Orphan, julep time, Flower Moon and commute

A late afternoon view of my front porch at the condos last Saturday.  I got several plants potted for the front and back porch and mixed them in with those I nurtured through the winter.  The yellow/green pot on the right was given to me by my neighbor, who spotted someone about to throw it away.  "Lynn might want that!"  And of course, I gladly took that pretty orphan in.  

Also on Saturday - I did something that had been on my to do list:  I polished my silver julep cup, just in time for the Kentucky Derby viewing.  I didn't make a mint julep to go in it, just opting for some pretty flowers instead.  You can click on the red link to see the julep recipe if you're interested in making one.  I do love them.

This grainy photo is a tribute to the Flower Moon from Wednesday.  It was totally full on Wednesday night, but was beautiful that morning, too.  I wasn't expecting it on my early drive to work and gasped the first time I saw it in the dark at 6am.  (I was stopped at a 4-minute red light here.)  I looked up its name when I got to work.  From the Farmer's Almanac:  "We use Full Moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons. Depending on the tribe, May’s Full Moon was called the Full Flower Moon as well as Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, and Corn Planting Moon. The May Moon marked a time of increasing fertility, with temperatures warm enough for safely bearing young, a near end to late frosts, and plants in bloom."

 And this thing has quite a presence!  The photo, snapped during a stop on my afternoon commute, shows just a bit of the Mercedes Benz Stadium that the Atlanta Falcons will play in, beginning in the fall.  I'll probably never see the inside of it, since I'm not much of a fan of professional football, but my rambling afternoon commute home has taken me by here a few times and it's been fun watching it get nearer and nearer to completion.

Just when I had really gotten accustomed to this "new normal" of commuting through Atlanta, on my journey home to the suburbs, they have completed the repair of I-85 and it will be open on Monday.  I am so grateful they used that bonus money incentive and got it done so quickly.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

Hanging out, the little things and looking up

I believe this might be a landscaping truck my car was sitting behind yesterday morning a little after 7am on the way to work.  If you click to enlarge, you can see that it has a monkey hanging on the back of it.  It made me smile, which is a good thing for the early morning like that.  :)

Later - a nice customer came into the printing company and we talked about liking "the little things" - the smell of coffee, drinking coffee, the rustle of the newspaper, reading the newspaper.

And later still, my friend Erica posted on facebook, "If you haven't already, take a minute and go outside and look up!  The sky is absolutely gorgeous tonight!  The sliver moon and planets are playing peek-a-boo in the clouds!  Simple pleasures!"  I didn't see her post until this morning, but it made me wish I had had a peek of that beauty.  I like that she did.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

Wolf Moon, fun and all good things are wild and free

This is a rush hour photo of my suburb of Atlanta, where Burger is King and there are many cars and power lines.  I still love it, in spite of all that.  The rising moon was gorgeous and that was what this photo was meant to be all about - the January full moon, known as the Wolf Moon.  According to the Farmer's Almanac:

"Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next moon."

Can you see that claw hand sticking out of my pen and pencil cup there?  (My home office desk.)  This put me a little in mind of said Wolf.  It's actually a back scratcher that was in my Christmas stocking - it's fun, but a little scary looking.  (We have a lot of fun with those stockings.)  :) 

And speaking of this past Christmas - I always buy a little gift for myself when I'm shopping for family and friends.  I just had to get this t-shirt - I love it.

May all Good Things come to you this weekend, my friends!

Thursday morning 7am, Ed the bunny and happy Easter

 - The "Worm" moon was so beautiful Wednesday morning, huge and golden, and I was sorry I didn't take time to photograph it (although that takes more technique than snapping with an iPhone.)  The Waning Gibbous moon was still beautiful Thursday morning, so I snapped a photo with said phone while waiting to turn onto Northlake Parkway.  The moon looks fuzzy here, but I kind of like the effect of the 7am morning - busy and bustling with the early birds getting started with their day.

 - I can't believe it myself, that I am posting a photo of the inside of my cluttered refrigerator, but it's to display my chocolate Easter bunny there in the back.  It's lived there since 2002, when I won it as a gag prize at a summertime church event.  The former music director at my church, Ed, asked me the next day at church if I had eaten it yet.  "Nope - I'm keeping it forever," I said.  And then I decided to name it Ed.  This Good Thing was inspired by Kitchen Connection Lee's post about her fridge bunny named Clint.  :)  Check out her post HERE.

- The dogwood trees on the street where I live are so beautiful right now.  Happy Easter, my friends!

