Tales, introducing Veronica

Veronica T. Cockatiel

Perfectly at ease in the world of high finance, Veronica is a professional commodities broker. Athletic and uncommonly beautiful, Veronica is an authority on fine gems and artificial insemination. Ebullient, gregarious and full of sass, she is as inscrutable as a puppy. A dedicated animal lover, she has been known to break into research labs to liberate test monkeys and lab rats*. Luckily, she doesn't loose composure in a high speed chase. Bullishly opinionated, she is also tough and unafraid of hard work or high temperatures. She has a loony sense of humor and adores practical jokes. She vacations on tropical beaches because she likes the way the sparkly blue water dazzles her eyes.

*sssh, don't tell anyone

She's not vain, really, but she wanted you to see both right and left profiles.

And a front view.

Veronica holds forthVeronica is curious.

Tiling the house

Crow, over the door

I get kinda bored when I am (ahem) underemployed. So, I decided to tile the outside of our house. Mr. Cranky suggested I make all the birds we have seen on the terrace. That's what I did.
This is the easternmost strip of the front of the dining room, before.
And after.
Westernmost area (living room exterior). Before.
After.
The robin makes me taste tomato soup. Synesthesia.
I am really fond of Nuthatches.
I made a rough layout on the terrace first. I didn't follow it very well because I was too impatient to transfer the arrangement onto the wall. I just started sticking them up with liquid nails (caulk).
I used packing tape to hold them up while the adhesive cured. Only one leaf fell and broke.

The humble Cowbird

Now, if someone would just install some really great light fixtures to replace the extremely unattractive but utilitarian ones we have and wash the windows and tidy up in general and provide me with a professional camera (lenses included) along with a professional photographer, I could show you what it looks like overall. Oh, and a photo stylist would be nice too.

On to flowers (sunflowers, hollyhocks!) next, working west along the front of the house.

Tales, family portrait

Here is Bothell's family. Everyone was jealous that Cobalt had a formal portrait in his profile instead of the usual rough sketch. I got sick of all the caterwauling and bickering, so I caved and had a little photo shoot for the whole gang.
Here is Clementine ( the mom), Bothell (the dad), Veronica (daughter, soon to be introduced), Cobalt (son), and Ravenna (Cobalt's S.O.)