Time to Shop for Suet

Birds can only get so much energy from apples. I would think some nice long-burning suet would be the things to power one through a cold, cold winter night.
I took this photo this morning around 7:30. I wonder what it will look like tonight when I get home?
They were nice juicy apples for birds and had been sitting on our counter a little too long for humans - picky, picky, spoiled humans.
I'll see if I can't get a follow-up picture come Thanksgiving morning - femminismo

A Space In Time

As the blue moon appeared - drifting over our heads among the fir trees - we stood on this small patch of earth together and stopped for a space in time.
Once together often, now passing time together infrequently, we are always on the same page in space no matter the distance. We begin our conversations anew, without a pause, catching each other up on what's going on in our lives.
There is no substitute for an old friend. Someone who knew you when, and accepts you for what you are and who you've become.
Tell me what's in your heart, old friend, and I'll tell you what's in mine - femminismo

The Emerald City

SEATTLE is known as The Emerald City. I guess because it is usually surrounded by greenery. Just like Oregon, it gets its fair share of rain.
This was our destination on Friday, when the Mister and I headed north for a visit to the Seattle Art Museum and the Picasso exhibit. We rendezvoused with my sister, Judy, at our hotel and then called a cab to take us to the museum. We had food at their Taste restaurant and then went for a spin in the gift shop. I always thought this was the last stop at an exhibit, but we did it first.
Our tickets were for 2 p.m. and the moment arrived. I actually saw the "Portrait of Dora Maar" by Pablo Picasso in "real life!"
My absolute favorite was a tiny oil painting called "The Bathers." (All of these images are copyright, Pablo Picasso Estate, I'm sure!)
We had a great time at the museum checking out more than 150 images, sketches and photos. If you have the chance, see this!
Outside the exhibit was this soft sculpture by Nick Cave, the musician - and artist. I thought my knitting friends might like to see this.
We then went for short walk around town until we found the most wonderful restaurant named Etta's. The Mister had the salmon topped with portabello mushrooms on mustard greens, I had grilled sturgeon with a side of roasted red beets with blue cheese and pecans, and my sister had the ling cod with delicata squash, cippolini onions and golden raisins. It was all terrific!
A good night's sleep at the hotel and then off to Pike Place Market downtown. There was much to see! Here are some pictures ...
the fruit at Pike Place



and down below the Gum Wall!
We did not leave anything. We just were not prepared ... with pre-chewed gum.

I did get my fortune told by Madame X, too. She said I have "patience."
I must sign off for now. My patience with my photos downloading to this blog site is at an end - femminismo

Before The Frost

IT was time to put up or shut up, so after laundry was well on its way and the bed linens were changed I got dressed to go outside. The sun was shining and the weather forecast promised not many more hours before the rains came again. The sky in the west was threatening, but the day was warm - in the 60s - and the spring bulbs that were languishing in the garage absolutely HAD to be planted.
And the oak leaf hydrangea in the front yard, that has been doing worse and worse every year, really needed to be moved to see if it would do better in richer soil. (I thought it was better to move them in the spring, but recently read fall was better. This way they can build up some stronger roots before the spring growing period.)
Of course, instead of warming up with a couple of turns around the yard and making raking a few leaves or picking up fallen branches, I went right to digging a hole in the back yard for the hydrangea! Whew! Out of breath fast and my shoulder muscles tightening up. I walked to the front yard, got the wheelbarrow and rolled it into the back yard to dump the leaves that were in it. Back to the front yard with the empty barrow and shovel and I got the plant out of the soil just fine. It was almost like it was ready to come and gave me no trouble.
Warmed up now and ready to do more.
I got the bulbs and started digging holes for them. Our Oregon soil has so much clay, I incorporated some compost in with the soil I put over the bulbs. I didn't have any bulb fertilizer, but I am hoping at least doing this much will help them. This part of the garden gets a little soggy, so it's either mold, rot or bloom. I'm hoping for the latter. In this photo it looks like I've buried the tulip bulbs in wet volcanic ash. These pink tulips are now planted with pink hyacinths. I really, really hope they brighten up this area in the spring.
I planted lilies, too, for the summer, and just remembered this minute that somewhere out there in the back yard (!!) I left a bag of calla lily bulbs. I'd better go look for them and take a flashlight. It's dark outside, even though it's only 6:30 p.m. (Today we turned the clocks back one hour and now our bodies are going to have to try and figure out what the heck's going on. Do they have such a thing in other countries?)
It is really damp outside and, like I said, the rains are going to begin again soon. It's nice to know, however, that the plant I've wanted to move for so long is in a new home and beginnings are planted for spring. It was good to be outside, moving around and being close to the earth. I got caught in a "leaf shower" when the wind came up and then it really rained for about five minutes. I kept working though, remembering my one time goal to be a professional gardener. No wimping out just because of a little moisture from the skies.
Well, I found the bulbs outside! Rescued! Now I think I will spend some time with NaNoWriMo - femminismo