Getting it down, what I'll miss about winter and morning sky

 - Why do I have six rubber bands around my water bottle?  Because of this article.  I need to drink six 20-oz bottles of water every day, so the article says to put six rubber bands on the bottle in the morning and take one off every time you complete a bottle.  I'm so forgetful that this seemed like a good idea to me.

- But I'm averaging three bottles per day.  And they also said to put the rubber bands around your wrist as you remove them from the bottle.  Too painful, that - I just put them aside.  I'm thinking three bottles per day is good.

 - So many people dislike winter, but I'm not one of them.  I enjoy the sky darkening in the early evening, which helps me wind down from my day.  Plus the fireplace, sweaters, fun patterned knee socks that I wear underneath pants and no one ever sees, eastern standard time and comfort food.  But spring is surely on the way and the pink blossom trees blooming around Atlanta right now are so pretty.  These are next to the drive-thru at Starbucks (last Saturday a.m.)

- And the sunrise sky was spectacular this morning.  They were talking about it on the local morning news, so I went outside to look and snapped this with my cellphone camera.  Just lovely.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Almost home, grinning from ear to ear and recipe of the month

- Around 6pm Thursday evening and on my way home - I had so much time to sit at this red light that I marveled at how beautiful those bare, winter trees are against the darkening sky.

- On Tuesday evening - arriving at my volunteer place, Georgia Public Broadcasting, a young man in a bright blue t-shirt was taking a selfie at this spot with Cookie Monster, grinning from ear to ear.  It took me a minute to figure that was he, since he has fruit in front of him, not cookies.

- My baker's rack, full of cookbooks.  When I bought this thing, several years ago, I had to donate a box full of cookbooks that wouldn't fit (vowing to put them all in this one place.)  My niece and I were talking about this - we both print out recipes a lot (you can see some crammed in there if you click to enlarge).  So my new vow is to cook something out of each of those books at least once a month and I'll post about it here.  I'll start with Alice Waters's Chez Panisse Vegetables there on top and report back!  I told friend Leisa, when we had dinner this week, that vegetables are my favorite thing, so that's a perfect place to start.

It's Friday!  Happy Friday.  Have a great weekend, y'all!

Beside the front door, through the windshield and fun gift

- These mums graced the table of my Clan's tent at the Stone Mountain Highland games two weeks ago and they are still pretty beside my front door.  The fake pumpkin was purchased on sale one year at Rite Aid pharmacy after Halloween. 

- The majority of the turning leaves around here have already fallen due to all the rain we had during the last few days.  But these beauties were spotted on my commute home yesterday, taken through the windshield.  The late afternoon sun was hitting them just right.

- And I'm all ready for Halloween on Saturday night.  Last year two teenage girls knocked on my door for treats and that was it.  One of them didn't even have a candy bag - she just held her purse open.  :)   The fun plastic spiderweb bowl was given to me by a friend.  I love it.

This is a very orange post, isn't it?  I'm sad to see October come to a close - it just flew by.  But good things will happen in November, too - I just know it.  Have a great weekend, my friends!

Gourds or squash, beauty at the dump, and Oh my!

- From the organic garden near the park where I walk on the weekends - these are either gourds or spaghetti squash in a pile, ready for purchase.  Such a lovely and serene place.

- Back at the condos, on Sunday morning, there is beauty, even at the trash compactor area.  Click to enlarge. 

- From Mr. C's sign - well, you get it.  And it made me laugh, while sitting in my car, almost to work in the morning.  

I'm back from vacation and will be by your blogs - I missed you!  Vacation photos later.  :) 

Rained out, taking the long way and weekend cooking

- My usual Saturday morning walk with friends was rained out (or drizzled out), but I still drove up to Starbucks for my weekend treat of a latte.  The dog in the truck in front of me at the light was just aimlessly looking around, when he stiffened and spotted something.  Click to enlarge for a better look at his alertness.  I looked to see what he was focusing so intently on and there, off to the left (out of view) was a squirrel - traipsing across a pawn shop's front lawn. 

- Taking the long way to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for weekend cooking, so I could sip my latte and listen to the Lee Child book, Gone Tomorrow.  I reached the end later while sitting in the parking lot of the library, where another audio book awaited.

- This is a Weight Watchers recipe, Rigatoni with Sausage and Kale.  Click on the link for the recipe.  It was good!  I could have styled that better, I guess.  The photo was really for my sister, who follows Weight Watchers.  I don't, but spotted this dish on the cover of the WW magazine at the grocery store checkout.  Next time I will up the kale and might substitute cannellini beans for the Italian sausage, just for kicks. 

