"To Feed a Mockingbird"

Bernie and I have been watching the mockingbird nesting activities from our breakfast room window. The chee chee chee sounds of the baby birds is a sure tip off that either Mom or Dad Mocker is about to deliver another tasty morsel to the growing chicks.

I watched the parents swooping in and out of the tree for awhile; it made me exhausted just watching them. The poor little birds...flying in with a tiny green bug, or grey worm, then heading back out to hunt again.

I decided to help out. The local pet shop sold me two dozen meal worms for $2.18. That seemed like a reasonable amount for such generously proportioned worms. As always, I took a moment to consider how to make the meal look as attractive as possible. Meal presentation always adds to the enjoyment of the dinner, don't you think?



A rustic hand throw pottery pedestal struck me as just the perfect backdrop for a mockingbird dinner.

I placed it under the tree, got a chair set up in the garage and waited to see what would happen.
Nothing happened.
The birds took one quick look, and went back to hunting afar.

Bernie peeked out and suggested that I place the worms in a more shallow dish.
My "Herbs and Spices" pattern ought to do. Low edge, and a nice wild foliage print.

The mockingbirds continued to fly in and out with various insects to feed their young.

Maybe the mocks would rather the bowl be in the backyard. I placed the bowl on the patio table. A squirrel dropped by to check it out.

Apparently a vegetarian, the worms remained untasted.

I thought squirrels ate grubs. Guess not.

Bernie popped out again to suggest putting a shoe box lid under the nest and putting the worms in that.

I had already invested about an hour of my time at this point, so whatever

A shoebox lid.

Go figure.

The mocker grabbed a big ol' worm, and ran with it to the edge of the driveway to start knocking it on the ground. Bernie was impressed. "She's making sure it is dead. Those worms are big enough they could harm the chicks if they are still alive."

I don't know if that is true, but the bird really was pretty brutal to the worm.



Bernie had placed two worms in the box. After the first two were served up to the chicks, he added four more. They were likewise dispatched in quick order.

A pointed look let us know that more worms were now expected to be served.

Bernie moved the Herbs and Spices dish off the patio table and on to our garden bench. The birds discovered it there and in no time at all, all twenty four meal worms had been consumed.

This morning instead of us watching the mockingbirds, the mockingbird was watching us.
Hart and Mocker were having a stare down too.

The bird wasn't going to give an inch.



We ate our cereal and drank our coffee to a steady scolding Cheet-cheet-cheet.

This is going to be have to be a fast post.

I've got to head out to the pet shop; I've gotta get some more worms.
I've created a monster.
Oh boy, a mockingbird with a two dollar a day mealyworm habit.
I wonder how long until the chicks leave the nest.

(Interestingly, we never saw the birds eat a worm. They consistently flew off with the worm to deliver them to the nest.)

California Poppy Fields of long ago

The California poppy blooming in my garden right now.

And my older brother Carl and I as children sitting in a field full of the golden poppies and purple Owl's Clover.
I never saw fields like this ever again.

Gardens of Fashions

When it comes to clothes shopping, the last word in Houston is The Galleria, an enormous mall that houses the most elegant of stores in Houston.

Three hundred and seventy four stores to be exact.

And don't forget an ice skating rink too!

I always feel like I don't quite belong amidst the society set that routinely shop there, but from time to time I venture to undertake the hour long drive in order to visit Nordstroms and to keep abreast of the latest in designer fashions.

This week the Mall has hosted an event where landscape designers have created small gardens and flower displays throughout the mall. The fashion designers have come to town to show their latest collections amidst these gardens.

For $150 I could have bought a ticket for a luncheon and seen at least a few shows on a runway setting over lunch.

Being a bit of a frugal soul, I instead took advantage of the opportunity to see "informal" modeling in the small gardens on display for free.

The above dress was either by Pucci or Gucci, I couldn't quite make out what the model said.

The silk organdy (chiffon?) was crystal pleated, and the sleeves were unlined. When the model raised her arms slightly you could of sworn she about to float into the air. It was worth the hour drive just to see that dress!

But...this is the dress I would love to own. I could actually imagine wearing it in real life. Ah, the fashion as art/fashion as clothing dilemma.

When I discovered that the Galleria was going to have two hours of informal modeling, I wished I could find a friend come along and share the enjoyment. I decided to take the flier to work, doubting that anyone would be able to go with me.

Lo and behold: Friday my wine tasting buddy librarian Hope was scheduled for a half day at work, a short day to make up for the time she would spend at a rare Saturday campus event

Hurrah!

We snagged a quick sandwich at Starbucks and headed down to see what we could see.

(I asked the model above if her bracelet was really a belt or a bracelet that just looked like a belt. She assured me it was a real belt, and that she had put it on her wrist all by herself. Cute trick, that.)

