Weather (or not)

We have had a very cool summer this year. It has been very unusual to have the clouds remain so late in the season. The local ski resort, 45 minutes from here, just closed for the season! This is the latest it has ever stayed open. As I sit here on my misty mountain, watching the clouds roll by, I am reminded of how quickly the weather can change. Not much happens out my windows except for the weather. And sometimes, that can be quite dramatic.

This was taken one very early Fall morning. I don't usually wake up early enough to see the sun rise, but on this particular morning, I was glad I did.

In late summer, the moon sometimes rises just as the sun is setting. I remember watching this moon rise all alone, as Hubby was travelling. He called me soon after to tell me to watch the moon rise, as he had also seen it come up from Spokane. It was nice to know we were both watching at the same time. Even though he was not with me, we shared the same thing.

In the Spring we are always treated to beautiful rainbows. The position of the sun as it is setting through the narrow river valley creates this beautiful play of light.

This is a late summer sunset. The snow is melted off the foothills and part of Mt. Rainier. The mountain creates it's own weather and sometimes forms swirly cloud formations that drift away. You can see one of them off to the left, high in the sky.

Here is a large swirled cloud formation. This is a little later in the season, you can see some snow on the foothills now and the leaves are gone off the trees.

This is a mid summer sunrise. I have taken it from the ground below my deck. I have no idea why I was awake and out on the ground that early! Probably calling a cat!

In late summer we sometimes get thunder storms. You can see this large thunder cloud forming right over Mt. Rainier which is partially hidden by the massive cloud. I wouldn't want to be on the Mountain during that storm!

I call this the 'Hole in the Sky'. It was late morning in mid January and the clouds were rapidly coming in from the right. (South West) But the Mountain's atmosphere must have created this vortex and the clouds just swirled around it. It was amazing and I have only seen this happen once.

Another winter Sunrise. You can see the Mountain has a little cap of clouds.

So even though nothing much happens besides the weather around here, I can truly say that is alright by me.



A Summer Walk-About

 Purple Foxglove

After a very drizzly weekend, we are getting a little break in the weather. But the forecast is for more of the same this week. I can't remember a colder and wetter summer except the one when my Daughter, H, was turning 14. That was 20 years ago! I can't even believe I am old enough to say I remember something that long ago when my daughter was that old! Does that make sense? Time has a way of catching up to you.

Anyway, she was turning 14, and had planned her birthday party at this beautiful little lake nearby. All of her Junior High friends would be there and we planned on having a day of swimming, picnicking and roasting a few weenies and marshmallows.

But the day turned out to be cold and misty and the party ended early with shivering friends and purple lips.

And we all remembered it as the 'coldest summer ever'.

But today is semi-sunny and I took a little Summer Walk-About this morning. I plan on going out again later to do some work out in the 'underbrush'. Because you see, this year I have given up on trying to keep things orderly. The wet weather has created rampant growth and I can't keep up. So I am going to work on the only place I have been working on all summer, the tall grass invading my back shrub bed. Pulling blades of grass is no fun. But it has to be done. These are blades of grass on steroids, growing 7 feet tall, so they are easy to find. I have pulled them 5 times already this year. I feel like maybe I am starting to win!

This is the view of the house from my parking area. This side of the house is where my living room looks out from. The 'girl's room', turned sewing room is upstairs. It gets morning sunshine.

These blue hydrangeas are growing just past the chimney along side the stairs to my deck. The very snowy winter took a toll on all of my hydrangea's this year and I lost several. But these are sheltered and doing fine.

These little pots of red Impatiens are on a shelf below the living room window. They are tucked in behind the large lilac bush and manage to bloom despite the cool and wet. They like shade but can take some morning sun. I can see them from inside and they are very cheery. You can see how mossy the pots are and that speaks of how wet it has been.

Hubby just clipped all the ivy and ground cover along the walkway leading to the parking area. At this time of year, it is nearly a weekly job.  At the bottom of the stairs, it turns to the right and leads to the front door. He and my youngest Son, 'D' installed the walkway a few years ago. Before that, it was gravel encased with timbers.

If you travel past the front door, there is another gate that leads out onto the front lawn on the left, or this wooded glen to the right. It sits on a little knoll, higher than the ground in front of the house. It is full of Cedar and Hemlock and nothing will grow except an ancient Huckleberry and a few ferns.

