DisCo Project . . . Coming!

IF I'm not mistaken, tomorrow is the unveiling of the DisCo Projects we promised Seth Apter we would construct from the elements we exposed to the winter winds, snows and frosts - or baking heat. It all depended on whether we were in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern.
I have been working on it and August 1 has sneaked up until it's living right next door to me!
Oh, the shock to look at the calendar and realize we're almost run out of July. Strawberries, gone until next year. Dogwood tree starting to show color. (Sad, but true.)
However we still have watermelon ahead and corn on the cob and lots of green beans fresh from the garden. And peaches! So I guess there's plenty of things to look forward to.
Check back here for the DisCo Project tomorrow and I'll try not to disappoint. (But don't check too early in the day.) - femminismo

Photo is labeled "Scientific Discovery" in the Life magazine archives. Taken in 1964 by photographer Arthur Rickerby.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA (or conjecture) what "scientific discovery" had just been made in this photo above? Did someone disgusting just walk into the room? The professor's wife, maybe? Hah! I like that answer. The girls don't look too happy and the professor looks a teensy bit ill at ease. Wait! Maybe not his wife. Maybe ... his ... MOTHER!
"Mother! What are you doing out of your room?" (He does look a little like Tony Perkins.)

Something Witty ... or Pithy ... or ?

I WISH I could think of something witty or pithy or even interesting to say. I know there are folks who check in from time to time and they must be tired of seeing my same blog post - even though it's fascinating!
What about this? A prayer put into the universe has been answered! I am to be a great aunt again. Can't you just tell by this ultrasound that *this* baby is exceptional? - femminismo
p.s. That's a strong left arm being swung around over there!

A Truly Global Education - For Anyone.

YOU don't have to be rich, just determined, to get a great education.
And you probably won't find the directions dumped in your lap. It's going to take some research and asking questions on your own.
While it might seem (to some) a little reckless to send your children off to other countries to get an education, when your teenager's brain is eager to learn and experience new places and cultures *then* is the time to use that to your advantage. And education in other countries can be just as good - and often much cheaper - than education in the United States.
Remember my blog about Maya Frost and her book "The New Global Student"? Well, here is a link to the article I wrote for The Hillsboro Argus newspaper. Follow it to read more about the Frosts and their unconventional and successful search for a better, global education for their girls.
Then check Maya's Web site.
I also have a couple of pictures of the work I'm doing on the DisCo Project suggested by Seth Apter at The Altered Page. Our winter-weathered Disintegration Project is becoming something else - to be unveiled completely August 1. But for now just two little glimpses.
Left, tied bundles of pages getting glue and glitter on the edges. At right, the pages laid out flat.
(I've visited a little over half of his participants in the Buried Treasure cooperative project and discovered lots of brilliant new geniuses. I hope to visit a lot of them again soon.)
Now off to bed - femminismo
solet's

Doing Virtual Mouse Scribbling ...

WELL, I am fooling around with Illustrator, trying to get it to do what I want without the bother of consulting a manual.
I swear I have a strong bit of Y chromosome clinging on for dear life that didn't quite totally incorporate into two Xs!
Anyway, I've got a "drawing" to show you. I exported it as a jpeg. (It's not a self-portrait.)
Pink Martini is on the CD player. What a voice China Forbes has! Joyful, crystal clear, lush when need be. She's singing about Napoli.
I need to go work on my DisCo project but I'll be back later to add a bit more about this 88 degree (F) day.

Isn't It Surprising My 'Re-Posts' Are Both About People and Not Art? Or Maybe Not Surprising.

Seth at The Altered Page has let us have another chance to "repost" a blog page or two. I "talk" so much I'll only post one.

Thursday, December 6, 2007 Not Alone in the Dark.

