The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

A New Word

MoBlogging!  I type really fast on a regular device, but this thumbpad is a new experience.  I may e-mail this blog a few photos while on the road, but descriptions will have to wait. 

Meanwhile, I've learned an easier way to get photos tweaked and inserted in email -- duh, why didn't I think of this before? -- just use the "E-mail Photo" option in Picnik: 

Picnik Photo Utility

Or if I am MoBlogging (there is that word again!), I cannot access Picnik from my Ocean smartphone. I can, however post to a TypePad blog using one of its mobile features, just by sending an ordinary e-mail with a photo attachment. The subject line will become my post title with the content of the e-mail showing up as the post itself. The photo gets embedded automatically, like magic:
My little Borracho ...but Mom knows all  

Clearing Out the Fridge

Eating up all the groceries has got to be one of the most fun parts of getting ready to go on a trip.   I had red peppers, sweet onions, celery, some left-over chicken, and a cup of barbeque sauce that we didn't eat up from the last time the Safeway Deli had St. Louis Reds on sale.  So I made curried chicken.    I put most of the barbeque sauce in the stew, but some in the rice.  It is good!   

For some reason it is really hard to find curry powder in our small Arizona town, but the San Francisco Bay Area has it in every store.  So I bought several different kinds to compare and then bought a whole bunch of the best-tasting one. 

Of course, the meal was garnished with a few sprigs of produce from our AeroGardens.  As soon as we get back to the desert, I will plant many of the seeds we have been so busily gathering up this summer, and the cycle will start all over again.

But now I have to get back to our packing and this space will be live again  mid-August.  Until then, my blog is

ON VACATION

I drew this apple to test my first set of PrismaColor colored pencils around the turn of the century. Before that I had only used the cheepo ones from the 99 cent stores. There is a difference. The blender is the secret though and using the right base colors. It is hard to go back and correct mistakes in this wax medium. Why two of them on this page? The first clicks through to a 125 x 125 copy and the second clicks through to drAnn's Art. I left them both up in case anyone needs to source the code, as examples of how we can use our own photos for links.

A View of Mt. Diablo

This is the view from my drawing table.  Our gated community is home to around 9,000 people, but the layout makes it possible to still feel the wide open spaces.

There is a lot of green in Northern California. When we come here from our Arizona home every spring it is always rather shocking at first.  What is even more shocking is the realization that a hundred thousand other people live in this area and look at "my" mountain.  The view from my window makes it seem so remote and uninhabited.  

Our downstairs neighbor used to hate that tree.  She said it blocked "her" view of the mountain and she made continuing efforts to have it cut down!  Now she is gone, but the tree is still there.  Sometimes the good guys win.  

More Good Stuff from LA Police Gear

I was looking at the map case made by TAG over on the LA Police Gear site.  It looks like something that would be good for storing a small sketchbook and some drawing materials and, of course, it is custom made to fit in the pocket of hubby's vest.  It is pictured in green, but I think I would prefer their tan color.   They have a nice pouch in the same hue.

Here is the web site:  

Tactical Assault Gear

Map cases are here:TAG map case

Pouches are here:  TAG Pouches

They also have some really nice shorts that were marked down to $14.95 over the 4th of July holiday. D-ring, seven pockets, stain-resistant, and $25 off. WOW!