Pet Peeve

I was reading a few of the comments from some of the newsletters I got in email today. For crying out loud, didn't anyone learn to spell when they were in school???? I see alot all over the net. Hey People!!!! ALOT IS NOT A WORD!!!!! I learned this in the 6th grade, way back in 1964. It only exists in your mind, not in the official book of the English Language, otherwise known as a dictionary!

It drives me nuts when I see this. To me, it shows that these people have no respect for the language they speak or write and poor schooling/learning on their part. OH! And there's another one...THEIR - THERE - THEY'RE or YOUR - YOU'RE. Has the educational system completely failed ALL of our kids? It's a sad state of affairs when you start to lose your language or even worse (and NOT worst) lose it to laziness.

I love our language. I'm not a teacher or writer, but an avid reader. I have gone places, seen things and even learned new and ancient words from all that I've read. Every bit of it written with proper spelling, punctuation and sentence structure. Don't just read a book, learn from it.

Remember: I before E except after C.

Thank you for listening, you may now return to your scheduled programming.

Rain Rain Rain

It was a mostly rainy day today. Again. It seems we (the Pacific Northwest) are the only cool place in the continental U.S. That's OK by me. I don't like the heat and get very cranky when it gets over 85 degrees. At least the rain and cool temps are keeping the fire season down to nil and the moss is greening up again. We'll see how the rest of the summer goes. The heat dome is supposed to be moving east this week and may bring the warmth back up to us. Perhaps we will have summer after all. :)

My lupine and a lot of the foxglove plants have fallen over because of the rain hitting them. They were really looking nice and I didn't get any pictures before they fell over. RATS! But...the Himalayan Balsalm is doing fine and growing quite well. They might bloom out if we can get a bit of sun this week. I don't have any current pics of the Balsalm but do from last year.






It is also called Policeman's Helmet because the shape of the flower looks like a London Bobbie's helmet. These plants, if watered weekly, can get up to 6 - 7 feet tall. They are a very easy plant to raise and also easily reseed themselves. Some people here in Oregon call them an invasive species. If you keep up with pulling out the ones you don't want in your garden, I think they will do all right. Also, the slugs don't like them! Bonus!!

Pen and Paper

Been having more fun while things are downloading. Here are just a couple of Z'oodles/Zentangles that I've completed in the last few weeks.




Doing these are contemplative, relaxing and sparks my creativity. What I love the most is, I can't draw, but I can Zentangle!

Sunday Night Quotes

Sunday Night Quotes is my way of helping to start out the week with an inspirational, humorous or thoughtful quote. If you have a favorite quote, please let us know and put it in the comments.

Solitude

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. ~Voltaire

Typical Oregon Day

It was mostly overcast all day, in the low to mid 60's with a light breeze playing in the trees. We had about .25" of rain last night and early this morning. I love listening to the rain falling on the leaves as I'm dozing in bed in the morning. It makes my soul smile.

The rest of the day was much like the morning. Quiet, not much going on and comfortable. Received a few packages from my shopping at OLA and Amazon. Got a very interesting book called, The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti. Everything about the book is great except the print and font. The Amazon reviews were not too complimentary about this subject either. The material is well thought out, but it certainly is hard to read. Good lighting is a must for this book.

I think I may have to explain something about the length of my days and why my posts are not posted on the day they should be. I consider this my Saturday post, even though it is early Sunday morning. I like to work in Vampire Mode and usually don't hit the sheets until sometime after 2 or 3 a.m. I don't consider my day over until I go to bed, so my posts are late by "normal" standards.

Now...I did miss two days this week. Wednesday, I spent watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and didn't go to bed until 1:30 a.m. I had to go to bed early because I had a picnic with my art group on Thursday. I also missed Thursday, due to that picnic. I ended up, at the end of the day, driving over 150 miles to and from the picnic, so I was tired and forgot to post. Go here PAC to see pics of the beautiful place we invaded for our picnic. (Thank You, Jenny!!!) Wonderful company, great food and fun swap!!!

While I'm typing all this, I'm also listening to Coast to Coast radio, tonight with Ian Punnett. The guest tonight is Jeremy Wade of River Monsters on Animal Planet. Very interesting, even for a non-fisher person. Off I go to listen to the rest of the show.

