My big gray cat tries to makes himself comfy

 Resting after reading Consumer Reports and doing the crossword puzzle.

Cat? What cat?

 His work is never done!

 He's quite literate and a music lover!

If only there was a decent place to sleep in this house.

The Monarchs are coming...hopefully!

My friend, Judy, gave me some milkweed seeds to plant to attract Monarch butterflies.

It worked! Finally a Monarch showed up.

 She must have laid a lot of eggs.

Pretty soon there were 7 caterpillars and they got busy eating all the leaves.

 Judy said that's what they were supposed to do. She said to keep watering anyway.

The caterpillars are all gone and so are the leaves. Somewhere the butterflies are forming.

I haven't seen any cocoons yet.

Paintings thanks to Elizabeth Wix photographs

I love Elizabeth Wix's photography. They're perfect for still life painting. 

Here's two paintings I've just done using her photos. 

I hope it's O.K. with you, Elizabeth.

Here's Elizabeth's blog
 http://elizabeth-aboutnewyork.blogspot.com/

Zen Doodle Workshop magazine

I'm in the Summer issue of Zen Doodle magazine.

 The article is called "Botticelli Meets Artful Doodling".
I explain how to use images (in this case old master paintings) with Zentangles.

Rush right out and get one.

More theater- Feb., Mar., May at the Old Globe

 February

 March

May

At the theater lately

Why would two "ladies of a certain age" go to see Cinderella? Because we had seasons tickets and that's what was playing. Also it was by Rodgers and Hammerstein, who (whom?) I love. It was really fun. The story was slightly modernized and funny in parts. Of course, the music was nice, but not memorable.

The best part was the audience. It was full of costumed little girls- so cute!

 I was starting to take pictres of these cute little girls when the mother said "but wait there's more".

I didn't know what she meant until another one showed up.

I think these two were a couple with their baby. The baby was adorable -dressed in a tiny fur coat and a necklace. They were so proud! I wonder if she enjoyed the show? They probably just couldn't wait til she got older.

Nancy's birthday in Old Town- Quatro de Mayo

Our favorite Mariachis.

Our second favorite Mariachis.

Nancy enjoying her birthday lunch. 

Deb, our chauffeur, and friend. 

A very enjoyable day.

Ivan helps unload the dishwasher.

Empty nest syndrome

Another year, another empty nest!

The mother and father have been hanging around for several days and doing a lot of tweeting (not 

that kind of tweeting!) I haven't seen them feeding them, tho.

The babies looked so pitiful and, of course, I worried like I did last year. I was determined this year to let nature take it's course and not interfere.

I was afraid that they would have trouble leaving the nest because there was so much stuff in their way. They wouldn't have an empty space to jump out onto.

So I removed all the stuff and put things for them to more easily step onto.

However, while doing so I bumped the basket/nest and they all three flew out. They didn't even need a place to step. Did I do a bad thing? Was it not the right time? So much for letting nature take it's course !

The mother and father as seen through my front door. 

They look like part of the carvings on the animal screen.

More Zentangles

 Zendala # 98