IT was a dark and stormy night. Really, it was!
It was pitch dark, pouring rain and I was leaving Clackamas on the right highway headed in the wrong direction: north instead of south. There was no turning back. I knew what eventually lay in front of me. It wasn’t going to be pretty, either. It would involve three lanes o f traffic, with more vehicles constantly merging onto the road on my right.
I stuck to the middle lane. All of us were eager to get home, especially those large pickups and SUVs — passing on both my right and left — throwing up water spray that covered my windshield. The wipers were going rapid fire, “swish, click, swish, click.”
Northward I flew, saying aloud “I can do this!” Again, aloud, I spoke to my fell ow drivers: “We all just want to get home safe.”
The radio was off. I couldn’t concentrate on anything but staying in my l ane and remembering to breathe.
Parkrose exit. I could have gotten off there. Powell - another exit with a name I knew. I pi ctur ed the long stretch of Powell Boulevard and the bridge to the other side of Portland.
The freeway seemed to collapse in length and become shorter and shorter as the minutes went by. The airport exit came up before I knew it. I would have to get off this road soon or end up in Washington.
The airport exit! I knew the airport. I could find my way home from the airport. I had gone out of my way by a long shot, but from there I knew I could find my way home.
Unfortunately I turned off at Cascade Station, thinking it was the first parking area for ov ernight or weekly parking at the airport. I didn’t know it was a humonguous new shopping center with stores for almost anything you might or might not need.
I considered going in and asking for directions, but something akin to a Y chromosome kicked in. If I asked for help I would be admitting defeat: “I couldn’t do this alone.”
I have a difficult time asking for help, but that’s too long a story.
I did call my husband on my cell phone, however, to let him know I might be late getting home. I had called him when I left Clackamas.
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“I’m out by the airport. Yes, I can see it from here. I’m at Cascade Station, near that new Ikea store. Oops! Someone’s in back of me. Gotta’ go.”
I dropped the phone into my lap and drove off. Ahead of me was a Subaru in a right turn only lane. I saw a blue sign: I-84. Things were looking up. When the light changed we both turned right and then stopped at another light. I decided to trust the Subaru and followed its taillights when the light turned green. Soon we were on I-84 ... going in the wrong direction.
Sandy Boulevard. Another familiar street. I abandoned my friend in the Subaru and left the freeway. Now I was on Sandy, headed east or west. Your guess would have been as good as mine. No daylight; no sun to show me my way home; no stars either. Only more rain.
My cell phone rang. It was my husband asking “Where are you now?”
“I’m headed down Sandy,” I said. “Say, there’s an adult toy shop. Need anything?”
I don’t know who I was trying to reassure with this attempt at humor, him or me.
I stopped at a light then. There was a car beside me on my left and I glanced over at the intersection of the one-way cross street looking for information and saw a sign that read “City Center.” Yes!
“I’m at an intersection,” I said, “and there’s a sign to city center.”
“Take that,” he said. “You can find your way back that way.”
However, to go that way I would need to cross three lanes of traffic — one beside me on my left and two other oncoming lanes. I remembered my driver’s education manual and knew this wasn’t an option. Then I spotted a motel on the right just through the intersection.
“I’ll bet I can turn into this motel, go through their parking lot and turn onto the one-way street headed toward downtown. Goodbye,” I said.
Soon I was hurtling toward “downtown” which turned out to be I-84 again, but in the correct direction. I got into the left hand lane to make sure I would get the Salem and, eventually, Beaverton exits.
Finally I was really on my way home. I was on my way to the safest place in the world. Why had I ever left it, I wondered.
That night, holding my husband's hand and trying to fall asleep, I was amazed to have traveled all that distance and come to rest, at last, here in this snug harbor. A million thoughts went through my head. They were all related to my trip and the “what if’s” that so often haunt us late at night.
What if I’d had an accident? What if I hadn’t been lucky?
But I had been. I was lucky to find my way home safely, lucky to be snug in a safe little house with someone I love. Lucky, lucky, lucky.
I believe in skill. I believe in intelligence. But I’ll trust lucky any day.

You And I, Travel To The Beat Of A Different Drum ...

