Oh my goodness, looking at the calendar was an eye opener. I’m further behind on these posts than I realized. Here is a little catch up. This is The Boy arriving for Sunday dinner. Aren’t we glad he trimmed his beard? Now he is telling me he thinks his hair is too long and he needs to go get it cut. I think it looks good and all those years with a military dad have tilted his view on hair styles.

I think I’m a couple weeks behind with this posting. I’ll have to take down the calendar to count the weeks. In the mean time, enjoy the blooming cactus in my front yard.

Once again I am a few days late with my Project 52 post. When I realized that, I ran outside with my camera hoping to find something interesting to shoot. This is what you get. Today is a rarity in The Valley of the Sun. It is a gloomy day. I took this photo just before 5pm. On the next sunny day I will post another photo to show you what 5pm should look like.

Sometimes gardens grow where you aren’t expecting to find them.

A while back I started a big  reorganization project in my studio. And then I got side tracked. I think I’ve mentioned before that I get side tracked easily. Oooooooh, a sparkly …….

Oh, where was I? Oh yes, the big reorganization project. Well, I’ve gotten back to work on it and have been amazed at how big of a mess I make when I’m cleaning up. You can’t even see the table under all that stuff!

And here is an Abbey update for my cat loving friends:

She has forgotten that there is any other way to enter the house. Take two steps and then melt into a puddle on the tile. And apparently it is very important to hold your tail up and stay motionless for several minutes.

What is it about cats that makes them want to get into everything? She has even tried climbing into visitors’ purses. This week she was helping me to clean the aquarium. I’m so glad she likes to help me, I don’t know how I’d get anything done without her.

Stop taking my picture! I’ve got a hammer and I know how to use it.

I just realized that I forgot to post a photo last weekend, so this is it, just a bit late. Recliner Man put together some shelves I bought for my studio. Up till now I’ve had a mish mash of wood and plastic shelves that did nothing for the room’s ambiance. I’m in the process of sorting and purging as I work these new shelves into the space and remove some of the old hodgepodge.

I really want to streamline the space and make it feel more inviting, more creative. As part of this plan I’ve finally made my mind up to remove all my stamps from the wood mounts. I love the feel of the wood mounts in my hand but I just don’t have the space for all my stamps. I either had to thin out my stamp collection or decide to do away with the wood. The rubber won and the wood lost.

Suzanne, you removed all your stamps from their mounts, didn’t you? Did you leave the cushion on the rubber or strip them all the way down? I want to take mine all the way down and then put a new cushion on them with a cling layer. Some of the cushions don’t want to peel off cleanly so I’m looking for tips on this project.

This one is kind of a repeat of yesterday’s post but it was the best photo op I had all week.  This morning I broke out the really big lens, my Nikkor 70-300mm which I’ve named Big Bertha, and went out for a few more shots. I used the auto feature since the bees flew in and out so fast and I didn’t think I’d be able to focus fast enough. The shutter speed was 1/640, the aperture was F5.6, and the focal length was 270mm.

I then went over to tell the neighbors about the hive and as I expected, they didn’t answer the door. I’m kind of worried about this hive because these are the neighbors who don’t really take care of their yard. Weeds everywhere and a pile of handouts, phone books, Fed Ex deliveries, and yard debris by their front door. Too bad I didn’t have my camera handy, it might have made an interesting photo. Since I wasn’t expecting them to answer I made a little posted with a couple of the photos and added a short message to tell them they have a hive, and slid it in their door.  Cross your fingers and hope that they call an exterminator. I have mine crossed already.

Not much has been happening around here. The weather has been nice and the Recliner Man and I have spent some time outside working on the yard. The lizards keep a close eye on us when we are out there. This little guy seems to have the perfect hiding spot inside the block fence.

As a side note – thanks to everyone who clicks on the Google links. Your help is very much  appreciated!

This week’s photo is from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. This is a glass installation by Dale Chihuly on the lobby ceiling.

Recliner Man enjoyed playing a Black Jack machine at the Bellagio. The Bellagio slots enjoyed taking my money. We stayed there a lot longer than I wanted to. I would have gotten off better if they had just charged a fee to look at the glass and then sent you on your way. My daughter says that we should have tried their buffet. Maybe next time.