Well, I've decided the operative word for Jan-Feb in the Pacific Northwest is.....MUD!
My dogs are wondering why I stick their feet in a bucket of water everytime we come back from a walk. Oh, another word is - CONFUSED - as in weather, and people. It seems the weather changes from day to day - from a sunny sweater weather to bitter cold to rain and then to snow. We woke up to a white world again today - just when the buds were out on the trees, ready to greet the spring.
Our meditation garden continues to be a work of love and progress. Here are some updated pictures - yes, there are still tags on the trees, so we can remember which ones they are!From this:
To this:
From this:
To this:
From this:
To this:
And this:
And this:
And this....
We had the serendipitous gift of a personal guided tour through the Japanese rock gardens by the director of grounds maintenance at the Portland Japanese gardens. We were so excited - she showed us the rakes they use in the granite, the patterns in the rock gardens, and the type of granite used (I thought they used white rock - or marble - but that isn't the case. They use a salt and pepper granite that looks like grey stones with black flecks, and in several different sizes). Her expertise was invaluable - right at the time we were ready to purchase the rock we needed (we would have gotten the wrong kind!!). She recommended some books on the subject, from creating a garden to raking it, making bamboo fences, etc. The rock gardens at the Portland Japanese Gardens take up to 37 hours to rake, and the gardens were initially planned in 1958! Well, maybe we don't have to get everything done, even in our very small scale, in the next 3 months:).
Ronn just finished building a house for the cats so they can get outside and still be protected. They would rather be completely free, but we're trying to convince them that this is the best alternative. As they sit inside looking forlornly at the dogs running in the yard, I am reminded of the comparison of dog and cat diaries, where the cat's diary starts with, "This is day 271 of my captivity.....", and "The dog has special privileges. They keep setting him free and he returns home. He is clearly demented....."
Their own private entrance....
Our red kitty has been ill but is doing well now. We adopted him from our drainage ditch in Sarasota a few months before we left. I think he was surprised that "going to the doctor" was as close as his own front door. He's not sure it's good to have a doctor for a mom - temperature taking, blood tests, fluids, medicines - all in the convenience of your own home! (Here he's playing chase the string - see it?)
It's official - we broke ground today for the meditation garden!
Okay, so it requires a lot of imagination at this stage, but it's a start. We have a footbridge and an arbor already and a gazebo is on its way, so soon it will look different. Stay tuned for more pictures as we attempt to recreate the picture in our minds. It will be finished in time for my FIRST GRIEF RECOVERY WORKSHOP, WHICH IS MAY 22-24, 2009!!!! More on that later....
I now have a new animal love - alpacas!! No, I haven't bought one - at least not yet since we have no time or energy to take on more responsibility. Oh, but they are gorgeous creatures with beautiful eyes (I completely forgot to take pictures when we visited the local alpaca farm), and the alpaca breeder says their temperaments are good as well. I actually went to the farm to purchase some wool for art projects, which I did:
These are examples of carded and raw wool from the alpacas. Very soft.
I don't know if my dogs would accept an alpaca in the pasture, but I can tell you, JD, the male dog, has decided pasture fencing is for big animals and not dogs! He has learned to slide under the barbed wire and race to the neighbors where he can interact with their dogs and chase their truck, and it just happens to be far enough away that he just "can't hear" us frantically calling him.
Doesn't he look innocent?
While we were visiting the alpacas, we caught some beautiful views of Mt. Rainier, in Washington. It's pretty unusual for us to get this view when we're so far away, so we were excited -
And speaking of nature pictures, we were pleased to discover a local spot called Beaver Falls. Great views!!
Okay, that last picture was of Ronn and my sister, and no, I wasn't trying to push them back over the edge!!!!
For you Baby Boomers, remember the song Age of Aquarius, from the musical Hair? It said,
When the moon is in the seventh house,
And Jupiter aligns with Mars,
Then peace will rule the planet,
And love will steer the stars.
Well, I'm told that astrologically will be happening when we celebrate this Valentine's Day, Feb 14, 2009. So it will be a special day. Who would have thought that when we sang the song 40 years ago?
Well, we are gradually working on the projects we had planned in moving here! We met with a landscaper who will be helping us to transform a 30x80 ft. portion of the property into a meditation garden. This was a goal of ours from the first time we looked at this place about a year and a half ago! We are excited to start - some of the plans include a gazebo, wood arbor, foot bridge, labyrinth, dry creek bed and Zen style white rock. We also found some great pieces of driftwood that can look great as natural benches. And I have my goals set on making a very large basket from the driftwood as well. We're going to add some plants (lavendar, rosemary, verbena, Dianthus, goldenrod) and trees (flowering dogwood, Japanese maple) - at least as much as we can afford! This area is a semicircle with a natural backdrop of blackberry bushes that are about 6 ft tall when not pushed down in the winter.
I have beginning pictures but it looks pretty sparse right now:
Another goal of ours is to complete web sites for each of my businesses - pet portraits, jewelry making and workshops/retreats. I am happy to say that the first two of these sites are up and running!!! Yeah!!! Now we're starting on the workshop site - which is timely since my first workshop is scheduled for May 22-24th. (It is open to anyone so if you want to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest in beautiful weather........).
You can access the websites by going to the main page, which is www.LightworksbyCJ.com
and then selecting which site you wish to visit.
I have completed some new jewelry pieces not yet on the site, so stay tuned! Here was a fun project - a car mirror decoration for a client:
Another very important pieces of news - we sold our Sarasota house! It's a bittersweet time, though - I loved the house and yard but didn't want to hang onto it after moving here, so we're happy it is sold. Hopefully the new owners will love and care for it (and the plants) so they stay happy:).
I haven't been doing much computer work since my neck is bothering me again and this aggravates it. I must say our weather has improved and some of the ducks and our heron are back in the pond again. We have a new type of duck this season as well - called a "bufflehead". Ever heard of it? The males and females have a tuft of feathers on the top of their heads, and the males have a vibrant white triangle on the side of the head. Very striking - and they get along with the mallards that are normally here. No pictures yet!
My animals continue to be a source of pleasure and amusement - here is Red sleeping on the basket containing (clean) slippers for people to wear when they enter the house. You can't see it but the sign says, "Please leave shoes here". Guess I'll need a new sign location - and a new sign!!
For those of you who asked, here is a recent picture of Ronn and me:
I'm not really a sports fan but I just heard Jennifer Hudson sing the Star Spangled Banner at the Superbowl. Wow! It brought tears to my eyes!! What a rendition. We do have an amazing country.
