Look What I Saw

When I went out to water plants a few mornings ago, I saw this tiny little frog....or is it a toad? How do you know the difference?

The coloring and size almost caused me to miss it. Look close. Do you see it?

Here is a close up. He isn't very cute is he? I wouldn't care to kiss this frog even if a prince, a castle and a fortune were involved.

I don't have many pretty flowers this year. These few photos are about all there is of my garden.


Hope your summer has more "bloomin" flowers than mine!

I've Had Company!

Two of my granddaughters spent the weekend with me. Here is a little look at what we did.

Went to see this movie based on the American Girl doll and book series. The cast was great. Little girls brought their dolls with them. My daughter went with us. The both of us cried. (we're saps) The movie held my granddaughter's interest throughout. (and that isn't easy) Movie review in one word....delightful.

In line at the theater.

After the movie they had to get candy from the bank of .25 machines. Then they were ready to ham it up for the camera!

Coming attractions:



Then it was back home to try and finish our game of LIFE.

And play the pipe...until Gramma's nerves couldn't take it anymore!


Can you tell this one is a little mischievous? Well, both are actually.

After baths on Saturday night the girls had me roll their hair. I knew I should have taken pictures but I WAS SO TIRED by that time. We played Go Fishing, ate pizza and watched Night At The Museum. Sunday morning we made homemade blueberry muffins and read the funny papers.


Uncle TJ came over around 11:30. Whoopee, someone to fight with!

Don't tell but they almost took him down. Those are two tough girls!



They spent a lot of time doing this....surfing down the stairs on a baby bed mattress.



None of the grands would know about this old family tradition if this big stinker hadn't shown them how it should be done!

When we moved into this house this BIG kid was three years old. There were only 3 bedrooms here at the time (ex later built 2 more bedrooms downstairs) so baby boy didn't have a room of his own. He had used the baby bed up until the move. We got rid of the bed, but kept the baby mattress under a bed by day and at night he would pull it out and sleep in which ever room he chose. And that is the story of how his 2 older brothers devised this game......stair surfing.

Very cute smallish little boy grows into 6 foot 3 (or more) very BIG man who still loves to stair surf.

Ahhhhh, It drives me nuts!!!

While waiting for their other grandmother to come pick them up for a night at her house, we played one more game of cards.

Can I just say, I need a nap!

Happy Sunday afternoon!

Happy 4th of July!

This day is extra special in our family. It is not only the primo day to celebrate the birth of our country but on this day 4 years ago a little girl very important to us was born. Happy Birthday LC. Hope your special day is full of fun.

Enjoy your cake and I hope you always think the fireworks are just for you!

Still Life Part II

Yep, I am definitely a fan of Louise Penny! She knows the human spirit, what makes us tick, what makes us good and also bad.

You might remember that I have a long commute and use the time listening to books on CD. Most of the time I enjoy the added dimension of hearing the words spoken, listening to the cadence of a well written sentence, the poetry of beautiful prose, but sometimes I wish I had the actual book in my hands. Sometimes I long to reread passages, read again and again words that speak directly to me. This book was like that. Almost everyday I would arrive home and spend an extra 30 minutes in the car rewinding, trying to find certain passages, jotting them down in my notebook. I wanted to keep those words, to read them again, to ponder over their insight, their discernment, their wisdom.

Insight, discernment and wisdom, these are unusual themes for a murder mystery story. Penny weaves these topics into her story naturally without using artificial devises. Her characters are full bodied, carefully wrought, well developed.

Upon discussing the topic of the dead woman over muffins, (remember murder mystery) the owner of the local B&B remarks after realizing he has eaten most of the muffins in his grief...

"I always eat my pain." ....Looking at the size of the man Gamache (the police detective) marveled at the size of the pain he must have, and fear perhaps, and anger. Who knows indeed?

"Life is change. If you are not growing and evolving you are standing still and the rest of the world is surging ahead........They lead still lives, waiting ....waiting for someone to save them. No one else can save them because the problem is theirs and so is the solution."

If you are looking for a good read, if you are looking for a good mystery story. if you enjoy thinking about the nature of human nature, then this is an author for you to consider.

