Moonshine Junkyard

Okay, just barely brand SPANKIN new and getting up off the ground to a FULL TILT RUNNING START is our beloved film and video production company, Cinema Caldera. Best news of all, there is a blog on the website and everyone should read it. My dear and brilliant hub Darin wrote the first real blog showcasing his passion for films, amazing directors, and art. Check it out here: Cinema Caldera blog Here we are at the backyard celebration on Wednesday, the day we got our BUSINESS LICENSE! Just pretty darn excited to be alive, as you can see.

Addie, Artie and I took a little jaunt up to Tahoe to meet up with Dad, Matt, Amy and the whole Smith family for some fun at beautiful Angora Lakes. Because my digital camera BROKE after Friday night, I was only able to take Polaroids, which Addie and I are calling "roids" much to Art's chagrin. Here is the first, Addie and Art at coffee in Pollock Pines at a little place most amazingly named: Pony Espresso. Gotta love it, plus they serve Naked coffee which is to die for. We had a gorgeous drive up to Tahoe and then got befittingly lost on our way to the hidden jewel of Angora Lakes. They keep this place tucked away up on the ridge, you have to walk a mile to get there from a parking lot at the end of an unmarked road. Despite that fact it seems to get busier and busier all the time. Every other year the wonderful and massive Smith family converges here! Here I am with my sister in law, Amy and her sister Glory. They are practically twinnies, the way they talk and smile...

Friday night karaoke at Powells was a real winner, let me just say. addie says it truly kicked off summer...our summers last a longggg time around here, so don't worry. we're still in for a lot more of this. BEST OF ALL AND ULTRA MOSTLY IMPORTANT: ALL MY SIBLINGS WERE HERE!!! here we are, the beattys. in BACKWARDS stairstep order: joey, mikie, matt, me, and addie. also, second most important: CarolAnn was in town! here's a picture that shows her enjoying the glory of downtown walks to karaoke night. unfortunately i missed this part, having had to work and coming from work smelling of sweat, bleach and fries, yikes. ALSO very important: a bunch of Smith sisters came! Look at these radiant beauties who are sort of my relatives through my sister-in-law, Matt's wife Amy. I kept wanting to cry that Amy wasn't there because she was exhausted, home asleep, and missing out on her own sisters' night out on the town which is just the sort of thing she loves best. here...

i am pleased as punch to finally have some of my vintage dresses for sale on etsy! here's the link if you want to check them out: moonshine junkyard best of all are my beautiful models (SO FAR): addie, amy and emily...my sisters!! other sister/friends are coming soon. dressing them up and posing them is by far my favorite thing about having at etsy. no excuses or anything, but you can guess why the pictures of ME are so much worse: darin took them and he doesn't know how to make a girl and a dress SHINE in photos. also, guest appearances by my darling niece and nephew. i hope that's not against the etsy world rules. i am totally flying by the seat of my pants on this thing. love to you hot summer world out there!

i went on an amazing little journey --sola -- all by myself! partially inspired by my brother mikie who loves to go places and take little trips alone, and partially inspired by my old self who dreamed of a solitary cross country road trip. nowadays the biggest part of me is much more fond of trips with loved ones and friends especially when you have well-matched traveling partners like darin and i. it is one of the greatest blessings to find someone who is good-natured and adventurous to travel with, who doesn't mind stopping four or five times in as many hours to go to the bathroom or get diet coke and candy, who likes to explore ruins and check out historical markers and will sleep (almost) anywhere and hike and swim on a whim. but that is all beside the point. back to my sola journey. the first part is top-secret information and reserved for a later post. but the next day was when, for the first time since i can remember, i went to the beach alone! i found this cozy little po...

I'm excited to report that one of my favorite bloggers, the wily and wondrous Carolyn from Team Boo posted my summer video! It's part of her creativity-enhancement-endeavor known as Project Boo , an idea I love. If you want to check it out go here . In other news, I was just back in Santa Cruz again last night and for the record, my hair only looks good by the ocean.

i recently learned how to mow the lawn. well, i'll admit it didn't take much learning, more just doing. anyway i now love mowing my lawn - it soothes the soul. so i'm trying to bring my poor grass back to health and lately things are summery and pretty and i am in my backyard all day sometimes and i just love it. for many reasons. look how pretty this is. and this this is SO NICE, addie calls it margaritaville these are new this year and the hummingbirds of course love it plus i feel like i'm in costa rica this stuff just appears out of nowhere to brighten our world and of course there's always these and him and these guys merrily traipsing through!

I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME TODAY! i rescued a baby hummingbird. i got to hold him in my hand. pure magic. (and by the way, yes i stayed in my bathing suit all day and never left the house till nighttime) i found him outside by the rug next to my back door, lying there death-like. but as i gently scooped him up, his eyes were open and heart fluttering. my darling cat daphne was right nearby but i don't think she caught him. i think he stunned himself against the window. i was home alone. i called pops to come over immediately with a birdcage and i also called a woman who works for Sierra Wildlife and rehabilitates hummingbirds. but she wasn't home and i had to leave a message. meanwhile the poor little guy was in my craft room, flying toward the ceiling but then landing abruptly on the bookshelf or sliding into my printer. i was frantic. i tried to make a nest for him in a box but he seemed more comfy in my hand. darin got home too and with his and dad's help i f...

here's a little video i made about our anniversary trip. we had so much fun, a ridiculous amount of fun. well, see for yourself...

darin and i took a little anniversary trip to monterey bay area and big sur and we miss it already. it was incredibly refreshing to get away and have a bunch of different experiences that included: gallivanting around the santa cruz beach boardwalk riding rides with mikie and candice: and ducking into the arcade for some skee ball and photo booths: staying in a wonderful little tent cabin at fernwood having our morning coffee in a shady redwood nook with begonias and ferns and succulents all around us: finding gorgeous Pfeiffer Beach to hang out on for hours and finding caves and starfish and crabs these are just my scanned-in photos of our trip.more photos and a little video is on its way!