Write on Wednesday - What's My Line?

Waking up to writing

I woke up this morning writing. A sense of urgency, the need to write swamped me. It's Friday; it's summer; and I don't have to go into work. The day is filled with activities, all yet still in my head, but the first of them, making cinnamon raisin bread in my bread machine, has been accomplished.


But now the raisins are added and my day is before me.
Coffee and writing at my wonderful House of Java (HOJ).
Haircut.
Service the A/C in my car.
Return ill-chosen items from a book club from which I will simple cancel membership.


The air quality continues to be very poor. Northern California is in the midst of a terrible plague of dry lightning strikes that thus far are responsible for over 1,042 fires. One of California's treasures, Big Sur, is being threatened. All of the smoke from these fires lays like a shroud over the entire San Joaquin Valley and into the Tahoe Basin. This is no small area and equals the size of many of our states.

I'm not looking forward to going out today but it seems like I'm coming out of a writing dryspell and the urge to write it great. That means I must get to HOJ.

Happy Landings and Christmas in June

I had such a happy landing in my office yesterday. Sarah, a longtime friend and musician now living in Commerce, TX, appeared like a happy leprechaun lucky charm in my doorway. If there is someone who is always smiling and impish, it's Sarah.

A quick catch-up of a year's worth of news accomplished in an hour over a tempera lunch and all the important points were covered. Then off she flew heading to Canada for a 2 month doublebass camp run by world famed bassist, Gary Karr. Sarah, among other things, is also his publicist.

The super good news is that Sarah and her husband are moving to Ashland, OR where he has landed a dream job at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Same time zone and six hours apart. Now that's my idea of having friends nearby.

Then early this morning, one of the senior students here, Carol, walks into my office adorned in her seasonal belt and wishes me a Happy Halfway to Christmas greeting. Seems her mom adores Christmas and Carol has grown up with the tradition of having a full blown Christmas dinner and celebration on June 25th every year.

I was totally delighted to get this happy wish and I'm thinking I should do something similar soon since DH adores Christmas too. Our regular tradition of Italian sausage and peppers is celebrated every New years Eve and Don makes his Grandma's Banana Cake every year at Christmas. What special tradition(s) do you celebrate?

The One Becomes Two and bad air days

Mama bird left the nest last night for a quick spin around the neighborhood. I hurried outside to see if there were any additions to the nest and sure enough, where there had been one egg now there were two. Stay tuned for baby pictures.

And one last thing. Air quality is miserable around here due to mega-multiple wildfires in the northern California area. Even Poncho, who is usually pretty lively, needed to take a nap. Bad air and haze make Poncho a tired boy.

Breakfast with Crows

Senior music camp started yesterday and there were lots of pizza leftovers that still needed to be picked up. A FEAST for the crows, I'm sure. They quickly established a pecking order and in no time at all there were three up and three waiting.

Tasha Tudor, Dreams, and a Star for Remembrance

Anyone who has read me regularly, going back to my SFASMT blog, will know that I do not count myself as much of a cook. In fact, cooking is on my April list of things I daydream about. When Janet posted today about the passing of Tasha Tudor, I immediately went exploring at the link Janet provided in her post.


We are all, no doubt familiar with Tasha to one degree of another but visiting her family homepage was really fascinating. There is a shop, stories of her work, her art, her family, a garden, lectures - really just so much. The thing that really attracted my attention though were the recipes.

Here I went again, me the non-starter in cooking looking at recipes. A little voice told me that it would be most appropriate for me to somehow honor her life by doing something that always is so difficult for me. So out came the bread machine (please, NEVER expect more from me than the machine version of breadmaking). A trip the store to gather ingredients for the chicken salad recipe I found there and I was ready to go. The picture above is evidence that I actually accomplished what I started out to do. All was made by my hand and the family decreed that it was all delicious. I think the bread needs more salt and I will tackle another loaf tomorrow. However, I think I may actually be getting the hang of cooking. Other recent efforts haven't been too bad either.

I thought it might also be time to move my April To-D0 list up to the current date. I've actually been accomplishing some of my daydreams, dreams, and projects. Here are a few of things I might be doing at any particular time with the list always open for add-on: Red = complete; Pink italic = in progress; Blue italic = things I've accomplished under Pink italic.

Make books of poetry
Paint photos
Finish my kitchen
Learn how to promote selling my creative work
Read more (if that's even possible - I read so much now)
Crochet
Bead a scarf
Do more scarf beading
Visit with friends
Visit with God more
Learn to successfully and completely read a recipe and COOK it right
Walk
Take a cooking class
Felt wool and make a purse
Find St. Benoit Yogurt
Take pictures
Explore close to home
Have a backyard aviary
Travel the Northern Coast
Visited Mendocino
Saw Point Arena Lightstation
Garden
Make a fairy room from a book
Take one of Ulla's classes at the Castle in Berkeley
Make paperdolls

Holocaust stars for Jillian's Memorial

Colors Galore

As I walked through Raley's last night, I was struck by all the colors. It is indeed summer. I was inspired to start taking pictures of all the repeating patterns and colors I found there. Below, I share the happy results with you all. And to start things right - two grand master parrots to move things along.

Gloves for gardening. Save the whales - oops, NAILS!!

Fajitas anyone?

Pretty but be sure to check the chemical ingredients

before buying this plastic.

More fajita ingredients

Where's the basil when you need it?

