Mooney Grove Tour I

This is a virtual tour. Enjoy it from the comfort of your easy chair. No viruses to be spread this way.

Mooney Grove Park is 100 acres of about 50 types of trees. The Valley Oaks (quercus lobata) make up about half of the tree population. The land was sold to Tulare County in 1909, with the agreement that only dead or dying Valley Oaks could be removed. Meanwhile, many new trees have been planted, a few of which I recognized, some that I learned about, some that surprised me, and all of which contributed to the specialness of this interesting and beautiful place.

It helped that I was working there during March, my second most favorite month. The grounds were green and many trees were in bloom.

Stop talking, Central Calif. artist, because we want to see some photos.

Okay. Photos. No more talk. Just pictures of a beautiful park in spring.

Any questions? To be continued Monday.

Old Calendars

In 2012 I made my first calendar. It was an experiment, because a calendar has a short time to sell, and when it is over, a business is stuck with unsellable inventory. The calendar sold well enough, 100 turned out to be the right number, and I have continued making calendars ever since.

When reviewing the calendars, it looks as if they are random. In fact, each calendar represents the previous year’s focus (or obsession). There are photos, paintings, and drawings.

2013 – I didn’t save a picture of either the front or the back, so I don’t know what it was about or what I named it. I ordered about 10 or 20 at a time because I didn’t know how well it would sell. (Obviously I didn’t know much that year.)

2014 Tulare County calendar
2014 – Back when I only had about 15,000 photos, I was able to go through and select 12 for this calendar without too much trouble. But what did the front look like?
2015’s calendar was my best oil paintings that were horizontal and of Tulare County subjects. I called it “Beautiful Tulare County”. Again I ask, “What did the front look like?”
2016’s calendar was pencil drawings of Tulare County (of course) cabins–Wilsonia, Mineral King, Camp Nelson. Why didn’t I save a picture of the backside??
2017 front – the calendar was a blend of drawings and paintings.
2017 calendar back “The Bridges of Tulare County”
2018 was Flowing Water, because in 2017 we had a most welcome wet winter and the flowing water was to be celebrated.
2019 – was very fun because I got to draw 11 new pictures and figure out ways to incorporate color.

2019 still has many of the original drawings available. Want any? None are framed. All are 11×14″ or 9×12″. You can make an offer. If it is too low, I will not take offense but might counter-offer. (Normally those sizes sell for $200-275 before tax).

What will the calendar for 2020 be?

Mineral King Wildflowers!

Of course it is about Mineral King wildflowers, my current obsession. It is in progress, so you will have to restrain yourselves until it is for sale.

This year it will be $15 if ordered by October 1, and $20 if ordered afterward.

Little Get-Away

What is going on? At the end of June, I hadn’t been to Mineral King, but I did visit Hume Lake. This has become a tradition with a friend of mine from childhood. (“Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other PLATINUM!)

This is the now historic dam that forms Hume Lake, built for harvesting timber, for the lumber industry, a vital piece of our world, and thankfully, a renewable resource.
There is a fantastic view of the high country of Kings Canyon National Park across the lake.
The wild azalea were in bloom while I was there. We don’t have those in Mineral King.
Hume Lake is perfectly smooth in the morning.

More tomorrow.

White Chief

Are you ready to see some Mineral King footage that isn’t a road report or a show/sale report? We had the pleasure of hiking to White Chief with Hiking Buddy and The Farmer on Sunday, July 1.

Someone moved White Chief farther away than last year. They also tilted the trail to a steeper angle. I hate that.

It was a perfect day for a hike.
The Languid Ladies/Sierra Bluebells were still thick, normally only seen in late May and early June.
The bitter cherry were thick.
Bitter cherry blossoms.
Spring Creek was roaring, and we were thankful the bridge had been installed.
This was one of the unknown blues in the Blue/Purple chapter of Mineral King Wildflowers.
One of the well-loved White Chief junipers.
Discreet Creek (who named it that?) was flowing steadily for a change.

Trail Guy and the Farmer were well ahead of Hiking Buddy and me.
Lots of water in the first level area of White Chief. My feet lasted about 15 seconds in it.

We love this place.
The pointed peak is Mineral Peak, AKA Sawtooth’s Shadow.

