daily delights - february 17

 quite probably my favorite LEGO animal ever. the hermit crab from series 21 of the collectible minifigures. utterly delightful. 

how about a little snack?

fun with LEGO in my own backyard.

wordless wednesday

the fun you make for yourself

there were a million words in my head last night. i don't know why i didn't wrestle them to the page. nor do i know where they have gone. i'd like to think they're not gone, just hiding from me at the moment. 

yesterday had its moments. some very good and some less so. most days are like that, i suppose. but there was sunshine and i had some fun in the garden mixing it up with a bit of lego - bunny suit guy on a star wars at-at? the unicorn sparkle fairy riding a dino? those make me smile. juxtapositions. the unexpected. i like that. i also like that i almost always have at least one cat who wants to help when i'm out taking photos. we have to find our joy in the little things around us and our fun in the fun we make for ourselves. because you can't really rely on someone else to do it for you. it really does all come back to you.

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8 authors give their advice on writing.

and i think karl ove knausgård might be my boyfriend.

100 happy days :: day 60

even the dark knight appreciates sculpture in the park.

angry unikitty?

i took angry unikitty with me in my pocket this morning when i went out to do animal chores. it's a clear, bright, frosty morning. despite the frost, it's still very springlike. i think it's because the trees are full of joyous bird song. and maybe that's also why these photos of angry kitty just don't look angry to me.  i know her teeth are showing and her eyes and all closed, but it somehow looks more like a yawn than an angry meow to me.

even in this one, with her cool shadow, i cannot make her seem angry in my head as i look at it. i guess my own mood is too happy. a few days of sunshine, a few things looking up and beginning to happen, and all that bird song seems to have had a transformative effect on my mood (and possibly my life). or maybe that #100happydays project is working on me.

and even tho' i have a persistent sore throat - so much so that i actually dreamed about drinking warm tea and even in the dream i could barely swallow, i just can't make angry unikitty seem angry.

what do you think?

100 happy days :: day 8

this. batman and batman fighting over a teddy bear. definitely today's morsel of happy.

legography lately

i don't know what's happened to my words. they dry up in my head before i can coax them out my fingers, but with the light returning, at least i'm inspired to take some whimsical photos. it's probably also helped that we've actually had some snow. we hoped our lake would freeze enough that we might even be able to skate, but it thawed all weekend, so alas that isn't going to happen. but at least the ice was still solid enough for the minifig skater. the unicorn sparkle fairy continues to be my go-to fig, but i'm also having a bit of fun these days with batman. and getting quite a kick out of those aliens from series 13.

what's helping you through the shortest month?

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i hope these guys are finland's entrant in eurovision.

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it's never too late to discover LEGO, as this blog proves.

thank you, amy for introducing him to LEGO and for sharing with me!

legography lately

i've been making an effort to get outdoors with a few minifigs in my pocket and camera in hand. i carry around an old pillow that we use on the garden furniture and use it to kneel in the wet grass. the cats often tag along and since they can't really see any sense in what i'm doing, they think i'm there to play with them. they often blunder through my shots, messing with the focus and knocking over the minifigs that i just got all set up.

i was trying to get a shot of the rather oddly stunted snowdrops through her magnifying glass, but instead caught a bit of her reflection. i love how sometimes you don't see such things at the moment of the photo, but only when you get it downloaded and on the big screen.

this forest maiden looks so tough that i'm pretty sure she'd be willing to take out that sweet little deer. i love the deer's reflection, tho'. with the coming theme of reflections for our local art group's spring exhibition, i'm going for reflections quite a lot lately. but there's also an excess of water in which one can find them. *sigh* i will be glad when this grey january is over.

the unicorns are my favorite members of the latest series of minifigs. i borrowed one of unikitty's blue horns just so there would be a difference between them. i like it. and i love the cute expression on their faces.

they had to go for a little paddle as well. everyone is getting in that boat these days. i fear i dropped one of the paddles somewhere on my walk, so i only have one now. oh well, we'll have to make do.

this morning, there were the most amazing beard frost formations around the garden. it seems these bits of sticks were giving off moisture and it froze in hair-like formations as the temps cooled. they were very cool, but very delicate and gone when i got home, so they didn't last long.

sometimes you have to get your knees muddy to get the right shot

bacon & eggs decided to go for a little sail today.

they were rather surprised to see a couple of mermaids lurking in the shallows.

we've had a lot of rain of late, but we've never seen mermaids in a cornfield before!

lessons learned:

1.) sometimes you have to be willing to get a bit muddy if you want just the right angle.

2.) a grown woman crouching in a muddy cornfield, photographing lego is totally normal behavior.

despite what those people driving by may have thought.

and who cares what they thought.

that little lego canoe isn't particularly seaworthy.

luckily, i was able to find some shallow puddles.

getting muddy is fun.

the mud will wash right off.

and eggs looks like she had a fine time!

i'm on top of the world!

my maersk triple e is finished. it's probably the coolest thing i've built so far. it's quite a different build than the previous maersk ships (not that i built much of those), as the containers are in full blocks and not separate. i didn't photograph it here, but there's a really cool clear section where you can look in at the fabulous little green wartsila engine. the details are awesome. the bulbous bow and thel little bitty lifeboats are way cool too. i couldn't resist posing my new business card (yes, we have the coolest business cards in the world) mini me on the front, ala titanic.

here's a shot of the whole thing. the display stand is awesome and the details are just so great. the way the bow curves in front is ingenius and involves a clear cup piece! i also adore the twin propellers and the detailing at the back. it's a real thing of beauty and amazing considering the lego designer wasn't allowed to see any drawings or photos of the ship while he was designing it due to differences of opinion regarding non-disclosure agreements between two big danish companies. he was brilliant anyway. you can hear more about his design here. looking at this and listening to him, you can understand why he's a superstar designer.

and one more shot of me with my camera in hand. i'm sure i was up there on the bow, taking pictures of the dolphins that were undoubtedly playing in front of the ship as it sailed along. it was awesome to be able to combine my two favorite jobs ever in one awesome model. life doesn't really get better than this.

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how much do people spend on food in your land?

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how long should you nap?

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there's a new harry potter short story on pottermore.