On the Simple Side

Good morning! Keep your eyes open, sometimes the magic only lasts a minute.

Have a mind boggling Monday! Do something minute full.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

While it looks to be another hot one, the day started - back up on the hill house sitting - with two dogs nudging me out to look at the dawn. Funny how animals do that. And there it was, gold burnishing the sky and water. The three of us stood on the porch awhile singing silent welcome to the day.

Aimee and friends have been working on the median area at the intersection of roads by the airport runway. Little by little they've transformed a very ugly spot into something nice. The windmill is actually powered by wind, not batteries...so it doesn't turn often these days! But when it does...cuteness (I'm not a big fan of cuteness but in this case, I'll sell tickets for it)! She told me they are going to work on another one soon. Thanks, Aimee!! Now, let's keep the trash picked up so we can notice the nice things happening.


Back on flat, if sloping, land CWIM has figured out we're back to half-time play. She shot out of the yard, ignoring even the idea of breakfast to prove her "I'm a cat and I don't need you" independence. Being of much a like mind, I know she'll be back eventually. Lizards just don't stack up once you've been to Friskee's Paree.

Does everyone in my neighborhood have a goat but me? I'm hearing more goats than roosters these days...

This fellow is silent and beautiful. I don't know if he
thought he was hiding, but he let me get pretty close. Nice.

One of the habanero peppers gone rasta colors

On my way home yesterday, for a rare once in a while too busy to stop, I saw that the health food store has its sign up! I'll try to get there today and get some photos and time with Dian. I got a sneak preview - it looks great and the prices are fantasticly reasonable. Dian is looking for suggestions and dietary needs as well, so feel free to let her know what you want to see in there.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Last Dawn from the Hill (for now)

Every morning at the top of the hill has been a study in delicious dawnings (thanks, Chuck, for the dawn/sunrise distinction!). But it is also very good to be home, at bay level. The on and off rains have kept the garden happier than plain waterings, so everything is bright shiny happy. The cat isn't really sure what I'm doing here but she's not asking any questions either - yet another reason to have a cat versus a dog.

Some morning visions...

Kelli is going to be so excited that her lily bloomed! Shhhh, don't tell!

This is WAY late but better late than never. With enough help, we can catch up! There is a site that can be used to help with stray animals, called The Animal Rescue Site. It is kin to the breast cancer/rainforest/educate children/feed the hungry awareness sites. The extra jazz with this one is that the Vieques Animal Shelter (who have worked with our animals and humans) is up for a donation from them if they get enough votes. Right now they could use the votes, which you can do once a day until Octorber 2nd.! Here's how it works: go to the site, click the button. Then when the next screen shows up, scroll down until you see VOTE! Click on that. Put PR into the state box and scroll down to the Vieques Animal Shelter box. Click on Vote. It took longer to type all of that than it does to actually do it (and I type fast!), so give them a hand. Maybe next year we can get on it ourselves!



September must be my time for things to happen. So I forgot that yesterday, beside being my grandson's birthday, was also the 1 year anniversary of this blog. It is also sometime around now that I opened the cart as Island Woman (after Barefoot Contessa and Saucy Contessa) 4 years ago. Happy Anniversary to me!






This photo is from a visitor's blog awhile back;
clicking on the photo will take you to the blog

Talk like a Pirate Day

For some reason, Talk Like a Pirate day has never shivered me timbers. I think it is because I have known pirates and they are amazingly well spoken...though had they lived 150 years ago, they...nah, they still would have been well-spoken. But there is something in the silliness of it that is appealing. And I like this ukulele, which is only $200.00 from an online store called Inexplicable Confetti.

I don't play the ukulele but if I did, I'd want it to look like this one.

Dawn this morning was another excellent show. I am always so glad that I wake up early when I get to see these quickly changing bursts of color dripping all over my world. And amazed at how, in mere minutes, it can go from breathtaking to just plain regular, poof! Like the last prolonged clapping after a magnificent musical or ballet performance, stretched out to hold on to the last heart quickening of aural and visual joy, I take photos to remind myself later in the day, oh, that really WAS an amazing way to begin this day, no matter what happened next!



What happened next wasn't bad anyway. Sitting at the cart, chatting with friends, a few visitors around, a few sales. Then a friend came by with a deep cleaning question and did I want to go with her to lunch? Sure and yes. We went to Dinghy Dock where Norman made us his stuffed burgers, on the recommendation of three people who had just finished with satisfied groans. It was a long wait but well worth it...cooked right and stuffed with jalepenos, cheese and bacon....and then he put more cheese on top. Not exactly eating light, but if one is going to splurge, well then...SPLURGE! And the fries were perfect too.


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Then I gave my deep cleaning advice and a bit of elbow grease for the how-to example. Halfway through a Grateful Dead oldie album (no, of course it wasn't an album - but since every time I hear that particular one I'm transported back to Gainesville, Florida and my rock and roll days in a house called...naturally...The Zoo, it will always be an album to me...I can even hear the needle touching the first track) and a lot of laughter, it was go home time. One shower down. One cat fed. A trip up the hill. Two more cats and two dogs to go. I'd better do the same.

The day has cooled off, the breeze has picked up. It's an absolutely gorgeous afternoon in Paradox...maybe the sunset will be for dessert?