and they are beautiful

I have always loved birds, real and otherwise...

I have some vivid  and happy memories of birds from my childhood, specifically, a bird mobile that hung above my crib, and the fact that my father's nickname for me was "Jaybird."

Without really trying to I've ended up with a small collection of bird-themed things - little figurines, a print or two, some birdhouses. 

When J and I did The Big Thrift last weekend I remarked that, if I'd wanted to, I could have completed a collection of framed bird prints in one day - they were everywhere. Thinking about it a few days later I realized it's not a bad idea. 

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I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird

 or the rising of the sun on a misty morning.

 There they are, and they are beautiful.  ~ Pete Hamill 

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/

a sense of humor can help

My computer caught a nasty little virus last week, and has been back and forth to the computer guy a few times. We think it's fixed now, but my pictures seem to be gone. All of them - gone.

In other news, I'm driving to Nashville tomorrow for a work thing, and will be back Saturday. I hope the hotel is nice.

And finally, I think I have a master plan for the living room. These pics are all pure inspiration:

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These (below) are all via Jenny at MFAMB:

“Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive,

 tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day”

~ Ann Landers 

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/

to live off a garden

I like garden sheds almost as much as I like gardens. Is that normal?

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In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it.  

~Frank McKinney Hubbard

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/

the prime color of the world

It started raining Friday, and didn't finish until some time late Sunday night. I spent the entire weekend in and around the house, venturing out into the wet when the dogs needed to go, wandering around and peering at all the green. The soft wet pat, pat, pat of rain made a peaceful, friendly melody. 

Every leaf and tree seemed lit from within with a steady green glow that came in the windows and made the house all green and glowy too. 

I  must have lived in the city far too long - I'd nearly forgotten how easily and thoroughly I'm enchanted by rain and leaves and dirt, and the thick gray sky, and the smell of wet wood.

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Green is the prime color of the world, 

and that from which its loveliness arises. 

~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/

a home in your manes

Derby Day. Be careful out there, you stunning, magical, powerful beasts, with your fragile legs and flying manes. May you all cross the finish line unharmed.

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In Memory of Eight Belles

Ah, steeds, steeds, what steeds!
Has the whirlwind a home in your manes?
Is there a sensitive ear, alert as a flame, in your every fiber?
Hearing the familiar song from above,

 all in one accord you strain your bronze chests and, 

hooves barely touching the ground, 

turn into straight lines cleaving the air, 

and all inspired by God it rushes on!~ Nikolai V. Gogol, translated from Russian

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/