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Julie Zaccone Stiller

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Julie Zaccone Stiller (JulieZS)

Name or Pseudonym:: Brighid Zelinsky

About Me:: I'm doing nanowrimo too, why the heck not?!

Blog:: highfibercontent.blogspot.com

Julie Zaccone Stiller's Groups

Messy Bloggers: (39 members)
Created by Sassy

list lovers: (50 members)
Created by alejna

INFP Bloggers: (18 members)
Created by DebR

The Gift for Thrift: (25 members)
Created by amanda

Gateway to Narnia: (12 members)
Created by Library Diva

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Videos

Andy Goldsworthy

Added Nov 15 2007 by Julie Zaccone Stiller.

What is Despotism?

Added Nov 14 2007 by Julie Zaccone Stiller.

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Another Trip to Tuolumne

I'm just back from our yearly camping trip to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. This time only two nights since I was late in getting reservations (oops, grrrr), but still lots of fun. Once we got over the shock of seeing gas being sold for $5.55 in El Portal. Geez! Price gouging anyone? That is a full dollar more than the next town down the road. This is the little town right on the outskirts of Yosemite, so they apparently can charge any damn price they want. All those motorhomes gotta fill up to make it up and down the mountain.

It is not every day that one gets to see a marmot! And not one but two, hanging out in their rocky nest near the Soda Springs/Parsons Memorial in the meadow. They're about the size of a housecat, only live at high elevation and wary but not skittish. They just kind of looked at us for a while as we took our pictures.

It made me remember one of my favorite John Muir quotes which mentions marmots:
" How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the mountaintop it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make -- leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone -- we all dwell in a house of one room -- the world with the firmament for its roof -- and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)

Click on this picture to see the marmot on top of the rock a bit better. They really do have good camouflage don't they? The last time I saw one was at the summit of Mt. Whitney,(yes really I did that hike, way back when I was quite a hiker), as it was stealing my trail mix right out of my backpack sitting next to me. We've always been telling the boys stories about our encounters with marmots and I was so glad they finally got to see one up close and in person.
Ahhhh, I just love those High Sierra Meadow Colors!

Now back to doing camping laundry and dishes. Yes dishes, our tradition is to bring home our last day's worth of dirty dishes to wash up at home. That way, when they are put away until the next trip they'll actually be clean instead of just "camping clean".

Montezuma Castle

One of the side trips we took just outside Sedona was to go see Montezuma Castle, a cliffside Native American ruin which is a National Monument. Perched way up on the cliffside was the castle. It was at least 105F when we were here, I felt like I was swimming through the heat even though there is zero humidity. It was great that the pathways were so shaded by sycamores. We were bummed to find out that we didn't get to go in the high rise apartment, it has been closed since 1951.

I found the cliffs to be really beautiful, look at all the soft creamy colors, reminds me of frosting in the bowl.

Lower down the cliffside were the peon dwellings, a little lower rent, but easier to get to. I love the patterning of the stones, and think this photo would make a great silk screen image

. You have to remember to look down frequently when you are walking in Arizona, otherwise an ankle-biter cactus will get you! Lovely flowers though, eh?

A grinding stone near the ruins. What a lot of work that would be! A reminder to be Very Glad that I can buy my flour pre-ground at the store.

In this dry, hot place amazingly there are some plants that aren't cactus related that manage to flourish. Especially if they are under a shady tree or near a seasonal river/water source. Many are still quite spiky, thorny, or otherwise unfriendly.

Enjoying Roses

I was going through a random box from the garage and found my flower arranging stuff, inherited from my grandma. And here are the three nesting vases I always coveted with some mini roses and one big rose.

The vases are a calm, pale, celadon green, bought in Japan when they lived there after WWII.

She was always whipping up beautiful centerpieces for her famous parties. I don't have famous parties, and my centerpieces are usually shoved aside soon after the meal is consumed so that poker or something can be played on the table.

But I wouldn't trade the time I spend making them for anything. It connects me to my grandmother in a way, taking this small amount of time out of a busy day to create a temporary spot of beauty in our very chaotic house. Even if I'm the only one who notices, it is important enough to me to keep on doing it.

Joys of Sun Tea

I've been experimenting with different sun teas this summer. The yummiest so far was the lemon balm/green tea concoction pictured here. We have way too much lemon balm growing all over, so I can ruthlessly harvest it for sun tea. It is a plant in the mint family so it spreads really easily. It is a nice looking plant so I don't mind it too much, and it sure smells good when you mow it.
Anyways I took about 10 stems worth, stripped the leaves, mashed them up to get the essential oils activated, well, squished in my hands really, added water and four green tea bags. Stuck in the sun for several hours, and presto-chango-rearrango, a refreshing beverage. I strained it into a pitcher that got put into the refrigerator.
No sugar needed, just add ice. It disappeared within a day.

I'm planning on making this combo again and adding it half and half to lemonade.

And oh dear, I was looking for a link to post for ideas on making sun teas and found on Snopes.com that it is actually a really bad idea due to bacteria growing in the sun heated water. Not hot enough to kill the bacteria. Yikes and Hmmmm! May have to resort to refrigerator tea.