Good-bye October!

TIME to say adieu to October. On Saturday we visited the Farmers Market, the last one this year. We'll now have to wait until spring for plant starts and sizzling sausage treats and homemade cinnamon bread.
Somehow it makes the wait through winter seem even longer, but it does eventually come.
I loved the colors of these cauliflower heads and after taking a bunch of photos I felt guilty enough to buy some. I did not take the purple one with the small green worm in the foreground.
The chard was even prettier and will make a delicious, nutritious meal tomorrow night.
We had family over Saturday because my niece from West Yellowstone was visiting with her daughter, Brayden, and everyone wanted to see them both.
My son, Peter, and his wife, Jenny, and their daughters Cassie and Zoe, came too. Peter made borscht, roasting beets in the oven and then adding them to tons of other yummy vegetables. We couldn't have asked for a better lunchtime meal..
There were two babies in the house at one time and there were many hugs and kisses exchanged. Happy times.
The soup is bubbling, and after the meal and our main visitors had left, Jenny and I sat down and compared our button collections. The Mister had to laugh, since he felt as though he was watching two young kids trade baseball cards. "I'll trade you these six red buttons for the one white one you have with the rhinestone in the middle."
"OK, and you can have these blue buttons because they match the others you have."
"Well, only if you take these black and white ones!" (I actually made a button bracelet today, but I didn't plan ahead on how I was going to make the closure. However, it's the first one I've done in a long time and I'm allowed a learning curve.)
We had pumpkin pie, too, with vanilla bean ice cream. Yum! Can't wait for Thanksgiving now, and more pie.
Lots of leaves fell last night and this morning there was a covering of them on the sunroom roof. I love this time of the year, with the golds, reds and browns - and the sound of the small frog in the front yard with the giant deep voice.
Tomorrow is November 1 and NaNoWriMo begins in earnest. I'll let you know where to check in to keep up with my progress - femminismo

A Day of Darkness, A Day of Rain

TODAY, when I awoke, there was no moonlight pouring through the skylight onto the bathroom floor. Ditto for the kitchen floor. So I knew it must be cloudy outside. And raining.
When I left the house at 7:45 a.m. it was still quite dark. The flaming trees dimly shone through the gloom and I thought the political supporters twirling signs at intersections at that time in the morning were the most devoted I'd ever seen.
Did I vote for the wrong person, I wondered. Did these people get paid to do this, or are they just ardent? Do they know something I don't? Oh, well. Too late now. The envelope is sealed.
The last two mornings on the way to work it's been difficult; I pay more attention to the trees and flocks of birds than my driving. Yesterday there was fog high off the ground, above the trees. The air was clear, the streets were dry, the leaves were gold and red, and there was a waning moon in the west to set it all off. Beautiful!
There were not many sun breaks today. Yesterday was really pretty nice and I should have gone for a walk ... but didn't. The birds I have been seeing in the sky, swooping through the mists, made me think of a great verb to use for birds in flight: The little birds' wings wiped across gray skies. You've seen this happen, I'm sure.
I love the flocks of smaller birds. Yesterday there was a small string of birds leading a large clump of birds. And the clump slowly started stringing out too, side by side, so it looked as if they were making a giant upside down "T" in the sky. Then, magically, they gather together again forming another clump.
Well, you can see why you don't want to be out at 7:45 a.m. driving on the same road as me!
It was dark on the way home tonight too. Never did get too cheery out. Time to go to Hawaii ... or Brazil ... or New Zealand!
The picture of the red leaves is from last fall. The "Art-Craft" picture on the right is just one I found in a blog file. I don't know if I've used it before, but I'm too lazy to go get something off my camera. I want to go read my book, "The Bad Girl," before it gets too late. Adios - femminismo
p.s. In just a few days NaNoWriMo begins and I once again question my sanity as I endeavor to write 50,000 words before the end of November! Arrgh! Why am I so foolish?