To bleach or not to bleach, THAT is the question.

CanCan!!

Golden Glow

No, I'm NOT candy dots.

Birds-a-poppin'

We have a birdbath that does not seem to attract the local birdies for bathing. This may have something to do with the water getting too warm (maybe???) and rapid evaporation.

A few weeks back, I decided to fill it with the remains of our wild birdseed. What a difference.

Traffic has picked up and yesterday I was able to get pictures of this cheeky little fellow.

I had to take the pics through the sliding glass door or he would have disappeared just like that. So I turned off the flash and this is the results. The pics are a bit grainy but . . . oh, well . . . he flew off well-fed and . . .

. . . I backed off from the window well-satisfied.

Early morning, Tuesday

I was greeted with two surprises this morning as I prepared for work. I noticed that the doves had returned. While they both were away from the hanging plant they have used as a nest for years now, I quietly went outside with the camera and shot down into the nest. Sure enough, one egg was resting in the center of the basket. As I left the house this morning, mama bird was sitting on the egg keeping baby warm.

Several years ago, one of my student gave me an aloe plant. Until a few months ago, I had kept it in a pot. After I put it in the ground, I noticed that not only did it start thriving, BUT, it also start growing spikes. This morning I found THIS.

And just as my Tuesday morning was merging into Tuesday afternoon, I found THIS. Please click here for a truly heartwarming bird story and little lives saved.

Progress

Corey posted an interesting question today. She asked what our seed affirmation for the day might be. After a moments thought, it came to me - PROGRESS.

Today that would mean:

1. Start my novena for Quanah's job; Started, 8 days to go.

2. Complete my Stars of David for the Holocaust Memorial - almost there

3. Mail two Milagros; Mailed two

4. Visit OSH to purchase tin snippers and a wooden hammer. Decided not to purchase tin snippers. They are too heavy. Fiskr's heavy duty scissors will do the trick. Wooden hammer - found online.

5. Paint hinged door case. Add one more shelf. Place birdies in their new home. Don is adding the extra shelf

6. Move my newly purchased Marian Shrine by Hope Werness to its own special place. Done (the picture was taken with a cell phone so is a bit fuzzy)

I'll update throughout the day and through the weekend since I have a three-day weekend. Progress reports will be posted in Brown.

More about birds

Stephanie over at Rodrigvitz Style posts the cutest little decorative birds figurines she has found when she has been out and about. After my last love affair with Stephanie's avian darlings, I decided to make birds my main souvenir object for my Calistoga/Mendacino trip last week. Below are my first two finds. They are becoming good friends beneath the nest I found blown out of a tree last fall.

Two tweeting buddies

And a closer look.

I'm a Gobel collectible from Germany. Now I live in California.

Glimpses

Wednesday through Saturday was so full of wonder and beauty, I hardly know where to start. There are a couple of stories that require their own illustration so I decided to delay no longer and post a series of glimpses with a bit of commentary wherever needed. Please join for what I hope will be an enjoyable ramble.

Outside our cabin at Pacific Mist, grew a delicate pink rhododendron. This sweet little green and black bug was enjoying a nibble.

Calistoga was the first of my many surprises. An early morning walk presented me with the reflection above.
Everything was so pretty in Calistoga. Even the fire hydrants stood out in their own special way.
Poinsettias in June greeted us from one of the local tea rooms

I think no matter what time of the year, this area is so rich in flowers that it would take your breath away in any season.

Even a water hose was nicely posed.

The view as you walk along Mendocino's Main Street.

One of many front yard gardens in Mendocino.

The view from our porch at Pacific Mist Inn.

Can you see the alien creature staring out the window. Somehow, I felt like the alien creature in Mendocino. This town is a very different place with its own beat but a rhythm I could easily fall into and enjoy forever.

Discards for some but art for another.

Doesn't this color just knock you out. It sure fooled me. I'm gazing over this marvelous blue, totally beguiled. Then I touch it and discover that it is plastic. I didn't know if I should laugh or feel disappointed.

Beauty was found in the oddest places. This was beneath a bench.

An interesting resting place.

This tree looks as though it is going to absorb the house.

Take a closer look below.
Farmer's Market
Another spectacular front yard.

My Don, hidden in the foliage.

Greenhouse
Asian icon in the Japanese Maple Tree Nursery.
Resting place - this one looks more comfortable and inviting.
Front yard fence
Fort Ross Stockade

Window to the world through the stockade gates.
Pathway to Fort Ross
Point Arena Lighthouse
View from the back of Sacred Heart Church, Pt. Arena, CA

PEACE BE WITH YOU.

The Pacific was not so pacific

We spent four glorious days in Santa Rosa, Calistoga, and Mendocino. I took 441 pictures and the sorting and storytelling is in progress. The last day, on our way home, Barb and Jeff had planned a surprise stop for me at the Point Arena Lighthouse. The ocean was very rough; winds had been high for several days. While I work at the picture sorting and writing, I will leave you with this. And yes, that sound you hear is the wind. If you listen closely, you can also hear the waves crashing.

I'll be away for a short while. We are heading over to the coast and will be staying HERE.

Spreading the word

I received an email this afternoon from a young woman with a lot on her plate. As I explored her blog, I was impressed by the effort she was making with her children of teaching them how to bring love into the world, not hate. Her home school project is described here. If you are moved to participate, just post a note at her blog and she will contact you. I'll be participating and I hope some of you will as well.