...summer nostalgia....

Reliable transportation :)

Walking through Pokerville Market tonight with my Pokerville Pizza and my good Cooper Vineyards Barbera, I watched several local grammar school kids grabbing snacks. They had on their summer gear, shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops. Their hair was messy and their legs were already showing a healthy tan. It was 87 degrees. PERFECT summer weather. 

I remember those days just as summer vacation began, running home from that last 1/2 day of school, report card in hand, yelling with my brother and friends. That unequaled feeling of freedom...that anticipation of carefree weeks and weeks and WEEKS of perfect sunny days and warm nights.  Barbecues and roasted marshmallows, music and...fun...watching Antioch's Fourth of July firework shows from our hillside backyard. I have great memories of going for rides in the back of my Dad's pick-up (before it was unsafe and illegal) down cool country lanes closely lined with spicy scented walnut and fruit trees...picking cherries by the bucketful out of a farmer friend's orchard. (Sandy, Wayne and Charlie will remember that ;) Dad would drive slowly ~ he always was fascinated to see how straight the farmers had made their rows. Mom would just sit and enjoy the views. I can remember the fresh smell of the irrigation canal that all the Byron kids liked to swim in, and the fluting sound of the wings of the mourning dove as they rose off the road just ahead of us. I remember exploring the twisting, rutted roads along the river and fishing for catfish with Craig and our cousins, and that day that I caught a large snapping turtle--Granny cut it's head off! I remember my cut-offs and bare feet and white-blonde pony tail. Later, I remember spending hours on horseback, just me and Maggie, exploring farm roads and watching wildlife. How thrilled I was to catch a glimpse of a  jack rabbit or a gopher snake! What simple, uncomplicated days and nights....


...I remember the sounds of laughter...   

...Gemini issues....

Yes, I know, it looks like a Wendy painting. :)

May is my birth month, and this year I am officially turning the age of 

"Old Enough to Know Better." 

Geminis are touted to be "ever youthful and fun", creative and clever, and of course, there is that all important battle between the light and the dark. 

So far, the light side is winning ~so far.

So when I opened my birthday gift from my Mom, who looks amazing, it included a bottle of Rapid Wrinkle Repair cream.  LMAO!  Yes, she is a Gemini, too. She is creative and clever and all those things. HA, HA, HA, Mom.... 

...rule #3 is "NEVER lose your sense of humor."

Volcano ~ Hen House

"Volcano ~ Hen House"

I have been admiring this hen house for years.  It is in Volcano on my daily route to work.  I have viewed it in all kinds of light ~ soft misty light, strong sunshine, sunset...it has a hundred different faces.  This is my favorite.  It is a bright, sunny, but cool morning~ about 8:30 am. The sunlight is just peaking over the ridge, back-lighting the trees. It highlights the wire and the edges of the roof line ~ casting lovely shadow patterns on the faded red paint. 

I had fun adding the green lichen on the building and the oak tree with my colored pencils....

I love to paint old buildings. I like painted surfaces, wire, old galvanized tin. Chicken houses have a special place in my heart. This house is hen-less, of course.  You can tell by the grass happily growing inside the wire pen. :) It needs hens.

Spring is here, friends. The hills are vibrant, lush green...painted with cobalt blue and quinacridone gold. Today, the trees are enjoying a sweet shower of rain, sprinkled with birdsong and sparkling diamond drops of light.  

....all is well at FiddleSong Studio...

...goodbye dear friend...

My pretty mom, Judy :)

I just spent seven days in Florida.  

It was a last minute decision, and boy was I glad that I went. Our dear family friend Mel Mountain passed away last week. SO sad. It still brings a heavy heart and big painful tears to my eyes to write about it. Mom and I were talking about him at Easter. We knew that he was fading, but we thought there would be more time.  He was just so sick.  My mom is the most tender-hearted friend. She would do anything for her friends. 

She told me that she and Dad would be traveling to Florida for his services.  

Thinking about it later, I asked myself, "How could I afford to go?" 

