milo's meanderings... let's go for a walk!

Milo: Hey Mama! Let's go for a walk!
Mama: Okay my baby... a nice calm walk with no running here and there, chasing squirrels, biting the leash, pulling my arm, jumping up on people... okay?

Milo: Sure ( heh heh)

 Well, let's get this show on the road!

Mama: I hope this leash holds for one more walk.
Milo: What's that!!!

Oh my DOG y'all! There are the weirdest things sprouting up in the 'hood. I have to bark all day and night at them! Staring straight ahead. Very still. It's un-Natural I tell you!

It seems to be offering me this little bird... usually birds fly away from me no matter how fast I am.
There might be a catch... I'll just sniff it out first... Mama, stand back! Let me handle this!

I mean... I just don't smell a thing! I don't know what this is, but there's nothing to eat here, so let's boogie on. I know down on the corner there is always a lot of pee-mail to read. And what's that!!!

Mama: Milo looks up at every passing plane, and watches it cross the sky. He also watches birds fly over, and squirrels run by. Jackpot the other day, a poor squirrel was squashed by a car, and he was ready to put on the old feedbag til I dragged him off.

Milo: come on, enough talkity talk...

grrrr I hate stopping unless I want to smell something. I need to just chew on this leash just a little longer and I'll be free! chomp, chomp, chew, get in there with those back teeth.

For Poodle's sake, I'll just walk myself.
Coming Mama???

Mama: yes your highness, your grand poo(dle)-ba. I but live to serve. Yes, yes, and when we get home it's kibble for everybody! And a sweet potato chew!

Sometimes I don't call it a walk. I call it a drag-the-mama, or a hunting trip, or a meet and greet. Ah, but it is good to have a poodle again.

Tank turns Tote

Remember this t-shirt I found in my basement?
I've finally gone through stuff from way back. I made this to show Tampa stuff like :
flamingos, tropical fish, palm trees, Bayshore Blvd, Ybor City, tanning, sailing, Gasparilla, azaleas in February, and University of Tampa Minarets.

I don't want to wear it now, but what to do with it?
Hmmm, how about a tote bag? I thought this up myself, made it long before I found someone's mention of it on their blog. Nothing new under the sun?

So I used the straps as handles, sewed a seam across the bottom, boxed the corners to make it wide at the bottom

Put a piece of stabilizer in to keep the square shape, and it's done.

Well it's got the poodle seal of approval. Or is he just admiring that strange poodle in the room...

I have a long love affair with flamingos.

I also love a palm tree and have made many a palm tree quilt.

Similar, flamingo necks and palm trunks. Thin, long and curving. Palm fronds look like flamingo wings.

As to Ybor City... it's Tampa's latin quarter. Tampa was cattle country back after white people took it from the Native Americans. Then soon after Cubans moved in to make cigars a business. They formed Ybor City.

When I was in my wild teens, Ybor was sort of run down, the habitat of artists and party-ers. I can't tell you the stories, but it was FUN. I'd put on my high heeled Candies Mules, and a feather boa, and dance the night away. Oh the parades!

Tampa is the Big Guava, and Gasparilla is similar to Mardi Gras with parades, parties, crews, and general mayhem. It's celebrating pirates take over of Tampa, but today's pirates are well known businessmen, lawyers and doctors who shoot off guns, and throw beads.

One time I was dating this guy, he and I were going to the parade in his convertible, and had taken black beans to throw at the floats! Well, one wrong turn led to another, and we were suddenly IN THE PARADE!

Hahahahahaha! Whee! I sat my butt on the back of the car and waved and tossed black beans at people til we were ushered out of line by some nice policemen. Mark, if you're reading this, it was a good time!

Another year found me in the parade in a hot air balloon float. We threw candy at the people, and shot the flames high into the balloon to make the crowd cheer! Oh, give me a glass of wine, and I'll tell you LOTS of Gasparilla stories! And Ybor tales, like the Artist and Writer's Ball each year.

