Noni, living in a tent for a few days

This was my own personal space at Pinecrest Lake.

I don't remember the last time that I "camped" anywhere. I know I was younger and the bathrooms were closer. I did not remember the bathrooms being so far away... so dark... and creepy. After getting up twice the first night and groping around in the dark, without a flashlight, to find a place that would accommodate a middle of the night squat, near the tent, without breaking my neck, I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in a porta potty. It wasn't that I didn't have a flashlight... I just didn't want anyone to see me... so I attempted a blind trip to the side of my tent...on a moonless night... twice. Not a good thing to do when you have guide wires and uneven ground to negotiate. I decided that I was lucky the first night, but didn't want to do it again.
So, my sweet daughter in law and I drove to Sonora on Tuesday and bought a shower/potty tent and a Porta potty. Forgot to take a picture of these lifesaving inventions, but they are the best thing since sliced bread and you can use a solar water bag (with the tent) to take a shower. We bought the solar water bag too. We bought some other things and got gas and ice. Then went to Starbucks (of course) before we drove back up to the lake.
 What a wonderful invention this porta potty and tent is. You not only have something to sit on but you have these bags that fold into themselves and seal up. You have convenience and privacy.  I can't explain it more than to say that someone (probably an older woman who tripped over herself on a dark night) went home and invented this little gem. It made my nightlife a convenient pleasure and I'm very thankful for modern inventions of this magnitude.
So much for the "old lady" stuff.

I had a great time. Our boys learned their survival lessons well after years of camping with us and other members of the family. They set up camp like a five star hotel.
This was the kitchen. The little blue tent is the food tent.

Below, was the dishwashing area and eating table. Mommy, daddy and the Beans tent is in the background.

Both were covered completely with pop up covers.

The fire pit was surrounded by enough chairs to accommodate everyone.
I got there the day after they did and my tent was already set up and waiting. Can't ever remember that happening before. Age has its privileges I guess. I was very thankful.
They rented the Beans (my grandchildren) some bikes.

This is the smartest thing you can do for a 6 and 8 year old. They spent most of their time riding around "C" loop and finding other children to play with.

One night this amphitheater at the lake turned into a movie theater and  my youngest son and I took the Beans to see a movie. I have only one comment on this movie. It was an animated movie called Despicable Me (part 2, I think.) and it was, in my estimation, DESPICABLE. But the Beans loved it. The place was packed and we were glad we took chairs. We would have had to stand up without chairs. The benches were full. The place was packed.
This photo, above, was taken the next day as we started our hike to the dam. This is the framework that held the screen for the movie. The Beans just had to go up and check it out.

 Then we started our hike.

Pinecrest Lake is a beautiful man made lake that is in a stunning location at 5600 ft. in elevation.  It's on the road to Sonora Pass, a scenic winding highway that has guided people across the Sierra Nevada since 1852.

It can be very crowded but it's always well run and clean. 

The weather was perfect. The lake, as always, is a bit cold to swim in. This doesn't stop people though. They love to swim, fish and recreate in all kinds of boats and floats. You can't water ski, but there are party boats, paddle boats and canoes to rent... and of course fishing boats of all kinds.

My Daughter in law took this photo of me, my boys and my grandsons on the giant granite boulders that line the lake.
Then we rearranged...

 And I took a shot of them with Robbin in the middle.

 This is the "Relax, Noni." part. I was so nervous about the little guys way up there on those big boulders. I worried and fussed the whole time.

We hiked about a mile to the damn but it wasn't a bad hike at all. Sometimes the rocks got to me and I needed to rest, but everyone stopped so we could take pictures and enjoy the beauty.

The path could be steep...

And the bridge to the dam was a bit scary to walk across, but we all walked across it to the dam itself. The wind took my Animal Ark hat on the dam and it's now floating in the lake. I hope some fisherman in a boat picked it up and took it home.  I will miss it. Before I left, I bought a Pinecrest hat at the store.

The trail continues over the damn and around the lake.

Robbin and my oldest son decided to continue on around the lake. The rest of us went back down the trail the way we had come.

This sign tells you (with the ever present graffiti) that this is an official trail.

My Beans never complained about all the walking. They are little troopers. I know they were tired.

When we got back to the store we bought ICE CREAM. They enjoyed the treat.

I took a nap when we returned to camp. Had a hard time that night. My legs were hurtin'.  (It was Advil and Aspercreme time.) We had a great dinner and sat around the campfire talking about other trips to this lake  years ago and how we missed Papa.
Next year we will figured out how Noni and Papa can come up together.  He usually comes instead of me.
We will bring Carl and Cutter with us, have someone feed the chickens and take care of the farm so both of us can be there. If  the Prospector had his way we would have a cabin here, but it's expensive and we want to travel too. Maybe an RV of some sort is in our future. I could really get into camping in an RV with a queen size bed and a private bathroom. Guess I'm getting old... I know I am. Comfort has become a key word in my vocabulary.
But....
there is nothing like an open fire pit with family around it.

