So with that aside, presenting....
Whereupon Kambriel flies North in order to better lasso Herr Author Neil Gaiman with her measuring tape.
When you wake up to this kind of luminous morning light, softly diffused and glowing through a plush frame of overgrown ivy, you can't help but believe it could be anything but a perfectly enchanting day:
Neil and I are far too captivated and amused at Lola and Cabal to notice that a photo's being taken!
Neil captured this moment on his phone after we first arrived from the airport. The temperature was well into the 90's, and he was in the process of surveying the grounds due to a rather magnificent bit of flooding which swept through the day before. Where I'm sitting is "new beachfront"...
Whooo arrrrrrrrrre You?
One of a plethora of fattened Monarch caterpillars preparing themselves for the great transformation awaiting them:
Another ~ just about ready to tuck himself in for a nice, long nap:
The promise of Autumnal things to come:
Behold the bounty we'd picked with Lorraine from the garden, soon thereafter transformed into a delicious feast! One thing I've noticed... sometimes it's the least expensive foods in the world which are actually the ~best~ foods in the world. My wish is that everyone can not just remember, but continue to enjoy the tastes, colours, scents, textures and diversity of food grown *naturally*.
Mademoiselle carrot ~ coquettishly conjoined. Neil heroically saved this from the wicked fate of the juicer, but I have reason to suspect he made off with her privately on his own shortly thereafter. I wish you well carrot! I wish you well....
The very picture of Summertime contentedness ~ pawing away, purring into the air:
I'm not sure who's being sillier here:
Precisely what's needed to make a Sicilian feel at home. Waking up to a giant decapitated horse head (pillow)!
Keeper of the bees (pay no attention to the mystical pyramid of glowing smoke!):
An impressively large piece of wild honey found after lifting the lid from one of the hives... We were indulged in being able to remove it and feast upon the fruits of the bees labours afterwards, and I just might be forever spoiled for supermarket honey after this. Neil set up a mini-taste test for me comparing different qualities of honey and the difference was clear. The fresh, wild honey has a lightness and clarity ~ both in texture and taste, compared to the thicker, gummier texture which might otherwise come to mind when you think of typical mass-produced store honey. This particular batch, still warm from the sun (and the bees!) had an undercurrent of delicate spiciness which was particularly addictive.
This photo was taken in order to meet a certain "ransom request" (codeword: purple). Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that out loud... It's o.k., they assure me they're a kindly sort ;)
It's the great pumpkin!
A fine day for a walk:
Everyone taking a moment out to rest:
Master Cabal at the ready, while Lola catches up on her beauty sleep:
A fair Princess resides in the tower:
Whilst a storm brews on the horizon:
New "Coraline" buttons for the Kambriel posh frock... Ironically, I sewed this kind on originally before the Oscars, only to change my mind at the last minute and switch them out for matching fabric covered ones thinking it would lend a more formal look for the occasion. Some things are simply meant to be, and so it is. (You can see one of the bent "soft metal" needles I alluded to in my previous post, which is why I was so happy to find those glorious vintage ones which are capable of going years upon years without ever giving way.)
A surprise midnight snack, kindly served up by Neil; to which I say, "Happiness is a warm pie" (The Beatles had it all wrong):
One of my favourite moments: Standing beneath a perfectly black sky, with the dimly muted, frozen gleam of the Milky Way floating directly overhead. Neil, Curse, and I walked out into the open a bit, turned our eyes upwards to where the Perseid meteors were to be at their height. Not long after, Curse spotted two quickly fleeting meteors which Neil and I missed, but then, mere minutes later, Neil and I both caught sight of a perfect, falling star ~ gracefully sliding its way down the blackened edge of night.
And then the mists rolled in...
