And another month bites the dust

I’ve been working like a mad woman to get another set of dish towels woven in the two weeks before the guild’s holiday show this coming Saturday.


It’s the other things that get in the way.  The art center was a flurry of activities Tuesday evening during my volunteer shift, in preparation for the big fundraiser Friday night.  Ana has set-making experience and turned two cardboard boxes into a fortune tellers booth.  I who do not have set-making experience spent the evening making pinwheels.

Alexis meanwhile worked on creating dumbbells for the strongman out of styrofoam balls and dowels.  The theme was Big Top Extravaganza and tied in with the current gallery exhibit of Dawn Emerson’s astonishingly beautiful circus prints.  I was picking up Melissa from the airport on Thursday and knew I’d have to miss it, but the excitement was palpable.

We ate lunch at Bethlynn’s Global Fusion and from there drove to Tumalo Falls, only 12 minutes from town.  I was trying to squeeze in as much as possible in her short three-day visit.

I suggested that Friday we see Despicable Me 3, McMenamin’s matinee movie.  She was game, loves the minions but we got there much too soon - the previous showing was still playing.  It was a beautiful day so we took a stroll through Drake Park on Mirror Pond which is aptly named for it’s gorgeous reflections of the huge willow trees along the banks.

McMenamin’s is a Portland-based company that buys historic properties for their brewpubs.  In Bend they bought the old St Francis school and created this small theater out of an old classroom.  The room next to it is a music venue.  We ordered lunch and settled down to watch.


Saturday was another beautiful autumn day, perfect for the High Desert Museum.  We didn’t realize it but Saturday night was the holiday party night for Bend businesses.  We were told that Deschutes Brewery sold 500 tickets for their party at the brewery.  The HDM was a flurry of activity, getting their Spirit of the West exhibit transformed into a spooky, haunted walk through time.

Sunday wasn’t quite as nice as Saturday.  The air was more brisk and clearly beginning to turn.  Nevertheless, there was evidence all over that a good time was had by all the night before.  I had watched the weather all week though and knew it would still be nice enough to walk around Bend and along the river, but first lunch at Wild Rose, our absolute favorite eatery in Bend.

Followed by a walk along the Deschutes River.  There was a definite nip in the air so the walk was much shorter than we had planned.

Melissa had been looking for a book bag everywhere we went but nothing we saw was sturdy enough for books.  We browsed through the cute shops and boutiques, planning to end our afternoon at Dudley’s bookstore, the cutest bookstore in the world.  It’s in an old brick two-story space downtown and advertises itself as a carefully curated collection of new and used books.  The last shop before we turned the corner for the bookstore had one lonely book bag, this one, and it was exactly what she had been looking for.  At $35, it was by far the cheapest.  It’s funny how that works.
Time for Dudley’s.  We took our time browsing and finally settled on a book each - Unbroken for Melissa and Hillbilly Elegy for me.  She ordered a glass of red wine and I ordered a beer, then we settled down on a sofa and read until we were satisfied.  Two of the things I had wanted to do, Dudley’s and Wild Rose, we managed to fit into a single day.  The World Series was on each evening and Ian, bless his heart, wanting us to have the best visit possible, took care of the evening meals except the one we ate out.
The last time Melissa and I got together was 3 1/ years ago, but we are lucky to live in the age of electronics where it’s easy to stay in touch.    It seemed like we had only seen each other the week before.  The temperature outside was 20 degrees when the cab came to pick her up for the airport at 4:30 in the morning.  Clearly we had a perfect window of time.

Road trip, part 2

The route from Rosburg, WA to Tacoma on Hwy 101 is much more scenic than I-5 and the drive was easy.  We were back to Rochelle’s house in plenty of time to pick up the cake and get to the skating rink.  The kids had the time of their lives - what a great idea for a family birthday.  As for me, I was glad it was only two hours.  I had already just celebrated my own birthday and was worn out, but the cake was great.

