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Making Way For New Growth
For various reasons we decided to leave the community garden we were gardening at earlier than expected. We still have a plot of sweet potatoes there that we will harvest in a month or so and then we will be done. So, that has forced us to find a place to throw some seeds down for the Fall or purchase some of our produce instead. This area is the south side of our house where eventually it will be a flower garden with a nice pathway. It had tomato and peppers plants when we moved in, and I found a rosemary plant that will survive with some pruning and care.…
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Life Lately | Mid-September
+ One of my complaints about living a ‘normal’ life is that time speeds up too fast. While backpacking time slows down and it feels like life is mellow and enjoyable. You can stop and relish the way the light lands on different things throughout the day. The rhythm of hiking is simple: wake, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, walk, eat, relax, sleep. And while I don’t really have a very complicated life (let’s keep it that way!) life sure does speed up through getting up and working, coming home doing chores and somehow finding time to relax and wind down. + While we still have a long…
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Studio Tour
Behold! The Studio! It is kind of daunting to look at. I managed to throw a few dried up pens and bent paint brushes out, but not much else.
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Magical Maidenhair (and Miscellany)
These maidenhair fern photos were taken at Westcave Preserve back in March. I still haven’t finished out the photos from that day, but slowly I want to work back to doing that. I find myself feeling like I am on top of the pile again, not suffocating below it, but then I find something else thrown on top and there I am again trying to get up to breathe. While going through my old ‘writing desk’ (which turned into an art desk at one point) I found a journal, one that was surprisingly not tattered and beaten up, but still rigid and pretty with its seashell adorned cover. Inside was…
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Hoh River Elk
According to the rangers in the park office, this herd often visits this area just down the river from the campground. We spotted them after finishing a short hike and planning a quick drive up the road to ‘see what we can see’. We saw the elk! First we saw the cars—and a ‘herd’ of cars is a good sign something is nearby, so we peered over the edge into the river and then pulled over so we could get a closer look.
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A Batty Surprise
On our way to the Hoh Rainforest we quickly stopped in at a general store before we entered the park. We bought some sodas and walked outside to look at the display case to see what was posted. I looked down and saw what I thought was a bat. I looked closer, yeaahhhhh, looked like a bat. I squinched my eyes together to determine if it was fake and determined that it was breathing—nope, very real! We asked the girl working the counter if she knew it was there but this seemed to be a surprise to her. It’s not every day you get to see a bat up close…
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The Pacific | II
+We didn’t spend enough time at the beach, maybe an hour. This area deserves to be explored more. I could poke in all of the tidepools and search the surf for marine mammals. We watched something poke its head up out of the water a few times. Sealion? Seal? +I’m going to have to start making photo books out of our photos because I’m going to want to come back and drool at an ocean I don’t get to look at often….ok rarely! “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” -Rachel Carson
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A Bit of Art Tucked Away
Last week I was attempting to organize our office and started pilfering through my desk. Inside I found all sorts of goodies along with this little pastel. It needs a touch up, signing and spray. I’m not sure why I left it in my desk for 2.5 years instead of packing it, but my guess is that my portfolio was already packed in the POD when I found it in my desk in Florida. So there it stayed. I guess I will display it in my studio, but I’m contemplating making prints to sell of some of the pieces I’ve done over the years. Just seeing this little piece reminds…
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The Pacific | I
+I think the photos speak for themselves. +No matter how long away from the ocean, no matter how much I think that I’m ok with just being a land lover (lubber!), the ocean always tells me otherwise when it slaps me in the face with a bit of salty air. +Tidepools, tidepools…tidepools. *sigh* “One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’” -Rachel Carson
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My Favorite Cute Kids
Back in July my mom, brother, sister in law, niece and nephew came down for the weekend to help us unpack. I went almost the whole weekend without taking my camera out but I managed to pull it out when the kids were playing upstairs in our the large room we’re going to call the entertainment room. Right now it is lined with boxes of items to sort through for Goodwill. Turns out the boxes are just as entertaining as any toy from the toy store! My brother’s mini-me. Annnnnd we’re falling over…. Running circles is also very entertaining to four year olds….and wears the 32 year old out just…