I miss the fun of Tampa.

Well, for now I have my memories, and a t-shirt tote.

I Like Thursday # 67 inspiration to laugh

I tend to clip things out of magazines, newspapers, menus, wherever there is an inspiration I want.

I also love to laugh. One of my early memories is being a first grader, just able to read, and clipping comics out of the Tampa Tribune to make my own humor book! I became allergic to hydrocarbons so I can't really get the paper anymore but I looked through a pile of clippings before the move.

Some of them for paintings, or art quilts. The above is four clippings.
Top left was saved for a valentine quilt one day
Top right was for the humor of a wild woman in a martini glass.
Bottom left was another couple gesture, for a possible art work.
Bottom Right is a shot of a church in Annapolis in the snow. So well composed, it spoke to me.

I love to keep images of faces, or gestures. When you want to convey an emotion, it's sometimes hard to come up with one out of the blue when the time comes. I look back thru my files for proportion, tilt of a head, gesture.

I really liked the almost full face of this woman, the tilt of her head, the eyes, chin angle. I would love to be all dewy faced again like her!

this made me laugh... you'll have to click on it to read it.

I liked the love image of hearts floating around, the very graphic cropped face with only red lips for color, and the comic at the bottom which you'll have to enlarge to read, sorry about my camera

I liked this strong graphic of a building.

Nice perspective, obvious planes and angles, all done with two colors.


That's a lot to convey in one graphic.

I could try it with fabric, or write a story about it.

can you tell I'm a romantic???

I do a valentine quilt each year we've been married.

I like the artistic tension, the energy between the two people... they are caught almost but not touching... creating a palpable tension. Awesome photo, an ad for a movie. I could do something artistic,  using a man and woman, caught in that moment.




I've drawn so many women's faces but drawing a male is more challenging.

So I'm inspired by images, and humor, words and music, and good treats like these

how very civilized to keep purse mints! In anise, or violet.

And seeing this in a neighbor's yard combined sculpture, humor and the holidays... ho ho ho...

Milo has loved the cold weather. Prancing around, wrestling with us and the leash, hardly able to contain himself, knowing a big shift is coming... we're on the road again...

please visit these kind folks also keeping it positive today!
If you enjoyed my post, look at the other I Like posts, they never go out of style!

1. craftscaviescontras

2.maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com

3...http://littlepenguinquilts

4.. http://sandysnowden.blogspot.co.uk/
5.. http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/
6.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ 
7...http://homesewnbyus
8..http://imworkingonaproject
9..http://3poodlesandanana
10.. https://barrels-of-monkeys.blogspot.com/  
11.http://www.mmmquilts.com/
 
 
 

linking to some of these
Our World Tuesday
Travel_Tuesday 

http://sky watch Fridays
http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com
http://asoutherndaydreamer
Thankful Thursdays pet parade
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/
http://shabbyartboutique.com
willy nilly Friday (random images)
habbyartboutique fridays

milo's meanderings... shopping trip and leaf-ing!

Christmas Crackers at Anthropogie

Milo here to tell you about two recent walkabouts!

It all started with the words I love to hear, "wanna go for a rideinnacar?
Yes I do!

After my people put on extra skins on their feets and on their heads and on their arms, we went to Annapolis to Parole Plaza a cool shopping and walking place what also respects a poodle who likes to walk and shop.

We rode up the elevator, which is like magic to me. We three get in by the car, and suddenly the door opens and we're somewhere else!

This time we were above the cars driving under us.
 Wowza, I had a few barks to say about that!
 I watched down at cars for a long time on the bridge to shopping.

Humans are just amazing at what they come up with!

 I walked up to a glass door and watched people on machines working out.
Stupid.
All they need to do to stay fit is walk a poodle! I barked my snotty comments at them through the door and do you know? Not a one looked at me!
Ignore the poodle at your own risk.

We walked along the sidewalks and I made sure to practice my leg lifting skills at every tree.

