Slippery Slope

There is a slippery slope one finds oneself on, once one hangs something up outside and I should know because I'm slipping. First it was the bird feeders, followed by a bird house, followed by some sun thing, and the list goes on. Why, if one is good, two is better, yet isn't there some sort of rule of thumb when decorating that odd is the best? Of course there is, so three, or even five is just fine.

The zeal I once reserved for shoe shopping has been replaced by finding cool outdoor decor. Mind you, I don't spend a lot on these purchases, but when I find something I like, I don't hesitate. But, now I should. Three things hanging from two trees, three sets of wind chimes, some hanging baskets--certainly that should do it. Unless, of course, I find something else....

The prompting for this has come from my bike travels. Riding down all the streets within about a mile radius of our home, I've discovered some houses that it seems the owners have not been able to stop. One chime leads to another and another and another. You get my drift. Which reminds me of something that was both funny and painful. I believe it was the first time I did the annual "Fiesta in the Park" around Lake Eola. A big show filled with some good stuff, and then again, some not so good stuff. The lady next to me sold wind chimes. Now, talk about some volume! As I recall there must have been 200 wind chimes. As stated above, I'm all for wind chimes but that many? No way! By weekend's end I didn't care if I never heard another one again. Since then, I've changed my mind. To set your mind at ease just a little bit, let it be said that we have a very big yard and each chime is placed quite a distance from one another. Feel better now?

I like purple almost as much as the next person, however, I'm thinking these people have taken it just a wee bit too far. Then again, maybe not?

Yesterday I was remiss in not showing you what a thryallis plant looks like, or at least the blooms which pretty much cover the plant right now.

It is quite pretty when all abloom; allegedly the flowers attract butterflies but to date I've not seen that in action. Now you understand why when a squirrel breaks a branch off it is just one more reason to want to banish every last one of them from our property. I've added something to the war chest:

Unfortunately, despite the menacing appearance of this water gun, the distance the water travels is not that great. While at Wal Mart I looked at all the squirt guns, and there are many, none of which seemed to the simple fill and spray. They are all double barreled and oddly colored as this one is. You have to slide that silly yellow thing on the bottom just to pump up one squirt. Too darn many choices!

Yesterday was the official first day of summer, the longest day of the year, however, it was gray and gloomy for much of the day with some much needed rain falling all through the evening and into the night. You would have been hard pressed to notice the length of the daylight. By 9 PM I was already snuggled up in bed reading The Good Father by Noah Hawley from Austin, TX. Weaving the story of both a son who seems to have committed a political assassination with previous crimes on the same order, I have to admit it gave me nightmares last night. Still, it's a good read about what it would be like to be the parent of a child that commits a horrific, highly visible crime. I've often thought how dreadful that would be. It was bad enough when Bill used to give us fits in high school doing all manner of stupid things!

While we're on the subject of Austin, this is a very cool article about the department where Jonathan works at the University of Texas in Austin. He is the Center Administrator. This is well worth your time checking out because it is all about the next generation of solar energy.

Never one to sit around just because it is raining I pulled out my oil paints, given to me by Angela, who received them as a gift, Lord knows why, anyway here is how I started.

Every single paint tube got a few squeezes which in hindsight was a few too many. Using my little scrunched wax paper technique I did some blobbing of said paint and here you go:

And you thought I only posted my good stuff on this blog! If that were the case, it would be pretty darn boring, wouldn't it? I want you to know that although I'm always experimenting, there are plenty, and I mean plenty of failures along the way. Just the other day the image I entered did not win the Mt. Dora Poster contest. Remember all the excitement regarding that last year? My only hope is that I get into the show next year!

It's that time of the morning my friends--the sun is still shining, the birds are chirping away, and in fact, looking out my window just now, a male cardinal is sitting on the fence wondering where his next meal is coming from. Okay, I made that up, but he IS sitting there.

Off I go to add another 100 miles to the odometer.

Five miles at a time. :)