Texans love bluebonnets and we love taking bluebonnet portraits.  The sturdy blue flowers grow in abundance along the highways in the early spring, thanks to the foresight of Lady Bird Johnson. For most of us, at some point in our lives, we have had to squat down in a sea of bluebonnets on the side of the road for our official bluebonnet picture … all the while hoping that a car would not run over us and the fire ants would not bite us.  But, after the event (if there had not been too much crying) we had a portrait de beauté. And, we were proud.

So, it was just natural that I felt that I needed to take a bluebonnet portrait of our one-year-old pup, Neville, amongst the state flowers.  However, when a friend caught us shooting Neville’s bluebonnet photo, I knew I was in trouble. “Really, you’re kidding, right?  Your’re not taking a bluebonnet picture of Neville … are you?”

At first, I tried to pretend that he was just sniffing for squirrels, but alas, he was all primped up and posing and it was just too obvious.  So I confessed. “Yes, as a Texan dog, he knows this just comes with the territory.”

And, when I was questioned as to whether I had portraits of my human children, I was relieved that I could say, “Yes I do.” So, here are a few pieces of proof that I treated my first three just as specially as our newest addition … if you can call forcing your children to dress up and sit near possible varmint holes special.

And speaking of bluebonnets, WHAT a season we are having … the prettiest in years.  See below for a great weekend tip for bluebonnet sightings if you are in the Austin area.  Some people are suggesting that this weekend may be the peak, while others are pointing to next weekend.  But either way, I hope everyone can take a bit of time off to just enjoy this little Texas miracle.

And, if you see someone on the side of the highway shooting bluebonnet pictures of her dog, she is not me.

Below are some pictures taken of our girls, friends and cousins, who, as card-toting Texans, were kindly posing for the required Texas Bluebonnet Portrait when they were little … proof positive that Neville was just partaking in family tradition.

A wonderful teacher from our school shared these great bluebonnet sighting tips if you are around the Austin area this weekend.

“In 45 years of driving the Central Texas hill country, I’ve never seen bluebonnets as lush as we saw this afternoon on Hwy. 71 between the end of metropolitan Austin and Llano (app. 60 miles).  In good years, this has been one of my favorite bluebonnet roads.  Difference this year?  For mile after mile after mile, they wrap right up to both sides of the highway and extend into the fields on both sides–in puffy blankets.  Every time you crest a little rolling hill and think you’ve seen the best, you get a view of a blue sea that runs for 3 more hills, and often well out into the fields on either side of the road.

If you’re from this area, you know that some years are great, some are meager, most are “average” (still beautiful), and the bluebonnet season is relatively short.  I’m sending this because this is the best I’ve ever seen, and there are probably one or two good weekends left.  Our drive took 4-5 hrs.

The other spectacular road we took was Hwy. 152 between Llano and Castell.  It wasn’t shabby south of Castell to Hwy. 87, which runs from Mason to Fredericksburg.  What’s different about Hwy. 152?  It’s a county road–smaller, less traveled, but very good surface.  More curves, more dips, more creek crossings (dry today).  More opportunities for one breathtaking view after another, even more luscious, pillow-like flights of bluebonnets, even more other wildflowers mixed-in, for yellows, golds, oranges, purples, other blues, and whites.”

Enjoy the bluebonnets, and don’t forget your cameras.

Without a small toddler in the house, we had to ask our pup, Neville, who will be 1 year old on Thursday, to model our seasonal Do-It-Yourself project.  I know he looks a little bit humiliated here, but I pointed out to him that at least I had chosen blue ears to match his argyle collar, plus we gave him many excellent treats afterward and he was totally okay with it.

So, if you find out that you need some instant ears this week (school play or school project or just because) and it’s too late to run to the craft store, you can easily make these with supplies you might have on hand.  This project is rated E for Easy … so easy, in fact, your little ones can make them in one sitting.  Caution: Keep out of reach of dogs, because we could tell Neville was thinking about devouring his tasty-looking head gear after his photography session. “Bunny Ear Appetizer, Yum.”

