So I have been a good little nightowl recently and have our ceremony (and my vows) written out pretty much to the letter. Things can change, of course of course, but it feels good to have in my hand (/on my GoogleDocs account) a copy of the meat of the whole shindig. Were there no cakes or flowers or biodegradable, compostable flatware, the wedding element of the wedding is good to go and somehow that makes the sprawling list of other details feel quite managable. The words are fairly sparse and there's no indication that Arthur is "officially marrying us"— in Quaker tradition, our written vows are what marries us, ourselves, not the blessing of a pastor or priest or high witch doctor or whathaveyou. The friends and family are asked to guard over the marriage, so it's participatory in that fashion— instead of "speak now or forever hold your peace," we'll ask anyone to share their thoughts or wishes and kind of leave an open floor for speaking. I thoroughly plan on beating at least two people into speaking no matter what, so there's no super awkward silence. My guess is that at least a fraction of the La Junta counselor staff will be two and a half sheets to the wind at that point, so getting them to shut up could potentially be the issue at hand.
A happy addition to the plans is Kevin McCormick, a local classical guitarist who my boss, Dave, knows from the church community. He's going to play for the ceremony and the early, transition stage of the picnic reception (before the rowdy iPod ballads and Cupid Shuffles make their debut) as our wedding gift from the Domingues— his speciality being, of course, Catholic church music and Latin American guitar solos, which I'm quite infatuated with. Currently listening to his CD, Americas, that Dave lent me and it's fairly perfect for this rainy day. Into which I need to go to ride the last of this week's ponies.. Le sigh! Anyway, from a nonmusician standpoint and as someone who gave up the acoustic guitar by the sixth grade, I'd say the guy is good. If you've heard his stuff or look at his website and have any opinions on more upbeat/less dower recessional and processional songs, give me the heads up.
I've been eating pretty well lately and feeling better for it. Simple meals are very often my favorite— like for lunch today, I George Foreman-ed (I'm becoming a devout George follower) a skinless lean chicken breast covered in citrus pepper, covered the top with half of an avocado sliced up, and then filled 2/3 of the plate with spinach salad with Balsamic vinegarette and bleu cheese crumbles. Pretty much delish. Still nibbling a piece or two of Easter chocolate, though. Who knew that one could like Butterfinger eggs while not actually enjoying Butterfinger bars themselves?
The horses have been good, actually. As I said, I'm about to go finish up with the last three and get everyone roached and summerified before the fathers and sons show up this weekend. (Along with Kate, Drew, and Matt. Yay, friends!)
Therefore I need to clean. Boo.
As an important reminder, Stride gum in the magenta box is disgusting. Tastes like Hannah Montana perfume bought at The Limited, Too. If you can imagine how that would feel to your palette.
Also, my porch is The Dog Porch. Observe.
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
16 April 2009
14 April 2009
Ever so ready for summertime. (Or getting there!)
Yesterday and today —and likely as not, tomorrow and the next and on into the weekend— were filled with moving horses from their winter pastures and back to camp, and getting everyone set for Father-Son weekends which start this Friday. Nobody put up any fuss except Smokey, an old black BLM mustang, who plum half-reared when I tried to move him away from his buddies. We had a very minor come-to-the-Lord-almighty meeting and I got him moved out a ways and then took him back— he's a line horse, always has been a line horse, well into his teens or early twenties, and I'm not going to spend days and injuries trying to fix a horse who does his job well but little else. Maybe that doesn't speak much for my perseverance, but I also know what battles to fight and which to express an opinion on and step back aways.
I think I'm going to back off of uploading Facebook pictures for awhile, unless they're party shots ripe for tagging. (And exactly how many parties have I attended since last summer? Yup, a whopping one or two, I think. Tops.) It never stops annoying me that they get reduced down to no quality. That said, I've only been using my sorry little water/shockproof Olympus for all of these photos recently— it does a fair job, but I need to get back to learning the new dSLR! I think I'm still bitter about the loss of my last one (RIP Pentax, my first love) and haven't really put much effort into gaining ease of use with the new cam.
So, woot! Flickr! See more shots from the sunny stables today.
I think I'm going to back off of uploading Facebook pictures for awhile, unless they're party shots ripe for tagging. (And exactly how many parties have I attended since last summer? Yup, a whopping one or two, I think. Tops.) It never stops annoying me that they get reduced down to no quality. That said, I've only been using my sorry little water/shockproof Olympus for all of these photos recently— it does a fair job, but I need to get back to learning the new dSLR! I think I'm still bitter about the loss of my last one (RIP Pentax, my first love) and haven't really put much effort into gaining ease of use with the new cam.
So, woot! Flickr! See more shots from the sunny stables today.
12 April 2009
Happy Easter/Benevolent-Zombie-Jesus Day!
Nothing says "Easter" more than a half-shaved, googley-eyed monster in your garden.
