I'm linking up with the Weekend in Black and White . Come along with me to check out B&W photos by participants from around the world.

My  ABC Wednesday   theme:  The Mama and Her Authentic Green Thumbs. . .and Fingers The Mama loves her roses. They're all over the back yard.  In odd places, such as the middle of her banana grove. Some of the roses started as branches that she pruned from the roses in her front yard. Others are branches that she pruned from those branches that she pruned from the roses in her front yard. I'm sure, there are third and fourth and fifth and so on and so forth generations from either the roses in the front or the back yards. Did I confuse you? Let me just say that it's been years since the Mama has planted a new rose bush. She prunes a branch off one of her rose bushes and sticks it in the ground where ever she pleases. She waters it and that's it. No special food or fertilizer. The Mama's philosophy: A branch takes and roses bloom, or it does not. But, she always hopes it will. From what I've seen, since I often water the flowers now, her

I would like to think that the only good manipulating I do these days is what I do with my photos in Photoshop. Not that I think I manipulate people to my way of thinking or doing. Although, there are time when I wish people would stop thinking the ways of the dark force. Once upon a time, I had a very good girlfriend. We had wonderful adventures together. Did a lot of crazy stuff. Supported each other through our poor days of college studies. And, so forth and so on. Then one day we had a falling out. I had a rough work day, so was not at my best of listening to her troubles and was quite short with her. Ha! Wrong thing to do. No matter how much I apologized and tried to make amends, she chose to sever our friendship. Her final words depressed and angered me the most. I don't recall them precisely anymore, which is good. They were something like this: "I got all that I wanted out of you." It took me a long while, but I finally saw the light. Who says things like t

Congratulations to all of us bloggers of the Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge ! We did it. Zzzzzzzooo-hoooooo! So, for you, today, I'm cooking up a virtual feast as my final entry for my food theme. Enjoy! Appetizers • Lumpia (Filipino eggrolls. Of course! I can't throw a party without lumpia) • Potstickers • Inari Sushi (Deep-fried bean curd skins stuffed with rice, peas, and salmon • Assorted fresh vegetables with onion dip Main and Side Dishes • Kalua pork • Grilled salmon • Pancit   (Filipino noodle dish) • Stir-fry vegetable medley (onions, garlic, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, tiny corn, and water chestnuts) • Kim chee • Bamboo relish (The Mama's awesome, delicious, pickled spicy bamboo. Double yum!) • Brown rice Desserts • Apple Pie, Ollalieberry Pie, and Cherry Pie • Suman (Coconut glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves) • Fresh watermelon and pineapple Drinks • Local handcrafted beer • Local wines • Ap

I bake cookies at least once a year. And, that's at Xmas. What's Xmas without the yummy smell of cookies baking in the oven, right? Those first few years of baking Xmas cookies, I'd go through cookbooks, looking for interesting cookie recipes to try. But, always, I'd end up following certain recipes in a Women's Day cookie recipe booklet. That may be how I got hooked reading cookbooks. I used to bake a bunch of different cookies. Not anymore. Now, I bake three kinds of cookies. Persimmon biscotti, the Mama's favorite; Russian tea cakes, the Husband's favorite: and a persimmon, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, or gingersnap cookie. Do you bake Xmas cookies? What cookies do you like to bake? Click   here  to find other A to Z challenge participants.

Earlier this month, the Husband and I entertained ourselves while he washed dishes and I dried them. The result was a rundown of the utensil choir. This is the make up of the choir, according to the Husband, a musician at heart. The soup spoon sings bass.   The special spoon, which is a Korean soup spoon, sings baritone.   Teaspoons sing soprano, while tablespoons sing alto or tenor.   Forks sing four-part harmony, of course. Salad forks? Three-part harmony! Knives are tone deaf. When they sing, the sound cuts to the heart. I didn't want the knives to feel left out, so I let them hold the music sheet for everyone. Click   here  to find other A to Z challenge participants.

I used to think that the Mama was a rigid, but, awesome, cook. Everything she cooked was perfect. Her cutting of meats and vegetables always came out precisely small and neat. Her dishes always tasted consistently the same—yummily delicious. When it came to Filipino cuisine, nobody, including Filipino restaurant chefs, came close to her food. The Daddy came very close. The one dish of his that surpassed hers by a tiny bit was his fried chicken. His was a subtle melt-in-your-mouth delicious, while the Mama's was more a pow! wow! in-your-face delicious. My perception of the Mama-the-cook changed when I was in my late 30s. Suddenly the food she put on the table when I came to visit was different. Her pork adobo no longer was the consistently same delicious taste. It was still delicious, but the taste slightly differed each time she cooked it. At first, I thought she was being forgetful when she cooked. And, perhaps, there was a bit of that. During one visit, the Mama served f

Say hello to  Six Elvis, everyone. He's one of my artsy-craftsy calendar dates. His hair reminded me of Elvis Presley, hence, the Elvis part of his name.  Here's how he looked when he was drawn on February 6. That's it for today. The Husband and I are off on our 23rd-of-the-month date. We're actually going to get out of town this time. See ya!

It's The Weekend in Black and White . Click here to check out wonderful B&W photos from around the world. Happy Spring, Dear Readers!

Yesterday, I saw the first California golden poppy in our yard. Whooo-hooo! So, of course I had to take a photo of it. Good thing I had the camera in my pocket. And, yes, the image simply asked to be experimented with in Photoshop. Happy Monday, One and All! Today's meme is  Mandarin Orange Monday , hosted by Loikart. Click  here  to see other orange posts by bloggers from around the world. 