We piled into the car Sunday morning for a Quaker meeting, my first, in Olympia followed by breakfast in Steilacoom, the oldest incorporated town in Washington, established in 1854.  It’s right on the Puget Sound with the Olympic Penninsula in the distance.  It’s meant a lot to me to put places to names I’ve heard all my life.

I was eager to visit Fort Nisqually and compare their living history reinactment to ours at the High Desert Museum, however, Allison had just concluded an exhausting candlelit fundraiser, had just said goodbye to house guests and was looking forward to some downtime.  The next thing I knew we were all in the car, destination Point Defiance Park and the Fort.  I was so glad she changed her mind and came with us as her explanations were really insightful.

Fort Nisqually, named for a local tribe, is a stockade set in 1854 and completely different from the HDM’s Miller Ranch and Sawmill set in 1904 where we’re talking about the train and the Sears & Roebuck catalog.  Here the men married local Indian women called Metis which created a whole new culture of mixed-race descendants.  The women’s clothing is a blend of Indian and European. Like HDM the facility is only possible by dedicated volunteers.
All Hudson’s Bay facilities were on waterways to facilitate the movement of heavy bales of beaver pelts to the Eastern and European markets, so I was confused by the Fort’s location on a promontory.  But it was originally on the Sound, and in fact, the log structure on the right is one of two that were relocated.  When the property was purchased by DuPont, the stockade was recreated in Point Defiance Park, next to the zoo.

Monday morning Rochelle took us to Vashon Island, a place I’ve wanted to visit ever since reading Betty MacDonald’s book Onions in the Stew. (She’s better known for her children’s Miss Piggle Wiggle series.)  We hurried up to get near the front of the line and then visited while we waited.  The ferry is not a quick afterthought.  It runs every 40 minutes so if you miss it, it can completely throw off your day.

We walked down to the Point Robinson lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers Victorian buildings.  The five Campbell/Loans spent a picturebook week here this summer and want to plan a return visit with us next year.  I’m in!!

We wandered through shops, I bought another book and otherwise resisted temptation to buy because art is for sale everywhere.  Rochelle’s theory is that people create all through the dark winter months and then sell in the adorable shops all summer.
She took us to this quaint trail and the bike in the tree.  The story goes that a man laid his bike against the trunk of this tree and then was shipped off to the war.  The bike was forgotten and the tree grew around it.  There’s probably a less romantic true story but I like this one.  
We ate lunch at The Hardware Store in Vashon which earned all it’s stars and then it was time to line up again for the ferry.  It was a perfect day!

We were even treated to the appearance of Mt Rainer, another place I’m finally able to put a face to.  The colloquial expression is “the mountain came out.”  I didn’t notice it at first until later when I was asked if the mountain came out for us.  Well, yes she did!  Rochelle loves Tacoma and especially her northern location where can park her car for days on end. She walks to the grocery store, the library, her hair place and the elementary school where she picks up her grandkids after school. The two families live three blocks apart, close enough for convenience but not too close. What’s not to love?!

We packed in a lot in just a few days, so I’ll just say ate a lot, saw a lot and laughed a lot.  And we drank a lot of coffee (sign from the Raymond coffee shop.)

Birthday Week

Ian and I drove up to Tacoma last Tuesday, spent the night and left with his sister-in-law for Rosburg, Washington to celebrate my birthday with my sister-in-law.  It’s confusing because they’re both my sister-in-laws, but Rochelle was Ian’s brother’s wife and Georg was my brother’s wife.

They don’t get any fresher than this!  I drove to Raymond where we all ate fried oyster sandwiches (from Goosepoint) at the Pitchwood Alehouse which had just opened.  It was 11:05 and they were just lighting the fireplace to take the chill off when we stumbled in the door.  It was Ian’s turn to drive and there was no way we were going to drive by the plant and miss a chance at the freshest oysters available to have that evening on the half shell, knowing how much Georg loves oysters.

The next day was Thursday and my birthday, and I wanted to celebrate it in Astoria.  It’s almost four miles across the Columbia River and the restaurant we had wanted to eat at was closed.  Even better, a Mo’s had opened in July and was right on the river.

