, aka the backside of Big Lake. Wow, it is really gorgeous back there.

Mom stopped so I could pick some mulberries. These are a weird fruit. Not terribly flavorful, but there's something addictive (to me) about pulling them off the tree and eating them. About one in every 15 is really sweet and flavorful.

The road home. That's where I grew up, on the left. Lots of good old trees.

The barn across the road. Mom's been taking photos of this barn and drawing it for probably more than 50 years. It was intact when I was a kid, but no livestock was in it when I played there. There were stalls and a few pieces of interesting antiquated machinery inside.

I'm so glad we went over and took pictures. A couple of weeks later Mom told me that it was dismantled. So sad to see it finally gone.

Met up with my nephew, the culinarily, musically and writingly talented Beans, in his apartment in downtown Columbia City. He served me this brew, which caused me to sing a capella with my mom and sister at an open mic later in the evening.

Yeah, the Bug Island Trio took the stage at Mad Anthony's (fka The Munchie) after Beans did a heartfelt, sometimes rollicking set of songs. We did our standard trio of a capella tunes in three part harmony : Music, Music, Music; Under the Bamboo Tree, and I've Been Workin' on the Railroad. Yeah, hokey old stuff, but we have some fun interwoven harmonies and parts and we actually got people's attention. A guy at the bar high-fived us all on our way back to our table!

As we left the stage, the host said, "Well, [Beans], this explains a lot."

I love my family.

Into the Woods! - Wednesday 6/17/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:49:00 +0000

We started our day with our project of updating the oral history project we started in 1991. Nice view from the front of the inn.

Hiked through the woods toward the nature center. It was a big overcast, but really lovely.

A terrific ranger at the nature center showed us how to make our own twine out of cattail reeds. Cool!

We took a short cut back to the inn via the toboggan run. Looks like it must be a lot of fun in winter.
We discovered a great restaurant in Angola. The Village Kitchen on the corner of Maumee and Superior. Yummy home made food at incredible prices. Pie for $1.29 a slice.

All right then!

This, my friends, is a prime example of a breaded tenderloin sandwich. Mmmm. It was $2.79 and then you could add one side for $1.29 or two sides for $1.79. The pepper pot soup was amazing and the basket of fries were crunchy and great.

Back at the inn, we think about working off some of those calories by renting a kayak but... nah. We ended up in the inn's library, reading some interesting books we found there. Mine was a history of McCutchenville. Yeah, I know, but it was really well written!

Potawatomi? Hey, Potawato- YOU! - Tuesday 6/16/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Mom and I headed north to Pokagon State Park, where we'll spend a couple of nights at the partly historic Potawatomi Inn. Really nice hotel on a big lake in park. Lots of family stuff to do.

The inn from the woods.

Sort of sad little graveyard which is stuck between the road and a shopping center in Angola. Eek.

Elkhart - Monday 6/15/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Brain shows off some of Elkhart's more intriguing history. This little marker was made by a local dentist. He's gone now, and the marker has fallen over, but the new owners of the house had the good sense not to get rid of it.

Yeah. That's right. It's made of TEETH!

Brain doesn't have anything quite so grisly in his back yard, thank goodness. Wonderful house and yard.

Pretty little pool house.

There are a lot of lovely accents and different views from here and there. This is next to the pond!

Buddha likes poppies.

I got to meet one of the equine members of the family. Casey. What a sweetheart.

Sunny puts Casey through his paces. She's terrific with him.

Later, she talked me into staying the night, which was a great decision. We stayed up till 2 o'clock playing Cranium. Went to see Brain play tennis with his friends the next morning.

South Bend Chocolate Company - Monday 6/15/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:18:00 +0000

My brother Brain maintains his dignity throughout our tour of the South Bend Chocolate Company!

Wow, it really is a lot like the scene from I Love Lucy! Love that it's such a small, simple operation.

We had samples from the box of imperfects. I chose yummy vanilla cream.

That's a lot of love in those boxes.

Arispa demonstrates the proper method for making chocolate dipped spoons. It's a skill we've been lacking in our family up until now.

The chocolate is really good. If you're in South Bend, you should check it out. We took the extended 45-minute tour, which is $4.00. The 25-minute tour is free.

Our guide forgot to give us our goodie-bags at the end, which Arispa realized after we'd left. Boo hoo!

Breakfast in Paducah - Sunday 6/14/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:59:00 +0000

Had the pies been brought out earlier, I might have skipped the eggs and grits! All home made!

B-Lite tucks into a biscuit. Life as a Kentuckian has definite perks.

K-Lite and J-Lite observe the progeny. Blurry because I didn't want to use a flash, but I kind of like it, too.