Here are the quick and easy steps:

1. Make an ear pattern on scrap paper adding about 2” to the base for turning under the headband.  Trace around the pattern onto shirt cardboard or cardstock. I happened to have some stiff felt, which is sold at most craft stores these days.  (We keep this on hand in case of occasions like bunny ear emergencies.)

2. Find a headband in your headband drawer … the version with teeth works best because it helps to hold the ears in place.  (If you only have boys, thus no headband drawer, you can find these headbands at any grocery store.)  Wrap the base of each ear shape to the back side and staple from the front.

3. Cut out two pieces of ‘inner ear’ from a contrasting color.  Glue inner ear to outer ear, covering the staples. We used roller adhesive because it is just so quick and easy.

4. Voila! Bunny ears in a snap.

We received a gentle correction from one of our readers pertaining to the previous post honoring Groundhog Day:
Email Subject:  There’s a Groundhog Day in Australia? Who knew?
He also relabeled my artwork:  Punxsutawney Phil visits his Aussie cousin Adelaide Adelaide.
Okay, very funny.
But, alas, he was correct.  Although artist’s prerogative does allow all of my critters to live in an eternal springtime, I do agree that perhaps Punxsutawney Phil probably was looking for his shadow from a more wintry backdrop, which I have provided above for our more literal readers.  I did have to hold myself back from adding earmuffs and mittens to my little fellas, who have always lived in Springtimeville and might be a little chilly in their new home.
Thank you Doug for watching over our truth in blogvertising.  :-)

No matter whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, all of the critters at Cathy Heck Studio hope you are having a very nice Groundhog Day!

We are FINALLY taking down our Christmas tree.  Is there anyone else out there as late as we are?  Anyway, I was sort of intrigued with the groups of ornaments which were waiting in Ornament Purgatory … somewhere between hanging on the tree and returning to their off-season homes, so I snapped this picture.  And it’s a good thing I did, because it turned out to be Exhibit A!

When we did finally begin to place them into their proper ornament boxes, I noticed that the Bunny Groom was missing.  I noticed, because I always put him in the same ziploc bag as the Bunny Bride.  My helpers suggested that maybe he had not made it onto the tree this year, but I was positive that I had taken him down with his bride.  And, in fact, I had taken a photo of him … See?!  There he is … upper right … our handsome groom bunny. Proof positive.
So we searched hither and yon and the dapper groom was nowhere to be found.  Hmmmm … we  turned to Neville (our carol-singing dog of whom we were so proud at Christmastime) … “Neville, you didn’t steal the bunny groom did you?”
“He couldn’t have,” I said, trying to defend my obedient fella.  “I have been here all along, and all the other ornaments are still here … he would have had to pluck it out of the pile like a pick-up stick game!”  Then, suddenly, and I kid you not, Neville raced out the back door to the back gate, where he immediately turned himself in as the culprit and pointed to the mutilated groom … okay, well he did seem to be proud rather than remorseful, but still, he did fess up!  See his handiwork below.
We think our husband-to-be now looks like a groom who was mugged on the way to the wedding, but his adoring bride loves him anyway. It’s a rough start for this little bunny fella in the new year, but things can only look up from here.  Happy 2010 everyone.

(And, just so you know, Neville has been placed in Maximum Security (the backyard) until all ornaments are boxed and stored safely.  We are hoping that he will only have to endure two or three hours before being released for good behavior.  However, now that he has had a little taste of bunny ornament, our question is, will he try it again next year … and perhaps, right off the tree?  We may have to hire a rehabilitation officer to work with Nev to help him with his new problem. We’ll keep you posted on his progress.)

We have a window in our living room which must become a magic mirror at a certain time of day, because, when we hear a certain kind of bump, we know that a bird, who thought he was flying into a clear blue sky has had a head-on collision.  Some of the birds will stay very still for a minute.  We think they are thinking, “Wow, that is NOT the sky.” Then, they will fly away to a nearby branch to recuperate or, sadly, for a few, it is the final flight, as they enter bird heaven.

