You can fool the fans - but not the players.... John Cage

Random images from the archives

If an organized computer person took a look at my desktop he or she would be appalled. I have stray images and files all over the desktop. Periodically I go through and file everything into folders but just like in real life, in virtual life I like to see what I have. It works for me but makes for a messy office, messy desktop.

I also collect images that do something for me - spur a desire to travel, set off a creative streak, inspire me to try a new Photoshop or Illustrator technique. And I've been bad over time about saving where I've found these images so if you happen to be reading this and it is your image - email me or comment and let me know. And if you know a handy way to attach the credit please let me know. Lately I've been saving the image with the url- but there may be better ways. Anyway, I'm not claiming these as my own - I am simply inspired and would love to give credit where credit is due.

Take this lovely winter Eiffel tower scene. I think anyone reading this is familiar with my affection for winter and I can't imagine a better vacation than Europe in the winter. All those sculptures and that fantastic architecture covered with snow.

 

Then there are people who make these fantastic things.... this photo was sent to me from the Farm Chicks show up in Washington.... and someone made this cake out of found objects. I love the creativity! This sort of 3D collage just fires my imagination. I admit it, I'm the type of person, if not reined in by my significant other, would have something like this in my back yard. I just hauled home from a walk an old, rusty mattress frame for a crib or seat... just the metal frame and the springs. It'll find a home in our back yard.

 

I've seen many and made a few variations on this theme - the felted wool wreath. I like this one because someone went to the trouble of shaping a flower. These are great ways to re-use old wool sweaters that are full of moth holes or stained. Toss them in the washer and the dryer so they felt up, cut them into squares and thread them on a piece of wire. You can shape it into a circle, heart, square.... pick the colors you like or the colors of the season. Easy, peasy.

 

This is from an Ikea ad a few years ago and remains one of my all-time favorite images. Lovin' life, thinking outside the box and not attached to what the neighbors think!

 

This is a photo of Pearl. I used to have two cats and the one I still have is the ornery one. The sweet lap kitty, Pearl, went off one day and never came back. I think of her from time to time and wish that I'd had more time with her. And I think Mel misses her - they used to sleep curled up together and play.... now he's stuck with just dogs as friends.

 

Love all things vintage and although this is more mid-century than vintage I am a fan of the typeset, colors and the whole feel of excitement this poster design has. Let's go to the fair! Who goes to the fair anymore? We have a fair here in the Owens Valley every year and I've been to the Del Mar Fair down in southern California but one fair I've never been to is the California State Fair. Who's been? What's it like? Does it feel like this poster? Or is that era gone for us?

 

And last, but not least, these wonderful looking shortbread button cookies. I have this recipe, haven't made these yet, but it came from here.

Looking at the photo, though, that came from somewhere else and I'd sure like to know where I got it.

So that's it.... the trip through some of the random images scattered around my desktop. I think I'll go clean it up now.

 

Warming up, greening up, gearing up.

The weather has turned again, reluctantly grinding its way towards spring. Spring is actually here and I suppose I should write that it is grinding its way towards summer. Spring is this - volatile, maddening, different every day. I should try to enjoy this since soon enough it will be day after day of intense heat and that happens practically overnight.

 

These days things are just greening up. The colors are high desert subtle, but I love the changes in hue from winter to spring. Winter's palatte is gray-blue to purple while spring's palette is yellow to green. With spashes of pinks, whites, purples. I saw some desert peach starting to bloom somewhere the other day... and I've got to remember where that was so I can grab a sprig of blossoms. They smell so sweet and can perfume the entire evening in places where they grow. The shrub itself is so nondescript as to be invisible the rest of the year, but for a brief period in the spring it is a showstopper.

I think this is the prettiest time of the year for the valley - maybe tied with autumn's full color period. Autumn doesn't have the snow-blanketed Sierra as a backdrop which this year is really spectacular for our spring show. Everything is just leafing out or starting to bloom and looks so fresh, so alive.

 

Today the wind is up again and this will be the progression of spring - warm day, cool day, warm day, windy day, windy day, snow or rain. I put up a hummingbird feeder a couple of days ago since those little guys and gals show up so unexpectedly the minute it warms up, and the gardeners are coming to thatch the lawn today - another sure sign of spring. Unfortunately the HR still squats over a good portion of the front lawn but I have hopes that it will be moved by the weekend.

We did quite a bit of shopping for the Holiday Rambler over the weekend. Fabric for the new curtains, outfitted the bathroom with a new shower curtain, bath mat, tub mat, towels. The loveseat got a new slipcover, the front door got its own entry rug. We've got to find period Melmac or something like that for the kitchen. We're thinking of taking it to the beach for the inaugral trip - San Onofre or San Clemente.