They seated us at a corner table where we could watch the ships and seals in the river.  I had pan blackened fish tacos and I know, I know, it’s a chain with a simply menu but I still love Mo’s.  Rochelle is behind me and Georg is straight across.

Ian suggested we drive home the “scenic” route and detour to the Port of Ilwako to get fish for dinner.

To my surprise there was a very cute independent bookstore on the harbor called Little Time Books.  It took me a day to realize the name is from the saying “so many books, so little time.”  Anyway, it was my birthday and I bought myself a present.  I’ve heard that I’m in for a literary treat.

We took Rochelle for a drive around the Grays Harbor area which included a historic marker for the point where Lewis and Clark found the river and discovered they weren’t at the ocean yet, hence the name “Cape Disappointment.”  This littlest island was at the end of Altoona Road and the river is so huge that it looks like an ocean!

Next stop, the Grays River covered bridge, the only functioning covered bridge in Washington.  According to the historical marker it was built by the Ahlsburg family who owned the property on both sides of the river.  They built a bridge so they could drive their cattle from one side to the other but it was too wet and mucky to be functional - so they covered it!  It’s maintained by a local interest group and the weekend prior had been the venue for a 4H fundraiser, with cloth-covered tables and chairs and a catered meal inside instead of cars.

This is the Grays River from Georg’s front yard.

I love this place!  Saturday morning we piled back in the car and headed back for the Loan/Campbell birthday celebration.  Rochelle’s daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren have birthdays within six weeks of each other so they rented the roller rink for two hours and invited all their friends.  Next stop Tacoma!

Road Trip!

Thursday afternoon I got a text from grandson Logan - “Hi Grandma, just wanted to let you know my race starts at 3:30 tomorrow at Drake Park.  It would be great if you could make it.”



And here he comes!



And there he goes!  It was not just a race but the Oxford Classic which pulls in high schools from the Valley as well as Central Oregon.  The weather was perfect.  It’s the first time I’ve been invited to one of his events by himself rather than his mom, so it was extra special to me.



And here he comes again!  The course goes through Drake Park twice and across the footbridge over Mirror Pond.  I’ve seen a lot of crosscounty races but none has a setting as gorgeous as this one.



Because it’s here in Bend, Bend High is the host team and as such, make all the awards by glueing together crazy things and spraying them gold.  The winners pick which one they want in a random fashion.  Bend Varsity won first place so this is the trophy they chose, and no, that’s not Logan.



I got a call from Denise at the frame shop that my frames were ready.  I get a discount if I assemble them myself so there are two firsts here - my first artwork hung outside of our house and my first time to put frames together.  Matt chose these pieces and was really happy with them.  Ego boost :-)



I finished weaving my dish towels this morning so turned my attention to some loose printmaking ends.  This print ended up with too much white so I took it to Pat Clark during open studio and she suggested I used watercolors to fill it in.  I just finished the green netting.



And then I sampled for a relative blue.  The theme for my weave study group this time is color theory and I can’t help notice how much I used this information in both weaving and printmaking.  For instance Tone and Shade.  I brought that bright blue into shape with a little bit of black.



And that’s all it took to finish this piece.  Mentally turn it counter-clockwise for the proper orientation.



That fix was so quick that I was able to spend some time on my next copper plate, but not too much.



Autumn is upon us with the beautiful turning of the leaves.  I pulled off the road and walked back to get this but all around us the trees are displaying spectacular colors.  It’s my favorite time of the year and I feel so lucky to have a birthday in October.



I spent the last of the afternoon reading on the deck.  It’s too cool and breezy to be comfortable in the yard but with the heat trapped by the house it was perfect.

My suitcase is packed and we’ll be on the road by 8:00 tomorrow morning, on our way to Tacoma.  This will be my first time to Tacoma even though my mother and brother were born and raised there.  I was born in Seattle and lived in Fairbanks until my parents moved to San Diego when I was three.  This will be my first birthday in Washington and I’m hoping to celebrate with fresh oysters.