Anyway, speaking of being transported… back to the Beauty Shop Cutie (Cutie Shop Beauty?) photo tweaking.
And now that edit!!!! “The REVEAL” because I know I’ve worked you too hard over this…
Crazy, eh?
But you know what’s REALLY crazy, ladies and gents?!? My photos are now Ludicrous Wide!! Yes indeed, I upped ’em another 30px wide!
Isane!
(Whoops, I mean “insane”)
Just how much wilder can this blog get!?!?!
Next I’ll probably be putting up a photo of Kelly looking all Jason Vorhees in a mask she made from a paper napkin at a rib joint a few weeks ago!
But that’s a bit much. Sorry.
Here, let me help you recover from that mask pic with something calmer…
Sleeping angel, age 4.
Ahhhhh. There we go. All better now.
Have YOU ever “painted” anything out of any photos? Do you think it’s “cheating?” I don’t! I think it’s “Enhancing Viewer Pleasure!”
And if you don’t know how to, and want to “Paint” – it’s easy!! I stumbled onto it a few months ago, and taught myself as I went. (Note: I am not sure if MS Paint works on Mac computers, not a computer expert. But I CAN do the highland fling!)
And below — voilà in reverse!! Mustard stained shirt, little dirt on wall. Bits of lunch around her mouth.
Told you it was getting absolutely nuts around here!!!
Just a little song snippet from last summer at Mom & Dad’s cottage up there in Canada land. Still don’t know the horse’s name, but by any name he’d still be as wild and sweet. Let’s call him Bon Jovi! Wouldn’t mind being there at the cottage today, except it would be a tad chillier, like possibly -40. Actually, Mom says it’s been warm — just below freezing lately! She’s about ready to break out her bikini. And toss a smelt on the barbie.
How ’bout you! What would you be doing if summer magically appeared?
Late autumn benches, Austin Hike ‘N Bike Trail 2009.
A friend’s 1936 Ford, last November.
They loved me until they realized I didn’t have food.
And that earth-shattering poll (now slightly edited from its originally published form) for me and Blue Bunny to improve your Funsterment blogging experience…. hoo-whoo
In autumn of 1993 God came to Jim in a dream and told him to build planter boxes in front of our humble bungalow. And Jim did.
God told me to splash our bungalow’s dull grey trim with Bermuda colors, then try my hand at filling the planter boxes. And I did.
Spring bulbs came up!
Little birdies sang.
We drank much beer.
In early 1995 God sent Jim visions of a terra cotta / dark green paint combo for the bungalow. And it came to pass.
God told me to paint the door white. That too came to pass.
The shrubs flourished, I planted others. And trees! I dabbled in summer flowers.
We drank more beer.
In 1994 we started building our first addition, then a second in 1996. And later, a third — glimpses of which I showed youhere. Sometime during the years of those first 3 additions, God also had us gut and remodel our kitchen and transform a spare bedroom into a dining room.
At some point the front door went green. (God likes to change things up.)
He saw that things were very good.
He gave us The Child. This one…
Sweetest bloom our entryway has ever seen.
Then…
God smiled and said “Jim, my son. You have done well with your own two hands. But you must build a 4th and final addition to the bungalow. Begin by taking out the planter boxes you built on the south side of the front yard. There you will build a whole new entry into a breezeway connected to a 2-car garage with a media room up over it. Build a half-bath at the top of the stairs. (A lean-to shed off the end of the new garage would please me too.)
Make sure a gilded wooden pineapple decorates the very pinnacle, that you take at least 8 yearsfrom start to finish of said project in your spare time, and that you also build this for The Childwhile you are working on Addition Four!
Oh — and paint the entire abode again (I like that new “Navajo White” with dark green trim I see folks using.)
But, Jim my son, please finish the interior of Addition Four by December 1st, 2010. Even though Jannie will one day find respite in something called “blogging,” which will ease her wailing and moaning over what she will come to dub “this fricking never-ending house remodel,” she’d really like the Christmas tree in there for 2010!”
So it was decreed.
Yesterday God told me to go out with my iPhone and take a photo of the exterior of the very lovely-but-still-unfinished pineapple-pinnacled addition.
And one of our entryway.
Yes, the Old Door is still where it was in 1994! The New Door is in the breezeway addition. We’ve had both doors for 5 or 6 years now. (We use the new one.)
The “tree” you see to the left is actually the one-same little pittosporum that was behind the tulips above!
God says that one day the Old Door will be magically replaced with a beautiful new window, one with finished stonework all ’round.
Fairies will dance and glazed donuts will pour down our street like tumbleweeds.
Yes, there will be beer for all!
And our sweetest bloom will continue to grace our every breath.
What’s your sweetest bloom (or blooms) in life these days?
Jim Darling!! I realize that as I unveil more and more of your extreme talents, the sheer wonderment of you is likely to start making my blogging buddies puke. But that’s a chance I’m willing to take.
For instance, this room you built with your own two hands, the first of our 4 additions to this once-humble bungalow — how sweet is this space!?! Even tho it’s now a bit torn up as we morph it into a master bedroom, its all for the greater good.
(Stained glass window install, 1995)
And how sweet are your model railroad buildings!!
Yes, peeps, directly below is a MODEL, one of many Jim has scratch-built since I met him. From sills to roofcap, his H.O. scale “M. Chase & Sons” abandoned general store stands about 5″ high. Jim named it after Kelly’s godfather. He also named another little structure after my dad!
(Puking yet?) 🙂
Alas, Jim, the unveiling of your Uniquely Jimmy Disco Steps will have to wait for a future post — too much too soon might send readers running in disbelief that any one mortal could be this awesome.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Jimmy!!! We love you more than anything.
Jannie and Kelly.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoox
hoo-whoo
