In between the working, sleeping and endless jaw gnashing I managed to take some pictures. Not very many but at least there were one or two that I thought decent enough to share. On the plant that gave me two beautiful pink flowers a week ago appeared this white and lavender bloom.



And just for fun, here's a "Behind the Scenes at Heather Ink" photograph for you.

The weather was perfect this weekend, 72 and sunny with a slight breeze. In between working and cooking I tried to get outside as much as I could. I think the pups appreciated it!



I also found this little gem hanging out in one of my potted barrels. I planted them last year but they didn't do anything. I couldn't get them to bloom, I thought I was a calla lily failure, so I ripped them out. Or so I thought. There's about four new plants popping up and I'm so excited. What's better than a pink calla lily?

About a week and a half ago we were riding in the car on our way to Los Angeles, the radio was tuned to its usual NPR. Thomas was driving so my thoughts were drifting back and forth from radio to imagination as I watched the Orange County scenery coast by. A report came on talking about teens who use a native Mexican plant as a hallucinogenic. I perked up a little when I heard the plant name, Salvia. "We have that," I say quietly.

Thomas jerks his head toward me with such force the rest of his body and the car follow in turn. "We do?," he asks nearly veering off the freeway.

Sadly, honey, it's not the right variety. It flowers.

Here it is Monday again. We're all having a rough time getting started. The weekend went by too quickly and I don't think we've had enough time to recover. Friday started with a fun night of baking, drinking and playing Wii. Well, the guys played Wii while Jane and I talked about everything from unnecessary vodka packaging to Jazzercise moves. Jane says I no longer look like a marionette but rather a Rockette! Sadly I am a tiny bit too tall to be in the famous Rockette lineup, but I'm sure if I let them know I was available they'd change the height requirements just to let me perform.

Saturday was busy, Thomas and I ran errands where I tried to convince him I need one of these. My efforts have not been successful. But we did see the Matrix or maybe it was part of the Trench Coat Mafia, not sure. This guy was in a full-length black trench-coat. Did I mention it was an absolutely perfect 72 and sunny? I guess that's why I like going to Fry's with Thomas - for the ever-exciting people watching. We moved on and had sushi for lunch. Later we met up with a group of friends for a crazy night of cocktails and dinner.

On Sunday things didn't slow down. I got up for 8:15 am Jazzercise and even stayed for a second class immediately following the first. (I got overly excited because on Saturday I fit into a pair of pants that had been obscenely tight in previous months.) I came home to a recumbent Thomas so I decided to snuggle in and work on my knitting. I've been working on the Manos del Uruguay Four Seasons Throw.



Block 3 is really throwing me for a loop (pun intended). I don't normally make many mistakes on my knitting but thanks to Thomas tying me to a chair and propping my eyes open with toothpicks just to get me to watch a TV show he likes, I got all out of order on my rows. I was marking down that I had finished rows three ahead of where I currently was! It's his fault. I know it.

Even after minor defeat I was still feeling crafty and decided to haul out my summer skirt project. A few weeks ago I bought the Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt pattern from Sowing Sisters along with a cute fabric by Kitty Yoshida.



The pattern is a lot of pieces but it was a lot of fun to sew. It's fully lined with muslin and nearly done. I just have to stitch the hems. I hope to wear it on Wednesday, I know all my knitter friends will be so (sew?) excited about it! I wish I could sit down and finish it right now, but my Monday morning list of things to do is long, but I know I will power through it all because this charmer greeted me when I let the dogs out this morning.

It was a cloudy morning so I decided to snap some shots before it got too hot.



Fresh lemon



Fresh thyme



Fresh hibiscus

Thankfully we only have to do this once a year.







I won't even remember the blisters when I'm sitting out here sipping a fresh mojito.

I had never had success with calla lilies until recently. I always managed to make them die. Quickly. Apparently, the key to success is ignorance. Over the fence, my neighbor gave me root cuttings one afternoon. The only empty pot I had didn't have any drainage holes but I filled it with soil, threw in the cuttings and hoped for the best. Then I left on holiday for two weeks. When I returned I was stunned the plant was still alive and better yet? Growing! Then January and February were filled with rain which constantly made my drain-less pot overflow and sit with lots of water. I would pour off the excess water and shake my head certain the lilies would rot. The plant didn't rot, but thrived. Come spring, I have been rewarded with bloom after bloom and am amazed with its beauty.

My dad had another round of brain surgery yesterday. Since flowers didn't seem right, we sent him a Craftsman baseball cap and some new tools as a get well gift. I picked some pink sweet peas from my garden as a get well bouquet but since he lives about 3,000 miles away they are going to stay on my table and I can think about him every time I admire them. Get well soon Daddy!

Not only does she live... she blooms!



A neighbor started this tree from seed and was kind enough to give to me when I began planning and planting my garden. I of course nearly killed it. Actually everyone but me thought it was dead. I insisted my sister Jen plant it while she was visiting. After rounds and rounds of arguing back and forth she finally relented to my demands and just stuck in the ground. She probably kicked it when I wasn't looking.

In a moment of calm during the massive rainstorm that has been bashing the west coast, I scurried outside and picked four ripe lemons from my new lemon tree.