Saving the planet, currently listening and currently reading

- The sign for Mr C's Bar & Grill near my office: "Mr C's - Saving the Planet by Making People Walk Home."  Good for them, I say!  It's been at least a couple of years, I think, since they have posted whimsical things on their sign. Hopefully it's a trend - I need humor for my commute.  :)  See Mr C's on Labels, below, for past signage.

- Currently listening during my commute:  Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, one of his Jack Reacher books.  Violent at times, but every one is a cracking good suspense yarn.  I have another waiting for me at the library - I am having a Jack Reacher marathon.  Jack wanders the country with only a toothbrush and an old passport in his pocket.  He buys new clothes every three days and swears by his wandering lifestyle. He manages to save (or mostly save) the day in each book. 

- Currently reading at home:  The Quiet American by Graham Greene.  I'm only a few pages in - and book group meets on it Sunday night.  The link has a review of it, from The New York Times, circa 1956.  The internet is so marvelous for items like that.

Looking forward to a quiet day on Saturday to sit and read.  Celebrating the weekend over here!  I hope yours is lovely.

Homeward bound, cold snap and dessert

Click to enlarge

- 14th Street in midtown Atlanta on a temperature dropping Tuesday night - after volunteer work.  The buildings up ahead are so sparklingly beautiful that I just had to try the photo.  Not bad for a phone pic and I didn't crop out my car hood, because it tells part of the story.

- It's 28 degrees here this morning.  The guard at the building in which I volunteer and I talk about how neither of us mind cold weather really and don't enjoy hot weather at all.

- Shortbread cookies, half dipped in chocolate, for dessert after I got home.  Yummmmm.

Welcome sight, remembered and getting a wave

- Driving into Thomasville, Georgia (at the very tip of south Georgia) on an overcast day, to meet my sister and niece for lunch on Friday.  This would have been a more beautiful through-the-windshield shot without all the power lines and cars, but still beautiful to me.  There was a tour group (all holding paper fans) on the steps of that church.  And beyond that - two beloved women sitting in a restaurant waiting, a welcome sight after the long drive from Atlanta.

-  A woman in a shop remembers me, even though I haven't been there since last December - something I only seem to encounter in small towns.

- Getting a wave from everyone inside on-coming cars on the highway on the six mile trip to my sister and brother-in-law's farm.  Whether they recognize you or not - they are always friendly there anyway.

More photos on Wednesday!

Cleaning up the bricks, good corner and beholding the beauty

 (Click to enlarge)

- Seen on my commute - a building on the National Historic Register.  The former White Provision Company building, built in 1910, once was a meat packing business, but now is mixed used (residential, commercial.)  I love how they are cleaning up the brick there and managed a quick through-the-windshield shot.

- Later on the commute - a woman stands with her hands on her hips looking perplexed.  I look to see what she is looking at and it's a flock of geese, hanging out beside a parking garage next to a busy hospital.  They must have decided that was a good corner for treats.

- And nearing home, a woman holding her baby and showing her the flowers on a tree.  It's never too early to behold the beauty of nature.

Simple pleasures from niece, niece and aunt

Three things today that are simple pleasures - two from nieces who live far apart, one in Portland, Oregon and one in the wilderness of northern Florida.  And one from their aunt in Atlanta...

- A peaceful weekend boating trip on a lake in Florida for a niece and her boyfriend.  Love that sunset.  Photo by ALM.

- This is Skidmore Bluffs, the "place in Portland where high schoolers would make out after the prom in an '80s movie," according to niece's boyfriend.  He was there with another niece and friends.  Photo by RAJ.

- And in front of Bell Street Burritos on Howell Mill Road in Atlanta, the urban cowboy I've blogged about before here, but this time I got a "through the windshield" photograph.  There's a wonderful article I found about he and his horses you can read here.  It was lovely and unexpected to be sitting in traffic and see him come out of the restaurant and mount up.

Morning sky, Savannah Smiles and lady glasses

- Mr C's sign was not so remarkable when I snapped this through the (dirty) windshield photo:  "Free Entertainment Nightly."  I'll bet!  But I thought the early morning sky with its low hanging clouds looked lovely as we all made our way to work.  (Taken with iPhone.)

- A coworker puts some Girl Scout cookies out to share.  A new kind this year, called "Savannah Smiles."  They are lemony tasting, covered with powdered sugar and pretty good.  The Huffington Post (seriously?) reviewed them here.  I like how one taster said, "Don't wear black while eating this cookie."  I think that's a cookie eating amateur!