And the tall trees... 

And a sky getting darker... until your grandson sees the first star and  you say, "Make a wish, Bean." and he makes one, out loud, while the other Bean falls asleep sitting up. It's a good feeling.
It's worth the sore legs, the dirt and the bugs.
I'm glad I went.
 I will show you more photos later and tell you about our middle of the night visitor.
 It's late and it's past my bedtime.

I need to slow down but...

I came back from my sister's a week ago and immediately started preparing for a big yard sale at my friend's house in town. She's the one with the beautiful old Victorian house and the cats? We did this two years ago. It was a big, exhausting process then and it was this week too, but we made some money and had a good time.
Today I spent the whole day getting ready to go camping with my boys and my grand kids at Pine Crest Lake. I leave tomorrow.This is my last night in a good bed for a few days, so I'm going to enjoy a good nights sleep and I will see you on the weekend.

Wordless Wednesday: " Don't tell me the sky is the limit..." Dorothy Parker

Long weekend... and a little miracle.

I was gone all weekend. Left  for the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday. Went to San Francisco on Friday, with my sister and brother in law, to see the Richard Diebenkorn exhibit at the remodeled de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.

This building has been remodeled  and was finished in 2005.  

I hadn't been there in years. It's very different now... but beautiful and modern.

On Saturday I spent most of the day at my grandson's big swim meet at my old high school.
On Sunday my sister and I went to some open houses in Berkeley and then I babysat my Beans (the grandsons) that night.
Yesterday I came home and today I sorted and priced stuff for a yard sale at my friends house next weekend.  I'm bushed.
I will tell you more about the Swim meet and the Museum soon.
The weather has cooled off but we have SMOKE from a fire down near Mammoth Lakes. Hope it dissipates by the weekend for the yard sale. 
********************
I have a quick story about a cricket.
Before I left last week, I was watering the garden. We had a small plastic pool that we filled with a little water for the dogs to play in. It was an experiment to see if they would get into it on hots days to cool off. Right...
Well we had it out there for the dogs but they weren't getting with the program. While I was watering that evening (It was HOT mind you.) I took my sandals off and stepped into the pool to encourage the dogs to join me. They just looked at me like I was crazy. So I leaned down to splash the water and when I did, I saw a pale cricket in the water. It was dead and had sunk to the bottom. I scooped it up and looked at it. It didn't move. I carried it over to the porch and started to lay in on a potted plant when the phone rang. I ran inside and set the cricket on the table and answered the phone... and since I can't multi-task anymore,  I forgot about the cricket. I noticed it at dinner, just laying there, but left it alone because I was busy. I forgot about it the rest of the night and went to bed.
In the morning the Prospector asked me what a dead cricket was doing on the table. I told him that I needed to take it outside and well... you know, say a few words over it and put it on one of the potted plants... or something. I reached over to pick it up and it moved away from my hand. That "dead" cricket was alive.
Can you believe it?
I had a speed light diffuser sitting on the table with all my camera stuff, so I used it to pick the cricket up and gave him a good look.

He just sat there and wiggled his antennae at me, so I took him outside and set the plastic cover on the ground in the garden.

He didn't seem too enthusiastic about leaving the little container. So I lifted him out.

 and set him on a bush.

Pretty little thing. All pale and looking quite ALIVE. It was just a miracle. He sure seemed dead the night before. But I guess he was just water logged. I really don't know what happen. I'm sure glad that I didn't throw him away thinking he was dead and gone.
I said goodbye to the amazing cricket and turned back toward to house. There, on the edge of the garden, was a lizard watching everything play out.
He looked like he was saying,
"Dumb cricket. You don't see lizards falling into large bodies of water. Just don't try to pick me up and take ME in your house. I have enough trouble with those dogs of yours out here. They are always chasing me. Have a nice day."

So all was happy and the cricket lived to tell his friends about his near death experience and his amazing second coming. Who knows what happen. I'm open to any suggestions. Sometimes we just don't have answers for things that happen. We just have to accept the little miracles, learn what we can and move on.
We drained the pool. Carl and Cutter didn't seem to care, one way or another.
The dogs did chase a lizard today. I told them not to... because, "There's this one lizard (with attitude) that might take it personally."

