Matt Orlando Made A Pot Just For Me

 

Well, I didn't get to keep it, but he threw this pot so I could watch the process and snap pictures.  Although I know what one is supposed to do to make a pot (after a disastrous attempt at pottery in college), it was fun to watch a real potter work the clay.

Matt works at a wonderful shop in San Antonio called Sunrise Pottery, and he would teach you how to make pottery in very inexpensive lessons!  I'll tell you all about it (hopefully sometime tomorrow) at my main blog.

Knight Studio in Kilgore, Texas

This photo was sent to me by a reader, who assumed it is probably from the 1920s or 1930s.  If you happen across this and know more, please let me know!  See more info about it at This Eclectic Life.

Wizard Wells, Texas

I'm posting the full story at my main site this morning, but wanted the pictures here so they could be viewed in a larger size.  Here is the link, in case you want the scoop on this tiny Texas community.

For A Chance to Win A Ghost Story CD, Go Say "Boo!"

Actually, you can't click that image to go to the post.  I couldn't figure out how to link it on Posterous.  Instead, if you want to enter to win a ghost story CD, click that link. 

Everyone who has already commented is going to get a CD, so your chances of winning one are good!  Drop by and say, "Boo!"  Remember that comments here don't count!

As If I Don't Have Enough To Do ...

I got distracted with an application on my iPhone!  It's called Colorsplash, and I haven't mastered it, yet. 

Take a photo on your phone, upload it into this application and it becomes a black and white.  Then, you can add color on bits of the photo by using your finger as a paint brush.  This was the best I could do, but now I'm hooked.

Do you use that application?  Know any tricks?

I'm going to go paint my world pretty!

GIST #1

The "gist" of an argument is defined as the "main point" or "essence."  The letters "G.I.S.T." can also be an acronym for "Grace In Small Things."  That is a movement that Schmutzie started to remind us, as we battle the noisiness of life, not to overlook the tiny reasons we have to be thankful for each day.  Schmutzie encourages folks to list five tiny things each day in which we find "grace."  Those small things are the gist of life, aren't they?

To be honest, I've tried this exercise before.  I even joined the group and started a Ning blog.  That lasted about ten days.  Multiple choice question:  I didn't continue because

The correct answer is, of course, "F," and if you got that wrong, you failed.  I've decided that I will post my "grace" here on my Posterous blog.  Not daily ... just occasionally ... and not always five things.  I won't feel guilty about not following the rules. 

Here's the first of my lists of grace:

1. Posterous.  That's right.  Posting here is as simple as an e-mail.  I "hide" from my regular blog here, because I don't feel any "pressure" when I post at this site.  It's just for fun ... for me ... and if you want to read it, that's cool.
   
2. Heirloom tomatoes that are too pretty to eat ... but I did, and they were delicious (at least the green striped one was --- that link is to the picture).
3. Busy city streets, like the one shown above, where I can get lost in the crowd and just "people watch."  That's San Francisco, and I think I left my heart there.  In fact, I did, because my son lives there.  Great reason to have to visit San Francisco, eh?
4. Apps for my iPhone.  Particularly one that is a solitaire card game (oh, I can't remember the name and I'm too lazy to look).  Since downloading it, I am no longer grumpy when I stand in line at the grocery or the post office. In fact, I let people jump ahead of me in line so I can finish a game. It distracts me when I'm driving on the freeway, but....
5. Jamie at Duward Discussion.  She's a blogging friend whose wisdom and wry wit always amazes me.
   

That's the gist of it.

Tomatoes Too Pretty To Eat

I saw a vegetable stand and could not pass it without browsing.  These heirloom tomatoes caught my eye.  I've been holding them in my hand just sniffing them ... they don't smell like the hothouse tomatoes we buy at the supermarket.  They smell real and of the earth.  And, I'm remembering (our sense of smell is a wonderful trigger for memories):

• Following my grandfather as he gathered tomatoes in the truck patch, with the sun beating down on our heads.  While Papaw wasn't looking, I popped cherry tomatoes into my mouth, sure that he would never know I had done it --- even though telltale juice dribbled down my chin.
• Walking through a field of tomatoes at the end of summer with my two blond haired toddlers in tow.  I was gathering tomatoes to make picante sauce, and trying to get them to taste sun-ripened tomatoes.  They were too busy squealing and swatting the giant grasshoppers that kept using them as springboards.
• Watching my mother's gnarled hands as she sliced fresh tomatoes for hamburgers at a family picnic.  I hoped that my hands would never be that crippled with arthritis.  Oops.  Vain hope.

I can't wait to eat these tomatoes, but I had to take a picture to remember them.  They are pretty.

Plano Balloon Festival

Although I posted about this balloon festival on the main blog, the pictures were too small to be effective.  I do NOT claim to be a photographer!  I'm a "wannabe."  This festival was in Plano, Texas last weekend.  It was the 30th year for the festival, and I'm sad that I don't get to go to it every year.  We didn't see a launch, just the evening "glow," but it was spectacular!

The Art Bench

Last week, I posted photos for a meme called Monochrome Weekly where bloggers who like to take photographs in black and white share their shots.  This bench in Mendocino, California had caught my eye when we visited.  I love the idea of making art from recycled materials.  This is definitely "art," but I don't know comfortable it might be to lounge on it!

One reader, Kilauea Poetry (who is an impressive photographer) wished she could see it larger.  I'm uploading it here in the hopes that one can see more detail.

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