Merry Christmas!
All is Calm
Not much going on in my little world right now. Let’s enjoy some photos.
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SIMPLY HOME
SEQUOIAS IN WINTER is sold, but is still hanging at CACHE, 125 South B Street, Exeter, California. Fridays 10-4, Saturdays 11-4, Sundays noon-4. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, IS THE LAST DAY TO SEE THIS SHOW.
A Drive on the Mineral King Road
There was an overcast day in Three Rivers this week. Maybe more than one, but we are only concerned with one of them for purposes of this post. We drove up the Mineral King road, as far as the Conifer gate. (That’s the upper gate, which is below Atwell.
Now the gate locks are consistently secured, we got a little sunshine, and you are up-to-date (but only as far as Conifer.)
Some Yardening, Some Walking, Some Drawing
(And I made cookies that morning too.)
TODAY OUR POWER WILL BE OUT FOR THE BULK OF THE DAY, SO IF YOU ORDER A CALENDAR, EMAIL ME, OR COMMENT ON THIS POST, YOU WON’T BE GETTING A RESPONSE UNTIL THE EVENING OR TOMORROW.
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YARDENING
I decided to dig the sweet potatoes that have been growing for around 6-8 months, if you count the time I started them In the kitchen window last spring. One sent its roots outside of the gopher basket, and of course that’s exactly where my shovel went. I put my wizened aged hand in the second photo so you can see how big they got. Last year they were about the size of my thumb, so I determined if this year wasn’t a decent crop, I wouldn’t bother again. “Decent”? That’s pretty subjective, considering this is the produce of about 10 plants. (Thank a farmer, if you know one. Without them, we’d be pretty hungry.)
Someone was watching from above.
My paperwhites bloom in December. Three Rivers doesn’t experience very much winter weather.
WALKING IN THREE RIVERS
Such a beautiful day required a walk. This sycamore is magnificent! A friend told me it had the largest leaves she’d ever seen on a sycamore; we figured out that she only sees the ones that grow in town, not the natives which are old and have lived by a source of water for decades (centuries??)
DRAWING IN PENCIL
Finally, I got myself into the studio to inch ahead on this very challenging commissioned pencil drawing. That “vending machine” was potentially going to keep me awake at night if I didn’t get it figured out. It may not be recognizable to a fireman, but that’s as “right” as it is going to be. (The paper is white; it looks gray because I used the phone under low light conditions to take this photo.)
I worked a bit harder on the two little boys, size, location, and shapes. Ditto for the sunflowers. I don’t know Kansas wildflowers, but I know that the state wildflower is a sunflower. If I can fake a vending machine on the side of a firetruck, I should be able to handle sunflowers. (No, it’s not a vending machine; that’s how it appeared to my ignorant self.)
SIMPLY HOME
The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.
Eleven Things Learned In November
Today’s post is so long that I’m not showing you a piece from Simply Home*, my show in Exeter at CACHE. But first, an advertisement:
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- Amor Towles in Table for Two, a book of short stories, had a line that caused me to think, and talk to other friends my age: “After the age of sixty-five one wishes to travel less, eat less, own less.” Maybe point one and point three, but I’m not sold on point two.
2. My How to Draw presentation at CACHE was great fun. 22 people, one hour, lots of talk, one exercise. People really enjoyed themselves while learning and spending an entire hour without a screen in hand. Prolly ought to start charging. . . (I mean charging money, not charging devices).
3. I’ve spent the last month working on my website—learned to back it up, to “purge all caching” in order to correct behind the scenes mistakes that occur when developers change things, to show all the art for sale instead of just showing 9 pieces. Some expert said I have too much data and need to rebuild the entire site and to pay for more storage and that it can’t be backed up properly because of the excess data. I think that is what she said; it was hard to understand her.
4. I read an article on 9 brain challenges by Mike Donghia, a blogger at This Evergreen Home. The list includes things like travel without GPS, memorize important facts, strike up conversations with strangers, use your non-dominant hand, and shop without a list. I do these things! I couldn’t find the list on his site: I read it in The Epoch Times.
5. Did you know that there is no mail service or delivery in the Dominican Republic? Good thing they have the internet so I can text my friend there. We had to make plans for our coffee date, something we do for a catch-up session whenever she comes home.
