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

Dinner at Parallax

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an awards dinner up at Parallax on Mammoth Mountain, at what used to be known as Mid-Chalet but is now know as McCoy Station. It was a cold, breezy evening but incredibly beautiful.

It was even cold in the Owens Valley and windy as all get-out. Cruel spring.

 

I click-clacked up to the gondola in my going-out-to-dinner shoes and realized this was the closest I'd been to skiing all season. Sad, isn't it? My life is out of whack.

 

Never get tired of the view....

 

Love being on the mountain at odd times - the groomers are out, but no one skiing or boarding.

 

Amazing that this was shot on April 29.... it looks like mid-winter.

 

Being in the gondola while the mountain is closed is a little strange - you can hear all the creaks and groans of the equipment but then there are stretches of long silence.

 

This is the view from Parallax - a beautiful venue.

The food - the food was so good! A lovely baby green salad perfectly dressed, followed by a slightly sweet squash soup. And then, bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin that could be cut with a butter knife. Yum!

 

Dessert - an amazingly rich molten chocolate cake with blackberries. And a magical ride down the dark mountain.

Great dinner, fun event. Friends, new people to meet, good wine. Loved it.

 

Our dogs love hotel rooms too

Last week JC had to have a little surgery so we loaded up our family (the two of us and our two dogs - leaving the cat home to guard things) and headed up to Reno for a couple of nights at our favorite dog-friendly hotel, the Grand Sierra. They have a floor dedicated to people traveling with dogs. You pay a reasonable fee for the dogs, get a nice little cellophane bag of treats, and there is grass for walking, poo bags for cleaning up, and people seem to really respond well to having the dogs with us.

As you can see, the dogs were stressed out.

 

We had a huge room at the end of one of the wings - more than enough room to work, let JC sleep off his anesthesia, even order room service.

 

This was command central for me - and Feather took up her post under the desk.

 

She loves to wedge herself under things - under desks, tables, and when she could fit, the bed. As a puppy she used to squirm her way under the bed and we'd hear her whining in the middle of the night, stuck.

 

Chance kept vigil at JC's side.

The dogs got a good walk in out off Fourth Street and I got some shopping in - nothing like a visit to the Patagonia outlet to make a mountain woman happy.

We made sure we brought along some of Feather's favorite toys...

 

And she had plenty of carpeted, lab-colored floor to roll around on.

 

 

She's rolling over that blue squishy toy.... having a grand time all by herself.

 

I tried to fix these devil dog eyes in photoshop but that even made them look more bizzare - so we have flash-eyes.

 

Life is soooooo good.

 

Dogs make the most of every moment - they love it all. And that is why we love them. I think taking them with us helped JC get through a bad night and kept the dogs feeling like everything is normal. As long as we are all together all is well.

Spring is giving us a wild ride

In the Sierra we are always talking about the weather. And the weather almost always gives us something to talk about. Oh, sure, there are the dog days of summer but that lasts what, about 3 weeks? This winter has given us plenty of fodder, with over 600 inches of snow, but spring is now taking a stab at show-stealing with 60 mph winds, more snow, babies and green everywhere and oh, yes, let's throw in more WIND!

So you go looking for calm in the storm. And sometimes you have to purchase it.

 

These came from Vons, they were having a special on glads and this color was so gorgeous I didn't think twice. I cleaned up the dining room, took all the mail and the stacked magazines and notepads and pens off the dining room table, stripped the placemats and napkins and put these up. Ahhhhh.

 

So now there is a little oasis in my house. A calm spot out of the wind.

 

It was a good weekend overall - things didn't go exactly as I had planned but good things came in and took the place of the original plans. The patio got prepped for summer, the plants were planted, the place is ready for visitors. Grading was accomplished (well, some anyway). A horse was ridden (how we found that window of windlessness I'll never know). And I opened an etsy shop...

 

So that I might sell the things I make. And when things sell, that will spur me on to making more things and I can see that this may lead in a very good direction. Because you have to keep moving when you are in the creating business - you have to keep your hands on the tools, no matter what tools you use, and you have to keep your mind in the groove. Working in fits and starts means that you are continually starting over - back three steps and then "oh, yeah, THIS is where I was going".