Tina Modotti ... brilliant!

"Tina" Modotti.

What a story her life would make for a film. In fact she was in some early films.

This is a photograph (left) she took. She was with Edward Weston - his mistress and model.

She was with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

She was in Barcelona, California, New Mexico, Russia.

Perhaps her life would make a good subject for Nanowrimo next month. I've never tried non-fiction. Perhaps "creative" non-fiction?

She took the photograph of the lady on the balcony in Barcelona, I think. And this is a photograph of her and her "husband," Roby (at left). They tie-dyed fabric in California and talked a lot about what else they would accomplish - but didn't.

(She and Roby were never married, although she denied that until the day she died, I guess, according to various blogs and Wikipedia entries.)

I don't know who the lovely dark-haired woman is, but it's supposed to be another Modotti photo.

Ahh! A week of female artists - femminismo

Another Female Artist

SERAFINE de Senlis!! I watched the movie "Seraphine" last night, about this woman of the '20s and '30s who performed menial jobs in order to buy wood panels to paint on. She scavenged the countryside searching for the materials to make her own paints.

She was a "visionary" painter, a "primitiv," or "naif," following the instructions from the angels with whom she communicated.

She was discovered in France, just before World War I, by a German art critic who was one of the first to collect Braque and Picasso.

Yolande Moreau does an exquisite job in this film, following her angels and leading a life close to nature, trodding with her bare feet through the grass, sitting under trees or (literally) hugging them.

I would love to have prints of her work. I watched to see who reproduced them for the film, but did not see this - or recognize it, since the titles were all in French. I found lots of interesting blogs with mention of her work. They are probably mostly people like me, who having seen the movie will never look at leaves and flowers and see them in the same way - femminismo

Have you heard of Paula Rego?

I HAD NOT. And am sorry I didn't "meet" her sooner. Perhaps now is the perfect time, however. Portuguese, she started painting when she was 4 years old. Here is the artist at the right.

The painting of the girl by the window, polishing her boots, was featured in a magazine (maybe The New Yorker?) not that long ago. It fascinated me. Little did I know a couple of years would go by before I found out more about the woman who painted it.

And her "dog women" paintings are not denigrating to women in any way. The animalistic, primal, in charge, natural, unaffected, superior animal is viewed by Rego (we are told by her biographers and critics) as a grand stand-in for a woman's place in the world.

I especially love this picture of people dancing - in couples, young with old, alone - on what looks to be near a seashore.

Great dynamics of form, foreshortening is exquisite and the primal feelings are tangible. Oh to be this good! But of course, if you begin at 4!! - femminismo

