Running With Scissors...

What a Beautiful Day!

 

On a beautiful summer day the world seems so big and amazing there’s nothing for it but to, as they say, “get out there”.  I was hoping to make this a weekend post, but the weekend went by in a blaze of sunshine and I couldn’t sit at the computer long enough to get it together.  So, here I am today, sharing a bit of life here on the southern Oregon coast.  It’s a lovely vacation spot, but it’s also where I live and some days I like to just make like a tourist and enjoy it.

 

Two friends and I started the day at this gorgeous botanical garden.  Okay… it’s actually my friend’s private garden, but it rivals any public garden I’ve visited.  Yes, we’re all gardening fools and I love it!  This is only a smidgen of her garden.  I tried to pare down the photos, but, trust me, every inch of her large garden is as splendiferous as this.  I hope you’ll click on the photos for a more enjoyable view.

 

 

After the awe of the garden we three friends lunched at one of our small seaport villages, then our realtor friend had to go sell some houses while retired me and staycationing Rhonda went on with our day in The Great Outdoors.  Pictured below is a quiet, sheltered cove which many people enjoy from above, but perhaps can’t find their way down to it, hence the nearly deserted beach.

 

 

But, we know where the trail is so we trekked on down and spent about an hour soaking up the sunshine.

 

 

We aren’t selfie kinda gals, but we were goofing around saying we could take this shot and tell everyone we’d gone on a tropical vacation.  We took about a million of these, trying to get the hang of selfies.  Rhonda said “act natural”.  Well, you can see her selfie-takin’ arms reflected in my shades.  So much for “natural”.

 

 

Finally, I’ll leave you with a collection of photos I took at Shore Acres Botanical Garden.  This is just a small sampling of roses and dahlias and one bloom of a bottlebrush shrub in that garden.  The rhododendrons and azaleas are finished, and I left out the cottage, the pond, and all the larger views.  I still think Rhonda’s garden is prettier, but this is a pretty spectacular place, too.  It’s all part and parcel with the glorious beaches along this stretch of road.  The last three pictures were taken at my friend’s garden.  They’re all clickable, if you like, but I know it’s a lot of photos.  Enjoy, and have yourself a beautiful day!

 

 

My Little Chickadee

 

Happy Monday to you, my friends!  This Monday is bird day here on the blog.  I may have mixed up the species in my coloring, but he’s still a handsome fellow.  I was determined to use this gingham frame which I’d made some time ago but never used and therefore it was relegated to the card parts basket.  Today it’s a frame for my Bugaboo Spring Bird.  The frame is was created with a Sizzix Elegant Wreath embossing folder.  I cut out the inside, as you can see, and added some punched flowers with black sparkly centers.

 

 

Coloring of the bird image was accomplished with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits, but the blue sky shading around him was done with Copic markers.  There’s a little sanding on the frame and the Core’dinations card base.

 

Some honest to goodness Chickadees are populating my garden since I put the feeders out.  Below are three Chestnut Backed Chickadees enjoying a seed cake which hangs from the Eucalyptus tree.

 

 

I can’t help but have a mushy soft spot for the White Crowned Sparrows as they reside here year round and have grown quite comfortable with us.  This one is perched in the smoke tree.  He (she?) has carried a sunflower seed away from one of the feeders.

 

 

They’re so cute!  Have a happy day!

 

Stamps:  Bugaboo Spring Bird digi, Hero Arts sentiment  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, Pool Party Core’dinations card stock, October Afternoon Fly a Kite designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Memento Tuxedo Black (sentiment), Barely Banana  Coloring Medium:  Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits, Copics  Accessories:  Flower punch, Black Diamond Stickles, Sizzix Elegant Wreath embossing folder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Strawberries ‘n Stuff

 

My days have been so full of summertime activities I don’t know how I find time to stamp at all, yet here I am again with more.  This time it’s Power Poppy’s Juicy Strawberries digi.  I sure did figure I’d be using gingham with this image, but I had this strawberry paper. . .