DIFFERENT drums ... for some reason that Linda Ronstadt song came into my mind as I began this post. Written by Michael Nesmith (now that name's familiar to some of us) and a popular hit when Linda sang with the Stoned Ponies. Oh, it takes me back, for sure. My hair was long, long, long and had never been touched by a curling iron. My bottom was a little higher, too, along with the bosoms - which got a clean bill of health by the way! (Made a mammogram appointment lately?)
I'm just thinking tonight about all the things that make us different ... and interesting. Remember that "Twilight Zone" episode, "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" (1964) where everyone either looked like Suzy Parker, Richard Long or Pamela Austin? How boring to all be the same. (Not to mention, confusing!)
Now me, with my farsighted eye and my near-sighted eye, I've been to the ophthalmologist too much lately. The other day I finally gave up on the blended trifocals lenses. They were not working for me. Too much prism effect, which made me dizzy. But in honor of Don, (Grrl+Dog calls him "Gorgeous One") I had to take a self-portrait (it's self-portrait Wednesday too!) of what might pass for steampunk glasses. (Well, they might if they were rusty and a little bit funkier.)
And I forgot to tell you that a *miracle* happened on Sunday and I made a pie without crying. The bottom crust rolled out perfectly, the berries tumbled in and the top crust - I got the teensiest bit uneasy but quashed it quickly - it rolled out perfectly too. I cut out little leaves to put on top and sprinkled it with sugar. The Mister demands "a little pie" for himself, because he *tells me* his mother "always did it." Well, I guess I would try that too if I could get away with it and he obviously did because you can see him in the picture tucking into his apple pielet.
Yesterday, Tuesday, I got mail from Fannie Narte, and inside the envelope was a great little carry-all bag. It will be just perfect for my lunch and other odds and ends I can't do without ... after I decorate it. Check out Fannie's lovely "lady prints." Beautiful drawings/paintings on her blog and in her Etsy shop.
Well, I'm going on and on, aren't I? Just one more picture to show you of our Russian sage, orange day lilies and Rose of Sharon in the background. This picture, along with the sunflower, were taken at sunset as I was outside watering. The light is so lovely that time of day and they - the days - are getting shorter. (Sob!) Have you noticed? Love to you all - femminismo
p.s. Tomorrow is Seth's (The Altered Page) second chance at reposting a favorite blog. Check back to see what I dig up for Buried Treasure.
p.p.s. Oops! Some huge photos again. Back to the drawing board!

Other Stuff I Saw This Past Weekend.

GOT a lot done today, at work and running errands. Today was a sweet day because everything (almost) fell into place. I remembered appointments, chores, places to be and had all I needed to accomplish these things with me! Sometimes they're at home, which isn't convenient at all.
This past Saturday a sister and brother and I visited with another brother and his wife. We all had lunch and then a tour of his new little house, built especially to protect the pump for their irrigation well during Oregon's long, hard winters. (haha - well, last winter's anyway)

Of course, not just any little house would fit into their backyard. I can see things taking off from here. Maybe one day it will have its own little porch and picket fence. Look at those darling stained glass windows he made for the house. There is a bougainvillea planted on the right.

There are many trees surrounding their yard, and up in one of the fruit trees there was a bird. Can you see it among the leaves? Can you tell me what it is?

This yard is also special because it's home to the Easter Bunny. Please don't divulge to anyone that it lives in Oregon. We will be inundated with more tourists. (Well, considering the economy that might not be a bad idea.) The 10th annual Easter Egg Hunt is coming up this next year in my brother and sister-in-law's backyard. The kids love it and the grownups love the cake.
One last pic of a July dahlia and then I'm off to water the plants. It's 92 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now at 5:46 p.m. Little humidity, thank our heavenly stars - femminismo

Busy Week and Weekend

SINCE there's not enough time now, at 10:52 p.m. (which is when I finally got around to actually posting this) I'll just give you last Thursday's news.
I interviewed Maya Frost (and her husband, Tom Frost), at left, for an interview to be published in our local newspaper. You can find Maya here.
She is an evangelist and *huge* promoter of a Global Education and being BOLD with your life and author of the book, "The New Global Student." Her four daughters have traveled and gone to school in many different countries and have all turned out wonderfully and obtained their own educations for a fraction of what it normally costs the average American student. And they've gotten a lot of on-the-job training in the art of becoming their own advocate for having a better, richer life.
If you have children or grandchildren who are going to be facing tomorrow's even higher costs for education, grueling study for the SATs and a lot of jumping through unnecessary hoops, check out Maya's Web site. You will find a lot of food for thought - femminismo

BURIED TREASURE.

ALONG with several others and most especially our leader, Seth at The Altered Page, I am reposting one of my own favorite blog entries from March 2, 2008:
Every Calendar Day is Special to Someone.

