we haven't taken down our tree...or our lights or any decorations for that matter...only one other house on the block still turns their outdoor lights on but we like to be a little rebellious that way and keep the spirit going...i figure we will take everything down this weekend. i decided since i haven't blogged about xmas (or new years or thanksgiving for that matter!) i better blog about remnants of xmas...so these were some of the last shots on my camera roll. that reminded me that i just missed friday and friday fragments...a blogger named mrs. 4444's does this every week.. (i started uploading these late last night)...my friend and fellow blogger kristen always plays along and writes fun random things all compiled together on friday and i always mean to do the same and friday is gone by the time i get around to it...so here is my version anyway, a day late...my husband manuel has really been into retro 80's stuff lately...i read somewhere trends cycle back every 30 years or so and since the 70's hippy stuff was just in i figure we don't have long to go before fluorescents and bad super perms, etc. make their way back in...i should look for some old school junior high and high school photos to go along with this idea...but for now, manuel picked up an atari and here he is playing pac man with sea...
sea is left-handed...manuel is also (ambidextrous) and he mentioned to me yesterday he is going to encourage both children to use both hands so they can be, too...here she is making a cat with very large ears (i mistook it for a bunny)...she told me it was a daddy cat...
here is one of our camellia bushes out front with xmas lights...you can see the icycles hanging on our roof (we d0n't ever get real ones here in san diego...in fact, my cousin katie just returned to several feet of snow in michigan while it was in the EIGHTIES here yesterday...i had to change the children into short-sleeved shirts)...story is helping me water...
this particular bush has lots of buds but doesn't get enough light to have them bloom...here is one bloom that was in a random place that got just enough light...
camellias remind me of my dad and virginia...there were a lot of them near the house where he grew up and my mom always exclaimed over them...we would take walks to find and notice them along with all the TREES...my mom was from the northwest and couldn't believe how we didn't have all the green and trees like they did (rain and humidity help that so i'll take our plentiful sun and just travel to these places)...i love hibiscus flowers...tomato red in particular...this one is growing out front and reminds me how tropical it is here this time of year...
sea and story still working in the yard...another hibiscus flower...
these multi-colored daisy type ground cover are in little cut outs in the bricks between the sidewalk and our yard...i want to plant them all over our steep hill behind our house along with multi-colored and textured ice plant...hoping to get our winter garden in this weekend...adding lots of broccoli, kale, chard, arugula, spinach...
sea started making her own ornaments yesterday...drew this circle, cut it out and poked it on a branch...the one beneath it was from an ornament-making coop preschool class we hosted...i think i still haven't posted about that...i guess this post could be called "what i haven't yet blogged about"...
oh, so i'm at the end of my photos...i could write about many random things but in the spirit of staying in the present (cuz i always idealize i'll blog about the past and don't get there and then just feel guilty and sad and unfulfilled) i will blog about last night and leave you with some great youtube videos to look up...staying with the spirit of the 80's many of them are from that era when manuel and i were both quite dramatic and really into dramatic music...yesterday i took sea and story to a hullabaloo kid's concert (they describe themselves as "farm-fresh, free-range, organic kid-folk in a genre filled with musical Twinkies and Ding-Dongs")...they played lots of the kid's favorite songs like "twinkle twinkle" (story sings this whenever he sees a star) and "you are my sunshine" (there is a great version of this by johnny cash i used to play a lot right before my dad died)...and the kids danced around and jumped on the bouncy floor of a gymnastics gym...tried to get video but they were going in opposite directions...
anyway, they both ended up getting sick and going to bed early...so manuel and i had a lot of time to hang out...we worked on projects and cleaning and organizing and made some new year's resolutions like maybe to do yoga together once a week and i'll go on a bike ride with him at least one morning a week while he pulls the kids in a trailer...but the main thing that stuck out from yesterday and late last night was listening to some great youtube music together...going back in the day and finding some new bands, too...so here is my list of just a few songs we played over and over that you should check out:
ian mccullock "candleland" (the version we watched has now been blocked)
til tuesday "coming up close" (check out 80's hair)
u2 & mary j blige "one" (video no longer available)
yo la tengo "little eyes" (used to sing this to sea right before she went to bed)
the airborne toxic event "sometime around midnight" (their video also not available but i'm putting a differt one on)
west indian girl "hollywood"
bon jovi "you want to make a memory" (we tried several times but couldn't get this last night)
dj disse "walk on the wild side"
the killers "all these things that i've done"
gay dad "black ghost"
luna @ malibu love next
echo & the bunnymen "i think i need it too"
dean & britta "words you used to say"
u2 "where the streets have no name" at slane castle
imogen heap "hide and seek"
the magnetic fields "with whom to dance?"
u2 "the wanderer" tribute to cash
u2 "all i want is you" live milan
audioslave "i am the highway"
fleet foxes "ragged wood"
my morning jacket on letterman june 8 2006 (playing with the boston pops)
findlay brown "come home"
u2 40 live from red rocks (really old school)
ok my hands are tired from linking...check out the fragments and join in...and enjoy the music!
That flower is gazania--in case you need to know when you go to buy some.
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous of your warm weather!! We have had negatives for a week straight, TOO cold! Love all your flowers too, the ones coming out of the wall are so cool. Also, I really hope tight rolling pants don't come back in the near future. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are such a doll to mention me - aww thanks. I write my Friday Fragments throughout the week most of the time (I keep a post in draft mode all week) but this past week all of my fragments were on a sheet of paper that is still in the car lol
ReplyDeleteYour sister went back to Michigan?! My entire family lives there, my husband's too. Florida is beginning to feel like Michigan with all this very cold weather.
Love the 80's tunes. I didn't click on any of the links because I don't have headphones and it's 2am, but just the titles sent me singing :)
I loved the Christmas card you sent - I keep meaning to tell you. It was delightful to see everything that you included.
Thanks!
Kristin - The Goat
I *just* took our Christmas decorations down yesterday. I wish I could have one up all year long. Then again, who's there to stop me?
ReplyDeleteOh how I love the 80's! I actually got the 80's version of Scene It for Christmas and I still have to get a group going to play it. I guess no one here wants to play because they *know* I'll kick their butts! =D
I love these fragments--how fun!
ReplyDeleteDenise, thanks for your sweet comments over at my Honeysuckle Breeze..... Yes, hon, you can eat cheese and then create - eat all of the cheese hmmmm good and hope your art work is just as good. *wink* Marlynn
ReplyDeleteAwh, I took my decorations down ages ago, and now you're making me miss them! Your tree looks gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI love hisbiscus', too - gorgeous, exotic looking flowers. Well, they really are exotic for me, since it's a rare sight in London!
Loved the songs you linked, particularly the Fleet Foxes' Ragged Wood!