Welcome to my blog!

I used to blog here mostly using local photos about my neighborhood or Washington DC or other places I visited. But over time I found myself blogging about crafts or sewing projects or my activities as a seller of collectibles on Ebay (look my stuff up under Mugsim7) or other topics, such as selling my beautiful old Victorian townhouse. Occasionally, I take a break from blogging so you won't see anything regularly. But I'm still have fun writing it. May your days be blessed with miracles, and creativity too!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Super Decorated Car in #DupontCircle

painting of yellow bird scene in a black circle painted onto decorated car
headlight of car with eye painted above it and other bright colors around lampside view of car with bright painted designs on doors and roofview of front of car showing paisley-type bright colored designs all over carI saw a car decorated with paint designs over near Dupont Circle the other day and was totally amazed at how this Ford had been individualized. There were birds, eyes, flowers and all kinds of designs in bright colors all over the vehicle.  It looked like someone had completely dreamed up a way to make their car look different.  I have no idea whose car it is or why it is like this but I couldn't help thinking what if all cars were decorated like this?  What if you could order up your car with a selection of optional images on it like this when it is delivered? What if there were places, somewhat like tattoo parlors with pages of images for cars, where you can just drive in and get your car done up like this? Wouldn't commuting be more interesting?  And when you're stuck in traffic wouldn't it be nice to see something like this?  Amazing street sight!



Flowers of June in my #Bloomingdaledc front yard

large purple pink bluish head of a hydrangea plant with green leaves
hydrangea
two bright red star shaped asiatic day lily blooms
Asiatic lilies
two bright orange colored day lily blooms
day lilies
The June garden is jammed with flowers of the brightest colors and I'm quite dreading the heat of July that will kill these blooms. But for a month at least I have this wonderful bluish purple hydrangea bush that seems to have at least two dozen heads.  I suspect the coffee grounds I pour on this bush are helping to make the soil more acidic which makes the flowers bluer but I'm really not sure about that.  Then there's the lovely popping red of the Asiatic lilies which come up from bulbs and seem to double every year. They are being eclipsed by the bright orange day lilies who are invading the yard without mercy.  I was weeding around them all this morning and pulled what felt like a million columbine vines which were curling their way up these flowers and getting a good stranglehold on some of the buds. So I yanked those climbers out and found that very soon I'd filled a trash bag with weeds and leaves and other yard debris. I also found that the pollen from the day lilies had dyed my wrists orange!  Hubster says I should wear gloves in the garden when I do this, but invariably I'm weeding on a whim and don't have the garden gloves at hand. Also, I have a faint hope that the plant juices that get on my skin are actually good for me!


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Some of the herbs in my #bloomingdaledc garden

Basil
Cilantro
Rosemary
Spearmint
Sometimes I don't realize how much stuff I have growing in the garden until I pull out my camera and say to myself, let's see what's there. And lo and behold I find I have quite a few herbs -- all of which I use for food flavoring all the time.  There's a basil plant just starting, a really pretty cilantro, a well-established rosemary and some spearmint invading any flower bed it can get into.  I usually dry the basil leaves in the oven (after it's turned off!) or use the leaves in a salad.  Cilantro is great in guacamole and in just about any soup or rice dish. Whenever I make roast potatoes I usually crush a bunch of rosemary in olive oil in the blender and pour that on the taters, with a bit of salt (very yummy!).  And the spearmint tea is good for tea in the summer (pour boiled water on a few sprigs and then cool it).  I lost my lavender plant in a recent rainstorm as it got soaked and the roots rotted as I forgot to check the pot and clear out the water in time. I grow these herbs as they are so EASY to grow and the soil around here seems to helpful to the plants.  The big danger is if they are in pots and I forgot about them and they either die from lack of water or too much water. It's just so wonderful to run out into the garden and get something to flavor your food and which is likely very beneficial to your health.



Frazier Funeral Home Before and After

I pass by 391 Rhode Island Ave NW all the time either on the bus or walking or in a car and have been watching with fascination the transformation of Frazier's Funeral Home to condominiums.  Apparently the building was sold in 2011 for about $850,000 and is being re-worked into a multi-unit residential property.  Interestingly, originally it was three row houses that had been turned into the funeral home back in the day.  The dividing interior walls were removed when it became a funeral parlor and so the new developer has probably sliced this up in a new way.  There are some websites discussing this re-use of the building with lots of conversation about bringing the dead back to life, dangers of embalming chemical residue, and whether or not there are ghosts haunting the place. It's a crazy traffic corner there at Florida and Rhode Island and 4th Streets NW -- apparently there is an abundance of accidents due to people running the light -- so I hope the developer put in good windows or the new live tenants will go nuts from noise.