I have not posted here in so long that I have forgotten how to even add a photo, which had been my general MO: post photo, write witty commentary, in that approximate order. It was the creation of this random blog that goaded me into taking more photos in the first place, so it is time to return to my pictures, my natterings and post away, brilliance be damned.

This one is from a big box store in Mexico, where I fell for the hysterically happy creatures on their cereal boxes. This is one happy zebra, yes?

And the rooster on this box is no slouch in the enthusiasm department either. Understand this is still cereal we're talking about here. Cereal.

Even the grocery carts were electric colors. Inspired.

Yet another in-progress shot, documenting that indeed there is more than one square completed to date. Excellent. Back to work . . .

Okay, so the pup makes the cut because of her coloring, being so in tune with the whole black-and-white quilt theme. We'll forgive her the occasional spot of brown and those floppy ears.

Speaking of quilting for others, this is a work-in-progress shot of my first-born and his young brides' wedding quilt. I am under strict orders to NOT hand sew this one, as he received his baby quilt alarmingly close to his fourteenth birthday. My track record is poor, to put it gently.

Love this wall o' spools, though I would have preferred that they all be the wonderful old wooden spools, without the invasion of the inferior white plastics items. Still, it was a shot taken in someone else's sewing room, so who am I to quibble? This photo op was at a meeting of Quilting for Others (not the creepy sort from the TV show "Lost", just folks in need). We meet twice a month and complete projects that we donate to hospitals, children's homes, etc.  I am happily in my element: downing mugs of aggressive coffee from the maker on the kitchen counter, wolfing forkfuls of homemade cake topped with Cool Whip and coconut, absorbing the contented sounds of hissing steam irons, thrumming sewing machine motors and softly chattering heads bent over their hand-sewing. And my rudimentary sewing skills are even being put to good use. All in all, sublime.

Before these handmade hearts were swept into a plastic bag to be carried off to my nib's classroom for distribution on Friday, I took a quick shot of his heap, each card in a combination of colors he had deemed to be perfect for that kid and with a chocolate heart stuck to each middle. As it so often goes, in the end, there were more chocolates than valentines. Darn those bags of 20 when there are 27 cards to be made. You just know it's deliberate. I took it upon myself to dispense with the excess. 

This meal had such grand potential: the fresh ginger, the lime, the light through the window casting a romantic glow. Sadly, however, this was its best moment. My last second addition (wildly creative, I thought) of fresh basil leaves, tossed into the pan, turned the outside of the chicken into a frighteningly unnatural color of blue. BLUE. This is only the latest episode in a long line of embarrassing discoveries in my experimental kitchen. Thankfully, the taste was not hideously bad, but it will not be going into the recipe box of hits, that's for sure.