Easter was good. No two ways about it. At my 645 wake-up call, the pouring weather and thunderclaps felt a bit grim, but all was wonderful and springy by noon and I could wear a turquoise eyelet shift Richard bought for me last summer and feel warm. We picked up Grandma and visited Grandad's crypt and then had a family meal at my Aunt and Uncle's. I got to meet my second-third-fourth-something-twice removed-dunno little cousin Luke for the first time; he's almost three and precious. Apparently he loves horses and has been riding before so I'm hoping he'll come out and ride Bandit some weekend.
Besides that, napped, played with the dogs, ate my weight in chocolate eggs and bunny M&Ms and Dove chocolate rabbits, and finished up the first planting in the backyard. Hopalong helped with the digging. Obviously there's a long way to go, as evidenced from the pictures, but it's a good start. Even though I've spent so much time working around gardeners and naturalists and biologists and those kinds, this is my first self-attempt at a big planting and it's a bit exciting. I wish I could be home more for the next month to see how things pan out.
It came to my attention today that there's about six or seven weeks until I need to have All The Wedding Crap In Line. Because camp starts, and then we transcend to another planet devoid of constant internet access, spare minutes to spend tasting cake, and most of the natural freedoms folks in first-world nations enjoy. This has only brought upon a mild panic, but.. hmm. Might ought to get on that?
Father Son retreat weekends start this Friday, and I'm quite excited to see Kate this weekend and Kile, Tobbe, Brett, Drew, and others in the following weekends. This week is going to be full of hauling horses in from winter pasture and throwing a saddle on them all before kids ride on Saturday, which means afternoons at the barn, which I'm pretty content about. Busy, yes, but in the stables is a-ok by me. Bandit may be a bit neglected, but that's certainly the nice thing about having a horse in his mid-teens.. The rollercoaster of behavior between being worked and off days is much milder. I know I can hop on him in a month and he's going to be pretty steady.
6.5 weeks until Richard comes to the U.S.!
Currently making me laugh: British comedian Charlie Broker discussing the variety show that is Fox News.
Easter was good. No two ways about it. At my 645 wake-up call, the pouring weather and thunderclaps felt a bit grim, but all was wonderful and springy by noon and I could wear a turquoise eyelet shift Richard bought for me last summer and feel warm. We picked up Grandma and visited Grandad's crypt and then had a family meal at my Aunt and Uncle's. I got to meet my second-third-fourth-something-twice removed-dunno little cousin Luke for the first time; he's almost three and precious. Apparently he loves horses and has been riding before so I'm hoping he'll come out and ride Bandit some weekend.
Besides that, napped, played with the dogs, ate my weight in chocolate eggs and bunny M&Ms and Dove chocolate rabbits, and finished up the first planting in the backyard. Hopalong helped with the digging. Obviously there's a long way to go, as evidenced from the pictures, but it's a good start. Even though I've spent so much time working around gardeners and naturalists and biologists and those kinds, this is my first self-attempt at a big planting and it's a bit exciting. I wish I could be home more for the next month to see how things pan out.
It came to my attention today that there's about six or seven weeks until I need to have All The Wedding Crap In Line. Because camp starts, and then we transcend to another planet devoid of constant internet access, spare minutes to spend tasting cake, and most of the natural freedoms folks in first-world nations enjoy. This has only brought upon a mild panic, but.. hmm. Might ought to get on that?
Father Son retreat weekends start this Friday, and I'm quite excited to see Kate this weekend and Kile, Tobbe, Brett, Drew, and others in the following weekends. This week is going to be full of hauling horses in from winter pasture and throwing a saddle on them all before kids ride on Saturday, which means afternoons at the barn, which I'm pretty content about. Busy, yes, but in the stables is a-ok by me. Bandit may be a bit neglected, but that's certainly the nice thing about having a horse in his mid-teens.. The rollercoaster of behavior between being worked and off days is much milder. I know I can hop on him in a month and he's going to be pretty steady.
6.5 weeks until Richard comes to the U.S.!
Currently making me laugh: British comedian Charlie Broker discussing the variety show that is Fox News.
salvia1
Salvia greggii; I get kind of giddy about this plant. It's what started a lot of the xeriscaping movement and I first learned about it when I volunteered at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute near Fort Davis. I think the red's my favorite, though this fuchsia is a toss-up, and I'm hoping for hummingbirds! :)
More dirt & mulch.
You can see the start of the side yard (and some of the brush I removed) and I'm not sure if we're going to try for some native grasses in there or not. Going to see how the investment on the opposite side does for the next month (I won't be home for at least three or four weekends) and if it holds up well, I may just repeat the wildscaping on the other side and save some clump grasses for up underneath the young Spanish oak, which is directly behind the camera.
Those are Radiance, Confetti, maybe? and Texas Flame and lantanas up against the stones, and a Mexican honeysuckle in the foreground.
Those are Radiance, Confetti, maybe? and Texas Flame and lantanas up against the stones, and a Mexican honeysuckle in the foreground.
Finishing up my parents' backyard; stage 1
Like I said.. I hesitate to take pictures because nothing looks very impressive after you've torn up all the existing plants in favor of grass and left nothing but exposed dirt and a few piddly-looking weeds and mulch! But oh well. I really just wanted to show off my flossy muck boots discovered in the garage from my FFA days and bathing steers.
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