Kelle, her daughter, and the Cure Rageous Knitters will be participating in the Relay for Life later today. For every dollar that you donate before noon CDT today (July 18), you will be entered in a raffle to win a gorgeous handknit lap blanket!
Nicole’s at Disneyland this week – guess what sort of antenna ball she’ll buy there, and you could win something from Disneyland yourself! Leave your guesses by midnight PDT, July 21.
Caption a cute baby picture over at Noolie’s and you could win a mysterious prize.
Reading Update
Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, Heart of the Sea (The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy, aka the Irish Trilogy); Heaven and Earth and Face the Fire (Books 2 & 3 of the Three Sisters Island Trilogy); Captivated (The Donovan Legacy); The MacKade Brothers: Devin and Shane; and Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts. A-hem. Moving right along!
Carrot Cake Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) by Joanne Fluke. This sugary sweet cozy series set in a fictitious Minnesota town features cookie baker Hannah Swensen and the two guys she dates, dentist Norman and deputy Mike. She’s definitely no Stephanie Plum…
Curse the Dark (Retrievers, Book 2) by Laura Anne Gilman. This continues to be a solid paranormal romance/urban fantasy series – if you get tired of all the graphic groping so common in the paranormal romance genre, you should give this series a try.
Isn’t it amazing that ivy can make even an alley look cool?
Although it does sometimes get a bit out of control – can you see the balconies?!
A nifty roofline…
And the “mini apple” (from the sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry):
“I want the windows open, too! Even though it was cooler, Mom was whining about the humidity last night… but she said maybe when she gets home from work tonight, she’ll open the windows. I wish she’d hurry.” -Mayhem
I think I would be as sad as the kitties if I couldn’t have my windows open… but then I can excuse myself with advanced pregnancy (and the massive heat generation that follows), which I hope neither of the sleek black beauties can claim (though at least one of the cases would be quite… interesting) 😉
Poor, abused kitties 🙁
Dry as a bone here. Hot and dry. The boyz love the open windows, too but they can bark at anyone making noise…which makes me bark! lol
There are balconies…oh yeah, now I see them. That is a nifty roofline, looks like the Winchester mansion.
Mayhem does have a distinctively sad, perturbed look on her face… 🙁
I LOVE that sculpture – I have a framed photo of it. It was always a landmark for me in knowing where I was.
May, just think how bad it would be if you were also facing a whole weekend of extreme heat warnings and closed windows. Tonight is sooner than Tuesday! –Mel
Always love the Oldenburg! Great photos, as ever, and you’ve really been hitting the books.
My office is covered in ivy, and it’s a treat to see the ivy tendrils curling past the windows. However, it doesn’t have a/c!!! Good ol’ neo-Gothic architecture.
Moving right along, indeed!
I am assuming the Hannah Swenson mystery isn’t on the recommended reading list.
I do love the look of ivy covered buildings, it does add something extra summery & clean to its surroundings – although I hear it really does a number on the structure of the buildings it covers….
Rumors of a break in the heat & humidity should make kitties who long for windows (and the parents who pay the A/C bill) much happier this weekend.
The roofline reminds me of Mary Poppins!
Mayhem has a most concerned look on her face!
I think I probably would have claustrophobic nightmares if I lived in that place.
So… Norman or Mike? 🙂
Your fur would frizz if mom opened the windows on a humid day, Mayhem!
I got to meet and talk to Claes Oldenburg when I was in high school. He has always been one of my favorite artists and was an inspiration to me. I even have his autograph!!
May – if you lived here there’s a secret passage to the outside porch that’s open all the time. It’s just the right size for us kitties. ‘Cept sometime the big, fat, cranky fat kitty can’t sqeeze his butt through and mom has to bive him a push. If she’s around. Sam
holy ivy… what would happen if someone went apeshit with some roundup down that alley?
Sorry May, I’m with your mom on the humidity. ICK! Have a fun weekend.
Chris- That antenna ball is so mine!
Humidity. Blech. Only 27% here, and that’s on the humid side for us.
I love buildings covered in ivy. LOVE THEM. I’d try to reproduce the effect here, in Florida, if I didn’t think all that sun and rain would make the ivy go crazy and devour everything (including the car) over night.
A cat’s life is a busy one. Chase the dust ball, take a nap, complain about the windows. Amazing they get any sleep, really.
The words “carrot cake” and “murder” really do not go well together.
Green growies make everything look cooler than it has a right to. 🙂
If my balcony was enshrouded by ivy like that? I’d NEVER open the windows, May…
BUGS…YUCK.
(((hugs)))
Balconies under the ivey? Really? Sheesh, talk about out of control vegetation.
That ivy does look amazing! As long as it’s not covering my balcony.
So are you reading the rest of Nora Roberts books next?
And wow, Mayhem! I had to look up a boxelder bug and they are impressively scary/icky, particularly a swarm of them. But really, cat treats are yummier.
Ivy looks pretty but wow, I’d hate to have to do any maintenance work on that building! The roof line photo looks European almost.
Even *I* had to put on the AC. That never happens, May, but Tim and Rosie and Rainy were looking mighty peaked.
Poor kitty. My dad used to run the A/C because the cat was hot. Then he would open a window for her to sit it. Guess she had the best of both worlds? (the one who sat in my plate at the table)
The out of control ivy looks a lot like our kudzu. I love that roofline photo!
I’m afraid there will be no open windows for a while here.
I’ve got the Irish trilogy on my shelf waiting to be read. I’m busy reading through the Sue Grafton’s I’ve acquired at the moment – I’m on P and just have Q until I run out.
Poor Mayhem – she looks so mournful.
I always love looking at your photos.
Hey, I was at Disneyland myself this week! I didn’t buy any balls or anything for that matter, but it was still fun!
Wow I’m impressed. I haven’t cracked a book open in what? two months. I suck. 🙁
Maybe I should challenge myself to read at least 20 books before September 1.
Oh I’d love to climb up and nestle in on one of those ivy covered balconies. It looks awesome.
Glad you are enjoying the Roberts’ series 🙂 Three Sisters Island were one of my fav’s. Northern Lights is pretty good too.
And btw, I loved the Dante Valentine book – just went and bought the entire rest of the series (thank you to Borders coupons) Great recommendation. thanks so much!
That ‘cherry’ sculpture is pretty funny. Love all the towers!
I love the Jewels of the Sun trilogy. I’ll have to try the other Roberts you mentioned… I like Hannah Swenson, too, but I have to be in the right mood for her.