Recently, when we heard a small bump on the glass, we ran to check and saw a tiny little hummingbird that I was certain had passed into the bird heaven realm.  I ran to get a ziploc to protect his remains from our new puppy’s curiosity.  However, when I returned, Margaret had perched the little fella on the window sill with its own little floral life support system and she was softly massaging his little neck.  I assured her that he had passed away and really she should come in and finish her homework.  She reluctantly came in, but made me promise that I would not ziploc him–she was still adamant that he would live with just a little time to gather his wits.  And, guess what?!  She was right.  About an hour later, he flapped his tiny wings and flew into the wild blue yonder.  I guess, sometimes, you just have to believe.

We’ve all seen it before:

Boy meets geese. Boy likes geese, and approaches…maybe a bit too quickly…

Geese fly away.

But happily, our studio geese like little kids, and they turn out to be much better playmates anyway.

(These guys keep using our local baseball diamond as a rest stop on their way down south – much to the joy of the local little leaguers.)

Just a bit of seasonal news from the California office. Have a great day!

Max, this is Neville.  Neville, this is Max.  I am happy to report that Neville survived his first introduction to the species, dog, of which he is a member.  I am also happy to say that he loved every minute of it.  After lots of sniffing and running and running and sniffing, Neville realized that he wasn’t a people afterall, but rather a real dog.  Although Max was much bigger and extremely lean and fit, Neville was very brave, and exceptionally cordial.

Okay … well, there was one moment during which Neville had to take cover between two chairs to regroup.  But, he returned to the pouncing exchange with all his puppy heart.  It was also a little hard for him to share his water bowl.  But, since he is 5 months old (I guess, in dog years, he’s actually in his terrible twos) it was time for him to have his first sharing lesson … one small raised lip and a tiny growl from Max … and he got it!  You might suggest that tactic to your little ones!  It really works.
So that was Neville’s first playdate, and now he is taking a very long nap.

We had some time to spare before our lovely dinner at Chez Panisse (more on that later), so we poked around an area of Berkeley called the Gourmet Ghetto. Here are just a few of our favorite stops:
The Holistic Hound is a doggy boutique worthy of the fanciest of canines, so we felt it necessary to procure Neville’s first collar here. Our prerequisite was that it had to match the carolina-blue tag that Margaret had picked out for him. Happily, we found a fashionable argyle collar, which seemed to be the perfect coordinate. The minute we arrived home from California, we dressed him in his new collar. Since he has been living in his birthday suit for four months, he was not very pleased and found the new accessory extremely bothersome. But, once he realized how handsome he was, he posed for us wearing his new bling!

Twig & Fig Ellen and I are lovers of letterpress, so just peeking through this window was like looking into a candy shop. We had to go in and appreciate all things printed, admiring the deep indentations that the letterpress images make into the soft-press papers. Before we left, we happily bought this fun fat book called The Printmaking Bible. The pages are filled with every tool, technique and tip for printmaking today … well, maybe not potato prints, but still.

Love At First Bite was a delightful shop full of tasty baked goods and some nifty gifts for chefs young and old. We loved these cute aprons for little epicureans. (You can read more about Love At First Bite in our Cupcakery Study.)

Then it was time for dinner, so we will have to visit this delicious neighborhood next trip for Gourmet Ghetto, Part 2. And, next time, we’ll try to do a better job sampling the many foodie finds for you since there are approximately 40 restaurants and purveyors of fine foods in this 3-4 block neighborhood! Tough job but we’re happy to oblige.

Look what our new puppy grew … some new specs (!) … and just in time for the new Harry Potter movie. (well, okay, I did add a little eyeglass embellishment, but the markings around his eyes are all his! Since he is a rescue pup, we have no idea what his ancestral makeup is, but we are now thinking he might come from a long line of professor pups.