Now the mall nearest to both our houses is called the Deerbrook Mall. It has a Macy's, but boy, our Macy's doesn't hold a candle to the Galleria's Macy.

The two of walked through the Galleria's Macy gawking and touching all the beautiful spring dresses like we were hicks newly come up in the world.

The hemline details! The sleeve details (think origami...), the bright feminine colors! We both agreed that from now on all Macy shopping would be done down here; it would be worth the drive.

I wanted to check out Nordstrom's scarves, and was pleased to see that Nordstoms is also carrying a lot of dresses now. Just last year at this time I had shopped Nordstroms and could find only a few DVF wrap dresses that were too uptight and hot/heavy for Houston weather.

I told them they needed to get with the dresses already!

I'm so glad they listened to me...(smirk)

The modeling even included a few guys.

Bernie saw this shot and commented "Oh, double breasted jackets are coming back?"

Who knew my guy was so fashion savy.

This tiny fountain was adorable...wouldn't it be perfect on a balcony or small private patio?

This model was so sweet. I just couldn't get over how tiny her backside was. She could easily sit on a sheet of notebook paper folded in half!

I asked this model who designed her shoes.

"Guess," she answered. I was proud that I knew she wasn't being coy/snarky...and understood that Guess? is a brand name. (Duh...)

In all the store windows we saw gladiator style sandals. Whew. Not a good look for me! The name of the game was trend spotting; I found a cheat sheet for anyone wanting to keep up with trends:

Top trends for spring:

• Floral (BIG TIME!)
• Safari
• Graphic prints
• Bold colors
• Transparent (BIG TIME! it is lovely to see floral print on floaty fabrics)
• Tailored (I haven't seen attention to dressmaking details like this since the 1950s)

What's hot now? •

In: Exotic jewelry and chunky accessories are adventurous.• Out: Bangle bracelets go back in the box.
• In: Be bold in bright colors.• Out: Leave fall shades and muted tones in the closet.
• In: Floral prints and graphics perk up a handbag.• Out: Store that plain, old purse.

The gallery has three levels, and an ice skating rink that today was covered and used for the formal fashion show and luncheon. We were able to look down on it and see some of those with more generous bank accounts chatting away.

The flower tower pictured above was amazing.

All the flowers were real.

A few random shots. When was the last time you saw gloves on a mannequin?

Or peter pan collars for that matter?

The half circle shapes are the balconies of the Westin Hotel rooms. Imagine shopping all day, then going to your hotel, then going out for dinner, shopping a little more, then the next morning you start shopping again....

I consider great shoes to be great art. Wearing them is out of the question, but I can sure look.

(And I thought about Nurse Running Wildly when I saw them.)

Designed by Louis Vuitton.

(I'm not sure how I feel about the green bow....)

Great neckline! Prairie points used as collar!

The little ruffles on the jacket against the fringe on the dress: Interesting.

I did pop into Neimans and checked out the Philip Treacy hats. They were pretty cool, black and white, and priced just a few dollars under 1,000.

Well my friends, I wish we could head back down there for a bloggie photo shoot.

I hope this gives you at least a taste of the day, and inspiration.

PS to Lin: Give me a call or email me, OK? Maybe we could get together soon?

The big wedding up the road...

Texas girls all dream of getting married in a field of bluebonnets. Or at least having their bridal portrait feature bluebonnets somehow.

I don't blame them. The same brides also eagerly look forward to plopping their babies into a clump of the flowers and catching the baby blue eyes reflecting the beautiful blue flowers. If no human baby is available in the household, a dog will do.

(I haven't seen any cats pictured thusly yet. And my boy cats disappeared when I suggested a photo op once they understood it would involve a car ride.)

As more children get added to the household, they likewise are dragged to the flower patches each year. The result of this diligent attention to seasonal wonders is a visual journal of childhood. Many family have similar yearly pictures (the family in front the the Christmas tree comes to mind) but frankly I think a picture in the bluebonnets patch beats them all hands down.

One little Texas Miss is getting married next month. She is planning an outdoors wedding, a casual event. Her engagement ring features her fiance's great grandmothers' diamond surrounded by two round sapphires, a perfect nod to a bluebonnet color theme wedding.

But...lucky girl...she is able to take the theme one step further. Fourteen of her girlfriends will be at the wedding collectively known as "the house party." Personally I would really not want to see fourteen bridesmaids step---step---stepping down a makeshift aisle. The house party will instead just collectively gather about the bridal couple, providing a decorative backdrop and color cue for the event.

To assure the success of this tactic, the bride's mother has had dresses designed for each girl. The styles are each a bit different, and the color range is created to mimic the colors of blue to lavender shades of the Bluebonnets and rich coral red of the Indian Paintbrush, the sassy side kick bold flower friend of the shy demure bluebonnet.