This is where my daughter 'J's play house is (the red building). She had many, many wonderful hours playing with her dolls here. After she grew up, we converted it to a heated dog house and recently Hubby fenced it in to create a kennel when we got Whitey. You can see the 'new' dog house facing us. I still need to give it some paint. This is where we put the dogs when we have guests. Otherwise, they get too excited and jump all over everyone. Whitey was able to jump the picket fence keeping the dogs out of the living area, so we had to install the kennel. He hates it in there, but my big dog, Little Bear, has claimed it as hers and sleeps very contentedly inside the large house, which is piled with cedar shavings. We only use the kennel sparingly, as they think they are being punished! So we keep the gate open until we have guests. You can barely make out the black wire 4 foot fencing.

Whitey Bear is peeking out of the bottom of the frame.

From there you can cross the worn gravel driveway and up another little knoll to Hubby's work shop. This is the side of the building as you would see it coming down the driveway. I have hung 4 hanging baskets of flowers that I potted up in the spring and the wild looking garden is full of Tansy, Daisies (not blooming yet), Wildflowers, Columbine (already done blooming) and Sweet William, which are just now coming into full bloom.

I have two patches of them, one against the shed and one growing along the woods behind. The Sweet William actually started growing from a packet of wildflower seed I had strewn down by the house years and years ago. I had to move them, as we were building the deck, and so I put them up here where they have flourished and spread. They must be at least 20 years old. The last few years I have saved seed and planted them anywhere I had scratched up some bare earth. They are incredibly care free and easy to grow and come in such a variety of colors and pinwheel stripes. I recommend that you seek them out and grow your own.

They are biennials, blooming the second year. They like sun, but can take some shade. Let the seed drop and you will always have more.

These are called 'Indian Plum'. The birds love them and disperse the seed, so they are growing everywhere. In the Spring they bloom with white clusters of fairy like flowers that are very pungent!

These are 'Red Elderberry'. They are not edible to humans. These also grow everywhere as graceful, arching 20 foot trees with clusters of white pungent flowers in the Spring. The birds also love these. But this year, they are very late in blooming. Normally they would be already eaten by all the nesting birds.

But just this week, I have noticed that the birds have stopped singing. This means they are done nesting and have dispersed. Only the resident birds remain, the overwintering birds. The rest have formed little flocks and although some do stay around for another couple of months, they are not tied to their nests as before.

The berries remain uneaten. But not for long. The little flocks will discover them and in just a couple of weeks they will be gone.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed taking this little Walk-About with me. We will do it again, soon. 

Angels Among Us

'Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the Angels'

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 'Evangeline'

Lately I have been thinking about Angels. I am sure it has something to do with my Mother passing away. Towards the end of her life, she too, became fascinated with Angels and had started a little collection of them to surround herself with.

'The Guardian Angels of life fly so high as to be beyond our sight, but they are always looking down upon us'

Jean Paul Richter

I have always been fascinated with the idea of Angels, also. Humanity as a whole has entertained the idea through-out history. Great works of art have been created depicting these ephemeral winged beings.

'I saw the Angel in the marble and carved until I set him free'

Michelangelo

I know that in my own life, I have had experiences that give the idea of Angels some merit. And maybe it is just the 'ideals' of Angels that give these experiences their value.

'Every man contemplates an Angel in his future self'

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I was a young bride,  I took my dog Jasmine, for a walk. We had just moved to the area in a far away state from where I grew up, and I didn't know it well. Across the street was a large open field, with railroad tracks running along one side, and a highway along the other. I chose to follow the tracks and curiously decided to explore the other side of a bridge. As I started to walk under this bridge with my dog off his leash, a voice that was not my own thoughts, spoke to me. I was told that 'curiosity killed the cat'.

I dismissed this as an irrational thought and kept on walking. As soon as I reached the other side, a man appeared from a small wooded area, rapidly walking right for me with a malicious smile and said, 'Where did you come from?'

I again heard the voice. It told me to 'Swing the chain'. You see, I had a doubled up dog chain in my hand, the leash that I let my dog free from. I started swinging it rapidly back and forth in front of me. The man stopped. The dog started barking. This gave me time to run. I escaped.

'If trouble hearing Angels song with thine ears, try listening with thy heart'

Terri Giullemets

Sometimes people are inspired to behave in Angelic ways. I am sure that you have all encountered these types of wonderful souls.

When I was in 6th grade, my family moved to another town. I had to attend a new school. The only friend I had was my little neighbor, and she was in a grade below me. I was extremely shy as a child and the thought of starting over and leaving all of my friends behind was very hard on me.

But the first day of my new school, I sat beside this Angelic boy. His name was Arthur. He immediately took me under his wing. He carried my books, he sat with me at lunch, he even lifted my chair to put onto the desk at the end of the day and lifted it down each morning. He gave me new confidence. I had a friend.

But after Christmas Vacation, Arthur was not in his usual seat beside me. For days I waited for him to return. Then the teacher announced one morning that Arthur had died. He had an asthma attack. My only friend was gone.