Meeting and Swapping ... and Dithering

GOSH! Think the title of this blog post will bring in the curious? I Googled "meeting and swapping" myself and came up with a fascinating post on Aleksandreia about Quakers and mate swapping. It's an interesting site and the Taberna, one section, looks to be quite the gathering place.
I found myself visiting this website when I should have been finishing this post - and right after reading a New Yorker article on procrastination! Follow this link *only* if you should be doing something more important. (great article, however)
Actually, this whole post (originally) involves three things I've accomplished this weekend. First, I finally met an Internet friend, Laura Grimes - a writer, editor, charmer, mother and pickle maker.
We became acquainted following a feature article on Henry James she wrote for The Oregonian. Since I love James' writing too, I was delighted to read the article and submit a comment on it. I also followed along from time to time on her husband's (Bob Hicks) website, Art Scatter. (Another interesting site for culture freaks and those who like witty writing.) One thing led to another, and after a couple of years we finally arranged to meet for coffee at Powells Books at Cedar Crossing to exchange some pickles she made for some art I made.
It was odd fun at Powells to wander the aisles looking for a woman (didn't know what she looked like) wearing a yellow jacket. After wandering a bit and e-mailing Laura from my BlackBerry I found a chair and sat down to read Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady." That's when she found me!
People had been looking at me a little curiously because instead of art, what I brought to Powells to swap was a small basket of tomatoes, Anaheim peppers, some Martha Stewart recipe vinaigrette, and some tomatillo branches. Maybe they wondered if Powells carried fresh produce? I toted it around the entire book store at least three times. Nice long walk, so it was good to connect with Laura at last and go off to have a cup of coffee.
I was embarrassed to realize I didn't have any money/debit card with me. (Turned out to be in the car.) She bought the coffee and I did not take a picture of it, or her or the basket of produce.
What was I thinking? One young woman stopped by our table outside and commented on the "husk cherries" which is what she called the tomatillos. (Should that be tomatilloes?) A fruit by any other name ... .
So in the picture above, the jar of homemade vinaigrette looks like brown gravy! Yuck! In the bowl, with the cherry and pear tomatoes, it still looks quite like gravy or chocolate pudding, but the smell of balsamic vinegar, garlic and black pepper (a hint) was heavenly. And my kiss goodbye to the Mister was one he won't soon forget.
I did take art at the last minute for Laura, but then I didn't follow through on giving it to her. It wasn't something that was "finished" and it was large, so if she wanted to actually hang it, it would take space and work. Here's the piece, and if she reads this and still wants it she can have it. Collage and some imagination worked up a story about Edith (I believe that's her name) taking stenography/typing classes while her beloved is out on the road touring with a band, playing the trombone. That's him with the heart on his jacket.
I did the collage/encaustic assemblage some time ago - a couple of years, maybe - and found it just before I left for Powells. Maybe I'm not ready to give it up until I learn more about the trombonist.
Well, it is nearly 5 a.m. Couldn't sleep so went to work on this blog. Now I think I'll wander back to the warm bed - femminismo
p.s. The "dithering" in the blog title is all the procrastination I am doing just by driving in the fall sunshine and blogging in the early morning and not finishing writing I *must* be doing!

Paint Under My Nails

FIRST things first, we show the "Grandman," the best looking grandchild in the world. Just ask my daughter, the grandmother. Yes ... that, er, makes me the great-grandmother. Life is stranger than fiction (or something like that).
Saturday I was out shopping for art supplies and Sunday (today) I was at Art & Soul from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. using the supplies. I took Katie Kendrick's class, "Every Face Tells A Story."
What a place Art & Soul is, with rooms full of people creating wonderful things, treasures, gifts and new careers, I'll bet.
The hallway was full of women in aprons but no one was cooking food. Everyone was cooking up Art!
There was transformational painting, "Skulls, Wings & Rusty Things," "Funky Found Object Canvas Village," Tiny Treasure, Spinning Bead Pendant and lots more. And there are classes tomorrow, too. Oh, don't think calling in sick and getting a hotel room didn't come into my pea brain! Maybe next year I will do four classes in four days. I could eat for two days on the turkey club sandwiches from the hotel. I hear that Nov. 7-11 they are doing four days at the Inn at Spanish Head. Not many spaces left though.
So, what did we paint? Katie asked us to bring Ampersand claybord and it was great to work on. Gosh, I felt almost professional. She also wanted us to bring high contrast printed pictures of faces.
Here is my first picture from Google hosted Life magazine photos. We used light, medium and dark values of collage materials ripped from magazines to lay down for texture and then painted over them.
I was having fun with this one for quite a while. She was "speaking" to me and my fingers were covered with gesso and acrylic paint. It was like a pair of gloves! Then the fun stopped. I became self conscious and she got a bit testy, not liking anything I was doing to her. Fortunately Katie's method includes working on two or more projects at a time and so we all began another picture.
This time it was supposed to be mostly paint. Water-soluable crayons were used and stabilo pencils and sometimes a little collage. I didn't use a photo for this one, but just drew a face on my own.
You'll have to look sideways at this one. It forgot to rotate it and I'm too lazy to stop and do that now. I had big trouble with this one, so after Katie finished a "demo," I stood in line for help.
Here she is showing a bunch of different methods - transfers, stamping, shading and magic. She just jabs brushes into this paint and a little bit of that and they take on magic colors. The outlines on the faces she paints are just amazing. To watch them transform in front of you is like watching time lapse photography. Practice, practice, practice. That's all it takes. Well, not strictly all.
So after she took a hand in helping me with my face and the story it had to tell, this is what showed up in the hallway for our group show. (Mine is No. 2 and 3, both in the middle.)
I tell you what, I was going to show them all to you, but it is 9 p.m. and there's a workday tomorrow and more painting if I get home on time. We'll talk painting then, OK? - femminismo

