A plan destined not to get off the ground.

{This isn't going to work, is it?}

I want a dog. Oh yes. I want a retired from the race track greyhound and I want to call him Charlie or Otto or Olaf or Carlos, or should she be a girl, Ruby or Pearl or perhaps Essie. How about Dot? Perhaps I’ll wait until we meet face to snout to settle upon a name. Wait to see if they were fond of the smell of cheese or a real lounge lizard (the latter I suspect most ex-racing greyhounds to be). We have friends who plan to call their future dog Rhubarb, and I suspect my Mum would like another dog called Bob. Bob is such a rewarding name to call and say, and would suit a greyhound to the letter T. But before I set about acquiring a dog I ought to clear it with the cats and Omar and Olive do not approve. Omar with an artfully placed back claw has inserted

line breaks

in my typed text where there ought not be

and he has also managed (as he so often does) to turn the letters

from English to Japanese characters.

太陽の下で

たいようのもとで

貝殻
かいがら

げざんする

No, I don’t think I’ll be getting a dog.

What I have got is several more postcard collages, and if I’m correct, these are the very last ones. There were so many of them created, assembled and pasted that it’s hard to keep up. That said here are six you have yet to see. And to play whilst looking, I give you Alik Kopyt singing Grey Suit (Old Prison Song).

{Not my usual locale.}

{This ain't as easy as it seems.}

{Tell me all your secrets.}

{A feast fit for a swamp otter and friend.}

{We'll be quite safe up here if we just keep still.}

Before I flee, snail mail of the unexpected and delicious variety arrived late last week from Eunice (thank you so very much, Eunice xo). Four American Song Birds came by post. A sweet voiced Wood Thrush, an Orchard Oriole (known to “shun the open fields”), a Meadow Lark (who cannot “imitate human speech like a starling”) and a Scarlet Tanger (with its “listless air characteristics”) to be exact… four cards distributed by the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Several postcards and a Plant Me! Card embedded with seeds of basil and chives from Round Robin Press.

{Songbirds from NC.}

Well that’s all for now. I’m getting jam on my keyboard and that’s never a good thing to see. My greying Return key has a pinkish glow. Think I best drag a cloth over it, finish troublesome slice of jam toast and get on with my day. Next time I shall have a collaborative zine project that I’d like for you all to take part in if it takes your fancy… I just need to polish it up a little before I present it to you.

(And thank you Modish and tas-ka for writing about our new cards… most honoured.)

Many new and shiny things to share, but for now they shall have to wait.
Wishing you well for the week ahead.

("Under the sun", "a seashell, a sea shell" and "go down the mountain" are, for those of you curious, what is written above in Japanese... I think. Please, correct me if wrong.)

Comments

[Eunice]

yay! you got the cards (i was getting a little worried about snail mail...). i'm glad you like them.

i understand about wanting to get a dog...i want to bring one home every time I go to the animal shelter except my own dog would absolutely hate that. enjoy the kitties, though. :)

love the latest batch of postcards...makes me want to scratch 'em behind the ears.

[alyssa]

Hello dear Gracia,
Your post warmed my day. I love your posts! Greyhounds are so beautiful and elegant, like kind canine vampires that don't eat blood, but have otherworldly attributes.
Your new collages are lovely!

[lisa s]

your titles ALWAYS make me smile

[may i vote that you get a dog? your names alone make it a splendid idea]
xo

[tommy]

I've been thinking about getting a dog, but it's disallowed too. Omar is a cat with big character though. The Japanese words - the first two about the sun and seashell are right, I don't understand the mountain one, but hey, my knowledge of Japanese is limited to JLPT4...

[camilla Engman]

I'm sure such smart cats would love to bully a dog :)
I was thinking of giving my dog the name Mamma (mother) or something like that. I was imagine my husband shouting for the dog, looking for something in the bushes. - Mother! - Come out from there, Mother!
Or - I have to go home to Mother, she is alone at home. But then I realized I was going to have to call the dog Mother too :)

[Mia]

Im in love with all your cards!
Geez they are beautiful...

[Abigail]

My dog to-be [a Lakeland Terrier I think] is also called Charlie in my mind...how funny is that.

...I had a friend who's dog was called Mabel - which I found so funny ;))

Days would be more fun with a little dog in tow. I don't even have cats to disuade me...:/

Love, love the new collages! xox

[comfies]

wonderful as always. love reading/seeing/eating up all your posts.

xo
d

[Sam A]

Get a dog! Get a dog! A grehound called Charlie would suit you to a t.

[kate]

My dog, Lytton, says there is a trick to getting along with cats ... one must always appear to live in fear of them and never bring them toys to play with. He moved in with us when Hazel, our fondly-remembered and much-loved cat, was about 14. A few quick swipes at him and he learned Hazel was Queen (with a capital 'Q'). Of course, your cats would not want a fluffy little dog their size. Having a large presence that they can dominate gives them great entertainment. My son used to sit between them and lecture them about getting along - fine words coming from an only child I used to think.

I like Bob too. Maybe Bob's listen better than a dog named after an eccentric English writer.

'Tell me your secrets' is wonderful, as is the swamp otter and friend. Well all of them are ... these postcards are great!

