I love reading color adjectives, whether in a novel, describing a ball gown, or in a magazine, hyping the latest lipgloss colors. But rather than green, or even dark green, or rich green, pale green, I’d much, much rather read celery, pine, or lime. Instead of red: crimson, vermillion, ruby, or scarlet. I have a particular fondness for colors named for fruits: watermelon, tangerine, lemon, cranberry, apricot… Or gemstones, precious or semi-precious: turquoise, garnet, ruby, emerald, sapphire, onyx, lapis… Or colors pulled from nature: fern, marigold, lilac, lavender, copper… And offered up in groups of two or three, they are all the more enticing.

So I am even more delighted than I can say with my recent purchase The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket. Recommended by Deanna Raybourn, and thoroughly supported by my husband (who believes I could benefit from a tad more domesticity), the book is not only a fascinating look at one woman’s romance with a life domestic but a color explosion as well. Gorgeous pictures on every page of all things domestic: cupcakes (featured with delightful regularity, frosted in every color imaginable), quilts, knitting, flowers, artwork, tea cozies, fruit, embroidery…it goes on and on. And not only does Jane Brocket use color in her domestic pursuits, she uses it quite eloquently in her descriptions as well. Every page has me wanting to make a cupcake and frost it in a wild, out-of-the-ordinary color just to bring one more spot of color into my own little version of domesticity.

While out walking my dog the other night, we came upon a woman walking her pair. One of them was a mini Yorkshire terrier and the other I was unable to identify, but it was by far the more interesting personality of the two. With any dog that passes, my puppy strains at the leash, jumping up in an effort to do some companionable sniffing. So, I was having quite the time getting her reined in. But beyond that, I was having trouble concentrating, not to mention holding back laughter, when I heard the ‘bark’ of the bigger unidentifiable breed.

His bark sounded EXACTLY like those crusty ogres from old black and white movies that slurred their words together as they warned, ‘You dirty rascal…I oughta tear you limb from limb…’ Seriously. Exactly like that. Imagine a dog on a leash threatening you in such a fashion. I can’t help but wonder what he’d have done if he’d pulled free…it was all comically terrifying. And I can’t wait to come across him again. My husband is actually rather envious.

Well we ate the green chile stew for three meals, so I suppose it was worth it–and it was quite good. Not sure how soon I’ll be making it again though… I’m plowing my way through the cookies (in a good way), but the mango ice cream is no more, thanks to the sweet teeth of my husband and son.

Just a lot of general life stuff going on around here. So I have just a bit of general rambling to share…

Yesterday, while at Walmart standing in line to fill a prescription, there was a woman ahead of me in a tank top and frayed-edged blue shorts. Normally there would be nothing amiss about this, but the back of her collar appeared to have been gnawed away, and there was a blood-looking stain surrounding the chew marks. I checked her neck for injuries (from a safe distance) but didn’t see anything concerning or suspicious. The kicker, though, was that despite this questionable outfit, the woman had a pristine Coach bag in her cart that must have cost $300 or more. How can she justify spending that kind of money on a purse when it might at any time be torn off her person by a mysterious blood-thirsty animal? It boggles my mind. Then again, so did her blue eyeshadow and pearly pink lipstick.

I traipsed through the Halloween candy aisle while at Walmart, picked up some mellowcreme pumpkins and a package of popcorn balls. By the time I’d exited the store, I could stand it no longer and ripped open the popcorn ball package to pull one out for immediate consumption. I assumed this would be a relatively easy project–the consumption, I mean. But let tell you I fumbled with that tightly-packed popcorn snowball, scrabbling with my teeth for purchase in a flourish of awkwardness, determined to best the beastly thing. And I did. I just hope no one saw me. And is now posting the video, ‘A Woman’s Attack on an Innocent Popcorn Ball’ on YouTube.

That’s all I have for now.