B-Lite vs. the Wading Pool - Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:06:00 +0000

B-Lite meets the pool a few drops at a time.

Now he's getting the hang of it! (This is my sister's daughter's son. Sigh.)

Frog boy!

Kitty demonstrates the proper use of a garden hose. As a microphone, of course!

There's a little tune me and the band have been working on. I'd like to share that with you now.

"Oh the shark has--pretty teeth dear-- and he shows them--pearly white!"

Actually, what he said was "Buh buh-buh, buh buh" but I swear it was in the same key as Kitty sang in!

Back to you, Kitty!

Doing a show always takes it out of me.

Done with the hat now.

Mama's on her way to a friend's wedding, leaving Brody in the delighted clutches of Auntie, Grandma and Great Grandma!

Paducah's Artist Relocation Program - Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:39:00 +0000

We met artist Nancy Calcutt in her gallery in Paducah's Lower Town Arts District. It was open studio day, which comes around every second Saturday of the month.

This town of some 26,000 people created an amazing program in 2000 in which they help artists relocate from other parts of the country to the historic neighborhood. Nancy told us that the artists meet once a month to discuss the business end of being an artist in a community like this, since many of them had had showings, etc., but hadn't owned their own space before.

Know an established artist who could use a break? Send them to the Artist Relocation Program, and they might just end up with their own home/gallery/studio. There's info and an application on the site. I just looked at the available properties and they are really amazing.

Her portraits are my favorite. Love the colors in this one.

I recognized the subject of the painting to the bottom right as someone we'd just seen hanging out at Etcetera. He's a local.

Nancy's home on the left and gallery/studio on the right.

Wow, do you think they could use some writers down there to round out the culture? I'd be willing to put my words on a wall!

Observe the dreamy expression on KFlight's face when talking about practicing her own art form, pottery. I hope she does get into a class before too long. It's so good for the soul to get caught up in your art, whatever it is.

Downtown Paducah - Saturday 6/13/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Masses of cone flowers planted in the downtown parking lot. Nice touch!

Lunch at Kirchoff's bakery and sandwich shop was terrific. We bought three sandwiches (portobello mushroom, chicken salad and grilled brie) and an gyros salad and split them. Not a bad bite in the bunch, but the chicken salad is probably the most addictive. Mmm.

B-Light eyes the grilled brie.

Just nice to see that people are enjoying their outdoor space, even in an alley.

The shorter building is a former slave market. It currently houses a museum, but we were on CBT (Central Baby time) so we didn't go inside. :)

KFlight demonstrates the proper way to interact with the murals on the flood wall that defends downtown Paducah from the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.

I make the common mistake of posing with the flood markers. The two at the bottom are from 1887 (54.2 feet) and 1913 (54.3 feet). Waaay up at the top is the 1937 marker (60.8 feet) which denotes the flood that prompted the flood wall to be built.

Mom and I talked to an old-timer sitting at a picnic table nearby, who told us that they had German prisonsers of war building the wall during World War II. He was pretty interesting until he got bitter about the changes in the world and started advocating prayer and a hickory stick in every classroom.

I excused us saying, "We have to catch up with that baby down there."

"That baby doesn't have a chance of--" he started, but then I tuned him out. Sigh.

Hey, this chair in the window at Etcetera Coffeehouse is very similar to mine at home...same fabric! Yummy beverages here!

A couple of enterprising young girls came by and posted this sign in the window while we were there. A guy sitting at an outside table said, as I was taking this photo, "It makes me want to get a dog just so I can hire them!"

B-light got a little tired riding around in the car.

And he's out!

No, I mean, really out!

Mt. Kenton Cemetery, Paducah, KY - Saturday 6/13/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:25:00 +0000

I got up and went out for a fast walk in the Mount Kenton cemetery, which is across the street from the hotel Mom and I stayed in. Pretty place with lots of nice paths.

The columns in the background were impressive from all over the cemetery.

This explains them.

These plot markers seemed unique to me, but maybe this is a regional thing? There are family names on them and individual graves behind them.

Close up of one of the names.

I think this was the oldest gravestone I found. Not even two years old when she died in 1852.

Meet the Babe! - Friday 6/12/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Yeah, this is it.... The beginning of my vacation photos.

This is really just for me, isn't it?

This is the amazing B-Light. Honestly, the kid smiled most of the time I was there.

Not only that, he introduced me to Pat the Bunny, which I had never read. He brought me the book the first night we met and sat on my lap. He already knew when to pet, sniff, look in the mirror.

Son of the fabulous K-Flight and J-Light.

Street Art - Monday 6/8/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Very cool street art at the corner where Highland dumps into La Brea.