You popped to mind this morning as I was looking 'high up in the trees' and watching the remaining yellow leaves float down.

[madi]

magic kitty.

[Maryam in Marrakech]

I second your title being brilliant!

I have some Northafrican postcard collages on my blog today - come take a look!

[amisha]

i think i enjoy your titles almost as much as the collages themselves... they are such a treat to read. just love all of these new finds.
i have been on-and-off wanting a dog for awhile now... though i suspect that the idea of one might be better than the reality with 2 very jealous cats :)
xo

[cruststation]

I love this post, the playful entrance of the Japanese typing Omar (reminds me of one of my fav childhood reads 'choose your own adventure', where the main character was a cat {or was it a tiger}?) Sometimes he would make ink blotches on the page etc, unfortunately I'd forgotten the name of the books. Heart the new collages, can't wait to hear more about the collaborative zine project!

[shari]

well you know greyhounds are the most cat-like dogs. i work with 2 italian greys and they are sweet. love your collages and have missed your blog so much. xox

[lilly]

these images are beautiful! do you make them? we want to adopt a greyhound or galgo too! just looking for the right one. (or any!)

[shannon]

Thanks so much for posting about my cards. Love your work and your blog!

best,
shannon

[julie]

Oh 3 posts behind over here...Ruby would be a perfect name if Omar changes his mind!

More lovely work and whats this about a colab zine? off to read next post xx

[gracia]

Thanks so much for sending Louise and myself such a papery bounty, Eunice. It was such a surprise to receive by post… a big welcome surprise. And a Birthday card, too! Thank you. Those bird cards are a real treat and have been keeping me company all week long.

Yes, I quite agree with you, Alyssa. Greyhounds seem to have otherworldly attributes. They appear so handsome and gentle, those ones seeking adoption. Thanks also for your kind words abut this post. Sometimes I feel as though they are so very clumsy, so your comments are nice to hear.

Hey there Lisa,
With each day of late, a dog seems an unlikely addition to the inner city farm I call home. Perhaps one day. One day soon. I’m keen for my folks to also get a fine hound to call their own, though this, too, seems a long way off. I come from a long line of feline fanciers.

Thanks, Tommy, for translating this text for me. Who knows what the third one says… perhaps it has little to do with mountains at all? My knowledge of the Japanese language could fit on my left little finger. Having studied it for a year or two in secondary school, I can only recognise the odd character and pronounce a basic greeting.

Thanks, Camilla, your comment made me smile. A canine answering to the name of “Mother” made me chuckle. I think I’ll stick to Charlie or Pearl, and hope that they are as photogenic and handsome as your sweet Morran.

Thanks for the compliment, Mia. Glad you like these works.

I like the idea of your future Lakeland Terrier also being called Charlie, Abigail. And your friends pooch called Mabel is a brilliant pet name to make one smile. Perhaps I’ll keep it up my future-dog-name-sleeve. Glad you like this collages, too.

Thanks, Comfies. I wish I could carve out a greater chunk of time to devote to reading and posting. Like yourself and many folk, there are just so many things to do first.

Hi there Sam A,
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Omar (sitting across my forearm as I type) is not keen on the idea at all.

Hi there Kate,
Yes, my O & O would much prefer a larger rather than smaller hound to fill the bottom rung of the hierarchy. One that would let Omar snuggle up to him or her for warmth would be ideal. That way he might not even notice that a dog was living under the very same roof. My greyhound could be a sort of large walking doona for him.

Hi there Madi,
Omar is very clever at ejecting cds from the mac and conversing in Japanese.

Sounds great, Maryam in Marrakech. I’ll swing by and check them out just as soon as I can eke out a little computer time.

Yes, I think you might be right with that one, Amisha. I suspect I, too, am loving the idea of a dog a little more than the reality. Omar and Ollie would be none too pleasant to leave with as we all adjusted. Thanks for your super kind words about my work as well. Nice to hear such things as you plod along day to day.

Hi there CrustStation,
Ah, those Choose Your Own Adventure books were a primary school fave of mine. I don’t know that particular one you are referring to, but I do know the text written in the shape of the tail of a mouse in Alice in Wonderland. Sadly my typepad and basic html skills deserted me at my time of need.

Hi there Shari,
And how I missed your blog whilst you and T were away. I am enjoying playing catch-up on your blog at the moment… heading into the woods, finding heart shaped stones to photograph and then put back, and, of course, sitting around Mav’s infamous blue table.

Thanks, Lilly, for the compliment, and yes, these are all my own collages. These particular ones, though, are from many days long since past. More new ones to come in the coming posts (if I am organised enough).

Hello Shannon,
Thanks for swinging by my blog. Your cards are wonderful, and I enjoyed seeing your working space (Great! Great! Great!) and meeting little Momo.

Hi there Julie,
Oh, that’s quite right. I’d hoped to post about a new collaborative zine I wish to make, one which I would dearly love for you (and anyone else who reads this blog) to take part in. I’ll give you a little hint, as it may take me sometime to get around to posting about the exact particulars, it’s to do with photographs or snapshots of your local environ. And to do with cars, but not in a mechanical engineering sense. I hope you’ll play along.

see you, g xo