I AM writing this on Oct. 2, 2008 — which would have been my mother’s 86th birthday. She passed away in June 2006.
This morning in Athens, Ga., on Oct. 2, my niece - and my mother's granddaughter - Amy, gave birth to her third child, a boy, Guillermo. The baby has blue eyes — for now, anyway — and so did his great-grandmother.
Today I can feel my mother so close to me on this day - her birthday. I can imagine how excited she would be that the new great-grandchild was born on "her" birthday.
I recall the times I remembered her birthday with a card, or lunch or a sleepover at her house. I remember forgetting her birthday once! (It's OK. She forgot mine once, too.)
I close my eyes and I can feel her arms around me and the special "Mom kisses" she would give.
I can remember the last time she walked into my house and I remember the evening she left it.
We all wish, of course, that my mother could have witnessed another great-grandchild in her "portfolio." There aren't many who love babies as much as she did.
"My goodness, what your dad and I started," she used to say. They had seven children. My mother told me my grandmother (her mother-in-law - whom she loved dearly) asked her one time, "Margaret, how are you going to take care of all these children?"
And she stubbornly answered, "I'll feed them and love them." That's exactly what she did, day in and day out without fail.
It’s odd how certain dates have a way of pulling us back in time. As the post title says, every calendar day is special to someone. It might be a birthday or an anniversary of a glad time or a sad time - a beginning or an ending.
Now we've been blessed with these wonderful grandchildren and we are so lucky to have them all healthy, smart, loving people - and we have our parents to thank for that last part, I think.
Amy's paternal grandfather, William, passed away very recently on Sept. 13. That was a really sad day for everyone. William also had blue eyes.
I will always think of this new baby, "Gil," born on Oct. 2, with the bluest of eyes, as a link in the generations and a reminder that miracles keep on happening everywhere we look.
I'll also remember that the saddest day on the calendar to me might be the happiest day to someone else. This is a happy day. Mom was born today and Gil was born today. Welcome to the world, Gil, from Great-Aunt Jeanne! I know Javi and Isa and Daddy are waiting eagerly to get you and Mommy home.
NOW: Here is Gil today with his eyes just as blue and the joy on his face reflecting the love that comes his way. This boy will grow up to be somebody, you betcha! With all the spark, good humor and kindness that marked his great-grandmother, Margaret, and his grandfather, Billy -- all three with blue eyes filled with mischief and stars - femminismo

"Wild Aim" Self-Portrait Wednesday.

TAKING a cue from another blogger, I decided to take random photos for SP Wednesday and not really aim. Just see what happened.
Well, I got photos of sky, ground and nothing much else. So much for random. I tried being just a little bit more focused, but not looking at the camera during the shot. Just sort of before.
I'm also down-sizing my photos, per Susan Sanford's suggestion -- and it's a good one. (Do go check out her "Nature Boy" today!) I put huge photos on this blog, and I suppose they take many computers a while to "work" with them. But I just love seeing everyone's work up close and in detail. I'll bet most of you know what I mean.
In one of these photos it looks like my face is melting off. My earrings are a long, almost solid, blur. The sky and trees look wavy and shimmery.
The lilies had no smell, by the way. Just looked wonderful -- creamy ivory color. I probably have orange dust on the end of my nose. I haven't checked yet. Just took these and rushed them to you before they were even dry!
I think in one of the photos, the one with the big white slash of sky above, my nose looks swollen, like it found a bee -- or a bee found me.
I've begun my Disco project and I think I might have stumbled on an idea tonight. Can't wait to see where it leads me.
And, oh, yeah, I had that thing done today where you stand by the big humming, ice-cold machine and have your breasts ironed flat, only not with heat. Good for me. I made my yearly appointment and KEPT it. How about you other ladies out there? - fEmmInIsMo

Today Is A Start On Something Better.

EACH day brings us closer to the realization that we know almost nothing.
Even if we could take the knowledge we have now and go back in time and learn more to add to it, we would still be lacking essential coping skills. Over and over we could go, through hundreds of lifetimes of learning and we would always be missing something.
So we just go on doing the best we can with what we've got now. We take classes and talk to people who've walked the path before us and we pray for insight and the power to do right and say the proper thing at the proper time and thereby avoid disaster.
Tomorrow - or today, depending on when you read this - take a moment to realize that you are not all powerful and you do not have all the answers and the only consistent path that's ever accomplished anything R.E.A.L. is love. I'll work from there I guess until I can't do it any more.
Vague? Esoteric? Perhaps.
Can't say more because I don't tell my blog journal everything. Some things are just taken on faith - femminismo

Can You Imagine? Well, Can You?