Friday Night Spotlight at OLA

Tonight I would like to introduce you to yogibear66 and kornkountrytreasures. Both of these sellers are very active members of OnlineAuction.com. Each of them have some really cool items up for sell. If you see something you like, make a bid or buy it out right, before someone else gets it.

yogibear66 has choosen a very pretty piece of jewelry to highlight this Friday. Here is her Vintage Goldette Silver Cameo Three Strand Necklace .

kornkountrytreasures sent this link to a very unusual piece of enamelware. Check it out here Vintage Jones Irrigator. This would be a good collector item for anyone interested in enamelware or vintage medical equipment.

We thank you for looking and check back every Friday for new and interesting items from OLA!!

A Very Good Day

Not much going on today. Run some errands, pick up the truck after getting oil change and lube job. Getting rained on. Yep, it was another dark, wet day. I loved it. There were the occasional sun breaks between the showers. All thanks to La Nina.

Today was a lucky day, though. While out, my right palm started itching, very bad. When I got home and checked in on my auction store, I had bids on 7 weeks of my Challenge earrings! Yeah! I Love it when that happens! They will be heading out to Iowa on Friday.



This is one of the weeks that sold today. See what you missed?

Woke up way too early this morning. Anything before 9 a.m. is too early!!! But I was up and out feeding the birds by 8:30. However, I was awakened around 7:30 by a dream I can't remember now. It seemed to be interesting, just wish I could remember it.

Now, you say, that these times aren't early. Well, I usually don't hit the sheets earlier than 1 or 2 a.m. After 10 p.m., I'm working on my computer by answering email, organizing my shops at Cafepress and OLA or tweeking pictures for the shops. I listen to Coast to Coast with George Noory all the while I'm on the computer. I am woman, hear me roar...I can multi-task! :)

So this is why my posts always are later at night. My day ends late and starts later. And, like today, if I don't get all my sleep, it makes for a loooooong day. (Thank goodness for the backspace button or you wouldn't be able to read this post. I get sloppy when I'm tired, too.)

Here is a bit of woodsy coolness for those in the heat ravaged areas of the country. The Oxalis is taking back a bare and ugly area in our little bit of woods. Green is not only a color, it's also a smell. And this smells good!! :)

Sunday Quotes

“Every step we take towards making the State the caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our master.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

A Great Summer Day

It was a beautiful summer day here in northern Oregon. The skies were clear with a few light, wispy clouds floating by. Breezy and in the mid-60's, it was the perfect day to sit outside and read or play with the dog. I did both. :)

The moles are wrecking the yard with their mounds. It looks like a miniature mound building society lives here. *GRRRR* As much as it would make me happy to sit and wait to shoot the little buggers as they tunnel past, I'd rather find something quicker. I'm thinking mole traps. Anyone have any experience with those?

Still working on the garage. This will probably end up being a summer long project. At least, it will keep me busy a few hours each day. ;)

Friday Night Spotlight at OLA

As you know, I have a store at OnlineAuction.com. {Check out my earrings and other beady things.} When I'm done with my email and working on other computer stuff, I like to go and surf the stores and do online window shopping.

I've gotten some very nice vintage jewerly, ceramics and glass objects. Also, my rooster/chicken collection has grown since I started with OLA. ;)



Tonight I visited jenbana88's store to see what she had up for sale. Wow! There is a TON of stuff! Even if you don't need anything, go check it out just for fun.

Today started out cool (49 degrees at 8:15 a.m.) and overcast and ended with a clear, sunny ski in the high 50's. Still cool for July, but things are supposed to heat up a bit for the weekend.

Thursday, of course

Ran errands, early afternoon, through the misty rain and 15 degree cooler weather. Today is the official start of the Sandy Mountain Festival with the parade going down "main" street at about 5 or 6 p.m. It totally messes up the traffic coming and going up the mountain. Glad I got to stay closer to home. Went down to the neighbors for a very yummy dinner and conversation. It was too cold to sit outside on the patio, so inside we went and while eating got to see the birds flying around and settling in for the night out in the big fir trees. Lovely!

Added some new pictures and products to my Cafepress Shop tonight. Still have to tweek things, but got the bones of the sections up. I want to get some more of the wildflowers added and will probably do that tomorrow night or this weekend. Here is one of the photos:



These foxgloves were so pretty last year and I have quite a few more this year. Also, there are a lot more white ones this year. They are so pretty, deadly, but pretty.

Working on the Garage

Been cleaning out the garage a bit, for the last couple of days, so we can put in our "wood" for next winter. This month, Coastal Farm and Ranch is having a sale on wood pellets, $199/ton. So, we wanted to have about 5 tons in by the end of this month. After last winter, I want to make sure I have enough to get us through the worst of it before we need to get more.

