They don't like eachother yet.

Or more corectly, Sam doesn't like her.






Actually, when I took this picture and the flash went off, Sam looked at me, and made an annoyed, "Humphh." He then realized where he had fallen asleep, who had joined him on the bed, and walked across the room to sleep in his own bed, where I'm sure he felt much more distinguished... you know not consorting with riff-raff such as Miss Ruby.

house update #1

So, when I left to visit my friend in Colorado (a wonderful visit consisting of talking and passing the adorable baby back and forth while we coo-ed like idiots) my mom asked what the next house project should be. I told her I wanted a patio. This was after several other projects which I will discuss in the future. I had no idea if she would attempt it or how exactly she would interpret that particular desire, but I figured what the hell. Most everything she attempts is great, seriously, it sort of makes me crazy.

So, I came home and to my delight, she had framed a patio for me. A huge one, 16x10, I think. We spent a few days talking over the options. I had been collecting brick for a while and drew out some interesting shapes and came up with a general design, a combination of brick and stone with some interesting "white space" thrown in to break up the brick.

That's not what I ended up with. Nope, instead I spent about three times what I had budgeted...carried away by the beauty of the rock and mom's enthusiasm, and have an almost perfect patio.

This pile of rock:



which I'd like to point out is 2.1 tons of Idaho flag stone and 2.5 tons of black gravel...all of which we moved and placed by hand.

Became this patio:


I love it. I would love it ten times more if my ancient, super sweet and very distracted neighbor was not participating in the great mosquito growing experiement of 2010. My legs are a mess and I must smell amazing because I ALWAYS get bit. Grrrr!

because I'm loving today

a pretty picture: roses and echinacea (or more prettily, purple cone flower) from my yard

I suck at this.

This summer has been supremely weird. I've been here and there and had amazing guests and acquired a new dog and my mom and her husband are still here.

Being myself is quite difficult with an audience. No, that's not quite right, being myself with no personal time to regroup is not easy for me. That is a more accurate description of the situation. I am not a person who does well with no alone time. This is not a new revelation. I've understood this about myself for a long time. This fact actually can be helpful when I try to organize my time and determine what is really going on with me when I am feeling out of sorts. And that's probably the best way to put it. Having my parents here makes me feel out of sorts.

They are great house guests, helpful and easy to get along with, however the adage about old fish and guests....yeah, try three months and six days (Who's counting?). We are all tired of it. So much so that they have gone camping for the week to give me a break. I would feel guilty, but I need it so badly I could not actually protest when they informed me of their plans. So, it's me and the dogs. (Insert contented sigh here.)

Oh, and since I may be closer to myself this week, I may have the energy to post. Possibly even pictures of all the work we've done on the house.

a happy accident of birth

This beautiful woman turned 60 years old yesterday. She would hate this picture but I know she doesn't read this blog...I'm not entirely sure she knows what a blog is, so I won't take it personally. It really was a happy accident of the cosmos that made her my mother...this consciousness, me, her daughter. How lucky I am. She is remodeling my kitchen, driving me bat-shit crazy, and asks me questions like "Do you need a jacket?" before I leave for work.

I love her and can't wait for her to move out; I don't find those feeling the least bit contradictory.

Happy Birthday Mom!
Thank you, a thousand times for everything you've done to shape me and my life.
How lucky I am.

Rowena's Crest

Learning stuff is cool.

Realizing you understand enough to apply it is even cooler.


Last weekend, as a mother's day present, my mom, step-dad Steve and I went on a geologic tour of the Gorge. I know, right, you're completely jealous. It was put on by a local organization that offers all sorts of sciencey classes to teachers. This one started off with a mini-lesson in geology from a professor from the local community college; she was amazing, enthusiastic and excited. Made me want to run right out and sign up for Geology 101. It was a fun day. The weather was perfect, the assembled group friendly and chatty, and I learned all sorts of information about the various stops we made. This is the view from our last stop, just west of the Dalles, in that area where the terrain is transitioning from lush to high desert. I'd never been here before and the hike looked like it might be worth a return trip...especially in the spring because the wildflowers here were impressive.


I took about six photos of this delicate white flower hoping that one would turn out. (Again, I need a real camera.)But, this morning as I sat down to look up the name of whatever this was I was surprised to find that my guess, that it was part of the onion family, was correct. It's called a Fool's Onion... it looks like one but, according to the book doesn't look or smell like one.

How did that happen? When did I learn that?

I need a real camera

I had a beautifully composed photo in mind.

The contrast between the blue of the tiny broken robin's egg and the rust colored ledge on my side porch should have looked good. Alas, the depth of field was impossible to work with and this photo plays with. I am quite enamored of the weird tree-like kale at the right of this picture.

Either way, spring, although it took it's sweet time, is here. Yesterday was glorious, sunny and 70. I bought all sorts of beautiful plants yesterday, strawberries and heirloom tomatoes with exotic sounding names "Koralik" and "Cherokee Purple", Lily of the Valley, succulents, raspberry canes, and a tomatillo plant. They are sitting in a anxiously waiting huddle on my front porch, giving my Sunday a purpose. There was a garden fair in downtown Camas yesterday, it felt quaint and I ran into two neighbors and one of my favorite counselors...if that doesn't make one feel like part of a community then I don't know what does.