I also did a bit, a very bit, of shopping last weekend. These sandals were screaming my name as I walked by and they were an incredible deal at Sierra Trading Post. Made by an Austrailian company, Emu, and as comfortable as a pillow. I might be able to slip them on this weekend as we are forecast to hit 70 by the end of the week.

 

I also picked up a Helen Kaminski bucket hat for a song - waxed cotton, good for a rainy day. I have been a fan of Helen Kaminski hats for years and have a small collection of them. They are spendy but extremely well-made and last forever. I bought an enormous raffia one on ebay last fall to take to Mexico and it was like wearing a portable sun umbrella - loved it.

I'm procrastinating starting my day today... last night I was out late at a meeting and I just can't seem to get going today. But horses are no doubt pacing for their breakfast and the dogs are staring at me for their walk. There is no way to escape the day when you have animals. Time to kick it into gear.

There's no place like home.... click.

There really isn't. As much fun as it is to go away and shake up the routine of life it is so good to get home. To our house that seems to be cluttered the minute after I pick it up, to the lawn that needs thatching, the projects in progress, the annoyed and indignant-at-being-left-behind cat.

 

We ate at Joe's yesterday before heading south. As many times as I have seen this cute diner in Reno I have never stopped there. And it is a diner. Someone put a lot of money into making this true to its diner roots. The cooks are wearing those white paper hats, the counters are formica with the aluminum trim, each table has a little jukebox (which, unfortunately, is just for show).

 

It is a burger joint and the burgers are good. Fries are those skinny, crisp, REAL fries. It hit the spot. And seemed pretty popular - families kept filing in and filling up the booths. We didn't see too many people at the counter but there was a counter with red vinyl-capped stools.

 

After lunch we were pointing it south for home - with a few Carson City stops to make. The wind was brutal and we tad headwinds each day, which seemed a cruel joke and destroyed our gas mileage. At least it wasn't snowing.

 

The sky was an amazing, changing show as we drove, and the spindrift off the peaks and ridges of the Sierra was a sight to see. There were no big rigs or camper trailers, no doubt thanks to the wind and since it has been windy for days I wonder when the truckers are making their runs - the middle of the night?

 

No signs of avalanches although the danger is really high and we saw lots of little snow spirals - little (and big) balls of snow that had rolled from up higher on a slope. Sometimes they look like balls and sometimes they look like sliced cinnamon roll dough (and those are our favorites). Cornices formed by the winds were abundant and even with all the snow the wind had scoured some faces practically clean.

 

This will be a winter to remember. We heard that Mammoth broke the record for snowfall, both for the winter and for March. And we're now entering a little breather period - a welcome, warming trend. Bishop is supposed to see 70 degrees by the end of the week. Just in time for April!

Ahhh, it is good to be home!

One-nighter - road trip that is!

Ah the best laid plans. We had a weekend planned for SoCal - visiting family, checking out the OC swap meet, getting away - but the Sierra has a way of toying with plans especially if you work in the snow business. March has been a remarkable month for snow, another "miracle March" and as a result we are not in SoCal today, but instead we are in our neighborhood big city. The biggest little city of Reno. Taking care of some shopping needs that we can't take care of at home.

 

We brought the whole family 'cept for the cat (since he hasn't learned to travel well) and made our favorite stops along the way for fresh air and a break from the truck. The dogs have it made with a big traveling dog house (essentially). We cleaned out the back of JC's Toyota and filled it with cushy dog beds for their traveling comfort. Our dogs do NOT rough it. Normally we might even pay the extra for a dog room at the hotel but it is spring and they can camp out in the truck this time of year. Even Miss Skinny did fine.

It has turned out to be a very refreshing little get-away. It was gorgeous but windy and cold yesterday and the snow is piled higher than I have seen it piled in years. We left at a reasonable time and enjoyed an effortless drive - no traffic to speak of along 395.

 

We took care of a few shopping stops first thing, then went to Great Basin Brewery for dinner. We brainstormed over getting something like this open in Bishop. Bishop needs a microbrewery and pub. Where are the entrepreneurs? We have our hands full with all that we have right now and are not the right people to start up a pub - although we'd be tempted to be partners. There's a need, a niche, an opportunity.... but we don't know who to talk to to fill it. Where are the brewmasters?

Our big entertainment for the evening was a movie on demand, "The Fighter"

 

 

 

Watch the trailer. It was excellent. I don't "get" boxing, I don't know how you strategize or any of that but it was a very good movie. Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams star. Even JC stayed awake through the whole thing.

Today we're wrapping it up and heading home. Sometimes it is just refreshing to get out of town and out of your routine. We're fortunate to have Reno so close and to like it so much. For us it has just enough but not too much of everything that is different from our little town. Not too far away but just far enough away to feel the change.

 

Was it the milkman?