Sites I Visit For Inspiration Of The Artistic Kind

Thank you Mod Girl ( Mod Object At Home) for recognized me with this award for creativity and art today.
It was my intention when I started my blog to use it as a tool to help me become more technologically savvy and as a showcase for my artwork. I really haven't made any art since I began...just a lot of sketches and doodles. Everyone is very kind to say they like seeing them and I have had fun trying new things and meeting new people.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize some truly artistic people whose blogs I review regularly. Unlike the community of bloggers we are building here, these people don't know me from the next person in the cyber-community. But I am thankful that they continue to put their ideas and artwork out there for people like me to browse, enjoy and draw inspiration from.

But first, inside our smaller cyber-community I would like to recognize Denise from Look Beyond The Picket Fence for her continuing creativity. I love her work with decoupage and her paper creations. Please check out her pretty blog and give her big round of applause.

Here is the list of rules that go along with this award:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.

4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. Show these rules.


Now here is a short list of my most inspiring blogs. I hope you will visit them and find some inspiration for yourselves.

A Field Journal which I like for her delicate natural drawings and illustrations.

Skinny Laminx for her clean graphic designs and her love of 60s era coffee cups.

Bobi and Bobi Illustrations because I enjoy studying her illustrations of people. You know how I am drawn to faces....and Willow I am trying to stop drawing myself! hehe

Paris Breakfasts for her yummy watercolors of French confections. Be sure to click on her gallery.

Teesha Moore for her ground breaking originality in the area of visual art journaling.


I have tried to give you a variety of artists to peruse. I hope you enjoy seeing their work. There are more links on my sidebar if you like these.

Let Me Introduce You

Lavinia this short post is for you, just to introduce you to James McAvoy. I first saw him playing the part of Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was in the award winning The Last King of Scotland and played the male lead in both Atonement and Becoming Jane. He was also in Penelope which I haven't seen yet but it is on my Netflix queue. He is a cutie besides being a talented actor.

This is one up and coming actor to keep your eye on. He will be a classic one day.

Still Life

Louise Penny is my newest favorite author. I make this statement without a shred of doubt even though I haven't finished this first book of hers that I've read. I'm planning a longer blog once done, but since I am overflowing with enthusiasm for her writing I've decided not to wait.


To say that Still Life is a murder mystery is an understatement. Her protagonist, Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec is a keen observer of the human race and it is this fact that makes Penny's fine mystery rise above the genre. The name of the novel, Still Life is a double entendre maybe a triple entendre foreshadowing the multiple layers of story telling by Penny.

Like I said, I am already a fan.

Thank you Julie!

I was given this award by Julie King Original Art. Julie, I appreciate your kind words and want to pass this award along on other more deserving blogs. Like I told her, when I was young I always wanted to have a penpal. After 45 years, I've received my wish. I exchange ideas with people all over the planet thanks to the internet. I love reading about your parts of the world and your lives. Thanks for inviting me into you homes and hearts.

I would like to pass this award along to just a few of my favorite blogs to read:

Bush Babe (in Granite Glen, Australia)

Life is Funny Like That ( in the Northwest? the Midwest? Where are you Debby?)

The Birdbath Chronicles ( in Toronto)

The Smitten Image (also in Toronto)

Mille Fiori Favoriti (in New York, NY)

Your blogs are always fun, informative and thought provoking to read!

This award was designed by Out & About in New York City.


And just for the record. I posted 3 times today!

Favorite Actors

Rebecca at Ladies Historical Tea Society has challenged bloggers to name their top 10 favorite male and female actors. Willow at Life at Willow Manor jumped right in with her list too. I thought I might throw in some of my faves from the up and coming crowd along with some of the more established actors.

In no particular order here are 10 of my favorite male actors:

Liam Neeson
James McAvoy
Christian Bale
Morgan Freeman
Colin Firth
Edward Norton
Russell Crowe
Will Smith
Ewan McGregor
Johnny Depp

And here are some of my favorite female actresses.

Rene Zellweger
Cate Blanchette
Nicole Kidman
Anne Hathaway
Meryl Streep
Oh heck, I think I'll just cut and paste Rebecca's list. It is practically the same!

Who are your favorites and why?

The Guessing Game

Can you guess who this cute girl grew up and became?

How about this 40s ingenue? Do you remember her name? Her hairdo was all the rage and even today it is the iconic "hollywood starlet" look.

You will probably recognize this fellow, albeit most of us won't recognize his well behaved hair style.