Father's Day...

Not only was the weather fine on Father's Day weekend, but both the girls were home with us. We took a drive south, through the Willamette Valley towards Stayton in search of Shelburg Falls. Oregon has great places to hike and this was a good one.

First, some refueling at the Java Stop on Hwy 22.

Daisies, and foxglove were lining the edges of the fields as we began the hike along the road toward the forest. The temperature was in the 70's all day, perfect as far as I'm concerned!

and Flores found a mud puddle within the first 5 minutes...

 then had to suffer the indignity of being carried over several cattle guards.

The lower falls were not far into the forest

we then began to follow a trail toward the upper and larger falls

Taylor spots it in her trendy hiking gear...

The trail continues behind the falls, which is pretty cool and pretty muddy.

walking under a humongous ceiling of basalt...

 lots of maiden hair fern growing in this area.

Slugs everywhere of course...

But there were also wild roses along the trail

and in the patches of sunlight, wild iris were popping out in various shades of purple.

The dog jumped into every body of water we came across. We kept him securely on the leash around the falls...

All in all, it was a great way to spend Father's Day

and it makes me wonder why we don't do this more often...

my new love...

Well, maybe not that new, but ever since I was offered some Hell's Canyon herringbone petrified wood a couple of years ago, I've been smitten! 

Discovered in the Hell's Canyon gorge in the late 50's and a portion of what was there was removed just prior to the construction of the Snake River's Brownlee Dam, which subsequently flooded the area. So there's a limited supply, which helps with the mystique, but it's lovely herringbone pattern and vugs, or voids filled with druzy, makes it stand out all on it's own! The wood has been since identified as sequoia, and I'm happy to have a few pieces left and am soon to have more,yay!  

this ring is just the most recent piece to come out of the studio, below are a few previous ways I've used the material...

Cufflinks. These were given as a graduation gift.

A beautiful treasure ring which also features a freeform pearl and raw diamond.

currently available...

And I'll soon be doing my best to see that I have a large supply for lots of future work!  Anyone interested in having something made just contact me through my etsy shop!

more plants...

This weekend was the Master Gardener's Spring Garden Fair out at the Canby fairgrounds. Happens the first weekend of May each year and there are lots of local growers and garden artists struttin' their stuff... 200 to be exact.

Today was a beautiful day and there were lots of people about despite the fact that I seem to have this big, empty space in the front of my photo!

These striking blooms really caught our eye. Abutilon, Red Tiger. Hardy to zone 8.

We stopped by our friend, Marta Farris' booth to check out her garden sculpture and stash our purchases while we continued to shop. That's my pal Linley on the left with Marta. Marta's metal sculptures are really fun, several live in my  backyard. Her husband, Steve, makes these gorgeous steel urns. I already know where I'd put one...

 David and Linda Neff of D & L Woodworking, make the most comfortable Adirondack chairs this side of, well, the Adirondacks. Here, David tests the merchandise. We have one of their rockers, and it's the favored chair in our backyard during the summer.

This was one of my favorite displays. The Shady Lady Nursery in Aurora had put together these bright orange pots and baskets filled with purple coleus, orange and red begonias, and a trail of lime green. Brilliant color to liven up a shady area, and those orange pots, genius. 

The Shady Lady Nursery will be hanging out at the Milwaukie farmer's market on Sundays from 9 -2, for those in the Portland area. I really want to check those pots out again...

Along with all of the great plant material and garden art, there are educational talks by master gardeners, soil testing, exhibits, and of course food. So if you live in the Portland area and have never visited the Spring Garden Fair, put it on your calendar for next year, it's well worth it!

A few new pieces

It seems like the past week has been all about rings! I've finished several new rings, all wildly different from each other, and each one extremely satisfying!

a very cool bumpy pearl on a simple sterling band

freeform pearl and rose cut diamond in sterling and 18kt and 14kt gold. These rose cut diamonds are my new love. And I just purchased a new parcel of various sizes and colors I can't wait to get into...

malachite and stick pearl in sterling with 14kt gold

and today I finished this pretty little fossil coral ring in sterling with 14kt gold rivets

My next project is in the works. Moving away from rings for a bit and concentrating on combining various elements in a necklace for David Frank Gallery. Depending on how it comes out, I'd like to do more and perhaps utilize some of those diamonds in the design.

Here I'm using rose cut tourmalines, peridot, ocean jasper and freshwater pearls. Still a bit to work out... I'll be posting it when it's done though!

New Additions to the Family...

I've been having some challenges in the studio recently and today brought the melt down of an 18kt gold bezel I was working on. Good time to take a break, and what's the best thing to do when you need a little cheering up? No, not that half gallon of chocolate chip in the freezer, but a trip across the river to the farm store to pick out a new critter or two... or maybe seven. Always makes me feel better!

 The newbies, soon to be included in the stable of photo props already working hard to sell

                        my jewelry on etsy.

I have no idea what kind of dog this is supposed to represent, but he looked eager and check out that crazy face!

whew, intense...

And everyone knows that lizards are pretty good at selling stuff...

not too cuddly, but speaks with an Aussie accent. 

Here's cute...

Now all that remains is to design the perfect piece of jewelry to go with each one...

They should be popping up in the shop before too long! 

let the gardening begin...

My gardens have been in a sad state since last Fall when I told them I was done, they could put themselves to bed... This Spring, when we've had a nice day here and there, I had other things to do, mostly spend time in that little basement studio. Today I finally got myself out there and boy am I feeling it!

Noticed lots of little things in bloom, especially the Akebia vine with it's heavenly scent...

 

Usually blooming in March, it's a bit late this year most likely due to the cool weather we've had.

It's evergreen, with a very pretty leaf. The flowers consist of small flower clusters and an occasional larger single flower. I think it's the male and the smaller ones are the females. The scent is really lovely. I get a waft of it every time I walk out the back door and if the weather is warm enough, I can open the window and let it in.

Most of the daffodils are gone, but tulips are still hanging in there, in fact I had tulips come up this year that I know weren't there last year, and no, I didn't plant any last Fall. The last time I bought a bag of 100 tulips at Costco and never got them in the ground I learned my lesson... bad me.

I really couldn't tell you what these little guys are. The were bulbs that I planted some years ago and they really multiply, so be careful, I have to dig a bunch out every so often to keep them from taking over. And the kaffir lily is the same, but easily managed. I've given them to people all over my neighborhood. Around here, you'll get blooms all year round and they look kind of like miniature gladiolas or iris. Very sweet with an insane deep salmon color.

I cut back the ferns and already see the fiddleheads emerging. The hostas are coming up and looking good. I love the colors in this little clump! It's amazing what you can find when you pull away all the debris...

The always reliable bleeding heart planted below the akebia trellis and one of a few camellia blooms that survived my husband's "pruning". 

And last but not least...well, I actually got this done first thing today and that's probably why my knees aren't working so well right now... the vegetable garden. Planted in the strip between driveways, but getting great sun, I tilled, amended and planted onion starts, and spinach, lettuce, chard, and snow peas from seed. About a month or so later than I had wanted, back then when I was doing my taxes...

Flores wasn't a huge help. Every time I got down to put the seeds in the ground, he'd put his nose in my ear. But he was nice company... Happy gardening!