I don’t know about you, but I talked to a lot of people who felt like this was an especially long week. I know I’m thinking: “TGIF!”
So, to brighten your day and get you ready for the weekend (which by all accounts will be lovely) here are 15 random flower photos from my walk around the neighborhood this evening.
I went down this weekend to see my mom for Mother’s day. We had a great time. We watched birds, went out to lunch, and did an open studios tour around Lincoln City called “Art on the Edge.” It was a great weekend.
This seagull came down to the patio of our lunch restaurant and watched us through the window.
I ended up doing quite of bit of bird watching without Mom because I had to walk the dog. On the Siletz I came across a pack of herons looking to feed the young back at the rookery (you could hear the babies, but not see the nests.) A flock of cormorants was also coming by.
I also saw band tailed pigeons, what i think is an orange crowned warbler, several song sparrows, a mallard with babies, and a pair of cedar waxwings.
I think this picture of a song sparrow in the mud of the brown Siletz might have some potential as a painting, just for interesting color of the water.
On the way back home on Sunday, I stopped at Basket Slough to see what there was to see. I lucked out and saw a pair of Black-necked Stilts, a bird not even in my much-loved “Birds of the Willamette Valley” book.
In total, I added five species to my list to make 104 species for the year.
I’ll leave you with this short video of a bird walk at nearby Fairview Wetlands I took on stormy Thursday. I don’t know which is more amazing… the swallows or the rainbow!
I had a cold this week. At first I thought it was allergies, then it was a cold, and by the end of the week I called the doctor to ask for antibiotics because it had morphed into a sinus infection. Basically, all this means is I sulked around blowing my nose. I’m NOT a good patient.
On Friday evening, however, I ventured out of the house to attend the opening reception for the Emerald Arts Center.
It’s considered bad taste to take pictures of other people’s art, so I will only show my piece. However, the top slider for the Emerald Art Center website shows off some of the best pieces of the show.
As i was sitting there at the reception (trying hard not to blow my nose too hard) it occurred to me that I haven’t entered many shows except those put on by WSO…. or at least I haven’t been to many receptions.
When I liked about this one (besides the excellent food) was that the juror, my friend, Ruth Armitage (who I had sort of not noticed was the juror, so it was nice to see her there) gave a critique of every piece in the show. I got a couple of good suggestions that I will take when the painting comes back from the show. I am hopeful, with those changes, that this may be an entry for the WSO fall show.
I was not surprised I did not get an award (it was a really high quality show that I was flattered just to get into), but several other artists came up to me and told me how strong they thought my piece was, which is always nice to hear.
Saturday I attended another reception, this one for the May show on flowers at the Keizer Art Association. I had my eye on this show for my painting, “Ensata” for a while.
In addition to the “normal” part of the show, paintings of iris were eligible for the Keizer “poster” contest (the city of Keizer has an iris festival each year.)
Some of the iris entries in the poster contest, including mine. I think these images are small enough that there is no danger of plagiarism issues.
For a small show, it was a strong one. I did not receive any awards at this show either, which I admit hurt my feelings a little.
Still, at least I’m “out there” again.
In general, I don’t believe in complaining about the weather. There is nothing I or anyone else can do about it, and my time with God is usually spent having conversations like this: “God, please give me the strength not to strangle office-mate Opal when she tells me that story AGAIN!”
Still, this “spring” has been unusually irksome. Take today.
I ride my bike to work. Like most springs, choosing a coat thickness is hard this time of year, but I have learned not to be fooled. Just because it’s sunny in the morning, won’t mean sunshine on the ride home!
Today did not even pretend to be coy and just dumped rain for my ride. And all day, every time I looked out the window it was the same dismal, rainy view. Until about five minutes before I was due to go home. I was so hopeful, in fact, I stored my coat in my basket and rode out of the garage. Where, promptly, it began raining.
I got home just in time for the rain to stop. When a new concrete contractor arrived to give me an estimate, the rain started again. Just to sunshine again when he left and long enough for me to get to the park.
Once at the park, I hoped it would stay “blue sky” long enough to do a lap, but I’m not sure it would have made any difference if it had (it didn’t) because the path looked like this…
Key literally sunk up to his little ankles in it.
We slipped around the park path. And just as we got back to the car, guess what happened.
If you can’t see that, it’s a rainbow.
Well played, God, well played.
I got to mark a small bucket list item off my list today. The Salem March for Science had a small group of counter-protesters across the street.
I’m doing something controversial!
