crazy cat-lady edition

today i've had fun with my camera and thought i'd share some of them. there is a family of feral cats living outside my apartment that i have adopted, and i finally caught 3 out of 4 of them on film. then, since i conveniently had my camera out anyway, i took some shots of my other babies, especially since they will stay still and let me take pictures of them all day long.

this is felix's cute little butt running away from me. most of the pictures of these kitties look like this because they usually see me, freeze-with the look of ultimate terror and "don't eat me!" face, then bolt. i still have to resist the urge to turn around and see what's sneaking up on us when they do this.




this is the unnamed, (so thus far "girl cat,") just before she bolted




this is mama.




these are my other, more cooperative, summer babies.

dances of thunderstorms

great day today, teaching folks english country dancing. correction: watching the teaching of the dances and playing for them when the need arises. i love doing this kind of thing. and then tonight we had the practical application of this where people actually gathered to have fun and dance, not just the ones we taught them. there was a bit of learning tunes on the spot for our part, as we were "the band," apparently. but i still loved it. being with people i both love to be around and ones i hardly know. it doesn't matter. i love it. i finally got to buy my long-time teacher a beer for the first time. believe me, it has been a long time in coming; that was a special thing. then, when we were leaving, a huge supercell looked to be headed our way, and with me on a motorcycle, became the cause of some consternation for a bit. (though really we were only ever in the downdrafts between two storms, but it was still frickin' awesome!) this kind of weather just does something to me. i just want to be in the middle of it all and on both sides, front and back, and watch everything that's happening--oh, it is so amazing!

Bonsai!!

well, we have come to the last two lab projects in my horticulture class. which brings me to the bonsai, being our last project. we are to come prepared with a plant to be then 'trained' to become said bonsai. it's really quite fascinating; we have about 35 different plants to choose from to make the bonsais. which, of course, i then have to research which ones i might want to do. so, i went to the nursery today to find a suitable candidate, and oh my goodness, it was hard!! i couldn't make a decision, and there weren't nearly as many choices as were on my list.

now, i have been researching what to look for and where to begin, growing difficulties with different species, etc. and it gets more and more fascinating. they are absolutely beautiful when done correctly and effectively. the people that really get into, *really* get into it. this is going to be a fun project. i'm excited by this.


here's some pictures of the top three types i'm considering:

wisteria bonsai


azalea style


and the japanese maple version