Fabulous Friday...

Halloween toys from "La Tarjey"

Watson... Lovely colors nice tall person, can we please play now ?

Hamish... toy, toy, toy toytoytoytoytoytoytoytoytoytoytoytoytoy !

Hamish... pinkpinkpinkyertpinkpinkpinkpinkpinkpinkyert !

Hamish.. greengreengreengreengreenyertgreentoy squeak !

Watson... the nice pink toy is quite exciting and it squeaks !

Hamish... must find and destroy green squeak have already destroyed pink !

Watson... the pink toy is very colorful.

Watson... nice tall person you know how much I like to play tug.

What a delightful and stylish Halloween toy, Thank You for finding these for us.

Watson... nice tall person playing tug... I am so enjoying this activity.

Watson... tug, tug, tug and with a charming squeak and lovely top notes of rubber ball.

Watson... Oh My Goodness, The exciting green tug toy has somehow escaped.

Hamish... yert !

Hamish... attackgrengreengrensqueakyertgreensqueakyert ack !

Hamish... ummmmgurrrrrgreengreengreen destroy yert !

Watson... The very cute pink toy can be fun too.

Hamish...minemineminemnemineminedestroy squeaky !

Watson... I am rather enjoying the lovely pink toy the squeak has a very pleasing chew factor.

Hamish... greengreenyertgreenmummmmmsqeak eurff yert squeak !

Hamish... destroy now ! wahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !

note from the tall person, the pink squeak sound lasted 5.2 nanoseconds. That is why Hamish switched over to the green toy. That squeak lasted about 10.6 nano seconds longer... Squeak !

These very cute dog toys were found at Target. They were sewn together but I snipped them apart. Loved the cute faces on the bouncy ball part but all Hamish wanted to do was kill it and eat it ! He doesn't care about aesthetes he just wants a strong squeak factor. This was the last one I found, must find more.

The Boys give this toy a 9 Good squeak, exciting off balanced bounce with a great rubber ball sniff factor.

playing... parsnip

music... Rawhide, The Blues Brothers

Yorkshire 1998....

This is usually my Wednesday post about my life in Japan but today it is about Yorkshire, England 1998 by way of Osaka, Japan.

Oldest son was finishing up a semester at Cambridge and I flew over to see him and drive around England and Scotland for a few weeks. It was right before Christmas, what a fabulous time to be in the UK. We flew to Edinburgh and drove back to Cambridge sightseeing on the way, then on to London and our flights home to Laguna Beach, California. One place that stood out on that trip, for me was Yorkshire, England.

I imagine , you who live in England maybe tired of hearing James Herriot's name but not me. I wanted to drive around Yorkshire to look at the cities, towns, fields with stone fences, Sheep, Hedgehogs and Scotties. Plus being a Wallace and Gromit fan I had to see Wensleydale, and we did ! Never saw a Hedgehog or any Scotties.

I have been reading and commenting on Pat's Blog "The Weaver of Grass" which I started following because it is a fabulous blog based in Yorkshire. I mentioned one day about seeing a road sign on my trip through the Dales that I thought said Gayle but I had a hard time remembering it correctly, the trip was in 1998 and my photos were destroyed. What surprised me was the way the town spelled their name. No one ever spells Gayle the way I do, that is the way I spell my name.
Yes, angryparsnip is a Gayle.

Pat wrote back and said yes the road sign did say Gayle ! Since then I have looked up the town with my name and it is beautiful. I want to live there beautiful ! But I will have to settle for a visit instead. I don't think the Dales are ready for an angryparsnip.

Thank You Pat for making my day, my month and my year. I have been telling everyone and I mean everyone, whether they want to hear it or not, about my town !

I e-mail my Japanese son to asked if he had the photo of my road sign (click on photo to make bigger) and he said yes, he had downloaded it years ago. So from California to the UK down to Tucson over to Osaka and back to Tucson and my blog here is a wonderful photo of my sign and another fun photo of me. I look great in this photo, really I do, trust me. Really I do. Really ! My hair was quite fabulous that day.

gayle. . . parsnip
music. . . Dumb, Quench

This song was playing everywhere we went on that trip and my son bought me the album. Whenever it pops up on my i-pod I am whisked away to the UK. I also found "The Vicar of Dibley" on TV that trip and became a huge fan of the show. I would love to visit Turville, Buckinghamshire where the show was filmed.

Thank You, sleepytako for saving and finding the photos of our trip.
Heart !

parley view parsnip...

My Monday post about what is going on around my home.

Pickles ! ! !

Daughter came over and helped me make some quick Japanese styled pickled vegetables.

I used half a bottle unfiltered (that is why the liquid looks cloudy) apple vinegar, two tablespoons each of sugar and salt add a splash of water and boil till dissolved. Pour over sliced seeded Jalapenos, Carrots and Onion slices, or your choice of vegetables. Let sit and store in the refrigerator for a day or so, they get better the longer they sit, but these veggies never last around me. I chop and add them to everything.

Cabbage, garlic and a few Jalapenos.

I tried my hand at "Cowboy Candy" Jalapeno peppers cooked in a sugar syrup with Celery Seed and Turmeric. I didn't have the right size of container so they look lonely in the big dish. The sweet/spicy syrup smelled so good I poured the leftover syrup over the vegetables in the above photo.

Since I don't know how to can for stable shelve life, I like to make small batches of pickle vegetables to store in the refrigerator. That is why I like the quick Japanese style of pickling that my daughter is so good at. Plus after years and I mean years of eating carrots this gives me a new and exciting way to eat carrots.

If I like the Candied Jalapenos, I will look into getting a few correct size jars instead of using what I have on hand.

