. . . is now finished! (although still wet and shiny in these photos)
Now, will the old shutter be stout enough to support a hanging wire? More will be revealed in the fullness of time.
Better in Person
I know, I keep going on and on about this giant circle of lemons. But if you could only see it in person. . .!
I vacuumed the studio, rearranged things to lessen the working clutter and make it look more like a gallery and showroom (as much as an 11×14′ former shed can). Then I set up the easel and covered the painting.
We laughed together about the unveiling, and the first thing after, “I love it!” was “It DOES look better in person!”
They brought their specially made frame, and it was PERFECT.
P.S. We look better in person too. Thank you for your concern.
End of Summer
Why is Labor Day the end of summer? Because school used to start the day after Labor Day, that’s why.
Now, it is just the bookend to Memorial Day. Doesn’t seem to warrant a flag or a grateful patriotic message.
But you all deserve something because I feel grateful to all of you who read my blog and appreciate my labors.
How about a few views from the Farewell Gap trail minus the sore feet and huffy-puffiness?
May your labors not be too laborious.
Thank you for reading my blog!
7 Things I Learned in August
- “Anon” means soon, shortly, presently. A friend said to me, “See you anon”, and I said, “What does that mean? Never mind, I can figure it out, but never heard it before. Is it French or Latin?” She didn’t know, so I looked it up in the cabin dictionary (from 1936) and learned it is English. Who knew?? It doesn’t seem to be related to “anonymous” in any way other than appearance.
- Techno-wizardry in perfect harmony – listen to this song with your best speakers. I sent the link to an acquaintance who told me he doesn’t feel proud to live in the USA right now. I did not want to hear his answer of why that is. But his response made me sad, and my hope is that if you feel sad, this beautiful song will lift your spirits. God Bless The USA
- After 33 years, is it unreasonable to expect my washing machine to keep working? I looked up the problem on DuckDuckGo (rather than asking The Google, I ask the Duck) and found out there is something called a lid switch. A replacement doesn’t exist, but a Q-tip dipped in white vinegar can clean it back to working condition. Phew – avoided having to go shopping and make a decision.
- Isn’t it interesting how you can “know” someone for 30+ years but not know them? I made a new friend in August, and it was such a privilege. (Yes, a distant shot, because we respect people’s privacy here, “we” being the Royal We, since it is only me, myself and I.)
- Some people believe that wearing masks is helpful, some believe it is harmful. Is anything easy to figure out anymore?? I am doing my best to make drawing lessons happen again for my students, but it is tricky business to be able to group people together in classes where Maskers and Non-maskers can work together. I am thankful for a large workshop room in an accommodating gallery along with understanding and gracious students.
- Trail Guy and I got 2 census forms. We filled out one and tossed the other. Now it has become our problem to slog through the bureaucracy, notifying them that we have indeed complied with the census. Maybe we should have just gotten counted twice and avoided all the hassle that THEY created. (And we are supposed to trust THEM to do mail-in balloting? I feel tired.)
- On my trip to the Central Coast with a lifelong friend, we drove by the weird house in Cambria called Nitt Witt Ridge. What a mess – a historical landmark that cannot be lived in (no water meter any more) nor turned into a place of revenue (wrong zoning). It is privately owned, and the owner took us on a tour. He calls it the “anti Hearst Castle”. Indeed. Fascinating, and truly a peculiar sight.
Did you learn anything new and interesting in August?
Smoky Sierra
Of course I am discussing Mineral King here, but “Sierra” sounds better with “smoky”.
In a walk along the road, I saw something that can only be described as trust. Some hikers completely trusted the public when they left their belongings unsecured by their car. It is heartwarming to see this in our current era of highly uncivilized behavior.
I was tempted to park my patoot here and simply knit all weekend. You know, smoke and all.
What got me moving was actually two things: 1. Summer is winding down and I haven’t hiked much. 2. A long time acquaintance asked me to hike with her someplace she had never been. We discussed the Franklin/Farewell trail and also White Chief, and I described each trail and destinations as thoroughly and fairly as possible, leaving the decision up to her.
But first, we had to stop by the Honeymoon Cabin so I could show you the newly refurbished sign. I don’t know why it is also called the “Point Cabin” – can’t see the point there (but can see the smoke.)
Since we were at the base of the White Chief trail, the decision was easy. Besides, Trail Guy was also heading that way (at a much faster pace), and he took a photo of us together where the trail breaks into the lower canyon. My friend (because over the course of 2.5 miles of walking together we had become friends for sure) was blown away by the beauty of White Chief and stunned that in all her years of coming to Mineral King, she hadn’t been there. 
It was a pleasure and privilege to share this place with her, and as an added bonus, my favorite flowers Explorer’s Gentian were in bloom. (Do you have your copy of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names yet?)
The light on the way back down the trail was weird and orange. Nothing quite like a natural smoke filter to distort the colors. 
