Zoe's new composition

Zoe has taken to the piano.  In fact, if I try to play, she will come over and will burrow her head into my lap and cry, until I let her play.  Or if I try to show her how I play a song, she will listen for a minute or two and then start throwing my hands off the keys.  So I caught her here, making up her own composition.  Pardon the coughing; I'm sorta sick.

My eclectic being

We scored some cute new photos of the baby child. In them one may notice my love of the eclectic. Sometimes it gets me in trouble. But it reminds me of my neighborhood, which is quite the melting stew. (I love mixed metaphors....)

What a neighborhood, though -- we have big houses, and small. Crumbly dilapidated and fresh newly spanking. Some of these houses are ancient mansions, picture perfect. A few have crusty dogs who will chew off your ankles if you let them. Some are shabby chic, with a little trash salsa on the side. (Which reminds me -- I have some yard work that is barking at me to finish it....)

There's a cute bunch of chickens who just moved in down the way. The lawns styles vary from All Native All the Time to pure green manicured, and a lot of in-between. Dandelions thrive, and why not? Zoe loves to pick them and give them as gifts. I haven't always adored them, but seeing them from a child's point of view can change things.

We have a good sampling of the cultural ethnicities of the world, and probably the religions as well. Spicy!

Here she is wearing a cute little Asian top with an all-American Khaki jumper and her da da's hat.

the war for beauty cc

Zoe and I went on a walk, sans stroller, in our neighborhood today.  It involved untangling ourselves from the dog's leash a lot, protest and sit-ins at having to stop at cross walks, impromptu lessons in not picking up trash, a conversation with a 5 year old about the letter S which he says stands for Sylvia, as well as Star Wars, and an admonition not to eat the violets.    Then it started to get really hot, and I had to haul her home over my shoulder, like a sack of potatoes.  I was starting to get really hot and sweaty, and the lessons about not picking up trash and cigarette butts were getting me down, so I decided to do a face mask to feel refreshed.  When Zoe gave me a look like, geez yer scary, I explained to her that sometimes we have to fight for beauty.....

Zoe likes to meow

Zoe has been meowing at our outdoor cat who sits in our window sill for about a month now off and on, and I finally got it on tape. Here she also appears to be trying to figure out a way to put the play glasses on the cat and give her a toy bird.