Early Morning Brambles

August
When the blackberries hang
swollen in the woods, in the brambles
nobody owns, I spend
all day among the high
branches, reaching
my ripped arms, thinking
of nothing, cramming
the black honey of summer
into my mouth; all day my body
accepts what it is.  In the dark
creeks that run by there is
this thick paw of my life darting among
the black bells, the leaves; there is
this happy tongue.
Mary Oliver

 Above: Mary Jane reaching for the berries.
Below: the beautiful sky.

 My berries

 Mary Jane's berries.

 Mary Jane and I only spent a couple of hours picking berries across the river. This year the berries were not as plentiful or as big. Must be the dry, hot weather. But, there will be enough for a pie and a lovely Clafouti.

We arrived at about 7:00 a.m. and it was so beautiful. Cool and overcast...  clouds from the Monsoon weather in the southwest.  We could feel the humidity in the air. Later, it would be another hot day and humid... which is different for us.

 By 9:00 we were done. We went up to the owner's home, said hello and thanked her, then drove back over the Mokelumne River.

On the drive back to my house we saw a baby King snake stretched out in the middle of the road. We stopped and had a talk with him about being out there by himself and what happens to snakes who sunbathe on the road.
This little guy didn't seem impressed. It just shook its rattleless tail at us and got very agitated.

I followed it to the side of the road, where it raced up the hillside...

 and disappeared into a hole.

 "Mommy, mommy! Those humans are picking on me."

"Yes, well, little guy". I said as I watched him disappear, "You're safe for now and not this morning's buzzard food. Learn to look both ways before you cross the road and listen to your Mom. Someday you will be a big rattlesnake killer. You might be famous. You are a handsome snake."
He probably didn't hear me.


So I have blackberries in the fridge. Can't wait to bake something.
These berries will make for "... a happy tongue."

Old age ain't no place for sissies. ~Bette Davis

Last week we spent the day at my mother in law's house. We helped her celebrate her 92th birthday.

This is a woman of fortitude and will power.

Her name is Violetta, or Vi. I have known her for fifty one years.
These are the two people who take care of her.

This is Vi's daughter and her granddaughter. They make it possible for Vi to stay in her home now that she is in her 90's and I think they deserve a special cake too... but we only got a birthday cake for the birthday girl.

At 90 Vi took a nasty fall and broke quite a few bones, but she recovered.
At 91, a few months ago, she fell again trying to straighten some curtains. She left her walker in the hall way and strolled over to the window in her bedroom, to straightened the drapes. When she backed up she trip on a suitcase that was being prepared for a Mothers day trip to Reno. She is still recovering from that fall and has a leg gash that is not healing.
Her life has become a controlled dance of limited behavior.
Has it been 12 years since she was dancing at my son's wedding? She was always ready for parties and
get-togethers with friends and family. She loved to get all dolled up and go on "dates" with her husband, who is gone now. She loved him so.
Now life is quiet and as she puts it, " A bit boring." But, she is an example of strength and "Don't show them that you're cryin'." She practices what she preaches. She has always told me that there is no way but through something and no use in fussing about things that you have no control over.
So, she is growing old gracefully... and rather quietly... with family to take care of her.

We went to her favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. She ordering a burrito, eating less than half and taking the rest home... but she still ate some cake and ice cream.
Happy Birthday, Grandma. You are an example to us all.

Gourd art with Dremels and Other Dilemmas of Life

I hosted our SCAT art group at my house on Wednesday and because of some wonderful quirk of nature, the weather cooperated by being cooler than usual. This was a nice change in the weather and fortunate, because we had to work on our project outside. It was still very warm but not into the 100's like the week before.
My friend, Mary Jane, did a mini workshop on using a Dremel drill to decorate the outside of a gourd.
She showed us a beautiful example of what we needed to work toward.

And explained, in detail, how to achieve this affect using the right drill bits. How we would cut the curves into the gourd and remove the brown outside layer, leaving just the right amount to "shade the edges.

In theory, I understood what she was telling us and some of us caught on really fast. Some of us are very good at this sort of thing. Some of us had already started on this project ahead of time.

Me?... not so much.

Wait! I'm not finished yet. Staying on a curved line with a tool that moves clockwise, when you're left handed and want to go to the LEFT, is hard. I used a broken piece of gourd because I wanted to practice. Kind of looks like Freddie Kruger's scratch marks in Nightmare on Elm Street doesn't it?
Mary Jane was so kind. She helped all of us and tried to show me what I was, obviously, doing wrong.
We all worked diligently. The afternoon got quite a bit warmer.

We wore our masks when drilling. Gourd dust is notorious for creating chaos in the lungs, so you always want to wear some kind of mask while your working on one.

It was getting quite warm in the sun so everyone was trying to sit closer to the house, in the shade... except for the "redhead". She was trying for a suntan, like me. Some of us always try. I've been trying since I was in junior high school. You'd think that I would learn.

