Iris and Pansies Blooming

At long last, a day with at least some sunshine that was not a work day!!

The morning was spent finally using my new power washer to remove the winter moss from the North side of my house, mowing both lawns, weeding and edging, spraying Round Up on weeds in the drive and helping Barbara Jenkins (next door's owner) weed. Everything looked much better by afternoon and I actually transplanted some flowers and did some grooming. I even planted a lovely new rose I bought at Ace. It's a Pink Peace and was so handsome and healthy that I couldn't resist it.

Towards evening, as I enjoyed a beer on my back deck, the sun emerged from the clouds and shone on my flower beds. The yellow and white Iris blooming are very unusual to me. I can't recall where I got them, though I'm thinking maybe from Lynette. They begged a picture and I obliged. As the sun moved lower it caught the Pansies blooming in my little mound of rock garden. They looked so bright in the sun that I thought they deserved a photo as well. The picture here is now my wallpaper on my desktop computer!

Last week a trip to Pro Photo Supply (always financially dangerous for me!) included the purchase of a photo printing paper I had never tried. It's by a company called Hahnemuhle, a German company that claims to have been manufacturing paper since 1584! I printed the photos included here on that paper and was totally astonished as the first one emerged from my printer. I have never seen such fine paper before! I've never used cheap paper.....I value my work too much and archival ink is too expensive for that. But, WOW!!! This stuff is amazing. I think I'm hooked and, of course, it isn't cheap. So, I guess I'll need to make another trip to Pro Photo. Yikes!!!

Rose and Iris Tie

On this evening of watching election race results (the Oregon Primaries were today) I thought I would report on a winning race in my garden.

When I bought my house there was, besides the sodded lawn, only one plant in my back yard..........a very old and stately red tree rose. She always has the very first bloom of any of my roses in the Spring.
The first Spring I lived here I brought several Iris plants from Mike's yard in Cannon Beach. Iris tend to clump and emerge above the ground as the age and multiply. I brought those "clumps" here and planted them. They have thrived but never bloomed. This year I was so very pleased to see that they were forming flowers. Today they, and Rose, bloomed together. So, in the contest for this evening in my yard, there were no losers, only winners. They are both beautiful and Rose now has a group of pals beneath her to produce blooms all summer.

Many other flowers are already blooming and growing profusely. I have had to install a little bamboo "fence" around my Coral Bells, Bleeding Hearts and Forget-Me-Nots so I can even mow the lawn. They are quite a riot of flowers but I love them. Rather like an English Garden, don't you think? The Maple tree has grown at least another 8" since I re-potted her. I guess she was in need of space.

I have a great deal of pleasure from my yard and love to walk around it or just look at it. Of course, my new back door has a window!! So now I can stand in my kitchen and see my flowers. Last evening I watched thru the back door window as a pair of very tiny hummingbirds drank from my feeder. That's a first as well. I hope they bring all their friends. I love to watch them.

A Red Door Day

You've heard of a Red Letter Day? Well, this was a Red Door Weekend.

Sometime in February Mike ordered and received a new back door for my house. The one present when I bought my house was very ugly. Remember the green bathroom painted red last year??? Well, the kitchen door matched that awful green in my bathroom. Undoubtedly inspired by either a Model-T Ford or a John Deere Tractor. But I wanted my back door to be red.
For the past 6 weeks or so Mike and I have taken turns putting coats of red paint on my door. For some reason the paint didn't dry well or quickly. But finally, on Saturday evening the door arrived in St. Helens. Mike set about installing it almost immediately lest there be a problem. Since my house is not level and has no straight walls or door ways, a problem was not out of the question. But the only thing that had to be done was to plane off a portion of the jamb. And, behold, a new (RED!!) door with a window (The old door had no window) that lets in so much wonderful light for the kitchen.

When we got up this morning there was so much light that it was as if the door was open. I just love it!!!! Plus, it's not green or metal. Perhaps, I will be inspired to paint the rest of my kitchen and woodwork. Now I just have to figure out how to make my front door not green. I don't think I am up to using the red paint again. But maybe a dark adobe like my livingroom wall.

