derek dietary taurus

I affirm - simply, surely, and unequivocally - that I am a creative person.  Eric Maisel 

I gotta say, TY apologized to me about my Birthday/Anniversary present.  The house is upside down, there is nothing in the refrigerator and the squealing around here sounds like a pig slaughterhouse.  It started raining yesterday afternoon and today is drizzly without much chance for pool-time (I'm even wearing my sweater!) so we will perhaps have to see an animated movie or visit some indoor thing that's kid oriented.  Meanwhile I have to make dinner tonight for our elderly uncle on top of this mess.  We just got back from breakfast out and are facing a very long stretch before we can shove the kids outside to chase lizards.  Oh me, oh my.  I am so happy that these kids have another set of hands-on grandparents who seem to thrive on arguments and strife at a pre-school level.  My ears hurt, the dust-up in the car on the way to breakfast I think caused permanent

 'drain bamage'.  

Oh swell, they are both out looking for frogs in the pool.

I stopped by the mailbox with them yesterday evening and opened it only to find the post person had put my mail in and slammed it shut, which decapitated a small lizard that was apparently making a run for it.  Not something you want your little kids to see-  or frankly even see yourself---  this time *I* squealed for TY to come take care of it.  Yuk.

Yesterday we went to the studio where I set them up for making some paste papers-  well, I was already set up and figures what the hell difference does more paint on the floor matter.  The whole exercise took about seven minutes and involved fighting over the paper, the position on the table, the colors, the rubber combs, and who took what from whom.  Clean-up of the space and the young artists took longer than the actual painting.  My old art teacher days flashed before me as I scrubbed out the tools and then the sink and then the participants, closed shop and turned out the lights behind me!  DejaVu.

So, back to some art that interests me, and in turn, I hope you!

Cactus Cupcakes!  How cute is this?  Apropos of I’m on a diet and am also a masochist, Brooklyn-based baker Alana Jones-Mann has a sweet DIY article on how to make cupakes that look like common miniature cacti. It turns out all you need is mass quantities of tasty, tasty frosting (because why does anyone eat a cupcake anyway), green food coloring, and an unreasonable amount of baking talent. 

f you’re colour-obsessed (or even if you have a slight case of OCD), you’ll appreciate Fabienne Plangger’s Monochrome Breakfast series. Using food from different food groups all in a similar color, these breakfast items are snapped from above with a white background to contrast beautifully with the objects. Concentrating solely on breakfast, ‘the meal is transformed to an attractive mouthwatering experience that leaves you wishing it were right in front of you’.

sometimes you feel like a nut...

sometimes you don't

CAKE TOPPERS!  Why on earth...?

Again, for your shopping pleasure, all these fancy items are available in etsy-  just go search.  I stalked 'em, now you go hunt 'em.  I'm tired.