The calves are running around in all their baby cuteness and on our walk the other day I noticed a few creamy blonds with their coal black moms.... now how does that happen?

 

The dogs have learned to steer clear of the cows but the calves are sometimes so inquisitive that I have to work hard to keep them apart. The size issue makes the calves appear more dog-like too. These blond ones were shy, though, and stayed on mom's far side most of the time we were passing by.

 

Cows are so opaque - they just don't seem to much thought or expression. They stand and stare but it is a pretty blank stare most of the time until you enter that flight zone and they begin to move away. The calves have some life in 'em and we love to watch them play with each other and run after their moms. And they are so dang cute.

 

Mom tolerated just a couple of photos.

I struggled with these photos trying to bump up the color of the brush a little without completely losing all the highlights and detail on the mama cow and found that duplicating the background layer, changing the blending mode to multiply, and then applying a mask and painting out the cow worked pretty well. Here's an untouched photo (well, I adjusted the histogram a little):

 

There were a lot of particulates in the air from the wind and the light was difficult. And the cow was very black - like a silouhette. Interesting problem.

(and that was your Photoshop tip of the day!)

 

Once the dogs were safely on the far side of them, mom started moving baby off to put some distance between us.

 

Buh bye, baby.... hope you don't turn into a plain black cow but keep that incredible creamy blond color....

Chilly rainy windy Sunday

Okay, okay, I know it isn't Sunday but it was when I took these photos. I didn't blog yesterday because I still cannot adjust to the time change and get up early enough.

Sunday was a very wintery beginning to spring so I built a fire

 

in our sweet little office stove. I've been on a mission lately to decrease our utility bills and using the woodstove more often is part of that mission. It is a small but mighty stove and I've found that it can heat up most of the house over the course of the day. I'd still like to look into putting a gas stove in the living room someday - not the mess of a woodstove but a little bit of ambience and heat beyond the forced air.

Our friends in Big Pine gave us homegrown eggs

 

and we had a loaf of freshly baked Great Basin bakery bread

 

so breakfast was a no-brainer. None of us felt like going out into the wind and the rain - I had to coax the dogs outside, the cat dashed out and then back in, and poor JC had to go plow snow.

I did a few chores, graded for awhile and then I started another batch of charms-

 

These are the beginning of a new way of thinking for me - moving towards a production model. I've got some pearls and some new crystal beads coming and these will become either handbag charms or necklaces and I'm putting them up for sale.

 

I can't wait. I had a little bit of success selling in Vegas - just enough to bolster my confidence and this new batch - well they are even better. The soldering has come a long way and I've figured out how to stick to my own aesthetic with these and you know what? I like 'em! And JC likes 'em. And they are going to be rockin' little charms.

 

I can't wait to add the embellishments and to start another batch - which I will do this week cause it is spring break! No teaching - my mission is to catch up on grading this week and do some things in the evening for myself.

Watch for my etsy shop soon... if the mountain won't come to me I'm going to the mountain.

Being thankful and feeling fortunate

On Friday I left my home office in the late afternoon to have a cup of tea with an aquaintance in town - a chance to talk about art, education and teaching. As I left there I heard sirens and the wind, which had been blowing ferociously all day, was not letting up - howling through the streets of Bishop. I stopped by my favorite thrift store to check for treasures and a lot of the people who work there were rushing out the door, heading for their homes in Big Pine. I caught wind of news of a fast moving fire threatening Big Pine and called JC. He was just heading down to do an early feed and winding up his work day. He told me he'd call me if it looked serious.

I heard more sirens and several other people rushed out the door and tore away in their cars heading south and I thought I might just make a couple of calls, line up somewhere to take the horses, and head that way since I had the truck.

Good thing, too, cause as I drove south making illegal calls, this is what I saw:

 

This is from 10 or 12 miles north. It did not look good. As I raced south I managed to get in touch with the owner of the equestrian center where we keep the filly for training, Millpond.

Hilke didn't hesitate in finding room for our two geldings and extended the invitation to anyone else who needed a place for their horses. Now, to get them there.

Inyo County sheriffs, CHP, and various fire service admin cars kept screaming past me on 395 - my speed was irrelevant and it was hard not to let the Dodge loose - but the wind was screaming and pushing against the truck and all I could think of was how was this going to feel with a trailer behind me?

 

I was very happy that JC and I were going to be able to do this together and that he was just ahead of me.

 

The scene at the saddle club was chaotic yet calm at the same time. The horses were amped, the smell of smoke was strong and it seemed the fire was not very far away. And still the wind howled. Our geldings were amazingly cooperative and calm. Our friends Irv and Sherry were doing a fabulous job of organizing the evacuation of horses for people who didn't own trailers. They rounded up the folks with the largest trailers and were loading and transporting to Bishop and up to the east to Joe's alfalfa ranch.

