Phouka

"You're getting a bruise on the side of your face. If he has anything to do with that"-- Carla jerked her head towards the phouka-- "You damn betcha I won't like it."
"Not exactly. I mean, it wasn't his fault. Carla..." There was no way to ease gently into the subject "Carla, he's a phouka."
Carla stared at her, then looked at the phouka. "A--phouka?"
"You know what it is?" Eddi asked.
Carla looked at her dubiously. "The last time I heard that word, Jimmy Stewart was using it to describe a six-foot white rabbit." And she looked back at the phouka.

- War For the Oaks, Emma Bull

Strange Things That Are In My Purse:

A ziplock bag of vitamins
Half a quesadilla
One pair of yellow dish gloves

I've been dogsitting since Friday and get a break the day after tomorrow, then off to another job. I will be back once I am done dealing with neurotic and bossy animals (some sick, some with razor sharp claws and a temper), and when the sleep deprivation has subsided (You want to wake me up every three hours??? Do you want your breakfast?), and I have more things to do than watch America's Next Top Model marathons all day long.
Until then..

Ten Thousand Missing Apostrophes

"The light changed. The upright red hand blinked out and the forward-leaning white man came on. Reacher had always regretted the switch from the words WALK and DON'T WALK. Given the choice, he preferred words to pictograms. And as a kid he had been scandalized by the bad punctuation. Ten thousand missing apostrophes in every city in America. It had been a secret thrill, to know better."
- The Hard Way, Lee Child

Busy Hands

My mother works in an elementary school and whenever I go to visit her all of the teachers just love my jewelry that I've made for myself, and many of them have made comments about wanting to buy some. So I've spent quite a bit of time this week making up about 10 pairs of earrings to send to school with my mom and sell. I don't know if anyone will be interested, but I'm pretty happy with the results. These are the most recent ones made of vellum and newspaper, but I have more made with glass, ivory, hematite, and crystal beads.

Rough

Clean Sheets

Having clean sheets is one of the best things in life. Today I took everything off my bed and washed the sheets, mattress pad, comforter, and my pillows, as well as dusted and vacuumed in attempts to battle the pollen that has been accumulating in my room. Laying down to take a nap today I reveled in the feeling of clean cotton against my skin. It's one of the best and most comforting feelings in the world. The only thing that was missing was the nice breeze coming in through the window that I now have to keep shut or I notice a thick film of yellow pollen grains on every surface.

Froggy

This little guy startled me when I went to uncover the bikes to go for a ride. He immediately tucked his right arm under him and stared at me somewhat nervously. He didn't care much for having his picture taken either.