 

 

So I made a frame and added a little something in the corner.

 

 

I’m not quite crazy about the arrangement of the corner elements, but I wanted them all on there and after fussing over it too long I decided to just let it go.  I used the following Copics for coloring:

 

 

Speaking of those summertime activities, here I am looking like a farm girl, but it coordinates somewhat with the strawberries, don’t you think?  Maybe not as cute.  Actually, we were having a doggie/picnic day at the river and it’s not a place for make up and fashion statements.  That’s LuLu with me, by the way, and she always looks cute as far as I’m concerned.

 

 

Might as well include this garden color spot with some perennials coming along in pots.  I’ve run out of space in the garden beds, but for the time being I’m still able to tuck a pot in here and there.

 

 

Okay. . . back to the card.  I love the sentiments that come with the Juicy Strawberries digi set so I used the second one inside:

 

 

Since I made this card with a purpose and, in fact, it’s already on its way to a friend, I’m going to link again to Power Poppy’s Happy Mail Challenge.

 

That’s it for today.  Squooshy hugs from me to you!

 

Stamps:  Power Poppy Juicy Strawberries digi set  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card (for colored image), Neenah Classic Crest Solar White (punched flowers, tag, inside), dark green Bazzill textured, SU! Garden Green, Crate Paper Pretty Party designer paper  Ink:  Printer, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics as pictured above  Accessories:  Stickles Stardust Glitter, flower punch, Scotch brand foam mounting tape  Dies:  Memory Box Oval Master Frame, Poppystamps Stitched Mainstreet Tags, Impression Obsession Large Bow, Paper Smooches Foliage 1, Impression Obsession Leaf Cluster, Memory Box Groundskeeper Tools

A Whole Lot of Green!

 

Honestly, I will get back to stamping soon, but thought I’d invite you in, once again, to share some of the doin’s that keep us so busy around here.  Rich is glad to have the June hedge trimming behind him now.

 

 

This is the street side before trimming.  Yes, it’s long, and I’m sure it seems infinite at the start of the job.

 

 

But that’s not all.  Pictured below is the side that separates our driveway from the one next door.  Rich trims their side, too, because it’s our hedge.

 

 

Somehow he stays good natured throughout the whole ordeal.  Here’s Wally helping to keep his spirits up.

 

 

The trimmings are hauled to “The Pile” – over the bank to compost.  When we first moved here The Pile was actually a gully.

 

 

Here’s our big puppy, Wally, looking happy, as always.

 

 

Aren’t they helpful?

 

 

Time to take a rest in the shade.  Whew, they’re exhausted from all that helpfulness!

 

 

Come October it will be time to do it all over again, but in the meantime there’s still plenty to do.  It’s a good thing we enjoy being outside.  There are few things I enjoy more than gardening, but when it comes to hedge trimming I’m just a watcher.  Rich will keep doing it as long as he’s able.  I hope you’re enjoying your springtime, however you like to spend your days.  Take care!

 

Golden Things

 

LuLu wanted me to share this picture of her with the pretty stick she found.  She brought it all the way into the house to show me, and then picked up the rope, as well, on her way out.  She’s so proud of her sticks.  Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with the big deal we make over how pretty they are.  This one was really special with all the “decorations” hanging off of it and everything.  It came out of the gutter when Rich was cleaning them and LuLu was quick to claim it as her own.

 

 

Not to be out-cuted, Wally had to grab the first thing he could find that we would fuss over, too.  Ever since he learned to fetch shoes he’s certain we’ll always be glad to have them.  And we are.  Wouldn’t dream of telling him we don’t need them right now.

 

 

Of course, shoes are good for this, as well:

 

 

I also wanted to share this rose because it’s such a ray of sunshine:

 

 

It’s my only rose.  I don’t do well with them because of the deer and disease and bugs.  Don’t like to spray because of the dogs.  Can’t use certain products because it’s in a pot on the deck.  This one has been sprayed with something organic, but the foliage is still turning with fungus or whatever that stuff is.  Beautiful blooms, though, and very long stems.  My son gave it to me for Mother’s Day last year.  I’ll continue to work with it because it’s special.

