Happy Spring!

Spring arrives in many guises all across the country. Nice and cool here this morning and got up to 80 this afternoon. It has been very windy all week, so the humidity is low and the weather men keep warning of fire danger.  The trees are starting to bud. No spring bulbs popping up through the snow here, at least not at my house.  No snow and I don't have any bulbs.  I did think that the hard freeze we had killed my little potted Pomegranate tree that "someone" forgot to move into the garage, that one week we had very cold temps.

 Plus, that same "someone" cut it way back in my absence.  However, the past week has shown it is recovering, at least one branch has some new growth. Poor little thing, I hope it grows to it's former size.  We bought it for our anniversary gift about 8 years ago and have managed to keep it alive all this time, So Far.

I've done a fair amount of moping and grieving the past few weeks, but have managed to get out a few times and do some things. We only went to a few of the SXSW festival happenings this year. The crowds just get larger every year and it is less appealing to us to deal with it. Here are a couple of the ones we did get to last week and week end. Getting there, we drove to the train station and took the train downtown.  It was a quite uncomfortable, like being in N.Y. or San Francisco. It was standing room only and in very close quarters. Ewww  It was even worse coming back, but we were on line early and at least got a seat this time.

 

 The poster show was amazing, mostly artwork done for music gigs but some movie posters too. Look at the cute little taxidermy guy that someone swapped for some posters.  The lady there said it was a weasel, but I think the white ones are ermines. Not certain though. He was really cute, if a little creepy.

Renegade Craft Fair is always fun.  They had these paper mobiles hanging from the ceiling all throughout the building. Lots of handmade things and workshop/make and takes.  I only bought some tea and a pretty aqua screen printed scarf.  There was a guy there from L.A.who had some gorgeous screen printed and handmade books.  It is hard for me to resist anything PAPER...but I managed. Now I am sorting through all my stuff trying to find his business card so I can drool over his artwork on his website.

Meanwhile back at the convention center, there was a lot going on there besides the poster show and Music Gear Expo.  There were bands playing on several stages and it got to be a bit much after awhile.  Hubby went to listen to music and I wandered around seeing some of the other sights.
I met these really cute young ladies in line at one of the venues.  I asked if I could take their photo, I thought they were so cutely dressed.  They are Kari from Nashville, and Ella from Atlanta.  Hope you can make out Ellas' huge wooden peace sign earrings. Believe me there were a lot of really cool costumes, most I did not get a chance to take photos of.  Most of these were taken with my cell phone as I need to shop for a new camera.

Yesterdays Clouds, Last Nights Moon

The sky was bright blue and the clouds were crisp where I live. Driving home in the afternoon I can't help thinking of all the dreadful things going on in the world. What does the sky look like over Japan...will the cherry blossoms bloom again in Spring? Will the death toll continue to rise, and how long before her people will feel safe again? The skies over Libya...we can see if we turn on CNN...all the disastrous elements brought about by mother nature, and man as well. I'm actually weary of CNN playing everywhere I go. I don't want to dwell on the bad things, but how can I NOT? It's hard to avoid them. I did receive an e-mail back from one of the sketchbook participants that I sent a message to. He and his family are fine, in Kobe.

Hubby and I needed a small break and so we went downtown. On a Saturday night...during SXSW? What are we, crazy? A friend of ours was playing at a bar that was NOT on 6th Street, so we figured we'd brave it. We saw a couple of acts before his band, and a couple after. We were home by mid-night...so we missed the action on 6th Street and the kerfuffle with the police...only just now heard about it from a neighbor. Too many fans trying to get into small venues, add alcohol..spells trouble! I told you this town gets crazy around it's musical festivals. We love live music, but are not party people...I had one beer, hubby doesn't drink at all. We both felt hung-over from the cigarette smoke and lack of sleep.

We took a walk through the Capitol grounds before coming home. It was cool and breezy, and very beautiful. I could have sat there for hours watching the moon.

I still keep taking pictures of the moon, even though with my little camera, it's hard to get photos that do it justice. I still feel compelled to do it. The moon was huge last night, but looks dwarfed by the capitol.

Spring...renewal, growth, hope for peace and tranquility in the world.

Spring Fever

Blossoms are blooming,the trees are leafing, the wildflowers are rampant, and along with that come the Spring allergies as well. My favorite Sunday afternoon activity is to take a nap, being lulled to sleep by the sound of lawnmowers in the neighborhood, through the open windows, and a cross breeze blowing through the house. It was 80 degrees. You see, all too soon for me, it will be hot and humid again and the windows closed and the sounds of A/C throughout the neighborhood. Every spring I have these mixed feelings about another impending summer in Texas. I long for the Pacific N.W., the Forsythia, the Azaleas and Lilacs. I'm trying to enjoy as much outdoors as I can before I begin my summer hibernation. You know, where I go out of the A/C house to the A/C car, to drive to somewhere else that is A/C. Yes I am a real grumble puss about heat and humidity. The only good thing about humidity,IMHO, it makes your skin feel nice. LOL

Have you seen the new Spring stuff at Target? Everyone is talking about the Liberty of London promotion, so had to go there to see it myself. I am not a real girly-girly, flowery type, but I loved their bright colors, so took a few shots of the displays, and even bought a couple small things.
Like this set of bowls, because of the color, they match a bright fuschia tray that I have. Because I love paper, I also got a couple gift bags and some file folders.



Sorry about lights in the ceiling. I couldn't find anything to climb up on to get a straight on shot. HaHa



These cute little fellows are a combo of Liberty of London and Easter. ( I guess) Don't know why folks always look at me so strangely when I am taking photos of things like this.



Oh and then there was this one.. I had to wait quite awhile while people stopped going in and out the sliding door, and to get him with no peeps in the photo. My friend was cracking up laughing. We are both very easily amused. I like how he looks like he is sitting on the sidewalk. This is my Easter card!