Monthly Archives: October 2015

Mexican Autumn: One Word Photo Challenge: Autumn

Mexican Autumn

Version 2 No, i haven’t augmented the color of the sky.  It was this fantastic tonight.IMG_6426 IMG_6435 IMG_6679You know it is autumn in Mexico when it is time to make sugar skulls to decorate for Dia de los Muertos!   We made 101 today for the kids in the village to decorate.  I’ll post pictures later.

http://jennifernicholewells.com/2015/10/13/one-word-photo-challenge-autumn/

Pounding Headache (Doggie Palace, Day 2)

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Pounding Headache

Two men with sledgehammers pound concrete
I wish that they could find a beat.

One taps and taps with peckish meter
while the other is a beater!

Tap tap tap in jerky hops
While bam bam bam just never stops.

I know I am unreasonable,
My complaints are treasonable.

Construction can’t be done in mime,
I only wish they’d pound in time!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/saved-by-the-bell/

Saved by the Bell

Write about a time I got out of a sticky situation at the last minute?  I’ve written about this at least twice before. HERE is one of the times you probably might not have read as it was awhile ago.  It’s the beginning of a story entitled “Lucky Man” that I had forgotten I’d written!  The other times were so recently that I won’t link to them!  (Devil #1, Devil#2–I think unless you are very new to this blog you must have read those two.)

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/saved-by-the-bell/

“Brokedown” Zinnia: Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge,10/13/15

“Brokedown” ZinniaIMG_6421I don’t know why this “brokedown” zinnia appeals to me so much, but it does.  It looks like it took a bite out of this little berry hanging over its shoulder a week or so ago and then just let it hang!

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/13/flower-of-the-day-october-13-2015-bearded-iris/

Doggie Palace, Day 1–Share Your World, 2015, Week # 41

Doggie Palace, Day 1–Share Your World, 2015, Week # 41

Okay, for those (like me) new to Cee’s “Share Your World” Challenge, I first have to answer four questions and then tell you what I’m grateful for this week.

First, my answers: 1) I like rhythm and blues. 2)The worst thing I ate this week was an appetizer that ended up having tuna in it. Yech. Hate fish!!! 3) I would like to be famous for writing or art or both—simply because it means I did a good job. They are both nice ways to be famous because no one really knows what you look like so you can be anonymous and noted at the same time. 4) What this sandwich could really use?  Some barbecue sauce!!! (I’d eat the stuff on ice cream if no one were looking.) And 5) the thing I am grateful for this week is all the fault of this little dog:

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If you’ve been following my blog for long, you already know Morrie. He is famous and infamous by turns, but his most current claim to fame is that he has expanded my dog family beyond the limits of my house.  Since his proclivity for chewing–shoes, cords, toilet paper, furniture, crayons and books as well as anything vaguely edible, means one more large sleeping cage, and since all three dogs now have to sleep inside, thanks to the nightly barking chorus Morrie has augmented tenfold, it has become necessary to add a room to my house.  There simply isn’t room to pass two large cages in the hall. (Diego was crate trained and must be in a cage with door locked to sleep, by his own preference, and Morrie can’t be trusted out and about.  Frida is the only one who sleeps unconfined, except by her large cushy bed which is presently in the guest bathroom.)
IMG_6520This is Chino, the builder, showing me where the overhang of the new canine quarters will end.
IMG_6525This is his son, Merced, and Guillermo, the other brawn of this project, and Diego, who will function as ladder quality control.  I see evidence of his inspection on the stones of the patio beneath it!

IMG_6529Here is Merced, using hand tools and plenty of muscle to cut through the stone and concrete of the patio to open up room for the foundation.
IMG_6536And here he is showing the water pipe that was burst within the first hour of labor this morning.  Much activity as we tried to get the water turned off, called Pasiano who came to turn it off, called Chino who called a plumber who came this afternoon.  So now you know the answer to why I brushed my teeth with Coca Cola this morning.

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Merced and Guillermo.  I tried to get them to set up an umbrella, but they insisted laboring in bright sunlight is no problem!

So, I’m about to go celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with friends. What a perfect ending for Cee’s final question of what I’m grateful for.  I’m grateful for Merced and Guillermo and all these pesky dogs who are soon to be housed in a place I won’t easily trip over them.  And for the pesky dogs and all of you who furnish an audience for my complaints and thanks alike!

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/12/share-your-world-2015-week-41/

Means of Expression

Means of Expression

I have two means of telling a story–words and art.  Here are a few of my retablos :

IMG_5344Jugetes (Toys) DSC06989 IMG_5362Santa Cecilia (Patron Saint of Poets and Musicians)

DSCF9505 DSCF9531 DSC01454Self Portrait

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Hidden Kiss  Version 3Sunrise Madonna IMG_5403The Circus

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Our Lady of NotionsDSCF9529Ganesha


DSC09802 DSCF9504 IMG_5393 judy8Homage to Picasso

judy6 - Version 2Rainy Season

HIMG_5357 DSCF9481 DSC09797
DSC08288

Macho

The Prompt: Express Yourself!!! Do you love to dance, sing, write, sculpt, paint, or debate? What’s your favorite way to express yourself, creatively?

Pagans in a Modern Age: COB Challenge

Pagans in a Modern Age

A few years ago, three friends and I went on a scouting party to find new artists for the Maestros del Arte Feria. Somewhere near Puebla, we took a back road and chanced upon this strange sight.  We never did figure out what to make of it.
P4160185It was in farm country–no rare commodity in Mexico, where rural is the norm.  This farm looked modern in most respects.
P4160183But as we zeroed in on the details, it felt as though we were going back in time to some pagan rite.
P4160183_2Was it a joke? Some local custom? A random coincidence of someone finding the doll’s head and sticking it on the stick in the middle of the crop rows?  We’ll never know, but as you can see, I couldn’t resist pulling over to take a few shots.  Not the weirdest thing that happened on our trip, but certainly the weirdest sight.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/11/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-2015-week-41/

“Tend Thy Own Garden”

 “Tend Thy Own Garden”

Happy Place: This week we want you to show us where you go to get your groove back.
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IMG_6438IMG_6435 IMG_4987 IMG_4124 IMG_5413 IMG_4126 IMG_4983 IMG_4984 IMG_6357 IMG_6394 Version 2 IMG_4125 IMG_3293 Version 2 IMG_6407I thought I’d show you a few random non-floral shots of my garden.  It is always a renewal to go outside, and Mexico invites me to do this more than anyplace else I’ve ever lived.  In Candide, the wisdom that Voltaire eventually comes to is the truth that happiness comes from tending thy own garden.  I find it comes from tending my own garden with the help of Pasiano!

Change, Change, Change

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Change, Change, Change

The main change I wanted to happen when I started writing a blog was to dedicate myself to writing every day––to make writing top priority. That has happened over the past 19 months, when I have written every single day, no matter what.  The biggest change came about because I started writing first thing in the morning rather than putting writing off until I found a convenient time. Now I put other things off in favor of writing.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Singular Sensation.” If one experience or life change results from you writing your blog, what would you like it to be?

Crown of Thorns: Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge

IMG_6448I just removed a large bush of Crown of Thorns that was becoming a hazard in both my pool and the path that were on either side of it.  I took this last picture of the blooms before we did so.  This particular plant is lighter in color than others and acquires a richness close up, I think.

Version 5

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/11/flower-of-the-day-october-11-2015-columbine/