But his presence remained, his cheerful and happy face, the idea that he was so glad to see me every day gave me confidence that I was a worthy friend. I did go on to make new friends, but it was Arthur's kindness and faith in me that allowed me to shine.

'The wings of Angels are often found on the backs of the least likely people'

Eric Honeycutt

Sometimes people that you know act in Angelic ways that are unexpected. When I was 4 years old, we lived in an old Victorian Home that had been converted to two apartments. We lived in the apartment upstairs. The one downstairs was occupied by an elderly woman. When I played outside, she was always in her window, admonishing me to behave myself and noticing everything I did. Even though I was only 4, I remember not liking this woman very much.

But one day, I was out playing by the side of the house with the water hose. My Mother had given me a lollipop. I was busy in my play and kept the pop in my mouth. And then, the candy top separated from the stick and it got lodged in my throat. I was unable to breathe. I tried to call for my Mother, but nothing came out! The next think I knew, this elderly lady was patting my back furiously, and out flew the pop, dislodged from my throat. This wonderful lady had saved my life!

After that day we became very close and she would come out and play with me sometimes. She was my Angel in disguise. I would not be here today if not for her.

'We are each of us Angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another'

Luciano de Crescenzo

Every day we each have a choice.

'Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have done this have entertained Angels without realizing it'

Hebrews 13:2

So whether or not you believe in Angels, or the idea of Angels, you can still try to live your life with Angelic Ideals. Sometimes all it takes is a simple act of kindness.

'Every time you hear a bell ring, it means that some Angel's just got his wings'

From the movie, 'It's a Wonderful Life'

Movies about Angels

'City of Angels'- Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage

Family Movies about Angels:

'The Preacher's Wife' - Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston

'Angels in the Outfield' - Danny Glover, Tony Danza, Christopher Lloyd

'Heaven Can Wait' - Warren Beatty and Julie Christie

'The Heavenly Kid' (this is 1980's vintage with unknown actors, geeky, but good)

'It's a Wonderful Life' - James Stewart and Donna Reed

Family Television series about Angels:

'Highway to Heaven' (1984-1989)

'Touched by an Angel' (1994-2003)

Kitchen Dreams and Painted Cupboards

 

I am sitting here in my kitchen contemplating the steady drizzle outside my windows and thinking about this room where so much of my life takes place. This is a room that has seen and heard many things. Warm family gatherings, Holiday meals, homework studies, craft projects, serious discussions. This room is the heart of the home. This is where all hopes and dreams start out. All problems get solved here. This is where I serve up comfort.

This is not a 'designer' kitchen. The only semblance of 'granite' that I have is the 'granite ware' rim on my old kitchen queen. Most every piece in this kitchen is free standing and has a history.

 This kitchen queen was found in an old barn a few miles from here at a 'barn sale', years ago. It was in pretty rough shape, stripped of it's paint and needing some repair. We actually bought it as a gift to my Mom. Hubby fixed it up, replaced the knobs, and we gave it to her 'as is'. It has seen many a paint job, the last one being purple with flowers (It being the 80's). But when my Mom finally got her 'dream kitchen' it was relegated to the barn once more. That was when I claimed it back and gave it new life, painting it 'Honey Cream'.

 

You can see that it sits at the end of my long kitchen table. In the corner, beside the refrigerator sits my 'pantry'. This was an old tool closet taken from a shed and sold for $25 at a yard sale. It also was in pretty rough shape, dirty and badly in need of paint. But I saw the potential. It is made of thick sturdy planks with deep shelves. I painted the inside 'Robin's Egg Blue' and for years it was called the 'Rose Cupboard' because I had painted big roses all over it. But recently I wanted a new look and gave it a coat of creamy yellow paint, followed by brush strokes of blue and then antiqued with umber (brown glaze). I gave it a quick stencilling of an olive branch to complete my artwork.

 

Beyond the refrigerator is my kitchen sink and counter. This is still a work in progress. We recently replaced the old cabinets and kitchen sink. I bought a new dishwasher and a nice deep porcelain sink and I tiled the counter with slate tile. But we still need to add cabinets above. I am tired of the cluttered look of open shelving. But right now other projects are in the works and I have to wait.

As you can see there is a lot going on here. I can't wait for new cabinets! But for now, I keep my collection of blue pottery on display. I am in love with the color turquoise. I collect any and all dishes in that color. My favorite are 'Franciscan Ware'. The bread box is vintage with a glass knob.

