Reflections

I don't know why, but Sarge has been on my mind lately. It was 2 years ago this past March 31st that he was hit by the car and killed. I try not to dwell on the 2 weeks everyone looked for him, all the sightings, the walking and driving calling his name. For whatever reason, my memory is alternately vivid sharp or blurred with emotions.

This is a scrapbook page I did to hang at Allyscraps, about 8 or 9 months after he was gone. I already had adopted Jake. I hope Sarge is now running in a huge field, something he loved. And he was loved by Gracie and I.

Have a great weekend.
Linda

So should I charge rent?

Last year around this time, I had a problem with my clothes dryer. The clothes weren't drying. Thinking that the vent hose was clogged, I pulled out the dryer to clean it. Now that is a simple sentence which in no way conveys the fact that there is no space to do this simple task.

I then became a contortionist using a small step ladder to climb over the washer, also pulled out, to get to the rear of the dryer to connect a new vent hose. Problem solved.

This week I did 2 loads of laundry and neither were dry on just one cycle. Hmmmmm. Do I really want to go through all of that again, or approach the problem from a different angle? For, you see, the man (and it had to be a man because a woman would have said this was NOT going to work) who designed the dryer vent didn't realize or didn't care that a long run of pipe was an invitation for problems.

The hole in the wall where I connect the vent hose does an immediate turn skyward, and goes up to the attic. It then turns again to run across the attic and exit on the north side of the house, about 10 feet high. So the vent basically runs from the middle of the house to the exterior, a good 25 feet in all.

I asked my friend Melissa, who is tall and only 39, to come hold the extension ladder while I climbed up to clean out the vent from the exterior wall. I could not remove the vent cover, so Melissa went up and being strong and 39, popped it right off. "Oh, you have a bird's nest alright". We had seen grass and straw sticking out the louvered vent flaps. Melissa pulled the nest out, looked in the pipe and said "Oh, shit". It is never good when a friend looks at something in or on your house and says those words. She then proceeded to pull out enough lint mixed with grass, sticks and straw to build a nest that would have made a Bald Eagle proud.

The damn birds had been pushing old nests back and building new ones. The debris was about 6 feet into the vent pipe. It is a wonder my house didn't catch on fire. Truly.

Life is always an adventure, isn't it?
Linda

Sounded like a good idea at the time

Dega, Melissa, Yuki, Me, Jake and Gracie

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. I had walked the dogs in the morning, knowing they would be home for a few hours while I went to an Art Fair in Fountain Square. When I arrived home, they were full of themselves and it was time for a good run.

I arranged to meet Melissa at the dog park. Now. Dega is a Wheaton Terrier. Jake is a terrier mix with who knows what. The dogs have a lot of characteristics in common. Both are alpha dogs, both have a certain attitude when meeting new dogs. The stage was set.

There were only 2 other dogs in the park when we arrived. Yuki, the little Westie above, and Apollo, a large German Shephard. Dega took one look at Apollo and the fight was one. Gracie is running around barking at Dega to get away from Apollo (jealous), and Jake decides this is a good time to bond with Dega and pick on another dog.

We got them away and went downfield. Apollo followed. Repeat above, several times. They would separate and be fine, then whatever would happen, Dega would bound over to Apollo and start again. I told Melissa that either he is bipolar, or just nuts. We agreed on just nuts.

Walk the dogs and enjoy the weather. We all know it won't last.
Linda

Blessed Rain

We woke up this morning to a beautiful thunderstorm. Love, love, love it! More rain is coming in later this morning, and tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that this breaks the current drought.

I follow other women's blogs everyday. Some are concerning art, some are simple inspiration. But today I wanted to point you to one of those because the photos are just stunning. Please read the Wednesday post, then click on the link (you can read about it here).  I believe this gorge is in Oregon because I am fairly certain Alisa is based in Portland.

I so want to go there.

I can't afford another vacation yet.

Dang.

Have a wonderful day.
Linda

click here.

Art Saves

This canvas was created by Cathy. It is currently hanging in the scrapbook store, Allyscraps, in Plainfield, IN. I love it. The colors are subtle, blending well, and the design is simple yet intriguing. I think Cath did a great job.

I also know that the saying was quite intentional. "She loved her family". We all know we love them, but sometimes they can drive us nuts. Happens to everyone.

