1. Several days I ago absentmindedly opened my front door and almost walked face first into this:
If I were brave enough to hold the golf ball that I keep in my purse next to the spider for the picture, you would see that the spider. is. bigger. She is the BIG Bertha of Big Berthas; the mother of all spiders, getting cozy above MY front door.
Bertha was entirely too big for me to kill (I wasn't about to attempt a skirmish with her), and so I used a rake to carry her to the opposite side of my patio where I threw her over the patio wall. She landed with a very loud thud. I still shudder when I remember it.
The next morning I awoke to find this a few feet to the right of my french doors:
She's back folks, and I can't help but wonder if it's with a vengeance. Now, every time a wayward hair tickles my skin I do the spider dance (you know what I'm talking about).
Someone call the exterminator.
2. This is what we call a culinary success [finally]:
Admittedly they are a leetle brown, but these gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free apple spice muffins were totally edible. Welcome to Los Angeles, Autumn. (She's not really here yet, I'm just hoping that a warm welcome and the smell of cinnamon apple in the air will entice her to visit for a few months).
3. I turned 27 over the weekend.
My wonderful cousin made me these cupcakes. They were delicious!
This is the first birthday that's made me gulp big and wish fervently that time would slow down a bit. I figure 40 is just around the corner (because, my how the last eight years have flown), and although I hear the 40's are marvelous, there's so much I'd like to do before I get there (and so little time). This is a problem I will gladly embrace. I love that life has so much to offer.
To celebrate my big day, I enjoyed the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl with some dear friends and family,
and went paddle boarding in Dana Point with my cousins.
Are there any paddle boarders in the house? If not, you must try it soon! There's nothing quite like being surrounded by the still, quiet ocean, the water lapping against your board, the sun warming your skin and the breeze at your back. It's pretty much impossible to do it without singing the Pocohantas theme song, that's for sure. It was the one time all week that my bodily aches and fatigue faded into nothingness. Glorious.
4. I love love love having a a vegetable garden.
5. Would you be horrified if I told I kill at least one cricket every week? I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how they keep getting into my bathroom.
I wish I had a more effective means of capturing and releasing them so I didn't have to squash them. There's something about their wagging antennae and chipper hopping that makes them kind of endearing.On that note, a happiest of happy Thursdays to you, my friends!
P.S. And why, pray tell, do you keep a golf ball in your purse?
ReplyDeleteP.P.S. I remember shuddering at 27, too. (Isn't your mom 27? Or was it 26?)
P.P.P.S. Happy Birthday, dear, sweet beautiful Sarah!
P.S.1: My doctor gave it to me to get knots out of my back. I just stick it where my back hurts most and lean up against a wall, roll that little sucker around, and sing, "It's just the bear necessities..." ;)
ReplyDeleteP.S.2:26—I am now older than my mom.
P.S.3: Thank you, dear Julianna!
Ahhhh, love the golf ball idea. Not so much the gigantic, ferocious-looking spider shots. Or shots of the gigantic, ferocious-looking spider. My spine is twitching. I did discover that a good shot of OxyClean spray kills a cockroach. Wonder what it would do to a gigantic, ferocious-looking spider? Love you, my sweet, poetic niece who is now older than her mother.
ReplyDeletetry capturing your crickets with plastic cup and slide a piece of paper under to carry them out.
ReplyDeleteMelissa! Yes, the cup idea is a great one. Unfortunately, my aim isn't the greatest, and I have quite a time corralling the frisky critters. I need you to come show me how it's done. ;)
ReplyDelete