This and that.......

I am listening to The Story podcast and cleaning up a cluttered desktop of files from things that I have been doing- along with production on the August issue of Young at Heart. I love the diversity of my job, especially writing stories or taking my photos and weaving them around an article on road tripping in the area. This month I wrote an article about going to Crater Lake, researching it was interesting and informative and I got to reminisce about a funny camping trip at Crater lake a few summers back with Dave and the dogs, and yes that would be Maggie and BuBu.
This past months' issue on the river enabled me to use my Applegate picture that I posted a while back, on the cover.
Been uploading some books that I have collected at garage sales and thriftshops and selling them on Amazon, its an easy process, and I have been doing it since I broke my wrist in 06 and started selling off my CD collection of three hundred plus cds, now all in my iTunes library and occupying a fraction of the space.
At times there are no photos of the book and this was the case of one I was posting called Grace and Favour, so i took a picture of the beautiful inside picture of the Duchess and added it, Amazon makes this very easy too. Also posted - a very cool art catalogue from a Lichtenstein ceramics show that is an out of print item i bought for 50 and is selling for nearly a hundred dollars used on Amazon.
I'm also getting together digital photos of the art I did quite a few years ago, this is a drawing I did on the Avocado farm in Escondido after hitchhiking cross country in 1977, after my camera broke, but thats another blog post or maybe a to be continued...
Stay tuned, stay cool in this heat.
Thanks for reading, i think.

The Chetco ahead...

Triple digits have crept into the valley and while we are barely cracking the 100 mark, areas of the southwest are in the 108-110 range, the mere thought makes me wilt. Its fortunate we cool down at night here and the saving grace is a window fan and closing up the house in the day, the brick house is also a bonus, keeping the place cool through the late afternoon when during these heatwaves around 5, I have to breakdown and hit the AC button.
Finally got paid from last months issue and starting the August Young at Heart today.
Today Julie lands back in Oregon, for a friends wedding. We haven't seen her since she left in 2001 and it was at a farewell dinner at her house that Dave and I met. We are looking forward to meeting her and Dwight at the coast in a few days. They have rented a cabin at Loebs for two nights and we are pitching a tent on the Chetco, just down the road. Oh boy, sun and fun ahead.
This past week, a too short visit and BBQ with Paul and Jamie and friends, Ruthie returned from a week in San Francisco and today we headed to Jacksonville, one of the sweetest towns in the area, to lunch and afterwards connect with a line sitter for a Britt concert on Thursday night. We took a drive up on Sterling Creek Road, one of my favorite roads with sweeping vistas (see photo above) and suprisingly, we ended up in Ruch, completely the opposite direction I expected to pop out in. Following a garage sale sign we landed at the home of Misty Stone were we spent at least an hour chatting and delightfully discovering she is an amazing illustrator. She showed us their private swimming hole on the Applegate River, and invited us back anytime to swim. Incredibly beautiful, Ruthie took this picture with her iPhone.
We all exchanged cards and hope to connect with her artistically in the near future. All in all a delightful day, and now I better start pulling out the camping gear, I'm so excited about meeting up with old friends and sharing a special place.

July 4th

The weathers been hot and sunny and after wrapping the July issue of the paper last Friday, I spent some time in and on the river, a necessity when its triple digits in Southern Oregon. Dave inflated my little kayak thats been packed away for a summer or two, and repaired another inflatable bought a few summers back that needed some TLC. Saturday and Sunday we went by Joans and Bills stretch of the Applegate with Ruthie, who is up for the summer. The July 4th holiday weekend was a delight, made a pie, scored some tiles at a garage sale to finish the kitchen backsplash, shopped the Growers Market, picked rasberries at Daves, paddled around in the Applegate and grilled salmon and zucchini.
I have been really enjoying the CREATIVE TECH online classes I have been taking for the past 7 weeks, InDesign, Illustrator and soon Flash is coming up. Even though I have been using these programs for years, the tricks and tips alone are worth the time and I'm learning new ways to use old tools. Its such a reason to upgrade to CS4 as well, since that is the Creative Suite version they are covering each week.
I just downloaded an animation software 30 day trial called Lightbox 3d I'm about to check out and see how it can be applied to the Mokie redo planned for his 10 year anniversary.
Company coming tomorrow, Martina and Dylan, looking forward to seeing some dear friends and the weather is cooling off significantly which makes it all the better.

Summertime!

Last weekend we took a road trip up to Applegate lake instead of the coast as planned and explored a piece of paradise close to the California border.
Its finally settling into some warm weather and I'm analyzing the pattern I moan about in the winter as I enjoy the benefits of the brick house I hate for 6 months and love the rest of the year. This time of the year I love sleeping with the windows open and hearing the birds calling to each other in the morning. The day closes with crickets cricketing and the sight of bats circling overhead fading out to a starry sky that is a canopy of twinkling diamonds.
When winter rolls around I'm scratching my head why I am still here in the miserable grey weather that is the Pacific Northwest, but in the summer its a love affair.
The picture above is worth a thousand words.

The Applegate River

After a morning shift at the hospital yesterday, I spent a few hours raking and blowing leaves while Dave worked up on the roof clearing the gutters, it was so warm and sunny and beautiful for a change. Its been days since I have been off the computer and outside for more than a half hour, what a wonderful change of pace and workout for the body and soul. I love this time of the year.
I've been working on a landing page for Skodes Horse Treats, setting up the type design, integrating it with her new artwork and emailing the files off to a new html gal I am just starting to work with.
Posting this breathtaking picture of the Applegate River that Dave took the other day on the way up Joans' driveway.

The Rainbowbama

Todays photo op represents the kind of day and attitude I felt infused with. A new business plan, a new president, and five minutes of sunshine all contributed.
I worked on 3 design projects until late in the afternoon when Dave and I headed to Wilderville to mail off some packages. Already in the neck of the woods I dropped by Joans to leave some greens for her guinea pigs, pet few barnyard animals and pick up some fresh eggs.
On the way home as we passed the Old Mint Farm, and in the five minute pocket of sun, there it was, a brilliant rainbow dropping into an Obama sign on their gate. Clearly a divine sign that there are better days ahead, and the heavens are smiling.