Though, to be fair, I never did figure out their cause…
Anyway, I did attend the Salem March for Science today. As soon as I heard about this march, I marked my calendar and knew I had to go. I’ll spare you the details: if you’re sympathetic, you know why; if you’re not, you probably aren’t reading this anyway.
I got confused about the time of the march, so I got there much too early. But I put my time to good use, cheering on the MS walkers who were just wrapping up their event. I learned that the Willamette Valley has one of the highest occurence levels of MS in the nation.
I don’t want to post a picture of the MS Walkers because while they were cool, they didn’t necessarily agree to have their pictures in a blog about science.
While I waited, I sat on a bench under the tree decorated for Autism Awareness and enjoyed the ribbons.
As always the people watching opportunities were great. This was my favorite protester of the day.
This was my favorite dog-oriented device of the day.
But others provided a lot of entertainment.
Finally we were gathered and ready to march.
My sign, as always, was small and hung around my neck in a plastic sleeve.
Others had more inventive and creative signs.
My favorite sign at the march was this one.
And my favorite sign I’ve seen on social media…
My sentiments exactly.
Today I said goodbye to my darling Finn.
October 14, 2001 – April 19, 2017
I got Finn from a rescue. His parents had come in during a drug best, and they had gone to a friend of a friend’s rescue. Finn was one of the two surviving pups. How could I not fall in love with that face?
At six months we took these photos so Finn could get his Indefinite Listing Privledge from the AKC. After he grew into his ears, he was a very handsome, long-legged boy. I moved from Portland to Oregon City this year.
Here is Finn at his first agility trial. He got two clears to be in the running for high in trial (at his first show!)
Posing for some Easter photos.
We continued agility.
This is one of my favorite photos of us. I don’t know why.
Along with Ginger, we also hiked and played (Sean was living the high life of retirement with my parents.)
We did more agility. When Finn tore his ACL I decided to retire from agility.
That summer we went camping at Moran Lake, Orcas Island, Washington.
In the spring of this year, the whole family (Mom, Dad, Sean, Ginger, Finn, and I) drove up Drift Creek. I got some of my favorite photos out of the day.
Finn remained ready for his close up.
I spent much of this year sick, though I managed a trip to England (without the dogs). It was a year with many transitions. All I caught was this photo… Happy Holidays!
Still recovering, it was a year we all stayed close to home. We also said goodbye to Sean this year.
There was a lot of hiking this year (mainly at Molalla State Park. We said goodbye to Ginger this year.
Without Ginger, we shifted to hiking Canemah.I started to see a little gray on my boy’s face.
This is my favorite photo of Finn, ever. He’s in the camas at Canemah. I will spread his ashes here.
Still at Canemah. 2012 was my “annus horribilis“. Finn was always there for me.
This is the last year I can find pictures of Finn really running hard.
It was a good year, with stable employment finding its way back into my life.
A thoughtful year that saw the death of my dad.
The beach could still bring up the puppy in my boy.
And of course a roll in the grass.
We moved at the end of this year.
We settled into Salem and started enjoying the parks. We said goodbye to our feline friends, Bella and Lola.
And of course, I brought home Key this year. I’m not sure Finn was ever completely convinced.
And today we said goodbye. He got a big breakfast, treats, and a plate full of whipped cream.
More than any other dog, Finn always just wanted me and my family to be happy and close to him.
He’ll be keeping everyone close in heaven now.
Some weeks are just too full, and this last week was one of them for me. As I said, I went on the lovely Seattle tour with the Traveling Ewe last weekend, came back for a day, then went back on the road to Eastern Oregon for work.
One of the parts of my job is to provide trainings around the state about the grant program I work for. I enjoy these trainings, but they can be exhausting. I am not a natural “public personality” and the work that goes into and out of these events really drains me.
Luckily, there is usually an opportunity somewhere to stop at the side of the road and take a picture of this beautiful state. While visiting Pendleton and John Day, I was able to take the following pictures out the car window or at the side of the road.
We saw elk, pronghorn antelope, deer, and coyotes. On the bird front, we saw Osprey, Golden Eagles, and Sandhill Cranes.
The pictures are a little blown out (sorry) because I had my camera settings wrong.
I think that last photo just might be a painting…
The results of “Other Opinions are ‘Out There‘” are officially back.
American Academy of Equine Art
Emerald Art Center Emerald Spring Exhibition 2017 – National Juried Show
2017 Artworks Northwest call by Umpqua Valley Arts Association
So, for this round my success rate was 16.67%.