The Painted Hills Trip

Sunday evening, May 4th, found me on my way to Bonnie and John's to spend the night before our long anticipated Photo Safari to Eastern Oregon's Painted Hills. Jen had emailed us photos of the Painted Hills taken by a member of the Vancouver Astronomy Club for over a year. They were so spectacular that when she proposed a road trip for "the girls" we jumped at the chance. The "girls" were Jen and her mom Terry, Bonnie and me. On Monday morning (not so very early) we piled our stuff and ourselves into Bonnie's new Prius and made our way via 205 to 84 past The Dalles to Biggs. We turned south at Biggs on 197 to 206 and drove through grass farms, cattle farms, wind farms and many rolling hills to the lovely town of Mitchell, Oregon.

Mitchell, while charming, is about half-way to being a ghost town. Apparently the major owner of commercial property in Mitchell, a Mr. Charles Schnee, recently died. Since he owned much of Mitchell, much of Mitchell is now abandoned and for sale. Even the stock on the shelves of the stores remain on the shelves. Very sad. The town does have a very nice and well attended school. All grades in one modern facility with a boarding home attached. There are a number of far-flung and affluent ranches in the area. The children of these ranches can board during the week, under supervision, and eat, study and live in a very nice home attached to the school grounds. They seem to have an active sports and academic program. Everyone in town was very pleasant to us and seemed quite nice.

Monday afternoon, after we unpacked in our motel-(very clean and oh-so-cute)-called The Sky Hook, we drove out to the Painted Hills section of the John Day National Monument. There are several areas and we visited them all. As the light changed throughout the afternoon towards evening, the colors of the "Paint" changed as well. The later the day became the more orange and red the colors were. Quite a fascinating area and very beautiful.

We returned to Mitchell hungry. But, no restaurants!! One closed at 3:00pm and one was closed on Mondays. Never fear, Bonnie's and my room had a kitchen. So, into the ?grocery? store we went. Plumbing, hunting supplies, fishing tackle, oh, and hot dogs, cans of chili, Bonnie bought some 3-day old (turned out to be moldy) hot dog buns..............I opted for peanut butter and jelly and some (fresh) bread. Back to the room to cook (concoct) dinner. A little wine, Mike's Hard Lemonade and beer masks a multitude of inferior food. I rather enjoyed my PB&J however.

Next morning everyone was up early (ugh) showering and making coffee. Bonnie made the mistake of saying good morning and then leaving me in the room. I, of course, went soundly back to sleep while the others (in another room) conjectured how long I might sleep. Fortunately something woke me and I was up & showered by the time Bonnie came back to check.

We packed up, toured our little host (or is that ghost) town and drove towards the John Day Fossil Fields. There was a Pacific Pride card lock gas station in Mitchell (to which I have Mike's card) but we figured we could get gas in any of the several towns we would go through. This proved to be a nearly disastrous decision. But first we explored the fossil fields. Or, at least I did. There was a 1/4 mile walk and then about an 800 yard circle that climbed. I was the sole explorer of that circle, but it was really interesting. The large boulders that have fallen from the walls contain impressions of leaves, ferns and branches of the forest floor that once was there. Even petrified logs remain within the rocks.

We continued on, now in search of gasoline. Each town we passed through had nothing but boarded up gas stations. Finally we came to a seemingly larger town where we could actually see a Texaco sign. Whew! We made it! But, no, the entire town was "closed".....boarded up as if in the middle of life. Freshly painted and just closed. One Mercantile on the edge of town reamined with a large sign on the door that said "We have no Gas!!! 28 miles North." Since the road forked three ways there, I went inside to ask the name of the town 28 miles North. A woman, older than God, her hair dyed shoe-polish black and lips pursed in a menacing straight line, told me "Grass Valley!" Yikes!! I left quickly and we went north 28 miles, thankfully, and bought gas in Grass VAlley. We were one gallon shy of empty in a Prius!!!!

The trip was fun, the countryside beautiful and we are still wondering how folks with those huge, gas-guzzling, 8 MPG beasts can even navigate the land in which they live. Jen said she imagined that her FourRunner would have not even made it from station to station. We had a great adventure and I would certainly do it again..................but only in a Prius!