FIRST, imagine you want to make a book from rectangles of painted folded paper. But you don't want to stitch them together.
So then imagine your brain says, "What if we just fold them down the middle and punch holes in the edges and tie them together?" This must have been my right brain talking. (That's right; my brain. We're talking about me and all the painted paper I've been blobbing away at.)
So you fold back the edges and discover there is no way this will work. The brain, left one maybe, says, "Hold on, now. This won't do."
Somewhere in the middle the brains meet and after a couple of days and several observations later, it's decided by everyone that a smaller fold will take place at each edge - one up, one down - and then the pages will be glued together to form a long, long book. A book that can be written on front and back, with the reader scanning over words and images on both sides.
What will the book be about? Who knows for now. Time for both brains to get busy and cooperate since the folding and gluing has been done.
While that is drying I gathered up my Disintegration Project to begin A DisCo (Discovery?) Project with the weathered goods. Literally weathered! Do you remember this picture? Ice storm late in the year and I rushed home to take photos. (Yes, certifiable-crazy.)
Tonight I have painted the dried pages, deciding for the time being to keep them pretty much "as is," except for one picture matte-gelled onto the front of a book section. This work is keeping me sane. That is my mantra. And I have a question here: Does anyone else get nervous when they upload photos and Blogger tells them they've used up 71% of their picture storage? I'm so addicted to blogging by now that they could probably charge any price and I'd pay it. But don't tell them I said so, OK? - femminismo

Deadline, deadlines, deadlines all month long!

PROCRASTINATION is one of my strongest qualities.
Wait! Did I hear someone say procrastination is not a "quality"? There are all sorts of qualities you know. Good ones and not so good ones. What if procrastination saved you from getting run over by a bus? Not such a bad quality then, huh?
Anyway, I knew this day was coming. Seth at The Altered Page e-mailed to remind me and others of the upcoming deadline for our Disintegration Projects (DisCo for short), Aug. 1.
We need to take the projects and turn them into something else. You can use everything you "aged" or part of it for your new project. The picture (altered itself, quite a bit in photo editing) shows my bundle of papers from the book "Master of Ballentrae" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Out in the muddy garden through a good part of the winter -- now totally dry, hidden in a corner of the kitchen on the floor near the heating vent. Waiting ... waiting ... waiting.
What will they be? What will they become? Next purpose in life, please! Time to consider the possibilities - femminismo

Summer Evening Pleasures.

WHAT do you get with a summer evening in Oregon?
If you are lucky, you're not wearing a jacket. (Tonight, no jacket.)
If Mother Nature feels generous, you get a great sunset. (Tonight, great sunset.) Pleasant breeze? Yes, we've got that. Flowers? You betcha!
Today started off with gray skies, and I got grumpy and gave up. I put on my wool socks and clogs. But in the afternoon things cleared up and the sunshine was back. I guess that's the prediction for this weekend. We'll see ... .
I came home tonight to paint paper and finally got down to it after doing a little blog visiting. I get so tired of sitting, though, since I do it so much at work as I proofread and edit. I just couldn't stand it. Standing and painting paper is great relaxation for me, even if I do feel guilty listening to the Mister running machinery in the backyard. But then, he could paint too. I wouldn't mind. Especially since he gets a bit over zealous sometimes whacking away at shrubbery, trees and plants. I thought I would show you these floating daisy faces before they either fade or mysteriously disappear.
Here is some of the painted paper and I don't really know what they are going to turn into. (7x12 inch sheets, folded in fourths) I think I want to fold the edges about an inch and piece them together somehow. With glue? Thinking ... thinking ... THINKING! I don't know. Something will spark an idea. I had talked about maybe quilting/piecing them together.
Seth at The Altered Page has another collaborative project going: On July 16 post one or two of your own favorite posts. If you want to do this you need to go to his blog and leave him your name and he will post the links to all those who want to collaborate. He's calling this "Buried Treasure," and since there's not enough time in the day to read everyone's blog, he thought if we put our best stuff out - hence, Buried Treasure - then folks could get some genuine booty, pirate's gold, with these quick reads at folks' sites. Click on the link above for more info.
Don't you love these lilies? They are the ones over 6 feet tall. Wowser! Last summer was the first time they bloomed and this year they've gone crazy-beautiful.
Here are my Tanabata wishes I hung in the magnolia tree July 7. Since it's the festival of the stars, I thought it was serendipitous to find the wired stars in a drawer. You can see the sunset against the side of the house, pleasant breeze blowing the paper strips and the drying lawn from our drier summer weather. The ferns are still magnificent though. They don't give up for nuthin' - femminismo

