Where analytic and creative thought collide and all kinds of weird stuff can happen.

Purses aren’t something I typically get excited about. But I really like this old patchwork bag I have. Problem is, it’s sort of worn out. I tried to buy a new one last year in a real store, but they all had huge badges on the side featuring the designer’s name. I think that is just dumb. So I didn’t buy any. I’ve been using my plain-Jane brown leather bag instead. But even it is looking frayed.

So I turned to Etsy and lookie what I found…

My New BizzieLizzie Bag

Isn’t it cool? Don’t you just love those colors? It is very well-made, too. And it came with a matching key fob. The lady who made it does far more than just patchwork stuff. If you’d like to see her line of products, visit BizzieLizzie on Etsy.

The girls were less than thrilled, as usual, that I stopped to photograph my purse instead of getting them a treat and/or letting them outside.

Impatient Bitches

Actually, that would be letting them outside and then, after they came back in, giving them a treat.

Whatever.

Blue-sky, 70-Degree, February Day

Our very abnormal winter continues. It was 70 degrees yesterday. And the day before that, too. in February.

How Much is That Doggie in the Window?

Strolling down Main Street in Warrenton yesterday, I just HAD to get a picture of that.

I hope you’re having a good week.

We visited the WV place this past weekend. Mainly because we had to pick up our trailer, which we needed to get the snowblower we bought from one of Hubby’s co-workers. Now we know we won’t get an measurable snow this winter. You know, now that we are prepared for it and all.

It was a nice, if brief, visit. We drove up on Saturday morning. It was somewhat warm and the sky was a really pretty blue.

Blue-sky Day

The dogs had a blast doing what they love to do most. K and Belle were hunting while Meg was off saying hello to all her old pals.

Hunting Expedition

I walked to the back part of our property to check on this downed tree, which has been in this position since 2005 when we moved in.

Rotting Log

Ever since I first saw the thing, I wondered how long it would take to break. It’s been seven years. And I have no idea how long it was like that before we bought the place. Late last year, I noticed it starting to sag. Initially, I was just going to let the thing go. But the grandkids, when they visit, always love to climb on it. Come to think of it, it was shortly after snapping this photo in July that I noticed the thing sagging and said, “Everyone off!”

Natural Playground Equipment

And the dogs walk under it, too. So it worried me.

On Saturday, I actually got a closer look at the thing. I could see visible stress cracks. I gave it a gentle kick and could tell it was really rotten. So I stood on the end close to the ground and bounced a few times.

Danger Averted

It didn’t take much at all to make the thing fall. Based on the very loud crack and thud it made when it fell, I’m glad I did what I did. It was obviously very heavy and would have inflicted quite an injury had it fallen on anyone.

Seven years. Wow.

Still Digging

The girls were oblivious. They heard the thud, looked up, then went back to their hunt.

I did manage to capture one very cool (in my opinion) picture of K.

Now That is Focus

I like how, if you look closely, you can see her eye. Click on the image to see a bigger version if you like. She’s quite determined to catch the mouse or vole or whatever it is that once made the stump its home.

I spent Saturday afternoon making my Appalachian Tours web site work. Finally. It’s been broken for months, since I switched hosting services. By Saturday evening, it was windy and COLD. What a difference a few hours make. We stayed the night then came home on Sunday, stopping to get the snowblower on the way.

Not a hugely exciting weekend. But it was still a nice one.

Last week, when trying to think of colorful stuff to take pictures of for the You Capture project, I REALLY wanted to create my own poster featuring “colorful” words to hang on my wall. Not colorful as in red, blue, green, etc., but colorful as in $%#@*&^!#*. But that wouldn’t have been very PC and probably would have actually offended some of my readers. So I quelled that particular urge.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And then I remembered Wordle.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

That text was lifted right from the Wordle web site.

If you don’t have a big block of your own text to plop in, or aren’t feeling inspired enough to type out a bunch of random words, you can use the URL (aka address) of your favorite blog.

The first image below resulted when I entered http://www.toadmama.com.

Make your own Wordle word cloud.

So, once I did that, I had to try a custom block of text. I just HAD to.

It was like being alone in a room all by yourself with a little red button and sign that says, “Don’t push that button.”

If you are offended by colorful text, don’t click on either one of the two images below.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It isn’t immature. It’s ART, people.

Immature would be going to sites like the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and typing in colorful words then hitting the little speaker button so you can hear the pronunciation.

What, you’ve never done that? You haven’t lived, my friend.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary is my favorite online dictionary. It can actually be quite useful for real stuff like looking up the meaning and/or correct spelling of a word. And, yes, the pronunciation feature is helpful, too. Especially when you encounter words like “slough” that you just don’t use in everyday conversation.

I’ll never forget being on vacation in Oregon. Hubby was driving and Eric, who was around 10, was in the back seat. We were driving along the coast and I kept seeing signs for SLOUGH. I thought it was pronounced like SLOFF. So I said something to the effect of, “What’s with all these SLOFFS everywhere?” Eric piped up immediately and very excitedly with, “Where? In the trees?” I turned to look at him, saying, “What?” His face was plastered against the window looking at the trees as they flashed by. (Remember, Hubby was driving.) That’s when I realized Eric thought I said sloths.

I have no idea where sloths live, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t the Oregon coast.

Anyhow… if you have some time to kill, make your own Wordle word cloud. And if you post it to the public gallery to share with folks, be sure to send me the link(s). Colorful or not.