Racing Into Fall

THESE days are passing so rapidly that it's like that old movie standby when pages from the calendar on the wall are ripped off by the wind -- until we've arrived weeks beyond where we were.
Yesterday I went home sick from work. Tired is more like the reason my body decided it was time to go home. That and allergies. I have been pushing myself pretty hard and trying to cram too much into my 24 hours a day. I want to "possess" every minute of the time I've got and often I forget about relaxation time.
I made the Art Harvest Tour in Yamhill County this fall. Wonderful day for driving and visiting. We saw Linda and Jim Hayes in Pike (love the name of that town!) and they had so many beautiful jewelry items and a lovely garden. I owe them pictures, too.
Susan Day in Yamhill had many beautiful pastels and bicycles in her yard.
Whoops! Run out of time. Must run. I'll be back soon!

So ... now I've done yoga to relax myself and keep limber and I got a little dinner and read for a while. Then a sudden urge took hold and I poured a generous amount of olive oil in two pans and started cutting up tomatoes - red and ripe from the garden. I had to get the flashlight out and made a raid on the garden around 7:30 p.m. just to fill up some room in the pan. There were so many big guys hanging there - round and red - happy to see me. You never know when the rain might start and the tomatoes will split. I can smell them from here at the computer, bubbling away in the oven. Yum! Tomato sauce beyond "good." It will be a present for a friend tomorrow - femminismo

St. Laurence - Finder of Lost Electronica

THANKS, Seth, for the name of Sir Laurence. I will post him quickly - hopefully - and then be on my way to the meeting I *must* attend tonight.
He found my camera and cell phone and perhaps he can locate something in platinum for me that I haven't lost but would like to find! - femminismo

Good Grief! It's Raining Eggs!