 

Opening a shop and putting things up for sale is huge for me. I'm a maker not a seller and the promotion gene is not in me. I have to work at it. But there are a lot of things I want to make and they can't all be sitting around in my studio. They need to go live with people and provide me with the means to buy more supplies so that more things can be made and where ever this is going it goes. And provide people with something they like to have in hand. I have my favorite things and I'd like to think that I can make things that other people would like to have as their favorite things. We'll see.

Anyway, here is is: Coyote&Magpie Studio

I have lots of work to do on the shop - I needed a banner so I made one up really quickly but I'd like to refine it. I will be working on another round of charms this weekend - initials. I will be working on some silver link bracelets inspired by Jil Platner.

The wind is howling outside and the dogs really need a walk. I'm going to take one last look at this

 

jam on a hat, and get outside.

Change of plans

Plans can change and often do - in the blink of an eye. The beer was on ice, the truck packed, the dogs loaded and we were heading northeast. I called to check on the events and discovered it was raining and chilly up at the cutting and at that point it started to sound like not the funnest thing to do - hang out getting wet, dealing with wet dogs and a lot of driving for a marginal weather day. Rain was not forecast for home and there are always a gazillion things to do around here so I, being the one in charge of our day, changed my mind. We stayed home.

First things first, the dogs got a walk and a swim. That kept them cool enough to run my errands in town. The runoff has begun and all the creeks and canals are full of refreshing, cool water. I have to be a little careful where I take them to swim since the current is so strong right now but swimming is such a great energy release and it keeps them smelling fresh and clean.

The afternoon was devoted to starting in on the backyard and patio. This is actually the time of year when we use it the most - JC is back and forth, it isn't too hot to be out there but warm enough, the evenings are getting longer and it becomes our place to have a cocktail at the end of the day.

 

This is the chair purchased down in San Diego a few months ago - JC's cigar-smoking chair. We are having the cushions recovered so for now just making do with the chaise lounge cushions, but what a comfortable chair. Our patio really is complete now.... plenty of seating for friends, family... I'm loving it. Now, if just some leisure time would appear.

 

The water feature is back in service and what a chore that was. So many leaves, and bird seed from the feeder - it took quite a while to get this cleaned out and filled. We now have three kinds of water plants in here and I'm hoping to see some blooms this year. I have a love - hate relationship with this thing - love the sound of the water and how it attracts birds, frogs, the cat and the dogs - but hate the maintenance and the fact that it still leaks or absorbs or something... I still have to have a minute flow into it when the pumps are running. It might be evaporation or perhaps a combination of evaporation and just soaking into the porous tuff.... but despite repainting and sealing the bottom it still will not retain a full pool of water. Now I just run the pumps when we're out there enjoying the patio and the rest of the time let it settle to the level it wants.

 

This is the black grass we picked up at Koby's swap meet last weekend. I read up on it and many people complained that it got lost in a garden so it went into white pots for contrast. There are two of these on our front landing and there were grasses in them last year - hoping the elegant, spare look of bunch grasses will balance the overgrown and abundant hollyhocks that come up everywhere.

 

Planted the other two grasses in the backyard beds along with all the crocus and muscari from the winter forcing. In a few years this bed will be filled with winter bulbs. Most of them make it and come up to flower again and the ones that don't? Well, at least they had a fighting chance out here. To try to survive the summer in a pot with my erratic watering habits would be certain death.

 

The hammock got a new pad this year. Rachael Ashwell of Shabby Chic inspired this look. I do things like this that require paying attention, though.... this cannot live out here all the time since the sprinklers hit the hammock. So having this involves folding it up and storing it inside unless it is in use. This is not the only thing that requires paying attention. Candles have to be moved out of the sun or they'll melt into a useless puddle of wax, cushions have to be flipped over so the cat is sleeping on the backside and my guests won't get covered in cat hair, the water feature has to be constantly cleaned and skimmed. But I love it. It is a Martha Stewart workload without the 'help' and it is crazy but I still do it.

 

Last but not least is the decorating - the little 'things' that I like to put out. The most fun for me. Again, rather shortsighted since all of this has to be kept cobweb-free or it starts to look really shabby but I just can't help myself.