Each dress has a hand fashioned rosette, and an antique silver buckle adorns the dresses with belts.

Frankly, I think these dresses sound adorable.

No word on what Jenna's dress looks like; she and her fiance claim to be traditionalist, and he will first see her dress at their wedding.

We do know that Oscar de la Renta is the gown designer. I love him and his designs. After studying the lives of the most famous contemporary designers in college, let me just say that most of them should be socially shunned by ladies of polite society.

Mr. de la Renta is a gentleman with class and style.

Our local paper showed several "possible" dlR bridal designs suitable for an outdoor wedding.

Boy do I love this one. So Jane Austen; the hat, the flowers tucked in the sash.

This was my second favorite. It was nice to see several dresses that were not the same-old-same-old over done to death strapless ball gown.

The paper also did a short article about other Presidential daughter's weddings. I remember this one:

I think she had sixteen, (or was it 24?) bridesmaids. How very conservative her dress looks now! I also remember when Trisha Nixon got married in June in the White House rose garden in a sleeveless gown. I was scandalize. Brides always wore sleeves!

I remember the press talking about the reason she was sleeveless was because they realized it would be terribly warm in the garden.

Isn't that funny?

Nowadays, brides dash through blizzards in backless strapless plunging neckline bridal gowns.

And nobody says a word.

Requiem On Springtime Gone Too Soon

Close your eyes and breath.

The jasmine ...

gardenia...

magnolia...

honeysuckle...

fills the air with scent.

Breath deep.

Savor.


The garden outside is warm.

Beneath the trees is perfection.

Quiet.

Restful.

Leaf shadowed shade.




Red cardinals call chip chip.


Blue jays add their bugled notes.

Mockingbirds race to feed their nested young.

Butterfly wings color the air.

Nothing is pressing right now.

I will go and sit outside.

Watch, embrace this beauty.

Cherish now the temporal glories of spring.


Arms and legs glisten with Deep Woods Off.

Mosquitoes rejoice in Springtime too.

They feast upon my forehead.


When Man fell from grace there was consequence: Sweat soaked brow and weeds.

Mosquitoes upon the forehead too?


(Did you know Houston has 55 varieties of them? And that they bite both day and night?)


I surrender. Wheel out my bike, determined to enjoy the fragrant air.


Outside the leafy shade the sun is hot...too hot.

85 degrees, and the day is yet young.

Mosquitoes, heat.

The twin terrors of Texas envelope me.

Unwilling to surrender,

I pluck a gardenia.

Add milk dripping star jasmine tendril.

Drape honeysuckle vines within the shallow vase.

Lemony magnolia scent brightens the room encased by windows shut tight against the heat.

The fragrant outside is now brought inside.

Scented treasures in flower form, horded in a crystal vase.

Safe from the heat, trapped within glass, severed, they wither with each passing day.

I (like them) now safe as well,

am also trapped indoors.

Air conditioned air (thrumming like artificial pulse) will serve to keep me

vaguely alive

as I steel myself for summer.

This is but the first month of spring.

I mourn; the season is gone.

There will be eight summer months

to be endured until winter.

(April is National Poetry Month. The writing above is my contribution to the event. )

Millinery: Books that float through the air

I just yesterday came across this link to a ton of millinery books that you can read online for free!

Whoo-hoo! Sweet! LOVE free books that I don't have to shelve, dust or worry about returning on time!

But in the mode of "Great Minds Think Alike" (or perhaps hatted heads have simultaneous brainstorms...) my fellow milliner Cristina has beat me to posting about this collection and has already posted a delicious review of one particular book in the digitized University of Wisconsin collection.

Entitled "Woman as Decoration", the book was written in 1920 by Emily Burbanks.

Based on Cristina's comments, I have just moments ago started reading through it, and bounced onto the this page first:

I've noticed a few grumpy gripping blogposts out there (not that I am naming any names Heidi...) and the idea of pouting in your boudoir (in pearls that should be both real AND long enough to reach below your waist) was enough to make me want to cook up a real good ruffled mood just so I could flounce off to my own boudoir and stay there the rest of the day in the name of being decorative!

Dear Readers: This book has it all. Tips on how to assure that you are decorative while riding in a car, with your pets, gardening, on the lawn, at the shore....the list goes on and on. For years now when I have been asked about my ambitions in life I usually reply that I hope to gracious and decorative. But if I have to choose between the two, I'd choose being decorative.

(This answer goes over really big during job interviews. It helps me to know if the people I am interviewing with have a sense of humor. If they don't, then I don't want the job anyway!)

Ahh, don't you just love it? A whole book devoted to this delightful idea of just being decorative.

You can read the entire book on line here.

Be sure to take a peek, and come back and tell me what was your favorite chapter!