The nice part of having a pellet stove is that the "wood" can be stacked up in the garage and there is not chopping, splitting, filling the wood shed and all the mess with regular wood is gone. Even when I'm sick, I can fill the stove and it will run for 8 hours on a fill up.

Of course, all love affairs have a dark side, too. The fan can be very noisy and the dust and fly ash are a pain to keep from covering everything. Cleaning out the stove is not too bad, but one can get rather tired of it.

Well....back to the garage. Since I started on it, I will have to finish up. There is a huge pile of stuff that I have to go through. Some from my friend, Sherrie and some from my mom. Then I can start thinning my art supplies and actually uncover my workshop. Yes! I might even get some artwork done this summer! 8] That would be nice.

Foxgloves

With the last few days warm and sunny, all the wildflowers are beginning to blossom out. Here are a few pics I took of this years crop.



Just puttered around today and read my new issue of Bead And Button magazine. Lots of cool stuff in this one. So...I went in and made another pair of earrings. I had left over bits and pieces from my challenge, so I put together this pair of turquoise colored brass and glass.

Happy Independence Day!

Today was a day of reflection and home time. I don't like big crowds any more, so stayed home and listened to all the neighbor's fireworks going off. (This year, the weather has been cooler and wetter so fear of blazing fires is nil.) The dog slept through everything and the cat doesn't seem fazed by any of it. That's good. I wonder how many flyers are going to be up tomorrow for missing animals.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July festivities. Even with all our troubles, we are still the greatest nation on this planet.

Clean Clothes and Lupines

Yesterday, my darling hubby put up my new clothesline. It's an umbrella type, like my mom used to have when we lived in California. Not as practical here when the rainy season lasts about 9 months. However, I wanted to hang out my laundry, when we did have sun, and get that great outdoor smell in fresh dried shirts and sheets.

I had a single line clothesline about 20 years ago, but that didn't last too long. That was when we had horses, and every time they ran through the pasture, all the dust they stirred up blew towards the clean laundry. This does not make a happy mommy, so back to the dryer until yesterday! The horses have been gone for quite some time now and there is grass in the pasture instead of dirt, so I thought it was about time to change things up. Lucky for me, I still had all my clothespins, but they are the smaller size and I think I need to go shopping for the bigger, more hefty ones. I hope they still make them.

While waiting for the wash to get done, I took a walk with the cat this morning. The wild flowers are blooming and I have one lupine plant out behind the shop. (It showed up last year and I'm hoping it will spread in the coming years.) So, got out the camera and tripod. Here are a few pics of the plant from today.

45 Years Ago...

...was the first full day I spent in Oregon. My family had moved up to Eugene from Northern California to get a new start. It rained that first Independence Day and all of our clothes, except for a few suitcases, were still on the moving van which wasn't going to get to our house for a few more days. We almost froze to death and the rain put our sparklers out. I hated it. I hated being here for two more years until we took a trip back to our little town and it was ugly. The hills were brown, it was HOT and dry and I had a sore throat all through that visit. We got home and my whole attitude changed. After all this time, like a true Oregonian, I've grown webs between my toes and moss behind my ears. ;) I'm a mountain girl and love it here.

A view from the back door on a late fall morning

I'M DONE! ! ! ! !

A full year of earrings is in the jewelry box, so to speak, and I'm very pleased with myself that I was able to complete this challenge. Yeah! Here is the last pair of earrings I made for the Earrings 365 Challenge.



I hand hammered 18ga copper wire flat, put a hole in one end, wired Swarovski marguerites and copper spacers together and put it all together. I got the idea from the June/July issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry. On the last page, Terrie Allen has easy instructions for a pair of beautiful silver and crystal earrings. I decided to use copper instead because it looks better with the greens in the marguerites.

Now, off for another Challenge and this one is just starting with this blog post. Yes, I'm going to try to get a blog post a day for the next year. I won't be able to make every day, sometimes I'll be out of town or I might get sick again (I hope not), but I'll try my best and make up the lost ones.

I think one of the other challenges I have to make for myself is to finish the BJP pages from 2008. I only have 3 1/2 to go. It's just finding where I put them that's going to be the big problem. 8\

Week 52 !

I have only 4 MORE days to go!!! Yeah!

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do for the next year long challenge. I'll let you know. If anyone has a suggestion, please leave a comment and I will consider it. Thanks! :)

Week 51

These earrings are very cool. I was looking for natural beads for a commissioned necklace I'm making and came across these. They are Mahogany seed pods and I love them! They are very light and I flanked them with wooden beads, vintage sequins and gold plated spacers. You can find the strangest things when you're looking for something else.