 

She was a bizarre find at our local thrift store -  I think she might be Kali the goddess of time and change, the consort of Shiva. I loved the color and this frosted resin she is cast in.... and she has a bright red stone in her forehead. She's been living in the art room waiting for a permanent home but for now she'll grace the front porch.

 

This is a collage of elements found in the art room - I love these fisheye mirrors you can buy at any auto section of the big box stores - they come in different colors and just stick on.The tin hearts are from Mexico, the fun pompom trim picked up at Art & Soul.

 

And then there is this. I found this the day we found the hawk on our walk.... and I dragged it home. I like it here but it looks a little lonely... needs more work. Maybe I'll build up around it.

 

Ended the day with horses - cleaning, feeding, scratching. I'm going to start my day with horses today... and weeding. JC picked up a hula hoe for me last week and I'm working on sprucing up the corral. Slowly. Everything takes so much time. Rhea's corral needs lots of work... with it sitting empty the weeds have popped up and it looks forlorn and neglected. Lots to do. Too much for one weekend. But I'm riding today.... really. Mule Days is right around the corner and Smokin' Joe and I need to be ready for it. He's fat and I'm not in riding shape and we just need to get out there.

The resort season has officially begun

Well, the boys are off and the household calendar has officially reset. We have two seasons at our house - resort open and resort closed. Resort closed is when we have some normalcy in our lives: we go to work, we have weekends, we have evenings together, we travel. Resort open is just that. Resort. Our lives begin to revolve around the needs of the resort - which are many and insatiable.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days with a couple of JC's guys here getting things ready to go and now the house seems empty, quiet. But I've got a plan for the day - me and the dogs are taking off for a day trip to Nevada... to watch some cutting horses work.

 

Can you tell there was a young dog that really really wanted to go? She's a little depressed right now, so I've got to do something fun with her today to take her mind off it.

 

Took some time the other day to visit our local collectibles shop, Cobwebs, since it had been a long time and you just never know, you know? It is chock full of goodies - such a gem of a store for our community. Somehow I got through the entire day that day without purchasing anything but I did a good amount of looking, noting, and snapped a couple of photos for inspiration.

 

I'm always interested in how people deal with ugly fixtures and such and here in Cobwebs are these standard, rectangular florescent lights. And what a simple fix. Seam binding. Brilliant.

 

They also used it to frame a doorway....

 

I'm stealing this idea for my wedding - I have a feeling our venue may have light fixtures that need to be dolled up for the occasion and this could be made up in advance and then just fastened temporarily for the event. Another to-do..... at some point I'll stop planning and start making!

 

I've restarted the art room purge (anyone who has been reading this for awhile knows this is ongoing) and am actually disposing of several furniture items. This chair has been with me for years but no one has really sat in it for a long time and so it has been replaced with the rocking chair we picked up at the swap meet. I had it outside to take to the thrift store but Mel has claimed it as his own.... which is so funny because he NEVER slept in this chair when it was in the house. But now, he loves it.

So what to do? I might drag it back in the house and use it in the bedroom or I could put it up in the guest room.... or just let it go. I haven't decided. If anyone wants it please let me know....

Well, it is a long drive to the cutting horse show... I'll report back with photos tomorrow.

Sun Moon Child

via www.youtube.com

This takes awhile to load but is worth the wait.

The Thursday Relief Syndrome

I have such a sense of relief on Thursday mornings. Although I do do what I do voluntarily and love just about all of it, there are days when it stacks up and seems like a mountain I have to climb. On Mondays I'm thinking about the two classes I teach and what I'm going to lecture on, how far behind I am in grading, how to best demo the next technique... Tuesday and Wednesday are a blur with my day job and then teaching both evenings. Thursday morning I wake up..... ahhhhh. And really, it starts Wednesday evening driving home. Ahhhhh. Now I can start thinking about the weekend!

Remember that little air plant that came in the swag bag from 'Hitched'? Well I stuck it in some moss in a sweet little cordial glass my friend DD gave me years ago, and put it on the windowsill.

 

And now it is blooming. You have to get pretty close to see the bloom but it is purple and about as bizarre looking as the air plant itself.