 

Murt, who owns the pack station out of Big Pine, keeps all of his stock in large pastures just to the north of the saddle club. Other packers and ranchers began arriving with their big stock trucks to help him.

 

We loaded our horses and headed north planning to return to help with other horses. The fire was moving so fast that within minutes the evacuation order for all of Big Pine west of U.S. 395 was in effect. The trailer rode fine with the weight of the horses in it and we got them to Millpond and turned them out into a gelding pen with two other geldings. I think they had a long night being the new boys and Rocket had a few chunks of hair on his rump missing - he's always the whipping boy.

We called back down to Big Pine to see if we could be of help but the word was that with the large stock trailers everything was going along and there were so many fire personnel and people trying to get the heck out of their homes we'd only add to the confusion and not be that much help. We headed home for a long night of worry for our friends.

 

I was glued to Twitter, Google's Realtime feed, Facebook, and CalFire the entire evening and even several times through the night woke up to check. I taught school at Big Pine High School and have kept my horses there for six years now - we know a lot of people there and were very concerned for their homes. And of course, for the saddle club. We had grabbed our saddles and bridles but left everything else there and around 4:30 am I had a vision of a blackened piece of earth with twisted panels and smoldering sheds. How could we ever rebuild that place? The arena, the round pen, the trees.... so many memories of good and and bad times.

It made it. 26 homes were lost in Big Pine. 26 families lost just about everything. The firefighters were amazing. They beat it back.

 

The fire command center was set up at the park and Big Pine Fire Department. Engines came from all over - we saw Long Valley, June Lake, Wheeler Crest, Mammoth Lakes heading south while we drove the horses north. CalFire, CDF, BLM, USFS were all there. And doubtless engines from the south - we just didn't see them.

 

We were able to return our horses to their home the next morning - and I think they were very relieved. There was much calling back and forth as we unloaded them.

 

It all came down so fast - another lesson in "you just never know". We recognize we got lucky and we realize there are others who were not lucky in this instance. Never ever take a day for granted. Our hearts go out for those who lost their homes in this early fire.

Injured red-tail hawk rescue

A combination of chance and timing led the dogs and I on a different walk route the other day and as the dogs ran past a big sagebrush I saw them veer off to the side and some large bird hop out on to the road.

 

A young red-tail hawk. I called the dogs back and just stared in amazement. What was this hawk doing on the ground? He didn't look injured, but he didn't look that great either.

 

I started calling around and, by the way, am amazed at how I can access not only a phone but the internet while out in the desert.... I had to do some searching to find the Eastern Sierra Wildlife Center

but Jeremy picked up the phone right away, though, and after I told him about the bird and approximately where I was he said they'd be right out.

 

The bird put up a big presence for awhile, with wings outspread. The dogs were so curious but I diverted by throwing a big stick for them.... and eventually they lost interest and went off looking for other good smells.

 

I learned later, from Cindy Kamler DVM, is that only 10% of raptors make it through their first year. This hawk was a yearling and was starving.

 

Sometimes they are able at the Wildlife Care Center to rehabilitate a bird in this condition but if the starvation has gone on too long there are organs that have begun to shut down and the bird may be too far gone. Cindy warned me of this as she and her assistant Jeremy left.

 

Watching her was impressive - she put on these thick, long gloves that covered her arms up to her elbows and slowly approached the bird.

 

He spread his wings to their fullest as she steadily advanced...

 

And then she had him.

 

And he was placed into a cardboard pet carrier and covered with a towel. Off they went to see what they could do for him

I called the next day to check in and was sad to hear that he didn't make it. He was too far gone. But he did die peacefully, warm and unharrassed by coyotes or other predators. I know it isn't the natural order of things but I'm glad we tried to give this beautiful bird a second chance. And if you'd like to help support the Eastern Sierra Wildlife Center just click over to their website and give.

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Who's driving this bus anyway?

Seriously, don't you wonder sometimes? Well, in our neck of the woods it is obvious who's in control....

 

This has got to say it all. Feather is sick and tired of waiting for her walk and has decided to take things into her own paws while Chance is worried that things are going to escalate out of control very very quickly. He has on his best "worried" look and we can hear the thought bubbles, "but Feather, you haven't can't even reach the brake pedal"....

 

Feather, meanwhile, is determined to change the structure of the dog-human relationship right now. She's certain she can rig up some kind of strap-on opposable thumb and DO this thing. Only there is no human in the car at all and that just doesn't seem right. She's not one to do anything without a human at her side.

 

Perhaps she was just a bit hasty. After all, if she does this what's next? She'll have to wash the car, learn how to pump gas, get a job, go to college.... maybe it isn't looking all that attractive after all.

Mom?

Mom? Can we go now?