Random 5 Friday on Saturday

Two posts in one day. How did I keep my mouth shut most of the week?

Right. Exhaustion.

1. Was that my mother I saw this past week? Hi, mom. Also, aunts! I saw the aunts. Isn't it funny how you can look in the mirror on a daily basis and be surprised by the person looking back at you, but people who've known you since grass began to grow still look the same?

2. I'm glad to be home. As in OH MY GOSH, I'm really, really glad to be home doing absolutely nothing, cooking nothing, buying nothing, driving nothing and not having to deal with anyone in any way whatsoever. Yay.

3. I am looking out the window and I see squirrels trying hard to find something to eat underneath the bird feeder. That makes me feel bad. I went to the store to buy bird seed this morning and had to have someone's husband lift the 50-pound bag into my cart. I used to be able to do that myself. What the heck?

You can only barely see one, but there are three squirrels under that bird feeder out yonder.

4. I bought painting materials again today. A girlfriend's son lent me some watercolor pencils a couple weeks ago and I want to play with those again. I don't want to keep his supplies forever...well, yea, I do. But I won't because that would be wrong. Right? So I will fool around with that. And my mom let me bring home some paint. I don't know - acrylic? oil? tempera? I have no idea. It's paint. I bought a paintbrush. I'm not sure, but I keep trying.

A little something I did on canvas with colored pencils

5. As much as I want to believe I don't have anything to do this weekend, there is a list: 1. read old newspapers; 2. paint stuff; 3. do laundry; no, that will keep; 4. fill bird feeders; 5. bubble bath; 6. church; 7. nap. Pretty sure that's it.

 Hard to believe it: some of these photos shamelessly taken from Google images. 

It's over and I'm home, sweet home

I slept like a rock last night. Then I got up, ate breakfast and got in the car to be in the sunshine and do some errands, but nothing taxing or obligatory. I bought bird seed. I bought watercolor painting paper because I've got this crazy idea that I'm an artist or something. I bought a loaf of bread.

Whatever.

I am currently drinking a beer and eating Cheez-its in a fit of feeling like I don't care what anybody thinks or what I think or what my summer might look like. Because it's still winter outside: 33 degrees and a wailing wind straight out of Canada.

I get to blame Canada for my chubby thighs on this summer's runs.

When all those chores were finished, I went to the library and they had another art exhibit. So I took photos for you.

Almost all of these are for sale:

Cowbirds 

 Hog House Clerestory

No name or price on this, so I am calling it, "Hook." 

Playdate 

Prairie Princess with Queen 

Stained Glass #3 

Training 

Wagon Trail 

This one also doesn't have a name.

In honor of the theme of today's post, take a minute and smile through this video from the Peterson Brothers of Kansas. And please please take note of their FANTASTIC wardrobe: Go 'Cats!! Woot!!

An update from the end of the circus

I've had fun. Mostly. I hope they've had fun. Mostly.

You have to wonder at times: what will they remember? do they care? was it worth it? what caused them to shut down and be moody? did I do that?

We go home tomorrow.

Not everything went perfectly, but nothing went to heck, either. I think that has to count as a victory.

Look at that face. Currently not speaking to me.

Look at that face. Tuesday night I was not speaking to him.

99% guaranteed to make me laugh and smile.

Ten hours to get home. I will miss them when it's all over with.

This one landed the space shuttle on only his second try! Of the four of us, he is the only one who didn't have  a mood.

When we get home, I'm going to sleep all weekend.

Sunday windows and music for me

Sunday was my day. I went to the Dayton Art Institute's music room which I never knew was there. It's a beautiful old room with some large tapestries and a beautiful ceiling. There was soft lighting and a lot of warm wooden features. I have so many questions about the history of the building, but answers on the internet seem a little sparse. I always think some time I will find the time to dig in, but I haven't yet. The symphony stuffed themselves onto a small stage and featured solo performances by area high school students.

You would imagine these kids were mature professional musicians when you hear them play. It was a good concert. The lighting was such that I didn't get any good photos.

But after that concert, I had time to wander around the museum before heading to the next concert.

This is in the museum. I don't know why, but the building has a cloister. Wikipedia says: A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth.

So the entrance has a beautiful door. This is the inside.

 This is the door from the outside. It doesn't open right out to the cloister, but to more of a courtyard.

This is a photo of one of a series of three big windows looking out of a gallery onto Dayton. It always looks better in person. I've photographed it before

The Art Institute now has a nice restaurant. I ate there in December. There is a lot of natural light. 

 This window is in the building near the cloister. From what I've read, the museum was once a private home. Maybe there is more to the history of the place!

I left the Art Institute and drove over to the neighborhood my dad once lived in. At the church they have a historic organ, one of only two that survive from the early 20th century in Dayton. I think there were six back then. They're huge and lovely to look at. I wanted to see the church again and hear the organ, but I had no idea what I was in for.

