PONYO

PONYO !!! portrait by Honeypie!

MAMA starts the PONYO dolly...

human form please was honeypie's request!

Some soot sprites too!

Mmmmm... honeypie art directing me...

Almost done!

In loooveeeeee!!!!

This weekend we saw another gorgeous film by Hayao Miyazaki!!!

This one is called "PONYO" on a cliff by the sea. It is full of rich and colorful hand drawn frames, unlike the PIXAR films...(which by the way i love too)...but they rely on 3D animation and there is something so beautiful about the traditional form of animation, completely hand drawn.

Another Studio Ghibli production that has blown us away!

Honeypie is in love with Miyazaki's films and who wouldn't be... the stories are so imaginative and magical!!! They take us to so many far away magical places in which we act out each character and also have inspired many art experiences here.
Ponyo is the story of a little goldfish princess who wants to be human and whose father is reluctant to let her be... in a world which treats the earth with such disrespect, filling the oceans with tons of pollution. The waves made out of fish are so beautiful!
The story has it's similarities with Hans Christian Anderson 's version of the little mermaid... But very little really.

Ponyo was magical and gorgeous!

After the movie honeypie wanted a ponyo dolly... Human form ofcourse and I could not find any. Not even on eBay.

So ...
I made one for her (needle-felted with love)
and she is a trully happy birdy!!!

The top drawing is her version of ponyo and she is wearing "bombachas". In spanish it is what we call that style of little girl undergarments.

Beautiful movie!!!
Please go out and see it!

Totoro ... My friend

Totoro is our new pal .
He is honeypie's friend, protector , confidant.
Loving and being loved tremendously.





This weekend we worked on a present honeypie received for her birthday from a friend... "pearle beads".
Takes a long time to complete...
But calming and meditative ...
I'm contemplating the heating of these plastic beads with an iron though...
(mmmm can't be good for the air...)
But
Here's our attempt at miyazake's Totoro and friends...












All ironed and finished!






We placed our guys on a string... Voilà ! Necklace!






Honeypie's totoro watercolor





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Mama's attempt at a totoro and family portrait







And after an afternoon of totoro crafting...
I find a little love goodie for me...












Made with love for me from honeypie and daddy.
X
Mama being loved

Zucchini bounty

We came back from vacation to an overgrown garden chock full of all sorts of tomatoes and zucchini ready for picking. After a full day of weeding and picking we have sat down to munch on our day's work.
I have been dying to try stuffed zucchini blossoms ... So today's recipe is inspired by the book "pumpkins and squash" by Kathleen Desmond Stang.
I am a bit impatient when it comes to recipes ...
the mathematical rigidness one needs to follow...
So here is my easy version...

Stuffed squash blossoms

6-12 zucchini blossoms
Herbs (I used fresh basil leaves)
Salt and pepper to taste
An egg lightly beaten
Strips of tasty cheese that melts well ( I used mozarella but Brie or gruyere would be great)
A couple of spoons of flour (for coating)
Olive oil for sauteeing

Open each blossom gently and stuff a small piece of cheese wrapped in a basil leaf or what ever fresh herb you love.
Dip the blossom into the egg mixture and then roll it in the flour.
On a heated pan with olive oil, toss the blossoms in and let them lightly brown/ cook turning them to cook all sides.
Enjoy!!



























Served with honeypie's cherry tomatoes!!









And with the zucchini's I made a slight variation on the "tortilla espanola" which calls for potatoes and eggs. It's an egg and potato frittata. I added our zucchini and it gave it a sweet undertone. I also added fresh Rosemary and tossed in our golden heirloom tomatoes.

Delicious!









*** Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Beautiful day

On a hike



--

Find a waterfall
Jump right in...



Skipping rocks...




Thinking of eyore



Salamander discovery





Nature magic




Searching




A sunflower field van gogh would adore




Beautiful day

Heading home....



Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Daddy's birthday

Seems that over at "soulemama " their daddy... also named steve shares a birthday with another daddy here at "happy birdycake" named steve (belonging to a little one named Honeypie).
Both "Steve" daddy's born on the same day... Amazing!

Rembering a quote from from that movie "the Tao of steve" in my head ... I think...

All steves are cool no? (Re-check steve name history)
Steve mcqueen cool...
Happy birthday daddy
You are so so loved.

And
Happy birthday to "soulemama" 's daddy too!










-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Chasing Honey...

On this road trip honeypie has been a true pooh bear hunting for honey trees.
Rhode island's very own "sweetberry farm" had delicious honey sticks and honey jars. Massachussets great raw buckwheat honey and the catskills ? ... Creamed honey on the "honor " system!
We dropped our bills in an ancient can and bought ourselves some delicious jars from the Ballard hives.
It's been fun chasing honey!










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Honey on the honor system on the side of the road. Just drop a bill I'm the tin and enjoy the sweet goodness!




Over at "sweetberry farm" don't forget the delicious cheeses too!!


_








And the curious Mr Fox...

~~ Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Grasshopper on the road

We are on the road!
A great Musical road trip with bluegrass and folk love
blaring the car radio to foot stomping banjos and the melodic beautiful voice of Gillian Welch.
Honeypie is already homesick... We are not even half way into our trip... She says her toys miss her... Mmmmm
Great day at the folkfest...meeting Gillian Welch was a treat for honeypie who told Gillian her favorite Song was "fly fly away".
Night fell and we read a good book about being on the road , "grasshopper on the road" by Arnold lobel . Grasshopper decides to take a road trip and meets all sorts of people/ animals on the way... It's a symbolic story about life and how we choose to live it. The beetles who are stuck in a group of their own kind (only peole who like morning are cool!) , the mosquito that had to have things ... Just so . The butterflies doing the same thing everyday and the fly who only wanted to clean ... Had a bit of OCD if you ask me. But grasshopper... A buddhist at heart I must say ... Lives day by day... Enjoying life as it comes.
Lesson learned? Go with the flow honeypie.
Home will be there when we return. Seek adventure and do not be afraid of change for now.













Mama, dada and honepie on the couch... At home




















-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!