Lady Bug Circus

Paint by Number

We had a little yard sale this weekend. I never tell anyone I know for fear they would show up and find something they gave me with a 50 cent sticker on it. I just can't keep track of who gave me what and when, it will only get worse.The best part was spending time with my daughter on a project that interested her, earning money to spend at an Anime Convention. Anyway I had a stack of paint -by -numbers for sale and people kept asking me if I had done them, which I found horrifying and hysterical funny at the same time. Anyway...

In 1958 my mother was part of an artist's co-op gallery called Village Arts. They had just gotten the place up and running when they received a phone call from an artist who had a body of work he wished to show at their gallery. She and the others were very excited by this prospect, until he came in with his paintings. Yep, you guessed it, they were all paint-by -numbers. Keeping a straight face and turning him down must have been very difficult for my mom. It was a good story though.

Crickets

One summer I longed for the sound of crickets. Remembering back to carefree summers in California as a child, hearing their serenade in the still evening air as we camped in the Napa Valley. The only thing I could think of was to buy a bag of live crickets at a pet store (they sell them as frog food) and release them into our garden. Well I did and nothing happened, not one little chirp all night. Apparently it has to be warmer than it is here for them to make their sweet little sounds. Thank goodness there is this cool web site where I can go and get a hit of the sound I long for. I just wish I could remeber who to thank for turning me on to this site. Stephanie? Was it you?