Coming and Going

Song - Summer Breeze by Seals & Croft

Coming and Going by Norman Rockwell - 1947

Summer vacation season is about to begin!

I know for us, we will be spending time poolside and hopefully a few short day trips.

I used to have a copy of this painting which I purchased at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts hanging in our downstairs bathroom.  I just love how Norman Rockwell truthfully portrays a family heading off on a summer vacation in the upper photo - kids are excited, the dog can't wait, the little blonde girl has a big red bow in her hair and a big bubble to match.  Grandma is gassing up the back seat so I guess she is excited too!  The mom & dad are sitting next to each other and the boat and oars are on top of the car ready for some fun.

On the way back (bottom photo) Grandma has the same expression but the little boy is clearly tired holding on to his fishing pole, the little girl's bow & bubble are smaller and she doesn't look nearly as happy. Same for the dog and the older son.  Mom is asleep (because we all know mom's are still on the job during vacation) and there is a child between her and her husband who looks exhausted. The only thing that looks happy is the felt pennant from the lake they visited.

"We do not remember days;

we remember moments."

--Cesare Pavese

Pearls of Wisdom

Song - The Heat is On by Glenn Frey

"The best time to have your pool repaired

 is NOT in the heat of July......

just sayin' !"

--Jeanette

 

And For Todays Entertainment

Song - Birds the Word by The Rivingtons

It's been so warm in Northern California lately that for the past few weeks Mr. B and I have been relaxing by the side of the pool in the early evenings. We have a glass of wine and he plays me a little air guitar!

 This patio is near the shade garden, under some oak & maple trees.  While the rest of the garden has fried from the hot weather, the shade garden is still refreshing to look at.

Some evenings we take a swim and other evenings we just watch the birds flit by getting their last meal of the day.

Hi there Mr. Chickadee!

 I have several platform feeders hanging off the deck over the creek. The Tufted Titmouse enjoys the freedom of feeding near large trees that he can escape to if needed.

 Other birds like the standard tube feeder. I have an assortment of seeds for them so no one is left out. As well as several (well maybe 8) bird baths placed all around the yard.  When it's really hot I try to put in a few ice cubes to cool the water for them.

A House Finch in the tree is patiently waiting her turn at the feeder below.

 When the House Finch finally gets a turn, the Titmouse returns and is surprised to find someone in his dinner dish!

 Mr. B and I love watching the birds.  I don't know if it's that we finally have the time to do so or if it is that "at our age" we appreciate them so much more.  Basically our kids think we are nuts when we tell them what our garden birds were doing that day.

 And just look who is in the lavender!  

Mr. and Mrs. American Goldfinch

I love that brilliant yellow against the purple lavender.

Thanks for entertaining us for one more night! 

See you tomorrow.

“Slow down and enjoy life.  

 It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast-

you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”

 – Eddie Cantor

Helping Hands

Song - HELP! by the Beatles

Mama Finch feeding her fledgling

While I have been posting about our April trip to France, a lot of love has been going around.....at least around our family.  We have celebrated six birthdays, Mother's Day was spent with family in Booneville, and we just celebrated Father's Day with a family BBQ in our backyard. But more importantly......

 My brother and I have found a great little rescue dog for my mom!  She has named him Buddy and that's just what he is.  He is sweet, cuddly, loves children, is properly house trained, doesn't dig in her garden or chew her shoes and insists on sleeping in bed with her! And when she gets out the brush to comb his soft coat, he lays there like he is having a Spa Day and wonders why she has stopped.  Buddy is learning to ride in a car and walk with a leash. 

Buddy is a mix of Bichon Frise and Halvanese.  He is bonding with his new family (all of us) and learning to trust again.  It's beautiful to watch this frightened little guy go from shaking in the corner to jumping into mom's lap and give her a kiss for taking such great care of him!

 A few weeks ago Mr. B and I drove down to my parents cabin in Santa Cruz.  After the long winter it needed a little loving care. 

 While Mr. B worked behind the scenes on fun stuff like the plumbing and clearing the leaves off of the roof, I got to do a little cleaning up and planting in the garden.

 Now it is ready for summer fun!

"We might think we are nurturing our garden, 

but of course it's our garden that is really nurturing us."

--Jenny Uglow

TBT - Camp Rich

Song - Summertime by Norah Jones


Nope.....