HOW could I allow you to worry all this time about my electronic devices, my dear blog!?
I found everything - phone and camera - shortly after posting the picture of Sir Laurence and was actually going to immortalize him as a saint through some nifty Photoshop work ... but then that plan fell by the wayside. The universe did look out for me once more.
I had better post something tonight, however, because I have a meeting tomorrow night and may not have the time.
-The picture of eggs is from a magnificent collection at the Pioneer Museum in Tillamook, Oregon. Go if you ever have the chance.-
Today I listened to a voice mail from Barb in Michigan, one of my dearest, dearest friends and she said she reads this blog (oh, isn't she the dearest?) and she said it sounds as though I'm leading an interesting life.
I had to laugh since I have been feeling quite recently (yesterday) that my life is depressing and meaningless. I have been (still) reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi and in the book she quotes from Henry James' "The Ambassadors" as Lambert Strether, the hero of the novel, tells a young painter, little Bilham, whom he has unofficially appointed as his spiritual heir: "Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what *have* you had? I'm too old -- too old at any rate for what I see. What one loses one loses; make no mistake about that. Still, we have the illusion of freedom; therefore don't, like me to-day, be without the memory of that illusion. I was either, at the right time, too stupid or too intelligent to have it, and now I'm a case of reaction against the mistake. For it *was* a mistake. Live, live!"
And, yes, there were times when I was too stupid or too intelligent to take a different path than the one I'm on right now, and there certainly are some regrets. All the time I've wasted for instance. Some would say I'm doing that again right now, but not me.
The Mister and I spent Tuesday, Sept. 21, celebrating our 14th anniversary in Oceanside, Oregon. We walked through the tunnel carved into Maxwell Point and came out on the other side to dig through rocks to find another heart-shaped one for our collection. Lots of great finds and it was a beautiful day on the coast.
This Friday I am joining a friend to hit the Art Harvest Tour in Yamhill County. That area of Oregon looks a lot like Tuscany, only the hills are farther away from each other and the lanes are much longer and dustier with no impromptu boccie ball in the fields. And on Saturday the same friend and I are taking a travel writing workshop. This is our second one together and soon we will have to do some traveling for research on an article to $$ sell $$! Then we can take more trips.
And I've saved the best for last: On Oct. 10 I am taking Katie Kendrick's Art & Soul class in Portland, "Every Face Tells a Story." If I don't have actual artwork to show you after that I don't know what my excuse will be. Check out her blog if you want to see some of the wonderful work she's produced. So now I guess I'm not living a meaningless life. It's a self-directed life toward more art and travel - femminismo
p.s. The sunset picture, with fishing boat and gull on pole, was taken after dinner at the coast on Sept. 21, 2010, in Tillamook.

Feeling a little D.O.O.M.E.D.

WELL, a picture-less post is not really what I wanted to give you tonight, dear old blog. I wanted to fill a post with pictures of the Chalk Art Festival in Forest Grove, but then I found out this morning that my camera is missing. So is my BlackBerry.
I don't know where that "last place" is where I laid them down.
Do I feel sad?? - Is the sky gray? Do mules have pointy ears? Are 2 and 2 still 4?
I hope my Principles of Universal Gratitude and Righteousness pan out and all is right with the world tomorrow, when I get an e-mail from someone that they found my camera and handed it in to someone in charge and it's waiting for me someplace. I don't really care about the phone.
JUST GET ME MY CAMERA - femminismo

p.s. Found this Life magazine archive file photo of Sir Laurence Olivier. Hope it helps ... this little prayer.

August Little Books

TODAY I was out taking some photos for work, to use in a new advertisement we will have for October. These little mums seemed especially fall-like.
And here's another flower that's seen the warmest part of the season. Now it's gathering a little gold from a nearby tree.
This is that time of year when I feel I should be buying woolen skirts and sweaters and hiking for the school bus clutching my Pee Chee folder. I wonder if Pee Chees are used only in America? Or if nowadays they are even used at all. Probably a thing of the past. (Well, no, I guess not according to Wikipedia. -click on link- The entry says they had "fallen out of use during the 2000s" but I guess Mead still makes them.) We really used to decorate ours!
Tonight I have officially gotten every one of my little August books - all 31 of them - in painted envelopes. Each little book is hand sewn and I've copied poems in most of them. (These books are not collector's items, since they are not works of art. But they are interesting, I think.)
They will go next to three ladies who are going to add some decorations to them. I can hardly wait to see what they come up with!
I have put on torn out pictures and stamps and all sorts of little bits of things that have been waiting for some time for a good home.
Jeff Bridges (photo by Mary Ellen Mark) is my idea of a saint I could worship. Saint Jeff, patron saint of women who still get fired up thinking about the early Elvis.
Now I'm just going on and irritating people. Ah, well! If this is my daily/weekly/monthly diary, then I get to write what I darn well please.
Speaking of Saint Jeff, there's also Saint "Don Draper" to adore. Such a scoundrel! Is anyone else out there hooked on "Mad Men"? I actually sit down and devote an hour each Sunday, and then sometimes another hour on Monday, soaking in every last bit of dialogue. This last Sunday had quite a few laughs in it. One almost thought a bit too many, but it was enjoyable.
One last book to show you and then I'm off to dinner (a late dinner). Love - femminismo