Soltice dyefest

I felt the need for a little textural excitement from the dye jars yesterday. The pantry yielded a very old box of pastina.  I didn't see any bugs in the box but they did the job nicely. Later this morning the experiment will continue.

I also plan on mixing some fresh dyestock this morning blending some of the new colors. Green has proven to be elusive this season and the bottles for the purples and curry have been rolling around the caddy empty  for a while now.

Might there be something special about colors born on the Solstice?

pool water magic trick

We are coming off a spell of what feels like tropical weather; heat and humidity every day, capped off by violent thunderstorms with torrential rains.

The guy at the pool supply place said all the rain unbalanced the pH so some other chemical thing we do (which is not much) fails.
You can see my alter ego lurking in the algae laden water shown here.

He tested the water and gave me a recipe for adding soda ash and baking soda in the right proportions.

 In a matter of hours, the water was back to Caribbean blue, even bluer that you see here..magic.

not your regular workday

Wednesday is change up day around here.

I spent most of the afternoon with a friend at her neighbors fabulous swimming pool. She house sits for the mansion's owners when they travel, which is a lot. And boy, are we grateful! Sadly, the for sale sign went up yesterday.

I brought these two flowers home with me and by the time I got home I was dizzy with the combined fragrances of magnolia and gardenia. If I had gotten pulled over I would have been jailed for driving while stupefied by scent.

Jake, Colin and my nephew Jimmy

Based, in part, on this photo, my son Colin was called late last night to play a "russian mafia thug" for a few days in a movie being shot here in Atlanta.

So what does a RMT wear? Turns out he dresses like one most of the time so wardrobe (extras have to bring their own) was not a big problem.

Eatsies

I was watching a video of a ladybug who appeared to be playing with some tiny sugar sprinkles. At first it looked like a one-bug soccer game. Then it occurred to me that the poor bug was probably trying to eat the things, inappropriate as they were.

While I was getting ready to back and face the Creatives 
I started imagining that they were bored and hungry so I pitched some food/toys into the story.

I can almost hear the growling and the squeals.

(too much "Madmen" I think)

Father's Day 2013

Bittersweet is the first Father's day without the man who loved you longest of all.

Jimmy and I  announced our engagement on  Christmas day in '76. I was 26 and Jimmy was only 20 and both of our families were mildly freaked out about it.

At some point during the day, my Dad asked me if I knew what the hell  I was doing.  I assured him that I did and he paused and then replied with a grin
"Jeez, I didn't think I'd ever get rid of you."  I laughed then and can laugh now. I did know - back into time and deep into the future.

My Men of Steel spent a fun day together while I dipped out for the day at a friend's house but got home in time to finally get a decent steak off the grill for us.