Which brings me to today's topic. Art Saves. Yes, it does. Every artist or crafter creates for different reasons, to fulfill some need or attain some personal goal. For me, it is relaxing yet energizing at the same time. When I'm on a roll, I can be in and out of that studio 6 times a day, needing to check one more item, try one more technique. Drives the dogs nuts.

I read a great many creative blogs. This is a link to one I recently started to follow, who does a feature entitled Art Saves. If you would like to read more, click here.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Halloween Canvases

We are so late with the Halloween crafts. I cleaned out the craft booth about 6 weeks ago, taking all of the unsold bunnies and what nots out. I did have a nice display of our left over Halloween/Fall crafts from last year. They are all gone. So the choice was either to buy wholesale the same products everyone else has, or make something. Neither of us wanted to sew, but I did make 2 Jack O' Lanterns on candlesticks. After that, the paint and paper of mixed media just kept calling my name.


We wanted to paint. Period. So Cathy did 6 canvases that I really need to take photos of, and I did the above. The witches hats are from Michaels, and we painted them and added our own touches. 

Have no idea what is happening for Christmas. I have stacks of started projects, folders of ideas and patterns, and not enough hours in the day to do it all. Guess it will be a surprise for me as well as everyone else!

Have a peaceful day.
Linda

Chihuly Glass Gardens

Looking up at the ceiling between exhibition rooms

Looking up

Looking up

Pat and I had been told my locals that if you really want to see the glass garden and exhibit, the best time is at night. So we waited until after 7pm to walk to the Space Center. Unfortunately, I was referring to an old map and walked us 8 blocks in the opposite direction. So by the time we arrived, it was almost full dark. We needed the exercise.

Most of the Chihuly exhibit is inside the exhibition hall. It is beyond incredible. The artist works in glass, and from what I read is prolific to the extreme. He stated (and I know I read this in the hall) that he tries to recreate his mother's flower gardens. Besides smaller pieces representative of plants, he also does trees that glow softly in the dark. Some of those photos didn't turn out well.

Outside the Chihuly Glass House

The weather was perfect, and we were content to just wander within the gardens and enjoy the beauty.

And then we got lost walking back to the apartment.
Linda

I am an IDIOT!

Another Duck to the left.

It's either an old age thing, or just plain forgetfulness. I have been home from vacation for 2 weeks today, and just remembered I never uploaded the small camera photos to the computer. DUH!!

And now that I look at them I really like what I did. The above were taken from the Duck, the vehicle that drives on land and moves through water. So the perspective is kind of neat. Looks like I'm sitting down in the water, which I was, but safely in a vehicle. You can see what a Duck looks like in the photo above.

The body of water is Union Lake. Our guide explained that it is called Union Lake because it unites Elliot Bay with Puget Sound. All I know is there is a whole lot of water around Seattle.

Have a great weekend.
Linda

Dog Days

We had a decent summer. I guess Mother Nature just couldn't leave it at that, and the heat is on. Record breaking temperatures today (high of 96) combined with ground that is rock hard and dusty dry, and there are no chances of rain. Central Indiana is down 10 inches for the year.

This is getting boring.

I read somewhere during the drought 2 years ago that this area of the country would eventually be a desert. I am beginning to believe that. For whatever reason, the rains go north and south, and just miss the middle. By the way, the above photos were taken last month. The grass is no longer green. Crunchy is the best way to describe it now.

I have walked the dogs the past 2 days at 8am. Today I think we're staying home. It is already very uncomfortable out there.

Stay cool.
Linda

Leavenworth, WA.

There is a long, winding road (sing it with me) into the Cascade mountains. It is affectionately called the Cascade Loop. To get on that loop, you have to drive through parts of Seattle and a few surrounding towns. So when Mapquest tells you it will take 2 1/2 hours to drive from your downtown apartment in Seattle to Leavenworth, WA., Mapquest lies. Just in case anyone reading this wants to make this drive. You have been warned.

Leavenworth is a very popular destination, and justly so. The town is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains. It was cool when we left Seattle. It was downright hot in Leavenworth. The town exists for tourism in all seasons. Very quaint, picturesque, and clean. Pat and I don't eat German food (we're both of German ancestry), so we settled for a hamburger.  There are restaurants with beer gardens everywhere if that is to your liking. I don't drink beer either. What a rotten half-German I am!

