SOME ENCHANTED EVENING

Last evening I experienced another one of those "perfect moments" here in Wimberley.

It started with dinner at a new Mexican restaurant -- just opened in an old location down on River Road which had been sitting empty for quite some time. Not bad, considering they'd only been open a day or two.

From there we grabbed our folding chairs and headed over to this season's first Friday Night Concert at the Blue Hole.

We had absolutely perfect weather...

perfect music from a local group called Broken Glass, playing favorite oldies from Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Shake Russel, Dan Fogelberg, and even Neil Diamond (dancing was encouraged)...

and best of all, we had an absolutely perfect venue! It was like a perfect storm for happiness -- one of those divine moments when you suddenly realize that there wasn't another place on the entire planet where you would rather be.

DREAMS BEST NOT REMEMBERED

 
Why is it that some people remember all of their dreams, while others, like me, can't remember doodley squat? Several people have told me that dreams play a vital role in their creative lives, and I noticed that a couple of the courses in my new 21 Secrets class have to do with dreaming. I've been trying to work on my retention rate by keeping a tablet and pen at my bedside, in order to jot things down the moment I wake up. I also keep artsy magazines there, so I can fall asleep thinking creative thoughts. Not working all that well.

For the most part, all that remains of my dreams when I wake up is a wisp of an aura or feeling that lingers. If I'm lucky, I might remember a few of the last objects I touched in the dream. This morning I remembered a dying sewing machine and an antique doll dress that had been slipped over a tall perfume bottle, for display purposes, but that was it.

About the only time I ever remember anything substantial is when I get startled awake in the middle of a dream cycle, rather than waking up in my own sweet time. Since we never use alarms anymore, that rarely happens. When it does, the dreams are always so freakin' bizarre, it's like being lost in a creepy Fun House. I hate creepy Fun Houses! Yesterday I briefly fell back to sleep, after getting up to go to the bathroom, and began to dream. I remember being at a family get-together on what used to be a golf course near the house where I grew up. For some reason one of my sister's high school friends (who is now one of my blog buddies) was there with her family as well. A few of us were sitting on some benches that faced each other, having a nice little visit, when suddenly we realized that those benches were actually part of a water ride -- something like the log ride at Six Flags. We had been floating along without realizing it, and were just about to go over one of those huge drops, with no straps to hold us in, and nothing much to hold onto!

See? I told you they were bizarre. And that is one of my most normal ones! So, how is visiting the freaky fun house every night going to boost my creativity?

THE ASPARAGUS SOLUTION

I LOVE eating asparagus from my very own garden.  What I hate, though, is this:

Six foot tall asparagus fronds flopping all over the place! Unfortunately, you can't trim them down until they die back on their own in winter, as they are collecting sunlight and storing energy for next year's crop. It got me to thinking about the narcissus bulbs I used to force, and the way they tended to flop around. My solution was to loosely tie them together, so they would support one another and stand up straight. I thought maybe I could just tie a piece of that stretchy garden twine around each clump of asparagus and get similar results. But then I had an even better idea.

Back when I worked at Buchanan's Native Plants in Houston I used to decorate seasonally. In autumn I would tie giant corn stalk bunches to our porch columns with big sparkly bows in all the pretty fall colors. Regular ribbon would have collapsed the first time it rained, but we had this amazing, scrunchable, mesh-like stuff that came in every possible color. Well, guess what I found at Hobby Lobby the other day?

Ah yes, MUCH better!

WHAT'S ON YOUR TABLE?

 No matter how often I clear my work table off, it never seems to last for long.

Here it is this morning, and I can tell you right now, it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better!

At first it was just this little pile here, centered around a great book by Carla Sonheim that came in the mail the other day. I figured it was time to stretch my drawing skills -- step outside the box and get a little more whimsical. I feel I must make a disclaimer though, regarding that page full of giraffe drawings. Those were blind contour drawings, meaning I wasn't allowed to look at the page while I was doing the drawing!

This stuff was added to the mix yesterday, after I realized that Hobby Lobby had all their sketchbooks, journals and stamps marked 40 - 50% off!

The reason it's not going to get any better, anytime soon, however, is this:

This is a new online class that just started yesterday, where I get to take lessons from 21 different teachers! I have a feeling it's gonna take me quite a while to work my way through all of them. It took me most of my day, paper and ink just to print the 66-page workbook! I'm thinking it's going to require several more trips to the craft stores for supplies, too, as I've already spotted a few things I don't have, if that's even possible, such as these watercolor paints that sparkle!

So what about you? What's on your table? Seriously, I really want to know! My sister-in-law, who works with polymer clay, sent me a picture of her work space recently, and I'm thinking it would be great fun to periodically do a post showing the workspaces of several of my creative friends, be it an art table, a sewing table, or even a kitchen counter or potting bench! Just send me a photo of whatever kind of mess gets your creative juices flowing! (my email address should be in my profile or the side bar somewhere)

NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT?

 
No more man-purse! Yep, hubby got to shed the pump and antibiotic drip yesterday -- the one that he had to take to bed with him each night, and keep plugged into a charger, with himself attached, for about five hours a day. Needless to say, he feels quite giddy about being free and unfettered again. Of course, we're not out of the woods quite yet. In two weeks he goes back to have more blood cultures run -- sooner if he starts running a fever before that time. If the cultures come back clear of bacteria, he's a free man. If not, they pull the pacemaker and we start all over again.

Between spending Easter with his kiddos, ditching the man purse, and visiting a couple of garden centers, he's had several really good days in a row, and it shows! He was actually cracking some really dumb jokes on the way home from Austin yesterday, for the first time in I don't know when. Good to have you back Squeedunk -- I've really missed you!

A MOST BLESSED EASTER

 Food, family, health, love and laughter...

Instead of chocolate bunnies, they each got a mini pie in their favorite flavor this year.

We were never big fans of lamb until we tasted these grilled chops with balsamic reduction. It comes with 3 chops, but I gave one away and made another convert.

What more could you need or want?

GIRL IN THE GARDEN

The girl in the garden donned a new frock today, it being Easter and all. For the last few days she's been wearing this one:

Not bad, but wait 'til you see her new one.

Ooh la la, now that's an Easter frock! Reminds me of that Rainbow Sherbet I was ever so fond of as a kid.

Note: This may look like Trumpet Creeper but it's not. It's Crossvine, a native species that has a shorter bloom period, but much better manners than that agressive hussy, Trumpet the Strumpet.