Watching Paint Dry

When I show paintings in progress on my blog, they don’t cause people to comment. Comments are fun for a blogger, show that people are reading and care enough to say something, and provide a way for a bit of interaction. When I talk about places I walk or hike and show photos, the comments come in more often.

Funny how that works – it is more enjoyable for my readers to see where I walk and what I see than to watch paint dry.

So, today there will be a little bit of drying paint, and a little bit of scenery.

2 in progress
3 drying

Since switching to Spectrum, there is no longer a telephone in the painting workshop (or in my studio, but that is a very long, annoying and boring tale). So maybe it is time to erase the phone #s on the chalkboard. But this is long and boring and annoying, and I’ve promised you other photos.

The top of Blossom Peak as seen from a friend’s driveway. I want to go there but don’t know a good route. Besides, I have waited a bit too long. The grasses are tall so they hide the footing, and the snakes might be out. Next January, perhaps?

The 2 left points of Blossom. It has 3 parts as you can see in the next photo.
Like the power lines? Phone lines? Whatevs, the point is to see the 3 points.
Looking upstream on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.
Looking downstream from the same bridge.
Just loving the green with the fiddlenecks and popcorn flowers.

That was just a regular Three Rivers walk on a popular road for walkers. A friend who lives below Blossom Peak had neck surgery and has to walk a certain distance each day in a flat place. She got tired of circling her house, so I brought her to a flat place near my house to get in her steps. The pace was much slower than my regular morning walks, the light was much brighter, and it made everything look even prettier than normal.

There. Aren’t you glad you made it through the paint drying session?

Mineral King in January

It might be springlike in Three Rivers in January, but it is winter in Mineral King. Trail Guy made a day trip up there to check out the snow and the cabins. The photos look almost like black and white; I’m into green more than into white so I went walking up Salt Creek that day.

From the top of Endurance Grade.
The classic view
Yea! Snow.

Spring in January

When we have had rain and the sun is out in January in Central California, it seems like spring. Sure, we think it is cold out, but compared to places with real winter, this is very springlike.

On a walk while visiting my friend, AKA The Captain, this was our view.
Look at this classic barn, still in use, not leaning over.
Same neighborhood, this barn is both retired and tired.
And here is another barn, very picturesque. Wooden barns beat metal barns or pole barns for paintability and photogenicness. (Is there a real word that means that?)
There are several streams in this area of the Central California foothills, which is about 1000 feet higher than Three Rivers.
Gotta dig this unit out before a horse eats it and dies. Horses are fragile creatures with delicate digestive systems. (Seems that way to this non-cowgirl. . . )
Ernie is beautiful, but a little bit rude to me, except when I am feeding him little pieces of peppermint. When I feed him hay, he jerks it out of my arms before I can drop or throw it. Rude.
The chickens are not rude; they provide lots of eggs (not the rooster, of course, because he provides beauty and noise.)
These paperwhites are blooming profusely in my yard back home in Three Rivers. See? Spring in January!

Chasing the Big Trees and Dogwoods

We (Trail Guy, Hiking Buddy, and Mr. Hiking Buddy) joined in with the madding crowd (I don’t know what “madding” actually means, but I liked the book and the movies “Far From the Madding Crowd”) and visited the main part of Sequoia National Park.

I wanted to see the dogwoods in their autumn colors and gather more photos of the big trees, AKA Sequoia Gigantea AKA Redwoods (Redwood High School, Class of ’77, yea for us). It was a fun day, but also smoky and crowded up there.

Smoky – this mess is coming over a ridge or two from a lightning fire in the Camp Nelson area.

Dogwood is a tree that blesses us twice – flowers in spring, colored leaves in fall. This is by the Crystal Cave Road.

Crescent Meadow

A fallen giant next to a midget man.

We walked on top of it and the midget man became Trail Guy, who helped us get down off of the big tree.

Woodpeckers go after redwood trees??

Tharp’s Log as it appeared when we approached it from a different trail.

I’ve painted this fence (not itself, but oil paintings of it) several times.

This big tree fell recently and its roots landed on a boulder.

This is the brightest one we saw.

It is tricky to find colored dogwood with redwood trees nearby, good sunlight, and a turnout off the road all together.

The colors were brighter in person.

Dogwood berries?

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.