fantasy studio

visiting greece is great, even under their current economic duress. studying art in greece would be amazing...but having this studio to make stuff in would be a dream come true: how awesome is that?

via contemporist

storm damage

today was bright and sunny and perfect...

last weekend: not so much. it was over 100° and super cell storms cruised through about 3-ish. we were under a tornado warning- which is fairly normal these days-but it was more like straight line winds at 75 mph- that tore the locust trees to bits. a medium size branch fell into the back corner of my yard and destroyed my lovely fountain and birdbath.

poseidon's head ended up about 20 feet from the rest of the pile.

best pet ever?

considering a porcupine for a pet?
get yourself some thick gloves!

how adorable, though!

we, the pizza

chef spike opened his new pizza place

we, the pizza today: i didnt get the email til after 2 so i missed it for lunch:

there is always tomorrow!

jellyfish sting

there are a ton of jellyfish in the chesapeake bay right now and one stung me.

(not this one: one i didnt see).

it hurt a little...it itched a lot!

urban village market

i never thought of arlington as an urban village...but it really is one, with all those tall buildings and pedestrians about! they have a saturday market there that i have heard is great: a lot old georgetown market vendors are there, plus new ones and music. i haven't been yet, but might go today...

summer dragonflies

dragonflies are one of summer's iconic insects...also butterflies, lightning bugs and mosquitos! just listed in my etsy shop new colors for my dragonfly necklaces  as well as a few new butterfly pendants and earrings.

let them migrate to your wardrobe.

wild bunch of baby animals

the other morning i saw something darting erratically back and forth across the creek: it was a baby mallard duck who must have been separated from his family during the previous night's storm. george-i named him after george washington, who was born nearby-quickly adapted to his new environment in my hand, and took a nap. the dog was curious until george nipped his nose, then he became suspicious...and looked to me for some kind of explanation as to why this beast was in the house with us.

i wanted to reunite george with his family, but hadnt seen any mallards close by in a few weeks...i resigned to keep him! i had a duck for a few weeks when i was a kid-aristotle-so i have duck experience. unfortunately, the mister had a different idea and forced me to call a wild animal rescue, the wild bunch. reluctantly, i agreed and we drove to the shelter that evening. i handed over george to the volunteer who promptly placed him in a terrarium, where he peeped to return to the warmth of my palm: i was sad.

there were many other animals-especially babies- at this facility near the rappahanock river. 

the baby grey foxes were cute and this one growled under his breath as i dropped my hand to take it's photo: adorable!

i loved the possums! hard to tell if they are dead or just messing with you, though!

there were a lot of birds of prey at the wild bunch: barred owls, great horned owls and osprey...they released an eagle last week. these juvenile osprey were rescued from the water after a storm. love osprey: they are my favorite bird.

the baby raccoon just wanted to have fun!

so, anyway...i felt like george was in good hands despite there not being any other ducklings there, because singles tend to hang around longer at their adoptive house. then yesterday i saw her in the creek: the mother duck with three ducklings.

poor george: all alone in that terrarium.

banksy tags detroit

the always poignant banksy made a visit to detroit: looks like he had a lovely time!

summer fun in the nation's capitol

the other day i met some friends downtown to check out the brian jungen exhibit at the national museum of the american indian, which none of us had been to yet.  the three previous days were over a 100°, but this day was a gorgeous 89° with low humidity and a nice breeze.

we took metro to the smithsonian stop so we had to walk a few blocks to our destination, but it was a lovely stroll on the national mall! the plantings at the smithsonian castle were a major highlight! 

 beautiful color combinations ...petunias with roses...coleus edgings ...old time-y blooms like four o'clocks...

every thing was just sparkling.

the water feature in front of the american indian museum was quite cooling!

the exhibit at the museum was wild...and inspiring.

we absorbed the entire experience-along with a few ginger martinis-at hotel monaco:

sweet ending!

cool weekend events

it has been soooo hot this week! today was only 93° at the height of it all: feels almost spring-like,  so go out and enjoy yourselves!
friday july 9: get your freak on at the carter barron amphitheater tonight at 7:30 with funky and soulful sounds free with tickets distributed today (hurry!).
saturday july 10:
•1-5pm is your last chance to see jeff huntington's scary and fantastic portrait collages at reyes+davies.
•dress in deco cocktail attire to celebrate bastille day at the french embassy 7-midnight. yummy food from french chefs, a silent auction and dancing under the stars will set you back $85 in advance and $100 at the door.
sunday july 11:
•see 197 movies in 100 minutes re-worked by the reduced shakespeare company at the kennedy center...sounds intriguing! there are two shows today and they're almost sold out!
•go on a picnic tonight at the firefly festival 7:30-9:30. who knew there were different kinds of lightning bugs?