T A N A B A T A

TANABATA, also known as the "star festival," takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year, when, according to a Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, which are usually separated from each other by the Milky Way, are able to meet.
Tanabata originated more than 2,000 years ago with an old Chinese tale called Kikkoden. Once there was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi living in space. (True Sci-Fi Theater stuff!)
After they got together, they were playing all the time and forgot about their jobs. The king was angry at them and separated them on opposite sides of the Amanogawa River (Milky Way). The king allowed them to meet only once a year on July 7th. This is why Tanabata is also known as the star festival. It's believed that Orihime and Hikoboshi can't see each other if July 7th is rainy, so people pray for good weather and also make wishes for themselves. (Good news here: The weather is clear.)
Because the seventh month of the year roughly coincides with August rather than July according to the formerly used lunar calendar, Tanabata is still celebrated on August 7th in some regions of Japan, while it is celebrated on July 7th in other regions.
One popular Tanabata custom is to write one's wishes on a piece of paper, and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true.
I'm off to hang my wishes from the magnolia tree in the front yard - femminismo

Gifts and Blessings of Mother Nature.

WE SAFELY made the trip to and from Nehalem on the Oregon Coast and visited with our wonderful friends who are so generous to share their lovely home.
The house faces south toward Nehalem Bay which feeds into the Pacific. North are forested mountains in mist and, then suddenly, sunshine. The weather changes quickly. Elk and deer gather around this area since it was their natural home long before the houses were built and the people came.
We had a scrumptious dinner -- t-bone steaks, asparagus, grilled fresh pineapple (beyond description, I'm sorry) -- and then gathered "necessaries" to make the trip to the beach for the fireworks show.
Walking up the sandy path we came around a turn and over a rise and right beside us was this pair of beauties grazing quietly. They calmly looked at us and didn't even flinch as I took a couple of pictures. (You can see misty mountains in the background toward the town of Manzanita.) Then we just moved on to the next rise to leave them alone with their late meal.
The moon was rising slowly in the east and progressed as the evening went on. We found a great spot above the beach in the clean, soft white sand on the dunes. The beach grass bent and swayed in the slight breeze, but otherwise the weather was absolutely perfect. We couldn't believe our luck to get such a lovely evening.
Down below us were families and friends gathered with everything they needed to make dinner and then watch the show. There were driftwood fires up and down the beach and fireworks going off all over the place. (We joked that these people might have s'mores and we were going to try and infiltrate their camp to score some. The Mister took the initiative and began to crawl down the dunes but unfortunately the rest of us were too content where we were. We encouraged him to go ahead, however.)
The sun slowly set and finally 10 p.m. came and the big fireworks began. We were behind one dune that sort of obscured our view and the fog had begun to move in. It was everyone's first time watching fireworks here so we weren't sure where to be for the best view. What we did see was well worth the trip and the moon was -- as usual -- the best show of all. It eventually took on this unusual shape -- or maybe I just moved the camera a little too fast. There wasn't much light to shot by as you can tell by the blurry grasses on the beach.
We got home late. Not too late for ice cream and grilled pineapple, of course. Then to bed for a good night's sleep and up again for breakfast and a walk to the bay before we had to leave.
The bay shore is packed with driftwood and someone had built a lean-to covered with some tree branches. Very ingenious! There was a picnic table underneath it.
Next time we get by maybe we'll see the actual elk and not just their patty-pie "leftovers."
The drive home by a less-traveled road was gorgeous -- lots of trees, ferns and scenery. Then we got to the Sunset Highway and everything slowed to a crawl. We could identify all the flowers alongside the roads and discovered quite a bit at this slower pace and, of course, made it home safely. Great trip to see great friends - femminismo

Happy Fourth Of July!

HOPE you have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July. We are headed for Nehalem -- after watering all the flowers in preparation for 90+ temperatures today. Hope to see the fireworks on the beach at Manzanita tonight.
We'll stay with friends at their new house in Nehalem and then be on our way back home to water again! Good thing the well doesn't go dry - femminismo
p.s. The photo is an old barn in our neighborhood, transformed with watercolors in Photoshop. I don't know how much longer this barn can withstand urban development, but it's refreshing to see it every time we pass by.

The Monarchs Are In Town.

TODAY it's very warm in our part of Oregon. Most parts of the state, I would imagine.
While weeding this morning before it got too hot I hosted a Monarch passing through. The lilies were irresistable and this big guy/gal stopped by. Are they migrating? Did they just hatch somewhere close by? Time to google butterflies.
I'll post more later. Just thought I would drop this in early in case I don't get back to the computer.
We are going to Nehalem tomorrow to visit with friends and enjoy their new house. The Mister is off right now buying a housewarming gift - femminismo