Red was doing a great job with the "curves". So, I kept working on my piece of artwork and even thought Mary Jane presented us with another gourd to inspire...

I never quite got it. This is how it looked right before I said something like, " I'm going to take a break and do what I know how to do."  Under my mask I was sweating and swearing to myself.

Just remember that in showing all of you this, I'm pouring out my insecurities and laying them on the table. Please do not comment on the quality of this gourd piece. It's hard to admit that carving is not "my thing", but it obviously isn't.

I brought more ice tea and water out to everyone, got my camera and did MY thing. Then we moved inside for dessert and drinks with lots of ice in them. We sat and enjoyed each others company. This is such a wonderful group of woman. I'm glad I know all of them.
They weren't allowed to leave until they took some tomatoes and I offered them some hollyhock seeds to go. I've been drying all the seeds and I have A LOT. Only three people took me up on my offer to send hollyhock seeds to them. The will each receive enough for their whole neighborhood shortly.

That night I came back from my walk and stayed out in the garden until after dark. I shot this photo of a French marigold just before dark with my new Speedlight flash and diffuser.

Then, when it got really dark, I took a flashlight and back lit the same marigold, without a flash, and got this shot.

And then the moon...

which will be full in three days. It's the first time I had EVER gotten detail on the moon surface. I'm so pleased. It's not tack sharp but I'll work on this until I get a good one. I want to work on the back lighting because the photography forum, that I joined, is having a contest using the technique called Contre-jour. This means "into the light". You can read about it here. I can't wait to work on this process and see what I can do with it. 
I think I was over compensating for my gourd drilling failure...staying outside in the dark... trying to do something amazing and creative, but the bottom line is that you can't be good at everything. Life is short... you have to pick your battles and your artistic endeavors.
I can loose time (and myself) when I'm walking around with my camera. I realize that photography truly is a passion and I can only say that about a few efforts in my life. Like raising children, gardening and writing stories, photography takes dedication and a willingness to swallow your ego, love what your doing and fertilizing your brain with information about the subject.  These special things in my life were and are a challenge, a learning process and  most of all they need PASSION.
 Next month we are going to do some felting at our SCAT meeting. I CAN DO FELTING. I can felt my little heart out. My confidence is back all ready, just thinking about it.

Wordless Wednesday: Last Hollyhocks

Wordless Wednesday: My Bumbles

Medusa... with doll parts

I've been having a summer slow down. I just haven't been able to come up with blog subjects that are interesting and noteworthy... until this afternoon.
My daughter in law, Robbin, sent me this photo that she took at the Exploratorium in San Francisco today. She took the Beans (my grandchildren) to see all the wonderful things there are to see in this amazing place.
This is the photo she sent me.

Scary isn't it? Just one of the most bizarre thing you've ever seen? It's completely made up of doll parts... feet, hands, body parts and a couple of very wicked eyeballs. Even the beam of light coming in from the window adds to the strange feeling of the piece. It's called Medusa and the artist is Freya Jobbins.
I will be going to the Art Is You workshop in Petaluma this fall, with my sister, and one of the classes that we are going to take is called Wild Things. The teacher, Clarissa Callesen, will show us how to make strange dolls from old stuffed animals and doll parts. My daughter in law thought that "Medusa" would inspire us for this class. It certainly does.

Then, my oldest son spent last week in Las Vegas. He sent this photo of the downtown casinos and the fire that was burning on the hills outside of town on Mt. Charleston. I think this is a really good photo and wanted to share it with you.

 I would love to see Las Vegas again. We've only been there once, many years ago. It was 118 degrees in the shade. Now, that's "fry an egg on the sidewalk" weather. We saw Arnold Schwarzenegger‎ at Lake Mead, asked him for an autograph (for our boys) and he refused. He said he didn't sign autographs on vacation. I've never forgotten that. I didn't vote for him when he ran for governor. Maybe that was my way of saying, "What would it have hurt to give us an autograph for our boys." There were other reasons I didn't vote for him, but that incident has always stuck in my craw. This was before the Terminator, before Maria and before politics. He was just starting out. He was bodybuilding and had been in a few movies. There was no one around. He had three bodyguards with him, on an empty dock. What would it have hurt?
Las Vegas is bigger and has more amazing casinos now. It kind of looks like Disneyland doesn't it?
Some day we will go down there again, in Fall or Winter, and then the ol' Prospector and I could continue into Arizona and drive to the town of Williams, where you can get on a train and go on a tour of the Grand Canyon. Just another trip to add to our "bucket" list.
Hope your weekend was a relaxing one. Take care.