 

Could this mean that my purple thumb is about to turn green again? I've been just planting and killing things for several years now. Having a digging puppy hasn't helped but my careless routine of watering when I remember, especially when the temps reach the Owens Valley peaks in the summer, hasn't done me (or the plants) any favors. We picked up some really nice grasses while in San Diego last weekend and mom sent me home with lavender, rosemary, and mint to plant. I'm going to try very hard not to neglect this new set of plants. And get them into the ground this weekend.

And this little plant - I don't know what happens next. Babies? Fruit? You can believe I will keep you posted!

Last week I scored a new coffee table. It's an old coffee table and when I saw it at the thrift store it had a "hold - not paid" sticker on it. I walked around and kept going back to the table so before I left I asked the cashier how long the hold was good for. He said by the next day at 10 am if the holdee hadn't shown or called, he'd sell it to the next buyer. Next day, I was there by 10 am. And the table was still there. $10 later I was loading that table into the back of the truck.

 

It needs some TLC, of course, but it is all inlaid wood in this beautiful rosette... and overall NOT in bad shape. There are some areas where the veneer has lifted, and a few places where it is missing altogether, but I think I have come up with a solution. I will carefully glue down what I can and then I'll have a piece of glass cut and beveled to fit the top of the table. That way we won't run the risk of continuing to chip away at the damaged parts but we'll be able to see and enjoy the beautiful woodwork.

 

It was a find. It replaces the white painted coffee table I have had easily a decade, also from a thrift store, with the leg Chance chewed when he was just a puppy. Memories. But life is changing and I'm slow to change the look of our house - this and the rocking chair are good changes.

 

Ahhhhh, Thursday. I can feel myself breathing slower.

WeddingWise Show in East Village, San Diego

Before leaving the sunny southland my mom, sister and I headed to downtown San Diego for a wedding show. Normally I would not be attracted to a wedding show at all, but this one was similar to Hitched, which I was sad to miss in Palm Springs earlier this year. And it isn't as if a wedding show is something one wants to go to just any ole' time - it is only when you are planning a wedding (or in the industry) that there is interest. I wanted to check out one contemporary wedding show.

This one has promise but I think it is new - I think in a couple of years it could be a rock and roll wedding party. I was put off by a couple of things - at the door I was all ready to shell out $30 for VIP tickets for my sister and I (swag bag and a cocktail included) but they weren't selling the VIP tickets at the door (huh?). Fine, I'll take back that extra $20!

That said, there were some wonderfully talented vendors at the show and we met super friendly floral designers, venue designers, cupcake bakers, paper goods designers.... there was music, there were giveaways and lots of things to take away - I have a stack of magazines and samples to look through when I have time.

And it looked like this:

Cool venue off 6th and J Streets in San Diego - the Culy Warehouse.

 

Some of the vendors went to quite a bit of effort to set up lovely displays. I just love the modern bouquets with the packed flowers and the ribbon wrapped stems.

 

There were some totally unique bouquets, too - like the one made of ornamental kale. Who would have thought - but it was so subtle and beautiful. I loved that deep purple and blue sweet pea bouquet there in the middle.

 

The walls of the Culy were a great backdrop to the funky vintage displays - and there were no shortage of paper and fabric decorations. Pendants were big....

 

and so were paper flowers of every type....

 

 

 

These were fun and would be easy to make and they were hanging all throughout the venue.

 

Table set-ups from rustic to formal were scattered throughout the show... with really great, inexpensive ideas for the do-it-yourselfer.

 

A few ribbons tied to a chair back....

 

 

Mismatched china, good silver plated flatware, old silver and pewter containers for flowers. Easy peasy.

 

These folks were screen-printing bags right on site and I liked the torn-fabric garland they had on the end of the table....

 

 

Then there were the cakes and cupcakes:

 

 

There were samples and the one I remember swooning over was salted chocolate caramel..... YUM!

 

This was one of my very favorite things. JC and I are going to try to make something similar and after the wedding use it up at the resort, perhaps in the cafe. I've got to start buying blue mason jars.

 

I also discovered anenomes.... these are perfect for our wedding if we decide to go with fresh flowers.