We didn't make the drive to see Leavenworth. Both of us were eager to see the country leading into the town, and it was breathtaking. Unfortunately, there were no warning signs for the pull-offs, and when you're driving in a string of traffic at 60mph on winding curves, you don't dare slam on your brakes. So a lot of photo ops were missed. But trust me, it was beautiful.

And so ends the Seattle vacation photos. I'm already looking into the state of Maine. How cool would that be?
Linda

Kerry Park

We had been sightseeing in the car, when Pat asked if I wanted to find Kerry Park. She had read online that it was THE vantage point to take photographs of Seattle. Sure, I said. So she pulled out the GPS.

The invention of a portable GPS system was a marvelous thing. It has saved us many times. But a GPS is not accurate 100% of the time. Sometimes I think they are haunted by past directions. Maybe it's having a bad day. But this particular day, in this city, Pat's GPS was full of something dark, brown and very smelly. After driving up and down hills, around in circles, telling me to go where there was no street, we finally found Highland St. Picture this: a street originally laid out for two-way traffic, which still is open for two-way traffic, but allows parking on both sides. Yes indeed. Kerry Park is located in the middle of a residential area of, I'm sure, very high priced real estate. Look at the view! The park is quite small and does not have a parking lot. You have to first be very brave and drive down the street, quickly (I waited 5 minutes), then find a spot. Someone had just left, so we did find a parking spot.

The aggravation was worth it, because it was an incredible view of Puget Sound and the city. Have I mentioned that Seattle is a dog town? We stayed downtown on 2nd Ave., and saw dogs being walked every day, at all times of the day and night. Loved it. This young woman came into the park and told her puppy to hop on the wall for a picture. We had just sat down on a bench opposite her, and both of us pulled up the cameras. Adorable dog.

When we had enough shots and were getting hungry, it was time to leave. Back to the GPS story. Please look at the above photos. We are on a ridge of land, but if you looked down at the wall there were houses below the park. However, the land slopes swiftly towards Puget Sound. Yep, the GPS told me to turn left towards the Sound.

I have been driving since I was 16 years old. I am now 65. Some of you may call be an old fart for this, but I want to see the street I'm driving on. When the angle of a hill is so great you can't do that, I tend to get nervous. Went down the first street, foot on the brake, hands sweating, and came to the stop sign. Straight ahead is another downhill street that looks far worse than the one we had just completed. I turned to Pat and said, "I can't do this". We went left. The GPS went ballistic. RECALCULATING!!!!! We made it back to the apartment without any incidents.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

The Waterfront

After returning from our 2 day trip to Olympic National Park, we decided a nice, relaxing day of shopping was in order. Uh huh.

We stopped for lunch at a Fisherman's Wharf type of restaurant. Sitting outside afforded us a close up view of the ferris wheel. I was considering doing this (fear of heights), until Pat pointed out that we had not seen one full turn on the wheel since we sat down. Most of the time on the wheel was starting and stopping to get people on and off. So we bypassed that, and just walked around taking some shots.

What you don't see are the panhandlers. This is a continuous subject in Indianapolis, seeming to pop up in the news at least once a month. I have a different perspective on the subject since visiting Seattle. Unemployment in Seattle is 4.9%. Lower than the national average, way lower than Indiana. Yet there they sit, on the concrete by the water, in the parks, with signs. The one that was most disturbing was the young woman. Her sign said she was pregnant and homeless. We had one panhandler chase us through a parking area, asking for donations so he and his fiancee could have a hot meal. Looked to be about 22 or 23. Really?

I have no solution. Yes, there is help available. But some of these people seem to have made a career out of begging. Sad.

Have a great weekend.
Linda

Artsy Fartsy

One of many pieces of driftwood on the shore

driftwood, some pieces over 60 feet long

Lake Crescent

Rebirth of a tree

Back to Lake Crescent! This was later in the day with a drizzle of rain coming in. We were protected by the canopy of tree branches that extended almost to the water's edge. I was fascinated by the huge trunks of driftwood, and the sign that was posted on the beach. "Driftwood can be dangerous". Really?

But obviously driftwood can also nurture and return life. Note the sapling growing up out of the tree trunk in the last photo. Love it.

Linda