Salad Ennui

A peek into the Camp Joy basket for Week 3. Several types of lettuce, loganberries, garlic with the stem/flower still attached, kale, plums, carrots and small zucchini.

The best salad I made this week had the leftover grilled tri-tip from the night before, with some juicy tomatoes and feta cheese. Yum

Wanting to improve my salad repertoire I went looking for advice and found a helpful page on Whole Foods, which had some really great ideas for combinations, ingredients you wouldn't usually think of and then of course my favorite, the Recipe Finder at My Recipes.com.

What is your absolute most favorite salad ever of all time?

Mine is Cobb Salad, but all chopped together and mixed up please.

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Forum

Where do you get your ideas/inspiration?

Added a post Nov 8 2007

If I'm stuck for a blog topic, I usually post one of the pictures I've taken recently and talk about that. Usually the visual cue gets my inspiration muscles flexing and I can come up with a decent... Read More »

Linguistics, Language, and Lingo

Added a post Nov 8 2007

Yes! I'll do that and then get the hairy eyeball look from uptight lingo folks. I especially have trouble when I travel to the Southern US, I'll end up with an accent for a few weeks.... I think le... Read More »

Who's filling their music player?

Added a post Nov 8 2007

I'm not filling it up, 've got only a few on there so far, and those are just links. I too felt hesitant as far as legalities for just posting stuff. I love new music also, so I'll check yours out. Read More »

Tagged: favorites, songs, player, music

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Cora left a comment for Julie Zaccone Stiller Dec 11 2007

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Jennic left a comment for Julie Zaccone Stiller Nov 22 2007

Julie Zaccone Stiller replied to the discussion Messy is an Understatemente Nov 19 2007

Julie Zaccone Stiller joined the group Messy Bloggers Nov 19 2007

Your NaBloPoMo Box

Why do I live here with all these crazy cats?

I'm up here because I am the king cat. You may all worship me. Just not too loudly because I'm going back to sleep now.

I think I can open my eyes just a little wider.

Don't stop, oh don't stop petting me.

I will pounce you!

Julie Zaccone Stiller's Friends

Julie Zaccone Stiller's Blog

Looking up Colors!

A color thesaurus! Type in the color name and synonym and antonyms and their hex codes are returned.

Posted by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 14th, 2007 at 10:20pm — No Comments (Add)

World Beach Project

This sounds like such a cool project, the images that are posted already are just beautiful. The World Beach Project through the V&A Museum.

I'm going to do it this weekend. If I can think of what the rockiest beach is around here. Mostly sandy on this stretch of coastline.

Posted by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 14th, 2007 at 1:00am — No Comments (Add)

Maya Angelou

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah
on her 70+ birthday. Oprah asked her what she
thought of growing older. And, there on television,

she said it was "exciting." Regarding body changes,

she said there were many, occurring every day...like her
breasts. They seem t

…

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Posted by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 13th, 2007 at 4:00pm — No Comments (Add)

Month of Gratitude Videos

Be sure and check out the month of gratitude videos at Spirituality & Practice. Every day they are posting a new one.

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Posted by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 5th, 2007 at 11:16am — No Comments (Add)

Fiery Furnaces

Asthma Attack from Gallowsbird's Bark

I woulda had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back
I woulda had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back
Yeah it’s Paradise Island I know
Yeah, yeah, yeah I been there bef…

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Posted by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 4th, 2007 at 1:15am — No Comments (Add)

Comment Wall (10 comments)

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At 2:10pm on December 11th, 2007, Cora said…: Hi Julie!
Did you get my e-mail? I wrote you last week, but I guess it didn't go through? I tried again today, so let me know and I'll try a different e-mail address if I need to. :)

Thanks!

At 9:01pm on December 3rd, 2007, Cora said…: Hi! I am the lucky winner of your prize! I cannot tell you how excited I am!!! Yahoo! My mom is a quilter, so she is going to be so excited when I tell her. :) Thanks again for donating!

At 8:04pm on November 21st, 2007, Jennic said…: Hi there! I'm also part of the chronic illness group. I have some unspeakable chronic GI issues..

At 10:25am on November 9th, 2007, Sassy said…: Sha, between us INFP's those lips are like my evil ENTJ alter-ego.

At 1:25pm on November 8th, 2007, amanda said…: Thanks for joining the Gift for Thrift group.

I think your blog post about the Goodwill Auction site may have just changed the course of my entire day...

~Amanda

At 3:39pm on November 6th, 2007, Mad goat lady said…: Hello..thanks for joining the chronic illness group..happy blogging this month :)

At 9:56am on November 5th, 2007, Jamie said…: Wow, what a family you have there!

I just stopped by to say welcome to Creative Bloggers. I hope you and yours have an awesome November!

At 6:35pm on November 4th, 2007, Lydia said…: WHEE!!! What's your nanonick again? I musta hadda forgotted. Me write goodly, nest pah?

At 7:17am on November 4th, 2007, Jennifer said…: Hi Julie!

Thanks for joining the quilting bloggers' group! I just visited your blog and loved the journal quilt entry.

I'm going to have to go back and look again later, because my monitor is doing a thing right now and everything has a blue cast to it - no orange to be seen anywhere!