Weird Cloud - Saturday 6/6/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:19:00 +0000

No, Weird Cloud is not my Native American name, thank you very much.

It's this thing that was hovering over Palmdale on Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure this formation is caused by a lee wave. If you Google "lee wave" and click on Images, you get photos of things that look like this.

The View From Behind the Band - Friday 6/5/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:36:00 +0000

We were invited to lead a Songmakers hoot on Friday night! It's a fun responsibility and honestly an honor to be invited to lead a hoot. Basically, all we had to do was open the evening with a song (in this case On the Road Again) and make sure everyone gets a turn to play and/or sing.

Kat's singing. Bobbie, Kay, Jim and Nina (clockwise in the background).

Frank takes a break on the dobro. Terry rests and listens behind him.

I don't have the energy to make up nicknames for everyone, and there are no innocents to protect here.

Except maybe Hydra.

Joel dreams up another witty remark.

Barry!

The very cool way that Barry adds some shimmer to his cymbals. We seldom have a drummer at a hoot, and he's really great at reading the tone of each song and adding the right amount of percussion.

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate - Thursday 6/4/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:54:00 +0000

So I went for my fancy-schmanzy haircut in WeHo on Thursday. It was a lot of fun, and the stylist was very sweet and entertaining. He's in town for a couple of days, but is in the middle of taking care of the Divine Miss M during her current run in Las Vegas.

Yes, the last person before me whose hair he styled was Bette Middler. So that makes us sisters under the follicales or something, doesn't it?

All I know is, I can't stop humming "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

The before shot, in which I consider myself a blank canvas, ready to be transformed into a sophisticated woman-about-town ala--- I don't know, New Yorker cover art?

The after shot, which frankly doesn't look much different to me. The way he blow dryed it, it had a lot of bounce and curled up at the bottom.

Do you think I am ever going to be able to get it to do anything remotely like this again? Forecast is very iffy on that one.

I ended a twenty-minute bout with a curl brush and blow dryer in tears the other morning. It just wasn't happening. I was so frustrated and upset.

"Jeez, it's just hair," you're thinking, right? Well, it's just hair and I'm going to my 30th high school reunion in a couple of weeks. And you know, this cut was supposed to take 10 years and 20 pounds off my face.

I spent a few days moaning about this to anyone who would listen, thinking that what I should have said was, "Give me the most flattering haircut you can and I will make it work," instead of the more subtle, "I won't cry if you cut my hair short." I think when he asked why I let it grow out and I said to make it easy at the gym, he decided not to take much length off.

Please note that objects in foreground appear larger
than is actually flattering

I've been feeling like I blew my chance to get something different and exciting. But you know, this fellow deals with a lot of high-maintenance clients whose long hair is part of their careers. So he can probably do without the drama of a too-short cut.

Besides which, if I can't make his most simple cut work, how would I have fared with the makeover cut I had vaguely in mind?

As Los Angelista advised, I could go back and ask him to fix it. But you know, there is no chance I'll be spending $200 to see him again. And he's out of town for the next few weeks, tending to The Divine ( I feel I can call her that now).

So this morning (a few days later still) I wet it and let it go. He said the cut would release the curls if I decided not to blow dry.

This is my naturally wavy self. Maybe I should woman-up and just go with the natural thing my hair wants to do and fashion be damned.

Sigh.

Moove Over! - Wednesday 6/3/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:02:00 +0000

My Moo Cards arrived today! Even the packaging is fabulous.

I found out about these at the Toma Leche blogger event when Los Angelista pulled hers out and we all oohed and ahhed and chose our favorite design.

These are about half the size of a traditional business card but more sturdy, and they come packed in a nice little plastic box. I ordered the small orange card holder, too.

What's really cool is that you can order up to 100 different designs in a pack of 100 cards. You can use the nifty designs they offer on the site, or you can upload your own photos and crop them to fit on the cards.

I used my own photos and I really like the way they turned out. I used 14 different images. My contact info is on the back. Just my email address and my blog address. I can write my telephone number on it if I decide I want to.

If you're interested in getting your own Moo cards, email me for a discount code!

Dinner, Again - Monday 6/1/2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sundry) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Cooked up the last of the garbanzo beans. Steamed them and added a little very good olive oil. Wonderful farmer's market tomatoes and fresh basil. Fresh baby artichokes sauteed with onions and garlic and topped with a little Parmesan cheese.

I found the recipe for the baby artichokes at Simply Recipes. I'd never used fresh baby artichokes before. It does take a while to clean these, but they don't have well-developed chokes, so you can just eat the whole trimmed artichokes.

I love artichokes, really I do.