PENSIEVE

Butterfly kisses on crack...

or Now, THESE are false eyelashes!

or Latisse gone wild...

Eyelash eXXXtensions...

or I don't know HOW else to title this!  If ever there were a case for Wordless Wednesday, this is it--

The one and only Martha Stewart, like you've never seen her before! Thanks to commenters Jenn & Karmyn for reminding me which magazine...and helping me to realize WHO the model was!  How'd I miss it!  (Well, Photoshop for starters....)

(Taken while I was standing in line at the grocery store, but I can't remember the magazine it was on...holla if you know!)

 

Love lettered

One day I returned home to find my daughter's friends had graffitied the hall mirror at the top of our stairs...

They're teenagers...and I haven't been able to bring myself to Windex their sweetness.  Would you?

{And, at least it wasn't the WALLS!}

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more mostly wordless pictures.

Watermelon, strawberries, cherries & skulduggery???

June, 2009, my back patio.  Fresh fruit, the perfect taste of summer.
It was almost too pretty to eat...a l m o s t ;).

Oh, and why the heck would I add the word "skulduggery" to this post title?  Because my friend who brought us the fruit used it correctly in a sentence, as in, "Dawn was the Queen of Skulduggery when she brought fruit to accompany dinner; she knew Robin's sad, tired, pitiful little pie was destined for disaster, and this was her subtle way of coercing Robin into eating healthier, because everyone knows fruit makes a delicious dessert since it is nature's candy after all."

Except I think Dawn's sentence was shorter, not a run-on, and actually made sense. 

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Happy feet...very

May 2009, Kiawah Island, SC.
Nope, no sand in my shoes just feet on the beach. 

Kitty faces

Pansies always make me think of my grandmother--a master Bridge player, cook, knitter, imagination weaver...and gardener.  The living gateway to her garden was a row of mature boxwoods, edged to the right and left with azaleas and hydrangeas, and the far side, a brick wall hidden by camellias and gardenias, and even more hydrangeas and azaleas.  Daffodils, hyacinths, roses, primroses, zinnias, lilies of the valley--gosh, so many more I can't recall--lived there as well.  It smelled as beautiful as it looked, with hints of spearmint, peppermint and parsley in the back right corner.  One of my favorite childhood memories is jumping off the garage roof into the compost pile...we had NO idea what went into it (even if we had known, we still probably wouldn't have cared).

But it's the pansies that make me think of her, statuesque, regal and One Who Knew All Things.  She had the most fabulous jiggly arms on the planet and she didn't mind us playing with them a bit.  Forever I thought pansies were named "Kitty Faces" simply because she told me so.

I wish she had lived long enough to cultivate her gardening knowledge in me; I'll have to settle for a genuine affection for a flower's beauty.  A single stem has the power to transform my day.

 

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday

Fire in hand

Kolkata, India, April 2009.  She's not learning karate for kicks; she's learning it to defend herself.  On first glance in the last picture, it looks like she's wearing a ring; it's actually a glowing ember.  Compassion International's holistic approach to child development is all about providing for the spiritual, economic, emotional, and in this case, physical, needs of the children they serve.  What that looks like differs from country to country, project to project.

Please read more about our India trip and click here for video footage on YouTube.

Wordless Wednesday

Mixed messages

North Shore, Chattanooga, January 2009.  Winder Binder Gallery,
worth your time if you're ever in the area.

The bird & the bee

Barnsley Gardens, Adairsville, Ga.  March, 30, 2009. 

Wordless Wednesday

Box Tops for Education

Do you collect Box Tops for Education?  It's a great initiative begun by General Mills in 1996.  If yours isn't taking part, you're missing out on FREE cash--just look at the brands included! 

The above represents about a year's worth of tearing corners,
each one a dime for my kids' school.  Care to guess how many?
 I'll even give you a hint:  it's divisible by five...;)

More Wordless Wednesday
Additional wonderful ideas at WFMW

Cat on a lap, boy on a toy

Stephen, Jack & Wilson, March 2009.  Shortly after I snapped the picture of golden lions and dirty nails, I had to reach for my camera again.  I should just keep it strapped around my neck 24/7; 'cause really, truly, I'd rather wear Nikon bling over gold and diamonds any day of the week!

More wordless (& almost wordless) at WW & 5 Minutes for Mom.