6. I relearned how much I enjoy the town of Exeter. I loved having my studio there in the building owned by my friend Seldon Kempton. We worked together on the mural team, and it was just a joy to be downtown surrounded by can-do people. It’s been good to be working at home too, to be off the road. . . a big fat car wreck caused me to rethink studio space in Exeter in 2001 and then build my studio at home.
7. “Pulchritudinous” means physical beauty. What a goofy word! Might be hard to remember.
8. Trader Joe’s balsamic vinegar comes in this sweet little bottle that is just right for giving a tiny bouquet of flowers or for rooting basil. I love that balsamic vinegar, and whenever I am in a town that has a TJ’s, I buy several. Been feeling confident about the wise nutritional habit of using vinegar to fight against glucose spikes, but then. . . I FEEL SO BETRAYED AND STUPID! Why? BECAUSE THEY ADD SUGAR TO THEIR BALSAMIC VINEGAR!! Of all the nerve—balsamic vinegar is naturally sweet and some people just say it IS sugar (to which I respond SO WHAT? IT’S VINEGAR!) But now I am thinking that stupid Trader Joe’s, Betrayer Joe’s, can just stay out of Tulare County! We fat diabetic ignorant poor folks don’t need you adding to our sugar problem. Do you hear me, TJ’s?!!
9. Ghost Town Living by Brent Underwood is an excellent memoir, which is my favorite genre of book. I highly recommend it. A friend recommended it to me, and I got it from the library.
10. Tim Cotton Writes is one of the best blogs on my short list. He recently wrote “Unhappiness Has No Permanent Address”, in his inimitable style of folksy wisdom. I highly recommend reading his work.
11. Did you know that the word “shortening” comes from the fact that when you add fat to flour, it shortens the gluten strands? Gluten is what makes dough stretchy, so when you knead it for bread it develops those strands. If you are making pie crust, you don’t want to make it stretchy and tough; hence, you add shortening (and don’t overhandle it). (Learned from The Frugal Girl).
*The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.
Shhhh. . . going quiet
I’m going quiet for a little while. Nothing to worry about, just ready for a break. I’ll be back.
No image from Simply Home today, just a few final photos of fall in Three Rivers. (Check CACHE‘s website for hours, and visit the show if you are so inclined, because the paintings ALWAYS look better in person.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Walking in Three Rivers in Autumn
Another set of days without the internet sent us on a walk in the middle of the day. When virtual life isn’t accessible, try real life.
The star of autumn in Three Rivers is the Chinese pistache tree.
Excuse me? This is indeed a peculiar sight.
The Remoria*l Building has tremendous Chinese pistache trees.
This is the largest flowering pear tree I know of. It is the first to bloom (usually mid February) and the last to turn in the fall. There are a couple of tiny hints of red near where the big cable emerges on the right.
Rumor has it that this former playground for children will become a playground for grown-ups. (You can’t see in this photo, but the sparkly thing I hung on the gate last week is still present.)
I commented to Trail Guy that the abundance of acorns is rather remarkable this year. He said, “Oh yeah? You ought to look behind our work shop!”
So, I did.
We hear them hitting the metal roof and rolling down at night.
Finally, here is the largest buckeye tree I know of. It turned bronze in late June, or maybe early July. These native trees run on a different schedule.
Simply Home
*Remorial is how our neighbor taught us to say “Memorial” when she was 9.
Walking in Three Rivers
Walking isn’t as easy as it used to be. I walk shorter distances more slowly than I used to, wearing Crocs instead of these shoes, which I now have listed on eBay.
Until the time change, my friend and I walked in the dark. Sometimes it felt adventuresome, as if we were getting away with something. On the days when her schedule isn’t tight, we still go 4-5 miles, although that’s nothing compared to when we trained together for a 1/2-marathon. Still, we are happy that we can walk and can do so in places without traffic, traffic lights, or sidewalks.
One day recently, Trail Guy and I poked along our street where he pointed out a peculiar sight on our neighbor’s lot.
I found a small sparkly on the ground, which I ended up securing to the fence of the former day care at the Presbyterian Church.
While admiring the view from the Catholic church, I wondered what the bright red was in the distance. It most likely is a truly spectacularly bright tree. We weren’t so fortunate when we chose our own Chinese Pistache trees, nor when they created volunteers on our lot.
