Fields of Green

Seems to be a lot of sod-growing in this part of the country. You know, sod...the stuff you lay out in your yard to have an instant lawn. I pass several of these fields on the way to get berries. Just a few weeks ago the fields were brown and dry. I'm always a bit amazed at how quickly the grass grows and everything turns green. They are especially lovely when the high sprinklers are throwing sprays of water in the sunshine -- I tried to capture the rainbows here, but with the camera on my cell phone, some detail is lost. Janice, a friend of mine, always thought it would be neat to live next to a sod farm. All you would see for acres and acres and acres would be fields of green. Lucky her, she lives on a little farm on the other side of town -- surrounded by grass seed fields, so she kind of has the same effect, just a bit scruffier.

The Infamous Berry Shack

So, I ran to the Berry Shack to pick up my weekly fix of blueberries. Oh joy -- you can only imagine my excitement when I saw boysenberries lined up in their little boxes. Of course, I had to have a sample for good measure and came home with a few of those in my Boones Ferry Berry Farms box, too. When I was a little girl, way back when, my uncle Fred had boysenberries growing in the field behind his house. He would send us kids out there with waxed paper tubs -- kind of like the bucket you get when you buy popcorn at the movies. We would pick until our buckets were full. I remember eating more than what I put in my bucket. While he knew we were eating them all, he didn't care. He would give us a hard time but in a joking way.

Oh, and I just remembered Ruby's, the hip and happening malt place in town -- we used to go there and get Purple Cows. Some wonderful concoction of rich, creamy vanilla ice cream and fresh boysenberries. Ah-h, those were the days -- long before we thought about cholesterol and our weight. It was a simpler time, I suppose.

Dates?

Something seems to be amiss with the dating function for my blog. Trust me, I didn't write all those posts on July 5th -- so hang tight while I try to figure things out. Seems to be a gremlin in the system somewhere. Hm-m wonder if she wears jewelry? And, if she does wouldn't see look lovely in this fire agate beauty?

Jasper Skies

Today the sky looked like jasper. Not sure which one; but silver mist comes to mind. Blue with mottled wispy white and gray. The cloud formations in this part of the country are interesting. I think it is because the "prairie" is so flat that the wind patterns mimic the land formations below so many times we get long flat-looking clouds. Please don't bet any money on my "scientific" explanation for these particular types of clouds -- especially if you find yourself in the Cash Cab in NYC.


I wanted to post a pix of a silver mist jasper design from the TRL inventory, but I realized that I had sold them all quite some time back. Inspiration hit! Do some new silver mist jasper designs...now. First, though, I have some other "surprise" pieces to finish up, so I put the jasper "in line" on the workbench. Oh, I also discovered some Mexican Lace agate while mining my stash of gemstones. Now I am thinking that the sky looks like that rock as well. Could it be that I am going nuts -- seems that I see the essence of gemstones everywhere I look. I guess that is better than seeing images of Elvis...right?

Speaking of Cowboys

All this talk about rodeos and cowboys made me want to share a few photos done by my brother, the photographer extraordinaire. His photographs do so much more than just capture an image. Somehow he works his magic and captures the spirit of the subject. I think these two images are great examples of his gift. No Photoshop, no retouching, basically no fiddling with them -- just magic. To me, it always has been and always will be an amazing thing. Magic, that is.

Believe it or not, this grand creature is named Doodles. Don't you think he should have some mystical fairy tale name?

Yes, I Said Rodeo!

Solid proof that I was not stretching the truth when I said there were two, count 'em two, rodeos going on in neighboring towns. This results in a lot of horse trailer traffic, as horses and riders are shuttled from one rodeo to the other. This horse trailer, not only confirms my reporting; but it also gives those of you interested in attended the rodeo in Washington that appears to be coming up some contact info. It's funny -- while living in NYC the only animals I saw, besides dogs and squirrels (oh, and rats and mice) were the police horses and the animals that were used in the Radio City Hall Christmas Show. Strangely, walking to work one morning, right by Rockefeller Center I saw a camel being walked. Yes, a real live camel. So, I guess it is true what they say "New York has it's wildlife."

Happy Fourth!

I feel like I should be posting a pix that represents the 4th of July -- but I have nothing like that in my photog file and it is much too hot to go out in search of something that fits the bill. So, I thought I would post a lovely image of one of my all time favorite Kazuri bead bracelets -- and, yes, it just happens to be red. A bit unusual for the 4th -- but lovely none the less. I spent the day yesterday mucking out my jewelry studio -- it gets a little out of control when I am working like a mad woman on the biz of jewelry. Guess what I found? More red Kazuri beads that I bought last year -- yes, last year. I am so excited as the red beads are getting more difficult to get. So there will be more red designs coming out of the studio soon. Meanwhile, there are a few available on my site so you might want to scoot over there and see if one might be just perfect to add to your collection. Hope you are all having a fun and safe day. Oh, did I mention I am loving the blueberries again today? Can a person eat too many I wonder?

Gatch House

On the way back from the blueberry farm this morning I decided to finally stop and take a quick pix of this building just a few blocks from where I live. I believe it is the Gatch house -- owned by an long-established family here in town. Today it serves as the Senior Art Center and Gallery. It's really cool -- just needs some horses, cowhands and all the acres back that used to surround it. The house stands on Boone's Ferry Road -- a main thoroughfare in the state. And, yes, i am told there actually was a ferry that crossed the Willamette River, in fact, I am thinking that it might still be there. The thing about Boone's Ferry Road is that no matter where you are in the state you can always cross Boone's Ferry Road -- a fact that was always confusing to me when I lived here all those years ago. You can close your eyes and point to anywhere in the state on a map and there's a good chance your finger will land on Boone's Ferry Road.

I always think it would be cool to be able to be transported back in time just for a day (or until I needed to take a shower) and see what life was like in this part of the country so many years ago. I hear stories of Native American settlements along the river from old-timers (well, they actually still call them Indian Settlements) and about the stagecoach stop in town and other great stories about the wild, wild west. Oh, and did I mention the two big rodeos going on in the neighboring towns of St. Paul and Mollala? Yes, i said rodeos. It is an interesting place this Pacific Northwest.