The Case of The Electrified Lips
No, you haven't picked up a romance novel by mistake. We put the oddest thing in our saltwater aquarium last week. Deciding that we needed some red color, Harry and I visited the local pet shop and picked out two scallops. (I don't think they're the edible kind.)
The shells (scallops, uncooked, are shellfish, much like a clam or an oyster) are white, but won't stay that way. Everything which doesn't move in our tank gets covered by various alga -- most are green but there is one that looks like purple lichen -- so whatever the original color is gets lost rather quickly. The interior of the scallops, however, is red. Bright red. Flaming red. (They're even called flame scallops.)
During the scallop period of activity, which seems to be all day and all night, the scallop rests halfway open. Tendrils extend out from the mantle (the fleshy part of the shellfish) which adds to the "flame" image. The tendrils are on both the top and bottom half. (The mantle looks like it's in two parts, one attached to the upper shell and one to the lower. If you want to see what one looks like, there are some very good photos on the Web.)
The way these things are built, they appear to have lips. That's not so odd, because my clam has looked that way for months. However, upon close inspection of these new additions, we saw what looked like flickers of electricity running along the "lips" of both scallops. The flashes didn't come at the same time, and they're blue.
What do you know? I have two scallops with electrified lips. Who'da thunk it?
In other news, we got the house blessed last month, so it's officially no longer HexHouse. The search for a new name continues. I really liked "WineWrite Roost" suggested by Ilene, but no one can pronounce it. (Try it aloud.) We're still experimenting with "alaHouse," suggested by Chas, to see if it fits as well as it sounds like it will.
The California State Fair gave my hummingbird stitch not only First Place, but also Best of Division and Best of Show. The piece also took three specialty awards from local needlework shops. Along with the Best of Show award came a presentation event, which I wasn't expecting. When I attended, I was given a statuette of a golden bear. It's beautiful! What a surprise it was to receive it.
For those of you who remember the War of the Road, you might be interested to know that the fallout is finally happening. Yes, construction has begun. Now that I've been through those months with my house, I have a better idea of what we're in for.
The notice we got in the mail says they expect the "project" to run for 130 business days. I did the math -- that's six months ofconstruction! (And that's only if they're on time.)
During this time, my driveway may be inaccessible during working hours, and my mailbox will likely be moved somewhere "for better access."
I'm starting to wonder if we really won at all.
http://www.winebird.com/
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