I’ve always admired this barn across the highway, and being November, I also admired some red trees in the distance.
Walking more slowly and going shorter distances does increase one’s awareness of the surroundings. That is a good trait for an artist to cultivate.
P.S. Yeppers, two churches in our neighborhood, neither one “ours”.
SIMPLY HOME
CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.
Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. It is full.
Learned in October
- While at the plein air retreat, one morning I sat at Eric Rhoads’ table. He told us of a science experiment where 2 identical plants were watered with different water: one with tap water and the other with microwaved water (cooled down first). Within a week or two, the microwave-watered plant died. DIED!! For the umpteenth time, I am so glad I don’t own a microwave.
- OBVIOUSLY, I learned a ton about plein air painting. But since most of my readers are non-artists, I won’t bore you with those things. . .
- . . .except for one thing about painting: I learned that I do much better when painting plein air alone. No one was critical, no one was rushing me, but when it was just me, alone with my own transportation and own schedule, I enjoyed the process more.
- I learned that French easels are the cheap-o version of a mobile easel for brand new painters who don’t know diddly-squat about what they need. Occasionally an experienced painter will use one; fortunately I discovered one of those guys to give my easel to instead of seeking a trash can big enough to accommodate the thing.
- Apple sells a thing called an AirTag that you attach to stuff that you tend to lose, and then when you have lost the thing, it beeps or something. Maybe it gives you an address where it was last seen. Pretty clever, but I would look funny with it hanging off my reading glasses.
- My favorite blog, The Frugal Girl, recently featured me in a Meet a Reader post. The Frugal Girl is the only place besides my own blog where I am active online. Took me a few years to consent to participate in the meet-a-reader, so I had a lot of time to decide what to include and what to omit. It was fun to interact with everyone who commented.
- A friend and former neighbor sent me a link to an article about Three Rivers: msn (whatever that is). It seems to have been written by someone who hasn’t been to our town in about 30 years.
Simply Home
CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.
ONE MORE THING: Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited.
Learned in September
Because I ran off to Fall Color Week on September 29 – October 6, there was no Learned in September list. After spending an intensive week learning about plein air painting, I couldn’t remember a thing about September. Fortunately, I had already started a list.
September
- If you schedule a meeting with someone, perhaps someone at a company to help one choose the best Medicare plan, it is assumed you will be using a cell phone. If you give a landline number because perhaps your cell service is spotty, they will be perplexed as how to help you. It certainly would be helpful if such businesses would say that a cell phone is necessary before one goes to all the trouble to schedule an appointment. (The meeting got cancelled before I learned how the landline would be handled.)
- There is a method of healthy* eating called Zoe, a way to learn how to eat for your optimal “gut health, blood sugar, and blood fat”. The website has all sorts of information except it doesn’t tell the price. Nope, you have to “start the quiz” first in order to “choose your plan”. Does that make anyone else nervous? *Who even knows what “healthy” means anymore??
- There is too much in the world right now: too many websites, too many opinions, too many podcasts, too many books to read, too much art to see, too many friends to stay current with, too many patterns to knit, too many yarns to try. I cannot keep up, and don’t want to. FOMO is real, but I will NOT cave in to it. (This is not new information, but I feel it strongly right now.)
- I read this quote on a site called The Boring Newsletter—Frequently Taxed Questions: “Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.” -Ellen Goodman. I don’t know who Ellen Goodman is, but she is right and I am very thankful to be abnormal.
- Boring Warning — if you ever need to remove hidden tags on a Word document, there is no way to do them all at once if you have a Mac. Why would anyone need to remove hidden tags? Because Word’s indexing is in combat with Adobe InDesign’s book formatting. They hate each other. They might both hate Mac too. It’s a rough world out there in Puterville.
- Mineral King Country, a book by Henry Brown published in 1988, finally landed in my life. I was aware of it but didn’t have a copy. I recently acquired one (thank you, DJ) and read the foreword, preface, and introduction. This book covers Mineral King history between the mining era and the Disney days.
- Cerakote cleans foggy car headlights in 3 steps. It is wonderful stuff! Costs about $17 if you are interested. My friend found it at WalMart and I found more on the big A, of course.
A few repeat photos of Mineral King in September
Simply Home
CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.