Camp Rich is not like Glamping......

Nor is it a camp for rich people.

It is short for Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe.

The little shop above was were I loved to go as a young girl in the late 50's & early 60's.  I would save up my allowance to buy an Indian doll, bank or necklace here.  Later as a teen, I would purchase my Kodak film here as well.

Across the street is where our family would go shopping. My mom & her sisters would buy groceries while my brothers, cousins and I would buy a little cardboard container that had holes poked in the lid - yes, we were getting big fat worms for fishing.  And if it was an extra special day we could sit on those outdoor stools behind the man in the photo above and order ice cream cones! Twirl and lick!!

This building has since burnt down but the building behind it is the Historic Camp Richardson Resort.

Sometimes my Aunt Marie would encourage all of us cousins to hike to the store from our cabin (she was a school teacher and loved "projects") and we would put on our tennis shoes & shorts, loop our yellow plastic water mugs to our belts and head off on some fun adventure. Anything for an ice cream cone!

There was also a dining room across the street from the "Souvenir Shop" but I don't ever remember eating there.  I think it was because my mom & her sisters & my grandmother liked home cooked meals.  But more likely the thought of taking all twelve of us kids out to dinner was somewhat daunting.

This is a photo of Camp Richardson in the mid 60's with the lodge, the store & the dining hall. Gas was across the street and so were the air pumps we would use to blow up our huge truck inner-tubes.

 A similar view from 2014 except it includes the old gas station on the right that is now a bike rental company.

The present day coffee shop used to be the Post Office which is how us "older people" stayed in touch with each other. We didn't have a phone at the cabin then.  It was a very important building for me as a teenager, as this is were I received all of my crucial correspondence from my other teen aged friends over those long two weeks at the lake! Every one's mail just came by General Delivery.....no need for addresses back then....sigh.....such simple times....and not that long ago!!!

The old souvenir shop is now a very popular ice cream shop with huge scoops of ice cream! BEWARE - order the "kiddie" scoop or at most one scoop and you will still have a tummy ache.

The old dining hall is the present day store & cafe, although it is mostly filled with T-shirts and trinkets and a few supplies for the nearby campers.

The hotel is still in business and there are several cabins nearby for rent near the lake. They have also added a restaurant right on the lake at the marina called The Beacon.

The main reason that I was thinking about Camp Richardson today was because last month we Mr. B and I were up there for the weekend.....and......there was a traffic signal.  Made me shed a few tears over how this quaint little spot in my life has changed and will continue to evolve for the next generation.

It will forever look like this in my heart.

"Summer is like childhood.  

It's full of warm memories but gone too soon." 

 -- Kellie Elmore

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Song - Changes by David Bowie

In 2013 I painted a rather large canvas (30 x 40) for a show I was having with a group a artist friends that I paint with - Bay Area Studio Artists or BASA. The show was titled "Shades of California" and I painted a beach scene from my beloved Lake Tahoe.

  However, I made the umbrella RED! I thought at the time that it added a snap of color!

......And it was used for the Marketing of our show.



I never liked the painting and I couldn't put my finger on why - other than the colors of the water were too intense and maybe everything was too saturated? It was not calming like I feel when I am on this beach.

 I changed the water and made the stripes of the umbrella more defined.  Still no.....

So I have had it stored in a back room but often wondered what I could do to improve this painting.

Move forward to 2016 - last week.  I was getting ready for an upcoming show in Danville at Chow and I thought about a painting for their large wall.

 I began to work with the photo of the painting in PhotoShop.  I changed that awful purple-blue of the shadows from the chairs, removed the flip-flops (because it always made me wonder where that person went to?), and I lowered the horizon.  Better.....but.......

 Then I decided the umbrella was too stiff and needed a slight breeze.....so I changed the shape. Mmmm.....still not working.

 I changed it to blue, then taupe and finally solid white.  Better but not feeling light and breezy!

Then yesterday morning I noticed our white canvas umbrellas on the back deck and snapped a photo.  I could see the colors coming through the under part of it as well as the changes in the fabric as it moved from post to post.  I also received a catalog the day before with a selection of umbrellas so I combined my backyard photo and the catalog stripes and here it is...............

 I added the hint of a turquoise line at the horizon and poof! So soothing....

 I feel so much better.  It was a tough challenge but I stuck with it and am very happy with how it turned out.  Time to give it a title.....