I'm not that steady, and I admit I still pee on my front legs if I get distracted. Mainly I just do my best to wet everything around the tree so's the other dogs know I've been here.

We saw lots of people who waved at me, and petted me, and in general bowed down to pet me.

You're welcome.
I went with Mama into her favorite store, Anthropologie...

 and a sales woman made a major fuss over me, knowing just how to pet a poodle puppy since she also has an 8 month old poodle puppy. We're the same size she says! And she told mama he wets his front legs and bites at people too. So there. I'm normal, heh heh.

Mama here, look what I saw... embroidered and beaded jeans with frayed hems... reminds me of my teen years. And this

Yep, pom pom and fringe on hems. #seventies are back.

When Daddy found us, we went for another walk where he went inside to get food for us (gosh I hope they remembered this time to get a plate for me too... those shrimp and vege smell great)

Mama here... I want to tell you how funny Milo was. Everything is new when you're this young. He was mesmerized by the speakers next to the trees playing Christmas music... cocked his head, stared down at them, trying to figure them out!

 Reminded me that on a recent walk we had to stop and watch a plastic bag drift along in the breeze like a tumbleweed. He was possibly scared as he nervously jumped each time it moved, and we HAD to stop and watch it til it was out of sight.

Then we saw some people inside the optician's store, and the toddler ran to the glass door, Milo ran to the outside of the glass door and they played. So stinking cute, and me without a video! The baby slapped her hands on the glass, Milo slapped his front paws on the ground, then spun around in a tight circle a few times wagging his tail like crazy! Over and over. Baby laughing, Milo laughing, me laughing.

It's all fun and games til the Mama gets slammed in the knees by her 55 lb puppy!
Mama: I still have a gooseegg sized bruise beneath my left knee

Milo here
Oh my dog. That baby was so cute and I wanted to play with her. Her sister held her hand out to me and I licked it through the door, but that baby! She was my kind of human! I love human puppies!

We walked back to the car and along the way we visited with a lot of humans who recognized me from being a celebrity. Well I must be because they all petted me and said I was beautiful and how pretty I walked and all. They must know me!

On another neighborhood walkabout we saw the last hurrah of fall leaves... it's like saying goodbye to Maryland...

Jack Frost and Milo's first snowfall

We don't usually have snow before Christmas in the Mid-Atlantic but it's snowing today. 2"-4"
We went out for our morning walk as it started, and I saw some "cool" sights I want to share with you!

A snowy poodle
The snow started as tiny pellets. Millions of little pellets that made a fabulous sound.
We tried to put it in words, sort of a faint rattle, a shhhhhh like wind through leaves...

faint, but distinctive, indescribable but maybe you know it??? How would you describe it?
Definitely peaceful. Quiet. One needed to be still to hear, be still and listen.

The marina was being covered with it...

Milo says, let's look over there! Or jump in the water!
Mama says, let's don't! It's so cold!!
Even the boats are wearing a coat...

and the houses are being covered

I thought this dried grass looked great... my quilter, and painter's eyes saw the white on cream colors. If you click to enlarge the picture for details, it looks really interesting.
Then something caught my eye with snow on a wind shield of a car...

I called Drew over... LOOK! The flakes are little stars! Little snowflake shapes!
I've lived in Edmonton Canada, gone to the mountains of NC each winter as a child to our lodge, lived through several major blizzards and Drew grew up in Cleveland Ohio. We've seen lots of snow and neither of us has ever seen snowflakes this shape!

AWESOME!
If we'd gone out a half hour later we'd have missed this as the quality changed and it piled up. These are like quilting stars! Like painted ideal snowflakes!

You have to look closely but there are hundreds of stars on this windshield

A few thousand on this poodle

Some on this snowman scene

a few on this display

This family has a golden, can you tell???

And these gleeful geese are saying

yea! It's snowing!

I liked these leaves, imagining them saying...

I "heart" snow!

linking to
viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/