Inigo vs Gridwall

I know, can't have this blog turning into all pictures/videos of the kitten but I'm having trouble getting over the cuteness. Well, I can get over the cuteness when Inigo get's in one of those moods. You know, the mood where he feels he must kill everything in sight. Those moods where he just goes from trying to destroy the blinds to trying to destroy the carpet to trying to destroy your feet.

But when he's not being a terror he is pretty cute. He loves playing with new toys, but loses interest really fast. He loves to look out the front window and watch the world. His favorite thing to do is pounce and hide. Some day he would make a great hunter if we let him outside.

Here Inigo displays his awesome climbing skills! Enjoy.

he did it again!!

Well, what'd I tell ya? Water just happens to be his category.

And the Pioneer Woman happens to agree. Lukas got another picture selected to her site. Pretty exciting if you ask me. So, two pictures? Guess that makes him a bit more famous than me.

art for sale

Well, we did it. I like to say "we", but Lukas did all the hard work. Taking the pictures, processing the pictures, cutting the mats, matting the pictures, framing, cleaning, setting up the booth. Boy I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

My little, small part...? Sewing those slip covers. And it would have simple and easy if I wasn't such a procrastinator. Instead, I procrastinated myself into a 4am, all-nighter the night before the show. So, lesson number one {that you'd have thought I'd learned in college} don't procrastinate.

Lesson number two... when estimating the time it will take to get something done double it and add at last 1 hour. Set up took much longer than we thought it would. But then we had planned to put the super tight slipcovers on the night before. Which didn't happen 'cause when I finished a little after four in the morning I decided sleep sounded better. So we ended up doing that at the show during set up time. We got everything done just 1/2 an hour after the start of the show. Not horrible for first timers.

The last lesson of the day was the hardest. See in the picture up there the framed photo on the ground on the right side? That poor picture met it's end at this show due to a fountain of pee from a little dog. The owner, completely oblivious, walked away and I had to run after her with the dripping frame. She offered to wipe it up and did so, but then set the picture right back down in the puddle. Well, we couldn't see the picture now! I thought she'd offer to pay for it - at least cost - but she didn't. Lessoned learned - no pictures in peeing rang and watch all dogs around the booth because their owners may not be paying any attention.

At the end of the long day {9:30-7} we packed up - again taking longer than we thought. Heading home that night we were beat. But we'll do it all again on Aug. 8th and then again for two days the weekend after that. By then we'll be old pros.

he's famous

This morning Lukas's phone rang and he answered it to a hurried, "Do you know your picture's on Pioneer Woman?!" And we checked and it was. Thanks for letting us know, Nurse. Really, Em is just about the biggest PW fan I know.

Now Lukas can be "famous" like me. When I saw that Ree {yeah, I'm calling her Ree like I know her} had chosen water as the most recent theme I knew Lukas had to submit a few. Just about 9 out of every 10 pictures he takes are of water in some way or another. I was sure he'd have something she'd like.

Two more art shows to go this summer. Hopefully other people follow Ree's example and choose Lukas's work too. And let me tell you... those shows are a bunch of work. I think that should be another post all in itself.

Now it's off to run errands. Must stop ogling Lukas's pretty picture on PW.

{p.s. Lukas has been working hard the last couple days on a new photography website. Can't wait to share it with you when it's ready to go live!}

Art at the Beach

We've been busily preparing all this past week for Lukas's first art show. We knew that he got a show here on the 8th of Aug. but didn't know till just recently that there'd been another opening. Now he's also got a show {his first!} this Sunday. It's been a bit of a made scramble to get everything ready - booth set up, prints matted and framed. But I know it's all going to come together.

So, if you're local and looking for a fun outting this Sunday come on by. We'd love to see you there!

Inigo Montoya

This morning we woke up early {for a Saturday} and after a breakfast of orange cloud pancakes we drove up to the city in search of a kitten. We got to the SF SPCA just a few minutes after they opened. Oh my, kittens and cats galore. They let us know that they were at max capacity - so if you're looking for a kitty in the Bay Area go check them out.

Inigo was the first little kitten we saw. Lukas had said before, "We can't just get the first one we see." Inigo {named Peru there} was talkative and active. We just had to stop and laugh at this antics behind the glass. He even tried to scale the glass and metal window without much luck.

We liked him at lot, but he was a "him" and we thought we'd be getting a girl. So we kept looking and there were some other cute ones. {Aren't most kittens cute?!} But none that totally grabbed us like little Iny. So we asked about the issues of getting a male instead of a female. They let us know that since they spayed him much younger than people used to {but this is standard now} he probably wouldn't spray.

We got to spend some time with him in his "condo" playing and getting to know him. Right away though, we knew he just had to come home with us. A little bit of paper work, some pet food and kitty liter later we are the proud owners of one super, duper cute kitten.

He's super friendly and not too much of a scaredy cat. Already he's feeling comfortable in our kitten proofed house. And he's doing his best to investigate all the little nooks and crannies.

summer grilling

This has become a favorite recipe of ours. But the little mustard grains love the pop and splatter and just generally make a mess of the kitchen. And even when I do remember to use the splatter screen they just make it incredibly hard to clean. Plus they really like to stick to the pan. So, although the kebabs are tasty they're quite a pain to clean up.

Enter the grill... no splattered mess, easy clean up, and just as tasty. The one draw back here? We're not so pro at getting the coals going and this makes dinner tend to run later. But then again, we tend to have a late dinner anyways.

I though I'd try the broccolini on the grill too. Didn't quite work - the fronds got too dry, but still tasted yummy. And certainly looked pretty cooking up. I just had to grab the camera and take the picture.