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

There is no excitement quite like the first snow

I don't think I'll ever tire of it, no matter how long I live in the mountains. The first snow is magic - the promise of winter and all that it brings. The holidays, long cold nights and short days, winter sports, studio time... winter is my season. I'm a person who'd rather be cold than hot, rather deal with snow than rain, and who's garage is stocked with winter recreational tools like ice skates, skiis, and snowshoes.

We are getting ready to close down the resort and I made one last (I think) drive around the horn of the Sierra - at least the last for this season. The clouds were amazing on the east side and it was an ever-changing show from Bishop to Mojave. I believe we were experiencing what the weather people call an upslope event - as the clouds were swirling around and dipping into the canyons and down practically to the valley floor.

 

I took photos blindly - while keeping my eyes on the road - just by holding my phone up and clicking. A few turned out well enough to share and the rest... well, that is why there is a trash bin in iPhoto, right? I think that is what won me over with digital cameras - there is no price for taking many, many photos in search of a decent one. I remember getting film developed, racing to open the envelope and find only one or two out of each roll that was worth saving. Now it takes me a little time to edit, crop and go through all the digital files, but it isn't such a blow to the ego.

 

The cloud show and "This American Life" podcasts kept me sane on yet another long drive. I have to admit I am really tired of driving this drive. It doesn't help that our Toyota truck, an older Tacoma, is quite possibly the most uncomfortable truck ever made. We have all sorts of back support contraptions that we try using in it but the angle of the seat, the distance from seat to floor - something is just not right for the American body. It kills our backs.

 

By the time I got here I forgot all about my back aching and I began to feel that familiar anticipation of winter that I feel with the first snowfall. This was no dusting, either, this was a substantial snowfall for early October. As you can see, the USFS had to plow this road over Kaiser Pass.

 

The leaves haven't even changed colors yet and Kaiser Meadow is covered with a blanket of snow. This could change - we could easily see a long indian summer now - but for the moment this is the magic of the big meadow.

 

On the other side of the pass, not quite so much snow but all the peaks are covered and the air is cold and crisp. We drove up out of the Fresno overcast skies, into thick fog and then popped out into perfect blue skies.

 

The lake has a beautiful mist over it morning and night, and the banks are spotted with snow.

My plan is to hike this trip - since I did not hike at all over the summer. I may only get in short hikes but anything will do at this point. My promise to myself is that this will not happen next summer. I will carve out time in the backcountry both on foot and on horseback. No more horse and hiking-less summers. Life is too darn short.

 

The smell of woodsmoke, the laughter of people gathered in the cafe, the magic of a big moon's light on the snow. No wonder I couldn't sleep last night. I was up at 3 am, reading by headlamp and drinking hot tea, unwilling to simply toss and turn all night. Now, of course, I'm paying for it with a groggy head but it'll be okay. I did get some good reading time in.

 

This is the lake this morning. The guys are out wrestling with the cold and cranky boat motors, the dogs are frolicking in the brisk air, the cat is outside posing on a stump and I am enjoying it all with a strong cup of coffee and the woodstove fired up. Ahhh, heaven.

Letterpress day - oodles of printed paper to play with

This year I've got a wedding to plan, so my trip to Portland for Art & Soul was restrained. I went mainly to visit with Southern Charm and to be in Portland, and I only took one class. But what a good class it was.

Letterpress.

This is what I managed to print in the one day class. Although the class included making this cute little book I've made plenty of books and I know how to find the instructions I need to make books - what I don't have and don't see myself having access to much - is a press and lots and lots of lead type. I wanted to leave with a plenty of printing under my belt.

 

 

The instructor, Sharyn Sowell was very accomodating and really supportive of those of us who just wanted to print and print and print. She packed up so much type that her tires were bulging and gave us the basics, then let us go.

She had typefaces that were custom-made for her, typefaces dating back to the Civil War, and a variety of decorative elements and typefaces from the glory days of type-setting and printing. Now that newspapers and other publications aren't printed by hand, artists have snapped up the remaining type and presses to use in a their creative endeavors. It is addicting and fun and messy.

Don't you just love the ice-skating bear? I wish I'd printed more of him.

These were some of the last things I printed and some of the best. It takes awhile to get the hang of the ink and actually I switched from the printing ink to the faster-drying stamping ink so that I could get these home without smearing them.

My theme was our wedding, of course, and although I'm not sure just what I'll do with all these, I'll figure it out before January.

 

Sharyn had big type and small and it was so fun to experiment with each. All kinds of paper and card-stock, and one lovely classmate handed out sheets of thick watercolor paper to tear to size. I took in a handful of handmade paper to share since I have so much left over from my days of teaching high school.

These little pigs are pretty cute. Some of the decorative plates were just too sweet for my taste so I gravitated towards the farm animals. I did fall for that bear, though.

 

I love the act of printing, the "kiss" of the type on the paper. It was fun to experiment with how much embossing took place - just a sheet of paper on the bed of the press can make all the difference.

 

One of my favorites.

 

A cow to join the pig on the page.

 

The book we made is a simple, accordian fold book.

 

Mine is not bound yet because I wanted to focus on printing.

 

I plan to bind it with ribbon.

 

It was a great class and I left wishing I lived near a print studio. Maybe someday.

Monticello marketplace - Antiques, collectables, eye-candy

Of COURSE we went back to Monticello! After finding it last year we were not going to leave Portland without another visit. And miss all that inspiration? And who knows what we might find - even though flying ruled out any large purchases of pie-safes and the like.

We remembered the great Halloween assemblages from last years...

 

And even though I don't go to this kind of trouble at home I did put up orange and black decorations last year thanks to the inspiration of Monticello.

Oh, and Halloween is right around the corner. Along with Day of the Dead.

 

There is so much to look at and the vendors must be chosen at least in part for their ability to put together a pleasing display. Now I have to bling up a lock.

 

The people who work at Monticello are very nice and for the most part let you wander around in peace. If they see you with your arms full they will ask if you'd like to have your future purchases put up front - they tag them with your name in a little (or big) cubby and then you are free to handle and collect even more.

 

I could go through here and choose a room for each room in my house although I bet JC would start to protest over the abundance of silver and white after awhile. There aren't many kitchen displays so I could still keep the kitchen at home bold as well as the office.

 

Plenty of rust, plenty of burlap and linen, plenty of sparkle.

 

And these are not the same displays as last year - so there is constant revival of the spaces. Last year our favorite display, the outdoor room made from old doors, was no where in sight this year. It might make another appearance, but I bet it will look completely different than the first time around.

 

 

I think of this as Anthropologie, unplugged. And I'm discovering more and more of these remarkable places that I can visit for design inspiration and to buy things that fit my style and vision.

 

This is my dream bedroom. Wood floors, antiques galore, piles of white and off-white linens. Of course, I have dogs and a cat so this wouldn't work for us... but I can dream!

 

And this one, for the grandkids we don't have yet.

 

And this chair for my studio....

I bought a few things as did Southern Charm, and then we had lunch. Did I mention they have a cafe? With wifi? And books and magazines? This is a smart idea, folks. And as we made our way back to the front of the store after lunch, Southern Charm spied this and there was no need to even think about it - the Tonka Farms horse trailer was mine.

 

Absolutely the crowning touch to the morning!

Next time you are in Portland I recommend finding Monticello if you have even the slightest interest in antiques and collectables. Or just need a design fix.