Just because it is my blog, here is another moment of Zen sunset. I sat and watched it till the sun completely set, beautiful ! The sunset was a bit softer but the camera really focused on the sun. Camera problem aside, I rather like the circles of colors expanding out.

No rain Saturday evening but the weather put on quite a cloud show.

waiting. . . parsnip

music. . . Burning In The Sun, Blue Merle

Fabulous Friday...

This is possible the last storm of the monsoon.

Thursday afternoon the storm built up with clouds and the thunder was rumbling. When you looked up into the sky and clouds you could see Virga rain. This a type of rain that evaporated before it reaches the ground.

The watercolors were out for a project my son had just finished. I just sat down and did a few very fast cloud studies looking from my studio window. Watercolors are the hardest medium for me to work in, I have a tendency to over work them. I just sat down and forgetting what I was suppose to be working on, for 30 minutes or so just did some quick studies on some card stock that is really the wrong type of paper to use for watercolor. I just used what was out on the table. I find if I just paint or draw with what is at hand, it is more spontaneous and fun.

painting . . . parsnip

music. . . Heavy Cloud No Rain, Sting

Wednesday In Japan...

My Wednesday post about my life in Japan...

Last year when I was visiting my family, I saw this poster for the Nakizumo Festival.

Ok, Sumo wrestlers holding babies dressed up as Sumos ? I found it is called Natizumo or The Crying Baby Festival. A Japanese proverb is "a crying baby grows fast" or "a crying baby is a healthy baby".

Younger Sumo in training or sometimes father dressed up in Sumo outfits hold the babies in a face-off and the first baby who cries is the winner. When the babies don't cry the judges will cry Naki Naki Naki which means cry cry cry or bring out an ogre mask, which usually does the trick. The baby is held up high so the cries are closer to heaven so the Gods will bless the baby.

All over Japan these Nakizumo Festival are held to help drive Evil Spirits away. As a Mum I am not sure how to view making your baby cry but as it is just for a one time only and babies seem to cry a lot in the early months of their life, who am I to say an over 400 year old Japanese tradition is wrong. Everyone seems to have fun, smiles and laughter everywhere, food stalls, people cooing over all the babies in the match or not, it seems just another way to for the neighborhood to go to the Temple and celebrate.

Oops... all photos from last Wednesday post and today's have been taken by fabulous Daughter mollybot.

tears. . . parsnip

music. . . On A Clear Day, Kiki's Delivery Service, OST

parley view parsnip...

My Monday post about what is going on around my home.

Fabulous tomatoes.

Good news I saw a beautiful Bobcat just moseying down my street (go U of A Wildcats) Bad news is I saw it at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night as I was rushing Hamish to the Veterinary Specialty Clinic. Three hours later we were all home and he was doing much better.

Sick or not he is a very stylish puppy wearing a gift the fabulous Empress Bee of the blog "muffin53" made for him, Watson has one too. Too bad he is so balck that in this photo you can only see the charm part and not the beads. She makes them for cats also. If you go to her blog you can find a link to her Etsy shop. I can't seem to get the link to work today....

Thanks Empress Bee, The Boys say woooooooof !

This is a plain wall on the West side of my small fenced in yard. All that was there was some pipes for the pool that are quite ugly.

I designed these rather big panels that swing open so the pool-man can access the pipes. The wall gets very hot in the summer and I didn't want to put plants there that need watering, plus the space is narrow. But the magic happens at night.

This area of the yard is very dark at night so I had the metal panels punched with holes so the light inside can sparkle like the stars in the sky and reflect in the pool. The flash makes the yard look much brighter than it is. It is much softer and glowing but it is so pretty and I am very happy with how this project came out.

glowing. . . parsnip

music. . . Under The Milky Way, Church

flying lizards, oh my.....

As I sit at my computer and look out my studio window I never know what I will see. From herds of javelinas, a bobcat or two or coyotes. Roadrunners, quail, birds or snakes they all seem to mosey through what is left of my citrus grove and pass my window. My very own National Geographic show.

Thursday, Mr. Flying Lizard appeared.

not as exciting when you really see what is going on.

A little know fact, it seems desert lizards love screens, or at lest the crazy ones around my home. Even though I know there is a possible of acrobat lizards impaling themselves on my screen, I still startle when I see one enjoying the view from my window screens or on my window ledge looking in my studio or kitchen.

And..... Just because it is my blog, I must have some clouds in my post somewhere.

The very crazy and not very typical summer monsoon season is coming to an end. We are now entering our fall season and the temperature are now back to where they should be, daytime 90 to high 80's evening 70 to high 60's. Perfect !

As I write this a Coopers Hawk just zoomed by holding a large snake. It was so fast that I couldn't get a good look, I so hope that wasn't Oswald the beautiful black Coral snake that I adore. He eat the packrats and rattlesnakes that really don't like. I understand about nature but if it is Oswald I will be so upset and sad.

cooler. . . parsnip

music. . . Good Life, OneRepublic

Wednesday In Japan....

Some random fun signs...

Fabulous Osaka restaurant in the older style of dinning at low tables.

Sign at the Pokemon Center, it has a Lawson, like a 7/11 only a thousands times better.

Fast food.

Osaka street signs.

Curry fast food, with the usual banner signs and of course bikes. Great curry !

Tanuki, modern day god for restauranteurs

Famous Awaji onions make the best soup.

The third ad down on the left is showing the wonderful cake made from bamboo charcoal with a cream filling, Heaven !

Tako.... octopus

Fugu !

hungry. . . parsnip

music. . . Daydream, Tatsu Yamashita