These colors might look familiar...

I've started a new quilt. I've finally broker away from a mono-chromatic squares design, much to Erik's delight. The new diamonds have turned out so perfectly, I think I will be using more of them. And I love the un-bleached cotton, breaking up the colors and prints. It's moving fast, so there shoudl be more updates on this pretty little thing soon.

Erik Dahl, Napkin Maker

Erik has taken to making napkins for us. It started with 2, and then he made his own bias tape out of a raw silk, so he of course had to make 2 more to use that. The other day I came home and he had cut out a kazillion little tiny squares. I asked what he was using them for, and he said he had no idea. I provided him with some more fabric options, and he set about making another fleet of the small 3 pointed pieces. I began to think, maybe he's finally doing it, maybe after all of his ideas, and suggestions for my quilts and dreamy gazes while sketching designs, maybe he's going to make a quilt. Today I got home, and they were neatly arranged in a smallish rectangle on the table, and he said "I think it's a napkin."

Birds for Jess

That's all.

Monokuro boo

Asha discovered this character, and we've all grown to love him. His profile is perfectly flat, his ears could be his feet and vice versa, he's often stacked on or leaning against a white twin, or hiding behind an apple, his face is almost perfectly expressionless - but is often incongruously pictured exclaiming "boo!", and the key feature pictured at the left - his single, skeptical eyebrow. Is he aware of that pink bauble circling his right ear? Or is he wary of his own physical absurdity? We may never know.

A round building along sculpture park

Koi, in murky waters

Creepy buddies

you see that little blue fin at the left? That's a "creepy buddy", so named by Asha. They are those fish that don't really hunt or scavenge, they just eat off old bits of other fish. When we first came across this one, he was going to town on Kissy The Old Man Fish's gills. As you can see, he's not being shy about it - he's half in poor Kissy's head. Asha thought this was pretty gross, but her real fear was that the creepy buddy would curl up all of the way inside Kissy's gill........





Which is exactly what happened. But Asha was wrong, it got worse. The second that creepy buddy disappeared into the side of Kissy's head, another creepy buddy (we hope) shot out of Kissy's mouth.








On a completly different subject, Erik discovered that Creepy buddies are sequntial hermaphrodites. They are all born female, and the toughest female in the group becomes male. Whenever the groups male dies, another female makes the change to take it's place. It sounds like it could be a great science fiction story (minus the diet of dead fish skin)

Ferry preview

I always take pictures on the ferry. In fact, I always take a lot of pictures on the ferry. But, usually, I find that the actually experience is ultimately more interesting than the pictures. But this batch turned out pretty good. more to come...

Dafodils

It's no secret that I despise these little yellow beasts. Was there ever a less artful, less graceful, less lovely or vital flower? They are the gum-smacking, overly-hairsprayed, base, obtuse, and annoying vermin of the flower world. But, they're kind of pretty when they are wilted.

Early morning projects

Re naming the kitty:

Speckle Ka-ching, the nearly oblong cat

Repainting the bedroom

I've been agonizing about what color to repaint the bedroom. I'm super over the blue.

So, I was thinking an apple green, a bright light emerald green, or an violet inspired by this one.

Here are the violet and light emeraldy green I tried, in different lighting situations. I wasn't patient enough to photograph them by daylight also, I may add them later. But, it gives you an idea of how changeable both colors are.

So, what do you think? I'm leaning towards the violet.

madam puddle foots - most tea-housey tea house ever.

Aquarium

So much photo catchup! I've really let the photos pile up. But these were lovely, I had to do them first.

Asha loves jellyfish!


Fish face!

This little dude made himself a hammock








These guys eat bits of dead skin off other fish. Asha calls them "creepy buddies". There will be a whole separate post about them....

Ms. Nose. She reminds me of Howl's moving castle :)


These were so redonk. There was a small one zooming around the tank as fast as possible, the whole time we were int hat room. (It was a round tank). I couldn't get his picture, because he was just a little blur.

Asha is convinced this is Nemo. She said he had a lame fin and everything!



Kissy, the old man fish. boy did we love this guy. he was as affectionate and playful as a seal, but obviously quite old. I've never seen a pufferfish half this big!



The octopus was rad... we hid in plain sight, on the glass wall. His tank was curved, so you couldn't se ehim at any angle, but head on.

And of course... Jellyfish...