"Remember…. The entrance to the sanctuary is in you." - Rumi

Heatwave

Song - Too Darn Hot by Ella Fitzgerald

Welcome to Summer!

Our  BASA group (Bay Area Studio Artists) participated in the Artist Market in Lafayette over the weekend. It was a scorcher to say the least!  Someone said it was breaking records in the area. Even though a few brave artists weathered out the heat, we had very few customers.

It was the kind of day that could of melted Joanne Taeuffer's yummy Banana Split!

Usually I paint during such events but it was too hot to get my supplies out.  So we visited with each other, wilting in our chairs. Luckily we had the shade of a big Oak tree but the heat from the pavement added to our discomfort. One woman across the way was trying to sell crocheted shawls!!! Good luck there! 

Marcy Wheeler's "Big Granny" in the background & Patricia Dallacroce's cityscape in the foreground

Even my chickens where looking for shade!

No sales for our little group except one!

I purchased a painting from Patricia Dallacroce and I just love it and so does Mr. B!  It hasn't been hung yet as I keep walking around the house trying to find the exact place for it to be at home! I am so excited.

Pat is a relatively new painter but she has an amazing eye and plenty of talent. Lately she has been painting San Francisco city scene's.  The color on this painting is so much better in real life than this photo shows.

Please check out her website here - http://www.dallacroce.com/

Catch her fresh work before her prices skyrocket - I mean....really!

Doesn't that car look real?

Just AMAZING!

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."  - Marcel Proust

In case you missed my Summer Solstice recipe this spring, here it is again!  Just in time for the longest day of the year!

SUMMER SOLSTICE MARTINI - Inspired by AZ88 

• 2 1/2 ounces raspberry vodka
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 ounce Rose's lime juice
• 1/2 ounce cranberry juice
• 2 ounces orange juice 
• Place in an ice filled martini shaker and give it a good shake.  Pour into martini glass and add a slice of orange.  Enjoy! 

Letting Go

Our Baird Family vacation home in Lake Tahoe went up for sale last week and .....it has sold.

Spring Creek Tract is at the base of Mt. Tallac

We have so many wonderful memories spending delicious time there. Some summers we would rent it for an entire month at a time but usually we were there for 2-3 weeks. There was time spent with our boys, their friends, our friends and family.  There was also time alone with Mr. B.  Occasionally he would travel back and forth to the Bay Area to work then come on up for long weekends to be with me and the boys.


Breakfast was served on the back deck in the sunshine with Spring Creek flowing just  past the cabin. The boys would shoot a BB gun at tin cans placed across the creek into a hillside.  We would lay in the hammock near the creek and read or sleep. Mr. B and the three little b's would tie fishing flies then head to a nearby river to fly fish for the afternoon.  There was beach time and hiking paths and simple moments. We would play Canasta endlessly, drink Margaritas and cook into the wee hours of the morning with our good friends. Ahhh....I can just feel the relaxing of our entire family there.



It was a good cabin...it had a "soul".












So why didn't we buy it? Well, it's painful and complicated.....

*I know I am kind of venting right now but this is so heartfelt.  I totally understand if you want to go to a funny blog....check this one out and I promise to have a "better attitude" next
post.....http://www.thebloggess.com/

Great Grandma Mary, the twelve cousins & Grandma Sophie - c.1960 (I am at the top of the rock, 3rd from L)

The cabin is on Forest Service land, which means it's reasonably priced but you don't really own it. The Forest Service dictates what you can and can not do there. Mostly what you cannot do! They lease the land out to you but change the rules at any time. If they decide they need that portion of the forest, you need to remove your cabin and bring the land back to a natural state (pronto!).

Grandma Sophie cooking

My grandparents built a cabin there in the Fifties with a 99 year lease, my Aunt now owns that cabin and the Forest Service decided to "drop" the lease to 20 years at a time. (which basically means they can change the rules of the game at any moment). Several years ago they decided to close the Tract during the winter months, so now you are limited to a few months of use and well, all of this was discouraging.  Mr. B decided years ago that although he has fallen in love with the area, dealing with the Forest Service was just too much!  I have to agree....only when I take my heart out of the equation. 

Cousin Billy and my brother David at Baldwin Beach with Mt. Tallac in the background

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray" -  Rumi