It was well worth hiking in the smoky hazy dirty air to make a new friend, see the Explorer’s Gentian, be in White Chief, and revisit the joys of hiking.
Not Scared
Did I scare you with that rough painting of a rough cabin on a rough shutter?
These deer weren’t scared.
Let’s soothe your fears with some giant Sequoia trees.
Well, oops, it might have scared you to see them lying sideways. Let’s try it again while they are hanging up to dry.
I’m feeling so proud of this that my head might pop. That’s a scary thought.
Pippin’s not scared. He feels very safe behind the chimney next to the window near my chair. He scared Tucker away from that spot so his selfish little self could have it.
That Old Shutter
There were lots of cute suggestions for what to do with that old shutter.
Being the Central California Artist, I decided to simply use it for a painting.
Because it obviously came from an old cabin, I decided to paint a cabin on it.
Because I try to be businesslike, I decided to paint the most popular cabin* from the most popular place** on it.
That is one rough surface. Who thought this was a good idea, anyway?? Lots of layering ahead to get this up to snuff, whatever that weird little saying means.
*The most popular cabin I paint is the Honeymoon Cabin.
**The most popular place I write about is Mineral King.
P.S. The blue is tape, and the white is primer where it overlaps the tape.
Three Rivers Post Office
When it was time to mail the cabin drawing to the customer, I packaged it. Trail Guy came out to the studio to offer his delivery services, and I was delighted to not have to interrupt my work with a trip to the Post Office. Yes, I know it is only 3-4 miles away, but in the summers, my work days are limited because I keep going to Mineral King instead of keeping my feet planted in front of the easels. So, I value my work time and appreciate not having to do my own errands.
Trail Guy returned from the Post Office with the receipt and an explanation of why it cost $18 to send a piece of paper to San Diego – had to buy a box, pay for insurance, etc. And “piece of paper” isn’t meant to discount the value of an original pencil drawing, but essentially, to the post office, it was a highly insured piece of paper packaged carefully in an overpriced box.
He turned toward the counter in the painting workshop, picked up a taped-together bundle of cardboard and said, “What is this?”
Ahem. That would be the drawing that I thought he had just mailed.
When I got back up off the floor from laughing, I emailed my customer to tell her to expect a box of cardboard, minus her drawing before actually receiving the drawing.
Later that afternoon, I went to the Post Office with the actual drawing. The clerk retrieved the box from the back, we opened it, inserted the drawing, and she taped it back up. No new packaging, no new payments. It was in time to go out with that day’s mail.
I LOVE THE POST OFFICE IN THREE RIVERS!!
Pencil Drawing of a Cabin
“Cabin Art” or “Cabinart”* began with pencil drawings of cabins. It it a treat to be able to draw cabins when those jobs come in.
Someone saw a copy of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia and asked if I could draw her parents’ cabin, working from emailed photographs.
You betcha!
I showed it to you a bit earlier while in progress. I gave it my best effort to work from the customer’s photos and a sketch, and then sent her a scan of the almost finished drawing to her. She asked if I could add something that didn’t really show in the photos, a procedure that is almost always dicey. Since she communicated clearly throughout the project, I was willing to try.
Got it!
We talked about possibly having cards made in the future, so she paid the fee to do the digitization. Now you get to see what it looks like before and after getting digitally prepared. Something about scanning a drawing picks up every little anything that appears in and on the paper. Can you see the difference?
*It puzzles me that as a Typo-psycho, I never figured out how the name of my business should be spelled.
Smoky Weekend
While up the hill, I repainted signs for 3 cabins. That counts as work, yes? Here is one of the befores (it was too smoky to care about photographing it afterward – how is that for an excuse?)
I took my baby pumpkin plants up the hill to babysit them. Here they are when we first arrived:
Here they are 4 days later: If they had been left at home, they would have shriveled and croaked, unless a deer ate them first.
We took one short walk. Look – a car with a man-bun.
Parking is at a premium and some people let their car stick out in the already precariously narrow road. People don’t know that by August, the car part eating marmot activity has ceased. Maybe they just feel safer wearing masks.
It was a thrill to be in the green.
Trail Guy said, “Hey Farmer, why are the aspen leaves sticky?” I think the answer was something that meant bug excrement. Trail Guy dropped the leaf and marched onward.
This is a peculiar sight. A smooth boulder is encased in the rough rocks. We didn’t go closer to investigate because this is the time of meat bees/hornets, very aggressively defending their nests in the ground. I do my best to avoid Hornet Holes in the ground.
On Sunday, the air was truly terrible.
It got worse as we headed down the hill.
And in case you are wondering, at the time of these photos, there were no wildfires in Central California. The smoky conditions demonstrate how the pollution travels to the Central Valley. We tend to have terrible air here and get penalized for it, in spite of it being generated by Northern California cities. Those folks love to blame the farmers. Hope they don’t do so with their mouths full.