 

Wishing you a happy weekend!

 

Saturday Smiles

 

Hello!  So happy to see you!  That’s Wally smiling on the right, and LuLu on the left.

 

 

Happy play time below.  LuLu’s trying to engage Wally in a tug ‘o war with a raggedy old towel.

 

 

Here’s a friendly face on the garden steps.

 

 

Spring color is always something to smile about.

 

 

Okay, so maybe a deer nibbling the smoke tree isn’t something to smile about, but, in fact, this teenage buck didn’t eat the smoke tree.  He tasted, but didn’t bite.  He walked up to the daisies and turned his nose up at them, too.  That’s good to know.  Mom and young fawn were browsing another part of the garden.  When they got interested in my hydrangeas and azaleas I politely asked them to leave and they obliged.  I don’t like to run out there raising a ruckus to chase them off as I’m afraid they’ll dart out into the street with unpleasant consequences.  We’re on the edge of a wooded area and I would just as soon they slip back under cover and live to nibble another day.

 

 

There are many works in progress in the garden this month.  I haven’t planted the annual pots yet, but the decks have been refinished and I’ve done some perennial planting and transplanting.  I love spring!  Have a happy day!

 

Winter Sightings

 

During a recent break in the weather we took Wally and LuLu out for a good run in the sand dunes.  The winter lakes are full with all the rain we’ve had, and Wally and LuLu do love the water.  When we stopped for a picnic in the scrubby pine woods I thought I would try to get some January pictures for next year’s calendar possibilities.  I’d rather have candid shots, but that’s unreliable, so I posed them in a spot I liked.  Too bad they’re looking away, but it’s still nice, and the photos always look better printed in 12” x 12”.

 

 

LuLu’s being a little lady in the photo below, sitting pretty in a froth of lichen.

 

 

The weatherman predicted pm rain so we timed our outing carefully.  By late afternoon it looked more like twilight and a rising moon, and we still had a long trek back to the car.  That’s actually the sun in the photo.

 

 

Back home in the garden a couple of days earlier the robins were enjoying the bird bath.  I’d moved it out to clean it, but I rather like the moss.  It appears he spotted me and is pretending to be a garden ornament.

 

 

The photo below was taken January 2.  Looks like nature is making like a Valentine.

 

 

Just a little this and that, getting out when we can and enjoying life.  Wishing you a happy day!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Wishing a lovely day to all my American friends who are observing this holiday, and I hope all of you, everywhere, find blessings to count every day.

 

Northwest Autumn Morning

 

 

 

I stood at our open patio door breathing in a morning especially fresh after a light rain which fell during the night .  Mist was hanging in the air between the trees, captured in the early sunlight.  That’s what I saw first.  All this northwest goodness before me and my eyes went to the mist.  We’ve needed the rain so badly.

 

But then the rest came into focus.  The way the run rays shot through the trees.  The gray-green dripping posture of the eucalyptus branches.  Deep crimson maple leaves.  The shed roof turned rusty brown by a generous dusting of dry evergreen needles.  I saw the lime green euonymus bush in the lower right.  Colorful deck chair.  Terracotta pots.  Stones and gravel washed clean and polished.  Mounds and puffs and spears of green.  I wanted to linger, but I wanted to record it, too.  I would linger after.

 

From Where I Sit

Every region has its perfect season, its perfect month. I’ll bet early spring is absolutely glorious in the south. Fall is spectacular in New England. Florida or Southern California is the place to be in the winter. Here, on the Oregon coast, now is our time. The air is quiet and still, temperatures comfortably warm. I live outside. Any excuse to be outside. Wild horses could drag me in, but they’d have a time of it. Now is the time to breathe and nourish the soul. We all have our own way of doing that. I think I’ll just sit a spell and take it all in.

My favorite view of all…

Have a beautiful day!