At the other end of the kitchen is my vintage 1962 stove. No ordinary stove would do for me! This is an all original and everything still works! The oven is on the right side and the rest are all storage. I keep my pans inside the two bottom drawers and the left side pull out bin. Hubby and I searched the want ads for weeks and found this one in a little cottage in Seattle. A single gal lived there and she had no one to help us move it, so Hubby and I moved it ourselves! I really don't know how we did it. Hubby is a genius when it comes to things like that. A hand truck and some pieces of carpeting to slide it were all we had.

My son 'G' made the spice shelf above in Junior High. Eventually I want a wall of cabinets there and the spice rack will go upstairs in my sewing room to house spools of thread.

I have a little alcove in my kitchen with a sliding door that opens out to the deck. On one wall sits my tall hutch. This hutch came from a little rental cottage in the middle of a cherry orchard, where Hubby and I lived in Oregon. We had our first two children living there. But that is another story I promise to share with you another time. When we moved, the owner said he was going to sell this piece, so we bought it for $100. It was hand made by someone named 'Bruce' in 1964. His name and the date are carved in the back. It is made of several kinds of wood, thick pine on the drawers and counter and birds-eye maple framing the top cabinet doors. Originally they were glass, but were broken in a move, so I made fabric panels.

The bottom cabinet doors and framing were plywood, so I painted them and added two decoupaged posters. I tried to paint the wood to match the posters. That was the inspiration for my pantry cupboard, also.

This daybed is from the 1920's and pulls out to make a full sized bed! But it is not very comfortable! It sits on the opposite side of the alcove and gets beautiful sunshine in the morning. It handles the overflow of seating in my kitchen and serves as a landing place for purses, coats and gifts. I change the artwork above it every season. I found this ocean scene in a thrift shop and repainted the frame. I thought the colors went together well.

When you look up in the alcove, you can see the skylight and the hand painted glass on the light fixture. Hubby bought this light for me as an anniversary gift one year. Even during the day when it is off, the light from the skylight shines through the glass, illuminating the scene of wildflowers.

This is my view as I sit here looking out. Sometimes when it is sunny, I will bring my coffee out to the little table and rest a while.

As I think about the history of my kitchen, I am reminded of the many wonderful memories I have of the family and friends and conversations that have graced my table. My kitchen is quiet for the most part these days, as my children are grown and my parents are not here, the rest of my relatives far away or busy with their lives. But Hubby and I still sit around the kitchen table, still with our dreams of the future, or reminisces of the past. I still have a busy kitchen on holidays and birthdays, and visits from friends and family. But there are more quiet times these days. Time for me to think about all that we have shared as we planned our lives together, raising our children, building our home, dreaming our dreams.

I know my kitchen will once again be full of activity as my family grows with grandchildren, new family members, and new friends.

And even though my kitchen is not the designer kitchen of my dreams, it is still

The Heart of the Home.

Painted Cupboard

I finally finished painting one of the cupboards that I inherited from my sweet Mother. She had two of them in her little country living room, side by side, and I have them both. Although they looked perfect the way they were, I wanted a different look. So I thought I would paint them.

They are very heavy and solid and it took strained backs on our part (Hubby and I) to haul one of them in from the shed. We put it into the open area of my bedroom for the transformation.

I chose these colors. I had already painted my little guest bathroom the darker color and had lots of paint left over. I will paint both cupboards the same in case I want to put them together in the future. These colors will go beautifully in any area of my home. They are Dutch Boy 'Dimensions' Satin Latex in 'Lake Cottage' (the darker color), and 'At Peace'.

But first I had to paint on a primer. I used a Latex Primer. Because it was unpainted wood with what looked like a light pecan stain finish, I didn't want that to come through my beautiful paint. I have painted furniture in the past and not used a primer and regretted that decision, as eventually, the old finish seeps through and changes the color.

From there I painted on the darker color first. Once that dried, I started to add the lighter color, but in very light strokes, leaving the darker color to show through. I went with the grain of the wood as I painted this second coat on. I wanted to give it the look of bleached paint, as if I found this cupboard sitting out behind a shed in the Tuscan countryside. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

As you can see, the two top shelves have already received this second coat.

Here is a closer view.

The paint dried very quickly and darkened as it dried.

Here is the finished cupboard in the little hallway between the kitchen and my laundry room area, down the hall to the right. I painted the walls a sunny yellow, as it is a dark hallway with no windows except at the end in my laundry room.

I am using this cupboard to store my cookbook collection in the bottom and extra serving pieces on the open shelves, along with my favorite cookbooks on display.

And of course, the Seaside Tray that I made, using my Dear Mother's watercolor picture. A fitting tribute.

Thank you, Mom. I Love and Miss you.

I hope this inspires you to do a little transforming of your own. Painting is an inexpensive and easy way of changing the whole look of any piece of furniture and giving it your own personal touch.