Hyacinth Bean Vine

My first attempt with watercolors. It sure was fun, I completed it in the time it took Rowan to take his nap. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. But I'm a little unsure of how to go about giving it a background that isn't too distracting, so I left that pretty much blank. And I left out a stem on one of the leaves, woops. I think I'll try something a little more vivid than watercolor next. And something a little stiffer than newsprint would probably help too! It's a really awesome plant, all aerial parts are edible, the bright pink flowers have a wonderful flavor. Those purple pods are practically the only vegetable I can get Rowan to eat! Guess he inherited my love of foraging. I can remember being sooo pleased that I could go out to my mother's garden and find something to eat just growing there!

Weekend Festival Update

This time it was the Columbia Festival of the Arts. There was a little section where the kids could draw on the sidewalk with chalk, but we've heard that most sidewalk chalk contains lead, and it's impossible to keep Rowan from putting random stuff into his mouth sometimes, so we skipped it. Paranoid? Maybe, but better than lead poisoning! But the little girl in the first photo was so intent on her work :) The second shot was the "poetry wall", impromptu poems being created with magnetic words. Maybe I'll put ours back up on the fridge... There was alot of very beautiful craftsmanship at the booths as well (priced accordingly!) I've been thinking lately about if there is a differnce between "fine art" and "fine crafts", and the only difference I can see is the price tag! It's a strange world, the Art world...as much as I love it, it kindof peeves me sometimes. Maybe it's just sour grapes, and to make sure it isn't I'm going to make a renewed effort start creating more and see what happens. Last but not least was I think the coolest part of the festival, the Samba band!!! The costumes were a little odd, but they definitely had the rythm down! When we came home that night, Rowan got out his drum set from G-pa and started WAILING on it, he was really gettin down! And then after a few beats he would stop and want us to applaud :) We all jammed, who knows maybe we'll form a band? haha

Columbia Heritage Festival

Went to the Heritage Festival. Fun times, craft demonstrations, like the blacksmith in the second shot, music, etc. Rowan likes being on Jeffy's shoulders, with our genes it's probably as close as he's going to get to feeling like a tall person! The last picture is one of my favorites, we were watching the square dancers and there was this group of little girls that were so cute. I just love how serious her face is in contrast with the goofy yellow dresses of the dancers.

What a poser!

I swear, I did NOT coach him to do that finger thingy! He cracks me up every day :D That little spot between his eyes is a scratch that means it's time to trim his claws again.

Rouge, rojo , RED!

My favorite shot of the day :) This is a cardinal climber, and I just love that shade of red so much I can't STAND it! I also love the way the pollen grains look like tiny pearls. To see a larger version of this, click on the photo.

Archie

One more image from the Steam engine show. This is Archie. He is a standardbred horse, I think his person said he was from Tennessee. He had this bit in his mouth that was clearly bothering him, he kept stretching his neck out and making faces with his lips, poor guy. What a long day for him, so many strangers too. I've always been way into horses, his muzzle was soooo fuzzy :)

Missouri Valley Steam Engine Association Show

So here is what we did last weekend (after steam cleaning ALL of the carpet in our house. Living with filth is one thing, fleas are another!!! And fleas LOVE me and Munchie) There was a show for the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association. Jeff said it was like a Dead show for farmers, and I said only they get high on diesel fumes instead of.... There were some very cool old pieces of machinery on display, and what do you know, some of them were still operational! Like the above speciamen, a thresher which was too big to fit in the frame. That strip on the top of the first frame, and bottom of the second frame was the belt, and it must have been at least 25 feet long. The whole family was helping to pitch hay into it, except the Missus (smart lady! now where'd she run off to?) They were so focused on their job, it was really kindof beautiful. I guess I'm not much of a machine lover, as none of the pictures I took of the equipment really satisfied. Oh well, it was fun and Rowan was mesmerized.

The Cheeseball series

Here is the latest from the "Cheeseball series" ;) Do you like color, black and white, or sepia best? I know it depends on the subject matter. I think sepia is my favorite, maybe it's because I love chocolate? It's warmer than black and white, but keeps the monochromatic simplicity. I wonder how he makes his nose do that flat thing? Talented kid :D



These were taken at the Boonville Downtown Festival. It's interesting to see a slice of the Boonville population, out of their native Wal Mart habitat ;) No, seriously I actually met some very interesting folks. The Democrats had a booth, right next to the Repulicans and I did my duty and got a *gasp* yard sign. I'm not usually a yard sign kindof person (or rigidly Democrat for that matter), but I've really had it with the neo-cons, and have to do SOMETHING! I also went by another booth and found a sweet woman who practices Reiki. So you never know what's out there until you check it out!

"Daddy git yer gun, it's a WOLF!"

This is Moonie, one of Jeff's malamutes. I will be bringing her in to have a minor growth removed on Friday. When he brought her in to be evaluted today, the vet said that she is past the average age for her breed. On borrowed time. This made me feel a little sad, she and I have quite a history. Like the times she stole my shoes and left them in the yard out of jealousy when Jeff and I moved in together. And of course the many cats, opossums, and raccoons she murdered, much to my dismay! And then there was Maaa-ary, the sheep... In spite of all this, I have to agree with everyone else's verdict that she is a good dog, of unusual intelligence and loyalty (unless of course there is a sheep to be chased ;) So keep her in your thoughts. But don't worry too much, 'tis merely a flesh wound ;)

Flyin' his freak flag :)

Go Row Row! Here he is on the Katy trail. I find that if I don't get out and away from suburbia often, I start to feel a little CAGEY. So we bike to the Katy Trail. Row takes after his mama, a restless spirit who is not satisfied to simply sit in his bike trailer watching the world go by. So we let him out and slow the pace down a bit. The weather has been perfect lately. When we first moved to Missouri last year, someone told us that here, you only get 5 perfect weather days a year. Well, they must be awfully picky, we've had at least a dozen ;) Fall has started to edge it's way in, with nice cool nights and a *little* of that fall smell of smoke and leaves on the air.

Overton Refuge Mosaic

Overton Refuge Mosaic, originally uploaded by *Lovelight*.

These are all pictures from our adventure in the Overton Bottoms. I promise, this is the last entry I'll post on the subject ;) On the top right is a spiny softshell turtle juvenile which swam right up to me on the shore of an ox bow lake. He must have been fleeing some of the huge fish we saw, catfish and scary looking gars. On the top left, Rowan is saying hi to the little guy, who was only about 2 inches across. Middle right is some pretty fungus I found growing on a tree on the shores of the MIssouri. Middle left is a beautiful chrysalis that was hiding in the grass, one of my favorite photo subjects. Bottom right is a cloud of sulfur winged butterflies that were all congregating on some gravel next to the railroad tracks where we were trapped. Finally, bottom left is a pretty comma wing butterfly. I was amazed by the amount of diversity we saw, it is a beautful place :)