Ha! It only took me a month to purchase milkweed seeds and then another month to plant them. I'm on my way to helping save the monarch butterflies . The butterflies in our region have started their way back to Canada, but maybe the milkweed will be in bloom when they return in the fall. Rather than planting the milkweed seeds in the ground, I sowed the seeds into egg shells and little pots. Yup, I actually saved eggshells the last time I made scrambled eggs. Remembering the shells this morning was my incentive to plant the seeds today.  It's a good thing the Mama was busy in another part of the yard. I can imagine her shuddering at my haphazard way of sprinkling the seeds into the soil rather than the orderly fashion that she would do. I did talk to the seeds and wished them well, as the Mama does. When the seedlings get big enough, I'll either transplant them to the ground or bigger pots. Maybe by then I can get the Mama to let me have some space in the front yard.

My town does not have a bookshop, an art supplies store, or a music store. Once upon a time it had all three. When I was a teenager, I fantasized about one day owning a bookstore with a ceramic wheel in the back so that people who want to play with ceramics can do their thing. I even knew what space in town I wanted to have my bookstore. Sometimes the fantasy of having a bookstore pops up when the Husband and I stumble upon a vacant space on main street or thereabouts. I no longer want a ceramic wheel. But, I do think of offering a service for people to have their packages delivered to my bookstore so that they don't have to fear about them being stolen off their porch. In a tiny way, I am living out my bookshop fantasy by having a virtual online book store at Amazon, which  focuses on books about my town and county, as well as local authors.  I could expand this virtual shop by adding other categories that interest me. Yes, I could. Maybe, I will. I'll put it on my To-Do

Huh? It's March already! Sometimes I think I'm Rip Van Winkle. Anyway, this morning I felt like playing around with bright colors. And, whaddaya know, I found a photo I took from last year's street fair and car show in town. I had fun discovering a few more features in Photoshop. The car looks like it's laughing in the third image. What do you think? Now, I'm ready to tackle my To-Do List. By the way, I'm hooking up with Mandarin Orange Monday , hosted by the fantastic artist Lori at Lorikart . Click here to see other orange posts by bloggers from around the world.

Recently, Birgit of BB Creations honored me with the Inspiring Blog Award. Thank you, Birgit, I appreciate it very much. The award came with a request that I write about three things that have inspired me this past few weeks. As usual, I started by pulling out the dictionary. Inspire -- To rouse/motivate/encourage/influence/incite someone to do or feel something. In particular, to do some kind of creative thing. Highly incited to clean the bedroom Being bit two nights in a row, and having those bug bites swell and itch to no end, inspired me to find the source and do something about it. Poor Molly the Cat was brushed and combed several times throughout the day. Then I decided to look under our bed since I was being bit on my feet. Horror! Carpet beetles were feasting on a blanket that once belonged to the Husband's parents, which we had tucked under the bed last summer. Out came the vacuum cleaner again! I got down on my stomach and back to vacuum and ended up with a

Today, I'm participating in The Weekend in Black and White . To check out some very cool photos by bloggers around the world, please click here .

When I was a young thing living in San Francisco a long time ago, I thought it would be fun, neat, and so very cool to be a street artist. Alas, I was no artist nor a crafter of pottery, jewelry, candles, hand sewn clothing, or other items that I thought I would like to make and sell.  Still, a young thing can dream. Okay, fantasize. Four decades later I am finally exploring that artsy-craftsy part of me.  Some of you already know I like to take photos. And, last year, I threw caution to the wind and illustrated my stories during the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. That was very scary. Drawing, that is. Here's an example of my new found artistry. Last week, I decided to doodle a daily calendar. Storybeader at Stroll Through Storyland planted the seed in my head when I read her post about calendars. Then, Tony, a photographer/artist friend from my young-thing days, shared a doodle page from his art journal on his blog . That clenched it for me. So, for now, I'm r

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen used to be Numero Uno on my all-time list of favorite books. Then, a few years ago, I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. And, just like that, after 40-some years, Pride and Prejudice became number two.  So, what took me so long to read Jane Eyre ?  I was introduced to the novel in seventh grade when our English class watched the 1943 movie starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Until I watched the 2006  BBC series of Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson, I had no idea that Jane Eyre had a lot of gumption, courage, desire, determination, and smarts. Ms. Fontaine's portrayed Jane as meek and overpowered by the selfish Rochester. Then after I saw the 2011 film of Jane Eyre , starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, I finally decided to read the novel.  Wowza! I love Jane. She stands up to Rochester from the moment she meets him to the moment they finally reunite. Rochester is a fortunate man because he has Jane

This aging handsome sign hangs from an old, run-down, vacant building in my town . The hotel has been empty for several decades. As a kid, I thought the building held secrets about evil goings on. I still do. The Husband was with me the afternoon I took this photo. Otherwise, I would've taken photos of the building from the corner or across the street. Yes, I'm chicken. Buk. Buk. Bukkk. It's Sweet Shot Tuesday . This is my sweet shot of the week. To check photos by other bloggers, please click here .

Today, I'm hooking up with Mandarin Orange Monday , hosted by LorikArt. Click here to check out "orange" work by other bloggers around the world. Lori suggests that we have fun playing with out images. So, I did and had a blast playing with the various filters at Photoshop.  Thanks, Lori, for the encouragement. Here's the final result.

  Today, for the first time this year, the blackbirds were in the nearby tree. It looked like they had spent the night. I'm hooking up with The Weekend in Black and White . Click here to check out B&W photos by bloggers from around the world. My photo turned out so stark that I played around with the artistic filters in Photoshop. I like these looks the best.  What do you think? With the plaster filter With the cut out filter