Greetings

It finally is starting to feel like spring. What a looooong dreary winter! But now the sun is shining, birds are chirping and flowers blooming. It has been an education for me to learn about the trees, plants and flowers and to realize that they don't look the same all year long, as in Florida. First there are the cherry, pear and plum trees, snow lilies, heather, daffodils, tulips, bluebells and hyacinths. Then the apple trees, Japanese maples, azaleas, rhododendrons, irises, day lilies and lilacs. After that the dahlias, mock orange, gladiolas, lavender, wisteria and dogwoods. Each seems to have its own season. I have had to learn about bulb plants - when to thin out, how to store, how deep to plant, when they bloom - and the most hardy ones. If plants aren't perennials or evergreens, I don't want them!! I'm not into planting an entirely new flower garden every year.

We've been on a first name basis with the owner of the large nursery nearby. He even recognizes my voice - "oh, you're the one with the grass problem..... the question about the Irish moss ...... the dead ornamental grasses.......the bacterial infection in the lilacs..........". It has been a challenge learning about the effects of nature and specific causes. In fact, Ronn and I even have our own personal joke about it. The answers we get are interesting:
Our dead golf course sod in the meditation garden?? "It's all that warm and wet weather".
What about all the new grass seed we planted?? "We just need some consistent warm and rainy days for it to sprout" (wait - I'm confused!).
Our dead ornamental grasses forming the border of the garden?? "It's all that cold weather - they'll come back (not a chance)"
And our favorite reason for plant failures (and inside joke)- "It's just all that crazy weather we've been having":)
That pretty much includes everything. We're not even sure what the typical weather is around here.
Our inside-outside cat, Red, has been a bit frustrated lately with all the rain. He is the greatest "observer" I know - and when he is outdoors he patrols the inside fence line of our lawn, checking out everything. But his favorite observation is watching the activity in the lake, while sitting on/in my flower garden.



We have a little nutria (about 15 inches from head to tail) who has been living in the lake since we arrived and (we discovered) has a home under the pond bank outside our back yard. He swims just submerged in the water, with his head and nose just breaking through, creating a distinct V shape in the water. Every morning he leaves his home and swims across the lake, and comes back in the evening. Ronn says, "There he is again, going to work...... coming home from work". In the evening he spends some quality time chewing off the tall grasses growing in the lake and bringing them back, a big chunk of grass in his mouth, to his home. We don't know if they're dinner or his living room carpet. Of course they could be nesting material - I saw a second one last weekend. I don't have any pictures, unfortunately. I stood at the fence line one day and observed him, and when he noticed me, he dived under the water and didn't appear again for days!! Such a timid soul.

Speaking of weather, we went to Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, in late April, for a touch drawing (expressive art) workshop. Of course this meant taking the ferry, which is an enjoyable 25 minute ride with lots of sightseeing:




The workshop was absolutely great and well attended. I have lots of picture projects now!! Ronn, Georgia and Dani went along to enjoy the weekend and beach (well, actually Dani, our elderly cat, went against her will because she needed to be medicated, but more on that later). We stayed in a private cottage on the island,






and the owners' Golden Retriever, Wally, made fast friends with us and Georgia. He waited outside our front door for us to appear - actually I think that was for the Ritz crackers I gave him and not really for us.




What a beautiful area!



The Pacific coast is very different from the Gulf coast but I love them both. Out here, think of crisp cool ocean air, beautiful flowers growing everywhere, thick spicy seafood chowder and hot berry pie, small artist shops with homemade soaps, pottery, gift cards, etc. And of course homemade fudge and pastries!! And of course the wildlife. No alligators here and very few snakes. Here are a few of the local inhabitants.




The beach sand is tan, not white, and even though pets are welcome (you can even see horses being ridden alongside the water's edge), the sand is still clean (hello - Sarasota!). There are large stands of driftwood - we even saw some tree trunks on the island beach - and loads of empty clam shells. And it is always windy. One of the most useful items of clothing is a hooded thick and long sweater.

Some friends of ours recently opened a little "cultivator store" in Clatskanie filled with organic produce, cheeses, chocolates, etc. and unique gifts. They have a lunch counter with wonderful homemade soups and weekly wine and coffee tastings. What a breath of fresh air in this very sleepy town! We hope it is a success. This would be a perfect place - on the way to the coast - for little unique shops if the locals were only motivated (did I say un-energetic?) .

