Brain Dump

Happy post-American-holiday food coma! We went to the Sacramento area for the holiday and stayed overnight there, thus completely missing Black Friday (and when I say "missed" I mean "didn't miss it at all"). We went to my aunt and uncle's place (centrally located, big room for entertaining) and had a lovely time. I brought the apple pie I bring every year (don't mess with success, eh?) and it was demolished. Somebody else brought a pumpkin pie, the other thing I usually take care of, so I also made the almost no-bake pumpkin cream pie from Joy the Baker (Smitten Kitchen's gingersnap pumpkin tart with cheesecake swirl was the first test recipe but was not terribly interesting) and it was a massive success. Much lighter and fluffier than a standard cheesecake and the maple whipped cream is sheer genius.

Also saw the new James bond movie Skyfall. And is it just me, or is it becoming a progressively worse and worse gig to be a Bond girl? I just vaguely remember the Pierce Brosnan ones (showing my age, these were the ones I first saw in theaters), and while they were heavy on the camp and riddled with silly gadgetry by the end, they were also the ones with strong female characters that didn't just not think/sleep with Bond/get killed off ASAP. Yes, Xenia Onatopp was campy, but she was also a threat. And yes he was saving a lovely Russian but at least she was also some kind of scientist.

Daniel Craig's nu-Bond established Vesper Lynd as the be-all, end-all of women in Bond's world, killed her off, and decided that no other female gets to be the badass she was. Give me Honey Ryder or Pussy Galore and I will snigger at the name and then be ok with them. These new ones just kind of make me mopey.

New hipster Q, however, is adorable. 

Also, INSANELY GORGEOUS sets. The ruined island where the bad guy hides out? Chase scenes through Turkish markets? Bond's ancestral family home in Scotland? Good gravy. The whole thing was clearly shot with a loving eye and I enjoyed looking at every minute of it. Woof. Apparently they built the whole manor from scratch, which is also fun.

Also, Albert Finney! Bond's arc is pretty good, they spend a lot of time establishing him as aging and losing his knack and his interaction with the excellent Javier Bardem (it's another American movie, he must be playing a creepy bad guy) is so well done. And the car, sweet sassy molassey, the car. I don't want to spoil anything, so I will just say the first car scene makes the movie for me. Bond movies need a sense of humor if they're gonna fly. Daniel Craig is a good Bond but I think sometimes he gets a hair too serious.

And speaking of beautifully shot movies, we also rented Jiro Dreams Of Sushi, and it is also a visual feast. There isn't really a plot or much development of any kind, it's just this guy, he is a top sushi chef, and he talks about food, and his acolytes talk about food. Yes, he has acolytes. But man, talk about a pretty movie.

And more hipster Q. Happy long weekend, Americans! And happy Saturday, Canadians!

Go Vote (With Digression)

Last time I watched Mary Poppins it kind of made me sad that this was a throwaway scene. The whole movie makes it seem like Mrs. Banks should be spending more time with her kids, but in retrospect, this is so awesome. Everybody in America should be voting today if you haven't already!

Also, Glynis Johns (Mrs. Banks) and Elsa Lanchester (Katie Nana) are two of my favorite of Danny Kaye's ingenues. If you like a hilarious movie, check out the Inspector General with the amazing future Bride of Frankenstein.

And the possibly-even-better Court Jester where Glynis Johns does not get nearly enough screen time as the badass Maid Marion-esque love interest vs. Angela Lansbury's shallow, pretty princess.

Danny Kaye had it pretty good back in the day, eh?

I Need Some Exciting Things To Talk About

...because right now I am sans projects and fun things. I am accumulating lots of ideas though, the biggie right now is to do something about the laundry situation, right now the laundry area is in the garage, and that means it is grimy and there is no good work space because I stack stuff on top of the dryer for storage. So my plan is to slap a coat of paint on the wall in there and hang a cabinet on it. Then I can store soap and cleaning things in there. And I swear, there will be before and after pictures. 

I have plans to shoot a new house tour because things have gotten moved around and my inspirations and whatnot are all jumbled up. I have been helping a recently-divorced friend redecorate and it is making me want to rearrange my house. And since the size of the house limits rearranging quite a bit, that means mostly moving accessories and swapping around art.

So I swear, there will be pictures soon. Right now I am just brainstorming and lacking inspiration. And time.

On Gardens (Mine, and Other Peoples)

This job is killing me. Every time I talk to a homeowner about their yard and make recommendations, I think, I should do this in my yard, I should prune this and fertilize that and my list is SO LONG NOW. This weekend should be good for some pruning and fertilizing. Every time I go out to a homeowner's place to take samples I am eyeballing their garden and thinking "hmm, what have they got going on here that I should copy/use as inspiration?"

I am also inspired by our trip to Monterey and the lovely gardens at the mission in Carmel.

It is a little tough because it is much foggier in Monterey than here, I am coveting these plants but I just don't have the humidity to keep them all happy without fussing over them. And I will not fuss.

The anemones are so pretty! And I have always loved tree ferns. I am adoring my new office because in between the buildings is all full of tree ferns!

This is the entry garden, there is a big cross and a big telephone pole in the background, so don't get confused. The giant purple echiums on the left are calling my name. Echiums are ubiquitous on the coast here but when they are blooming they are just kind of bulky and take up a lot of space. But they are a showstopper in full bloom! These are already a little bit past their prime.

Japanese maples add such good contrast in any churchyard! Honestly, they are so colorful and I love them, but they are the go-to specimen tree down here and they would take up space that could otherwise hold another fruit tree. Priorities, right?

I promise there will be pictures of MY garden soon, I am distracted with big cleaning projects right now because I have a very special guest coming to visit next weekend and we haven't seen him since April (and I want the house to look nice for him)! It is killing me that we only have an air mattress for him to sleep on, but the futon wouldn't even fit in the door here. So I am gussying things up and tidying and decorating instead. Which probably means that once garden projects calm down and I get those documented on here, I should do a house tour update. Things are getting done, but slowly.

I am, in fact, alive.

But until I have a real post here are some vacation photos. We got some sun at the mission in Carmel.

And on our hike down to the beach.

It was a nice beach but for the life of me I don't know what it was called. 

But by the time we got to Point Lobos the fog had rolled in.

And you could only hear the sea lions barking from afar.

Tiny Update

We just took off for an actual vacation! No visiting family, just the two of us farting around the central coast of California. Let me tell you, there will be pictures soon.

"Issues"

All this free time is messing with my head. I have so much stuff I want to get done, I hardly know where to start, and I am worried about finishing everything. Everything that I wouldn't have been able to do in the first place if I didn't have two weeks off. 

So if I was busy there would be nothing to worry about, but since I'm not I don't have enough time. So I worry instead. Make sense?