I was sitting under this window. I didn't want to distract anyone with my flash. I took photos with my camera, but I'm in a hurry this morning. Whatever - the point is that the concert was out of this world. It was based, historically, off the 1920 organ dedication concert. I was amazed at the delicate notes and the softness such an organ, played by a real professional, can produce. The soprano solos were breathtaking and at the end of Schubert's Ave Maria, my heart was pounding! There was also violin solo, which was fantastic. 

I'm trying to get the three of them ready to leave for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is at least 3 hours away. Now I have to go yell at someone. They move so slowly. Have a good day!

Road trip and circus

Saturday morning we took off bright and early. We drove through the middle of town and saw the most beautiful sunrise. Even the boys were impressed. Unfortunately, we all agreed the photo did nothing to convey the beauty.

We got going on time, which I counted as a victory. The boys feel asleep in shifts: victory. A family friend lent us a double-screen portable DVD player: victory.

Watching a movie:

Checking messages:

Sleeping. Poor thing didn't have a pillow:

It is difficult to get a photo of the oldest. He's hiding behind the pizza box lid. But here we are eating Vic Casano's pizza at grandma's house.

So that was the trip. It went really well and we made excellent time stopping only three times for gas and food. 

Random 5 Friday

I have compiled a Random 5 for you today, which makes this the opposite of random, but I assure you the ideas came to me quite randomly and you'll need to be content with that.

1. I sorted out my jewelry box this morning. I keep a host of items in a little wooden box next to my bathroom sink, where I take off my jewelry every day. Periodically it becomes choked with the jewels and I need to put things back where they belong. That was this morning. I was feeling extra organizy because I'm leaving tomorrow with three teenagers for spring break and I needed to exert some control over my space.

Here's what I found in the jewelry box that I thought might interest some of you.

2. Speaking of getting ready for spring break this morning, as I was on my way to work, I was overcome with a desire to get all my errands done beforehand. I feel relaxed about that decision. Here I am getting my filthy dirty car washed. I still need to wash the inside windshield. Why does that darn thing get so filmy?

Yes, I took this just for you! 

3. I bought a little mirror for my office. Here's my homey corner. The plant on top of the radio is dead, but I can't bring myself to let it go. I was babysitting it for my mother-in-law. Oops.

4. Since I was showing you my office and since I have shown you my little winter scenes of joy at my desk, I thought I'd show you my pathetic St. Patrick's Day display. You'd think for the all the Irish language, etc., I would be better prepared. Alas, I am not. Oh and hey, hi! That's Grande sticking her booty out in the photo. It's really an innocent little photo of the two of us sticking our heads into the mouth of a lion. As you do.

5. Lastly, this is what I did at lunch today also because I knew I needed a little down time before I began the spring break circus and road trip.

First, I used ink to put flowers on a paper. Mind you, watercolors are new to me. These are watercolor pencils, which seem friendlier and less intimidating. This is my very first endeavor with the new ... what? the new medium? the tools? what do artists call that?

I like it OK, but what I quickly discovered is that the ink is not impervious to water. I hadn't thought that through. So I was gingerly applying the water to the areas where I had applied the color. I think it worked out OK, but obviously not what I had in mind. Being the smart person I am, after I did this, I went to the google machine and learned that you should do the color first, let it dry, then apply the ink. India ink and bamboo is the technique, but I'm sitting at my desk with a felt-tip marker. The result is completely different:

Have a good Friday! I'll be in touch over the spring break road trip and circus.

The (not-so-great) Scotch disaster of 2014

This may look like a recipe post, but it isn't! The other weekend I decided to use up some things in my pantry. Like this:

I found a recipe in an old cookbook for something yummy and simple called Scotch Teas.

Click on it if you need to embiggen it and see the recipe a little better. It's so simple, I whipped it up in no time and it felt glorious making cookies on the stovetop instead of the Kitchenaid - something new!

It was at this point I realized there was nothing binding the oats together in any sort of union. It was each oat for himself just like in the bag, only now they were warm and had a tasty covering.

They came out of the oven sort of set up, but don't be fooled. I was right there looking at it in close-up view and I knew the oats weren't interested in staying together. But I tried anyway and bravely went to work with a pizza cutter trying to get cuts to equal 4 dozen (wow, that's a lot in a 9x13 pan).

They were falling apart already and I regret to inform you, I had a Scotch disaster on my hands:

These were not bound together by anything more than a whispered promise. The corners were good, though. I ate some. Naturally.

I thought about saving this mess for something yummy in the future:

I optimistically bagged it up and threw it all in the freezer. It crumbled easily into single oats as you can well see. One oat at a time there in the bag. I had confident visions of throwing it into and onto a coffee cake, but now I'm not so sure.

I suppose the oats weren't quick cooking and if they had been, the oats would have gamely soaked up some of the caramel in the hot saucepan. I'm not sure if that's the answer to the disaster - - is that what went wrong?

I may try again with half the recipe in an 8x8 pan because butter is expensive. And I may sound cheap, but we run through butter and eggs as though we were feeding a family of five at my house.

In the meantime and at any rate, I have a lot of something I'm not sure what to do about.