Including the spring WSO show and the NWWS show, that’s 10%. Actually, that’s not too bad. We’ll see if I can keep the up for the rest of the year and maybe improve for next year!
Warning: This is about politics.
As I have said earlier this year, I am not supportive of the current President of the United States, a feeling that has only intensified as his administration has progressed. This particular month, I have committed to three marches: one regarding the failure of Mr. Trump to release his tax returns and allow us to watch for conflicts of interest; one regarding the attack on science, particularly around global warming; and one billed as the People’s Climate Movement.
The first of these marches was the Tax Day March this weekend up in Portland. I was not excited about it, but I felt like it was my civic duty to protest the lack of transparency the current President embraces.
Like the first march I attended, there was a lot of amusement to be had in the signs and costumes.
My sign was pretty boring, but I won’t do anything to make fun of the President and I don’t care about how much he does or does not make. I’m only interested in the potential for conflicts of interest.
This march was slightly more sophisticated than my first protest, with chants and a marching band. Still, the basic concept is the same.
Apparently, Mr. Trump responded in his usual fashion, Tweeting (I don’t know the emoji for eye rolling) a reply that completely missed the point and was filled with the usual… whatever.
I just have no words for all this that comply with my goal of a PG site, so I’ll stop here.
Sigh.
A couple of months ago I decided I need a vacation from attending the Watercolor Society of Oregon conventions (twice a year in April and October.) After putting one on, I was tired. I didn’t get a painting into this show, and I knew it would be extra big and fancy because it was combined with the Western Federation show. I figured I wouldn’t be missed, so I signed up for my friend JJ’s Sheepish in Seattle 2017: The Shee-peat from The Traveling Ewe.
We go on the bus Saturday morning, and I’ll tell you, I all but melted into that seat. It was so relaxing… a little knitting, a little reading, a little nap. All with occasional interruptions to go into fabulous stores and shop for yarn!
Our first stop was in Chehalis, Washington at a charming little store and bistro called Ewe and I.
While I managed to resist purchasing the entire store, the lunch was nothing short of gourmet with the best cheesecake I’ve ever had. Apparently, the secret is the sheep of one of the owners of the shop; those sheep give milk and wool!
Next we took a westerly route through some lovely beach country to the island of Bainbridge and Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.
This shop has nothing short of a cult following, and after seeing their lovely shop, I can see why.
While I managed to resist going into more debt over this store’s offerings, I did enjoy a nearby bakery and ice cream shop.
I’m not sorry.
From there, we boarded the ferry to get over to Seattle.
I am sure you won’t faint in shock when I tell you that I fell down on my photography duties at Bad Woman Yarns because I was distracted by cupcakes.
But I finally broke out my wallet to purchase a charming little cheese slicer… though admittedly from a nearby shop.
We were on our own for dinner, and in spite of my attempts to go out with some other knitters, hunger and loud noises eventually separated us and I ended up dinning in a little Thai restaurant on Tilikum Place.
A statue of Chief Seattle stands above a fountain in this tiny plaza whose name means “welcome.”
After that, I headed back to my hotel room at the Best Western Executive Inn and watched darkness overtake the Space Needle.
Sunday morning founds us back on the bus to hit Serial Knitters Yarn Shop (who graciously opened early for us). Unfortunately, this sign just did not lend itself well to artistic photography, which completely belies the charm of this store, the first to capture some yarn money.
It was also across from a Starbucks, a benefit not to be underrated.
From there we headed to charming Carnation, Washington, and the lovely shop, Tolt.
This shop is another with a following, and it was hard to deny the charm of this rustic country meets industrial shop.
They carried Quince and Company yarns, which names each “line” after birds. It would have been all too easy to go down some very expensive holes in this area. I was brave and stalwart with only one TINY slip (I really did NEED that basket…)
Last, but far from least, was the Skacel bastion of Maker’s Mercantile.
Here we had lunch, admired the decor, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to admin that my budget for the weekend was finally broken.
The worker’s little jig as we left I think adequately demonstrates the joy a bus of 43 knitters brought to their hearts.
Over the course of the weekend, I saw all three of the big mountains…
Ate too much…
Spent to much…
And was recharged and inspired.
A pretty good result for any weekend.
I am (still) working through Vinita Pappas‘ Fall Messy Palette Club classes. The third week assignment was to create a “blue” folder.
This has been a surprisingly tough assignment, but it made me notice how often humans use the color blue to convey a “go with the flow” sort of wish: parking signs, flags, garbage cans.