We've been having visits lately from elk and deer again. The elk are pretty reclusive and we're not quite as excited about them after we became aware that they can be pretty destructive - not necessarily intentionally, but if a fence is in the way, they may just walk through it. The deer are more relaxed about our proximity. They like to graze along our driveway entrance or in the fields. Here a couple finally looked in my direction to determine what that camera shuttle noise was:



Ronn is now basketball commissioner for the State Games of Oregon, which take place in July, so he is quite busy. He's trying to get the Portland Trail Blazers involved as well. At that same time, I will be going north again to Whidbey Island for a week long Touch Drawing retreat. I have been busy lately with pet portraits and jewelry classes. Here are some portraits with a few of the original photos:

Mickey and Buddy





Elvis





Sebastian



Lily



I have also been doing some work with charcoal on pastel mat board. Here is my latest:

Monica and Sophia



My first jewelry class was a success, and the attendees were very excited. They didn't want me to take their pictures but let me get some photos of the necklaces. This is one of them":




In late March we learned that our 17 year old cat, Dani, had a malignant growth in her mouth, and required extensive oral (mouth and jaw) surgery. She has been dealing with some complications from surgery that require lots of TLC, but she is a wonderful cat and is handling things very well. Animals really are role models for us when it comes to medical conditions - they are so great about adjusting to their situation.



Signing off for now:

Is Winter Done?

Yesterday we had beautiful weather for this time of year - about a month earlier than usual. It was breezy, the cloudless sky was a vibrant jewel-toned blue, and the temperatures reached above 60 degrees. This morning it was in the high twenties again!! We are very pleased to be leaving the winter this past year. Unlike the first winter we were here, which was breathtaking as well as a bit dangerous, this winter was boring, grey, cold and damp. We are all too happy to see the beginnings of spring. My bulb flowers are rising above the ground's surface, developing buds and beginning to bloom. It is a pleasant surprise as I watch them - last year friends and family gave me bulbs when they thinned out their flower beds, and I really don't remember what or where I planted them.
I hope all our southern friends didn't freeze in your uncharacteristically cold weather.



Georgia is now nearly midway through her recuperation period after her leg surgery. It has been 4 weeks and she needs another 2 weeks before she can go on walks or outside unassisted. So until then we're using a sling to go down steps and a leash for going outside. She is doing very well, though, and adjusting as much as possible to "no running, jumping or playing" (hard to tell that to a Golden Retriever who does figure eights when she is happy). Sometimes it is pretty difficult for her not to break into a happy run. Here she is with her new toy that her aunt gave her:



I am excited that I now have two showrooms for displays of my jewelry and pet portraits. By request, I fashioned a "memory jewelry" line of bracelets and necklaces which contain the pet's name or initials in silver or gold initial beads. Here is a sample for one of the displays:








I also completed some new portraits. These are of a kitty who lived with an animal communicator in California. The cat lived until 25 years of age and helped her owner with the creation of flower essence formulas, among other things.





Ronn has spent the winter shooting baskets in the barn, working on becoming a free throw master. He is serious, because the barn temperatures have rarely been above 40 degrees. Even dressed like a snowman and wearing gloves, he's been out there perfecting his shot every day. Ronn has also been working at doing remote healing. He has been ordained as a minister of the Universal Life Church, a non-religious, deist order supporting all beliefs and practices.

He is a founding member of the NBSA - National Basketball Shooters Association - which will launch this spring with hopes they will grow into an international entity. Some of the best free throw shooters in the world are in this with him.
http://www.nbsafreethrows.org/

Ronn shooting at a practice tournament in Los Angeles in January. He want s to try for a Guinness World Record shooting with alternating hands.






One final note: the deer and elk are back. I now understand that the locals' attitude toward the elk is not the unrestricted joy we felt the first season. It looks like we may have given up some plants in the meditation garden to them, but at least the fences are still standing!! The deer are another story - we are always happy to see them. They have not been as apparent this year, but here is one brave soul who chose to stick around for a while recently:








Well, I guess he didn't like the photo shoot!!