- My friend Steven finds me in our meeting spot playing Words with Friends on my phone and wearing my reading glasses (1.50s for those of you in the same boat.)  He says, "Hey, I have lady glasses, too!"  And whips out a pair of readers with a zebra pattern on the side.  He spotted a pack of reading glasses on sale - 3 for $10 - and thought they were all black because they displayed that way on the front.  But when he opened them, there was the the zebra pair, purple ones and red ones.  He gamely wears them anyway.  :)

I hope beautiful things find their way to you this weekend, my friends!

Midtown, quirky and Neil Diamond

- The lights of midtown Atlanta looked so beautiful as I was leaving volunteer work last night that I just had to get a "through the windshield" shot.

- Techwood Dr, referenced in the street sign above, leads to the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (aka Georgia Tech.)  My GPS pronounces this street as "Tetchwood Doctor", which never ceases to make me laugh out loud.  It pronounces all streets ending in "Dr" as "Doctor", except in Florida, which I will never understand.

- The director of my volunteer organization has a newspaper ad for an upcoming Neil Diamond concert.  "Do you like him?" I ask.  She answers, "No, I don't like him.  I LOVE him!"  Me, too.  And we agree that "I am...I said" is our favorite Neil song.  We decide we were separated at birth after a discussion about how both our ex-husbands didn't like him at all.  :) 

Advertising, the main draw and bright spot

- Spotted on the way in to work yesterday morning - a line from "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" in which they were talking about alluring cologne. :) No - I didn't recognize it - I Googled. :)

- Later, while driving through the Georgia Institute of Technology, this sign. I guess they're smart hunks, too. :)

- And stopping to pick up a Cuban sandwich for lunch on the way back to the office, this sign made me chuckle. The fedora wearing owner has so much infectious enthusiasm, he makes he want to go there all the time.

Sometimes I call something that makes me chuckle a good thing (especially during a busy day like yesterday.) I hope you find lightheartedness around you this weekend, too. Have a great one!

Lions, the moon and geese (oh my!)

- A row of these lovely stylized lions grace the front of the SunTrust Bank building and the adjacent Marriott Marquis Hotel in downtown Atlanta. This is my attempt at a "through the windshield" shot of one of them after visiting my university client yesterday.

- And a better view of another of them from Google images taken by a summer visitor. :) Lovely.

- Looking up at the Waxing Gibbous Moon just as a plane flies across it.

- A honking flock of geese forming a V and flying south. The three to four geese in the front jockey for position before they situate themselves and take on the next part of their journey.

May your weekend journey contain many delights!

Sparse traffic, windowsill and much traffic

- A quick, solitary trip to the mountains - just Friday evening and back to Atlanta on Sunday p.m. Traffic on the river was so sparse that I was startled to see this fly fisherman and might not have noticed him at all except for a faint scent of pipe smoke.

- My sister has added a hint of her life in northern Florida to the kitchen windowsill of her vacation home in the mountains - mallard ducks and watermelon. Her county in Florida is known for its prolific crop of watermelons. The small stones have always been there - something that her late mother-in-law must have put there. It was her house in the beginning.

- Summoning up patience at sitting through a long line of traffic trying to get through a busy resort town during the trip home. The tubing industry was doing a brisk business on this day.

Dancing for the joy of it, hard worker and honored

Street dancer at the corner of Howell Mill Road and Chattahoochee Avenue in Atlanta. Photos taken through the windshield.

- During tax season, he can be found up the street dancing his heart out while wearing a Statue of Liberty costume. I guess the proprietors of this furniture outlet know a good thing when they see it. I only have to go this way once in a week on Tuesday afternoon when headed toward volunteer work, but I love watching him dance and direct traffic while doing so. He dances for the sheer joy of it.

- Another hard worker, neighbor Kevin, is up and leaving for work while I am watering outside plants at 5am. He opens up a Chick-fil-A store for breakfast, but has a newly acquired Masters degree in Education and cannot find employment as a teacher. We wave cheerfully this morning as he leaves, having a mutual understanding that 5am is too early to be chatting.

- And my heart swells with pride as I read an online newspaper article about a young woman still in her 20s, who is now president of her city's Rotary Club. She is an officer at her bank and serves on the board of directors for three organizations. This is the line I am proudest of, that my niece gives a shout out not only to her parents, but both sets of grandparents, too: “I will always be involved in my community,” she says. “I was raised by parents and grandparents that were involved in their community, and I don’t know any other way!”