Of course, with every lemon I pulled from the tree would cause the branch to snap back and soak me with water droplets, but nothing makes you feel sunny like some fresh lemons. And, nothing tastes better than those lemons turned into lemon curd.

An unbelievable phenomenon happened today, it rained! Usually when drizzle is on the forecast the local TV meteorologists break out into StormWatch 2007. I don't think I watched any 'live' television yesterday to have been informed about the unusual deluge that planted itself over our house today.

Thomas found this little slug, apparently awakened by the wet weather, crawling up our sliding door this afternoon.

We had a fantastic sunset last night. My house faces east so mostly enjoy sunrises, but last night the whole sky was brilliant shades of pink, orange and red.

When I first stepped outside the sky looked like this:



I played with the dogs for a while. They were being so cute bouncing all over the garden.



Everything had an indescribable reddish glow:



Probably because the sky was doing this:



And then I broke the news that it was time to go inside...

I seem to have taken an unintentional vacation from blogging and all things internet related. I've still be toting my camera around with me so at least the last few days have not gone by undocumented!

All the baking I did was so much fun. Here is the chocolate mousse, apple pie and pumpkin pie. The chocolate mousse was the best I've ever made!



My apple pie experiment went perfectly. I hadn't made an apple pie before Thursday, and I was very pleased with the result!



We had a great time at my cousin's home for Thanksgiving dinner, although we had a little accident in the driveway!



Then on Friday we just did projects around the house. I washed the dogs and took pictures in the yard.



Pink carpet:



Cactus blossom:



Angel's trumpet tree (that I nearly killed prior to planting, now it's blooming!):



Sassy Lola:



Saturday was completely lazy. I stayed in bed for a while and Lola came to join me. Thomas threw the covers over her and she stayed all cuddled up for a long nap.



All in all it was a much-needed, quiet, restful weekend. The morning will bring a busy week of freelance jobs.

On the adventure quest that happens when Henry and Lola go outside for the first time in the morning, there was a lot of scuffling around. Henry darted in one direction, Lola dashed to his side. I thought it a good time to grab my coffee and my camera and see what all the fuss was about.



My dogs love persimmons! I think they must check the tree everyday, and today the persimmons smelled ripe. They remind me of deer in the wild gingerly selecting their next meal from a nearby tree branch.

Lola got her prize and was off and running, always playing keep-away from Henry.



Once Henry settled in the shade, Lola was safe to enjoy her snack. She only took about one bite before she completely gave up. Lola's nose had convinced her they were ripe, her discerning taste buds let her know otherwise. So she delivered her disappointing morning snack inside to Thomas' feet.

In my bleary-eyed, half awake, half asleep condition this morning I heard something vaguely familiar. I stayed in bed for a while longer weighing my desire for a cup of tea versus my need for more sleep. Then I heard the noise again. Was that thunder?

I pulled myself out of bed and wandered to the window. Off to the west the morning was bright blue with white fluffy clouds, to the south was a wall of black sky. It was thunder! I had heard on the news earlier this week that we might, just might see some remnant rains of Hurricane Dean.



I figured the dark looming clouds would move over us rather quickly and be on their way out to sea. It doesn't rain in Southern California very often, and it would NEVER rain in August! But the thunder got louder and the sky got darker, then it began to drizzle, and it kept drizzling. The drizzling became a steady downpour. Unbelievable!

We all went outside to see it, feel it, watch it. Well the dogs wouldn't feel it. They wouldn't pass the line created by the roof overhang.



I tried to coax them to come play in the rain with me, but no luck. Thomas and I made a mad dash around the yard to pick up things that shouldn't be in the rain. Then we came inside and had a warm bacon and eggs breakfast.

The rain has passed, the yard is almost dry already, but I know this one hour of rain will turn into many hours of conversation around town this week. Because it DOES NOT rain in Southern California in August.

I am amazed that some things can be so adorable. Henry's moppy hair has the perfect composition around his face, the hair off to the right adding interest. Look at the little cluster of fur stretching up his muzzle to guide you to his black nose pointing at the door handle, it moves the eye through the photograph with ease.

This is the scene every morning because opening the door for the first time in eight hours means opening up a whole new world to the dogs.



They go charging outside to see who, what, where, when and why. Did a raccoon make into the yard? Are there too many sparrows at the birdbath? Is the neighbor awake yet? Are the persimmons ripe enough to eat?

After these pressing security checks, which last all of about five seconds, suddenly I am interesting again. Or they're looking to me for excitement, I'm never sure which idea is going through their brains... actually I never have any idea what they are thinking.



Wandering through the garden we stumbled upon this treasure. A spider busily repairing his web from what looks to be a pretty busy night.



Do you ever wonder how some things can be so amazing? How does this tiny creature construct something so marvelous?



And I can't be bothered to put away my laundry.

Today our plans are nothing. To do nothing. We spent so many weeks working to prepare for our wedding that we feel we get a few calm, lazy days to recuperate. We didn't take a honeymoon so we have nothing scheduled on the weekends of August. We still may go on a vacation but we're not planning anything just yet.

For now we're enjoying all the hard work we put into our garden. I love to wander around and soak it all in. I still can't really believe it's our home.

Here's a little treasure I found today. A dahlia flower that is fading but one petal has been suspended by a spider's web.