 

Another fabulous variation on a chandelier...

 

And simple, elegant decorations to try out - not only for weddings but for parties, for the home, for the resort.

It was fun for a couple of hours. We didn't stay for the fashion show since I'm not interested in wedding dresses, and I wonder how it went after we left.... we were early-birds since JC and I still had to drive home that afternoon. I'm glad we went and now I'm over it! We have great ideas of our own and our wedding is going to be completely "us".

Canyon walk in the fog

Busy day planned down here in southern Cali - we (meaning the womenfolk) are heading downtown to check out "WeddingWise" and I hope it is worth the drive. I'm not exactly a 'blushing bride' but this is the first wedding I've had the opportunity to plan and I'd like to milk ALL the fun out of it.

We started our day with a walk in the nearby canyon and it was foggy, cool, beautifully in bloom. I love getting up and out fairly early - it seems to energize me for the rest of the day and it does the opposite for the dogs - wears them out and they happily nap for hours.

 

The hills down here are in bloom - the little but powerful flowers of the wildlands.

 

I've never tired of hiking in these hills even as the city has grown up around it.

 

We rarely see people out here - once in a great while I'll see a person on horseback or walking a dog, but what a resource out here. It is the city, though, and I don't know that I'd go walking out here alone. Requires big dogs.

 

We've been unmolested thus far and hopefully forever... I think the large dogs might discourage anyone from approaching  us.

 

Anyhow, it is a beautiful spot. There is an old earthen dam and with all the rain this winter there is actually water in the old pond.

 

And so many flowers. We enjoyed this walk so much.

 

Nice start to a busy day.

 

 

Weekend in southern California

We're down south for the weekend (as they say in our neck of the woods when you travel anywhere south of Lone Pine) - celebrating my mom's birthday a little early and enjoying the magnificent weather of San Diego in the spring.

 

We (immediate and extended family) took her to the dinner in Oceanside and let me tell you, Oceanside has changed since I lived down here (admittedly, it has been some time since I've lived here). The downtown seems vibrant, prosperous, and the harbor area - man, it is HOPPIN'! Seafood restaurants galore, people everywhere and boat, boats, boats. What a different world. I love getting close to the ocean, smelling that salty breeze, feeling the moisture in the air. Love being near the ocean...

 

Earlier today we were at the American version of the people's bazaar - the swap meet. We go a couple of times a year and we always find new collars for the dogs, new I.D. tags for the dogs, new toys for the dogs, oh! and did I mention we shop for the dogs there?

We managed to find a couple of things for ourselves but I'll have to post about them after I've taken photos of them and really, we were very restrained. We did buy plants, of all things - some water hyacinth for our backyard water feature, and some super groovy black bunch grass

And a rocking chair. JC bought if for me if I promised to take the one I've been stripping and working on for the last couple of month (slooooowwwwly) away. Far far away. So I scored. This one needs NO work! It is ready to sit in - whahoo!

The weather here is incredible - it is the spring weather everyone wants to be having in the high Sierra. 80 degrees. Perfect.

Alas, it is only a couple of days. We'll be heading home tomorrow, back up through the blooming desert. It was gorgeous coming down and I got a couple of photos but going back I think it will be night time as we drive home.

 

These beautiful colors were just outside of Joahnnesburg where we stopped to stretch our legs and let the dogs run off some energy.

 

We walked through the desert avoiding these deep and narrow mine shafts that appeared out of nowhere. Most of them were marked by spindly little fencing visible by day but you wouldn't want to be strolling out there at night - you could fall in one of them and never be able to work your way out. Gives me the chills.

 

This little primrose wasn't much by itself, but whe you multiply by the thousands you get entire acres covered with yellow.... and it looked so cheery.

 

Fabulous. Tomorrow we are heading to a wedding show. It holds promise - one of the contemporary shows that are popping here and there. Being held in an old warehouse in downtown San Diego - already that is enough to interest me. Add in swag bags and a bar, music and lots of creative wedding inspiration and I'll spend a few hours checking it out.

I'll take my camera and we'll have a great time even if the show ends up being a bust. The sun will be out and warm... and there is no lack of things to do and see in San Diego.