The answer came "How will you feel about yourself if you don't go?"

I asked "Will it be OK to take the time off work?" The answer came from my manager, Melody "Just let us know how we can help."

So when she called me in tears on Monday night, I told Mom that I was going along with them. Rick would watch their dog. I would be ready when they were. Three days later, we were flying across the Sierra Nevadas on our way to Tampa. 

My first time in Florida, but not my last. I stepped out of the airport into midnight scented, 80 degree warmth and humidity and immediately loved it. 

"Oh," I thought. "I get it. So this is why they choose to live here...."  

We drove to Brooksville that night in a drenching downpour, and when we finally arrived at the hotel, the night clerk asked, "Are you the Wetzels?"  The famous Southern hospitality ~ it is real. I woke to sunshine and singing birds.  The Spanish moss hung in lacy clusters from the oaks. There were pink drifts of wild phlox blooming alongside the highway. 

I felt like I had stepped into a Faulkner novel.  

I am the first one to admit that I am not a good traveler. I suffer. My stomach is tied in knots for days. I worry about not making the travel arrangements, not having my computer. (I am seriously getting a laptop.) I don't like the lack of privacy. I can't eat the way I want to....

But this was an important trip for me. 

I missed my friends and they were suffering far worse than I.  

My mom and dad are starting to feel their age, and they had lost one of their closest friends. One of their MARBLE PARTNERS.  It does not get any worse than that. 

They needed my calming presence.  They needed me. They needed me to referee :)

"FRED! Don't turn here...!"  

"Judy, stop yelling at me...." 

It was so good to see the Mountains. They are a close knit, strong family. They exude warmth and goodness. It was good to see them gathered together and supporting each other. They are those people who will always do the right thing for the right reasons.  

I love them all. And they love me :)

All you can do is ask for guidance and trust in the answers that you receive. And then take the keys, so you have some control.... :)

....today, I could have used a hug. 

...spring lambs...

So, on my home tonight I was driving along Pine Grove/Volcano Road listening to my music when I noticed a group of little dobermans(?) harassing my favorite sheep!! 

"WHAT!  NO WAY!!!"  I yelled. 

I quickly pulled over and drove back to the pasture, expecting to see dead sheep, or at least bloody ones. 

I was going to save sheep lives. 

I immediately realized that I was looking at a large new batch of lambs playing in the grass. There were several little black and tan ones (the min-pins) and they were all RUNNING like crazy, yelling all the way. "AWWWW!!" I said with a ...sheepish grin....and grabbed my camera.

SEEEE the little black and tan butts?

This ewe seemed to be very interested in what I was doing.  She came closer and closer to the fence where I was standing clicking away with my camera...and stamped her little hooves. 

OoooooOOOooo! I felt SO threatened!  

I laughed so hard...she was clearly baffled.  

STAMP.... STAMP!

"Look YOU," she seemed to say..."don't get any closer to my lamb!"

When I could stop laughing, I thought about her body language.  She was stiff legged and stared right into my eyes. Her ears were down, clearly annoyed. 

Definitely not a sheep to mess with! 

But just look at her dark brown wool and her lovely golden eyes.

Sooo, after you have had a good run with your lamb pals, you need some warm sheep's milk....

...then a bit of a nap.

...all is well at Red Barn farm....

"Daffodil Donkey"

I like the patterns of light and shadow on her dirty white coat. We think her name is Sunshine ~ how appropriate! I met this scruffy little donkey last weekend at Daffodil Hill. I see her every morning on my drive to work. While I was visiting with my daughter and grandchildren, we were fortunate enough to hear her lovely voice, when her owner brought her and her pals a flake of hay.

I LOVE donkeys.  They are beautiful, but humble. Surefooted and cautious ~ slow to trust, but willing to try. I want to rescue a donkey or two. 
It is a GOAL. 
I love their loooooong ears, and the sound of their brays. Donkeys and goats are mostly compatible, and donkeys make GREAT guard animals. They will chase a coyote (or a dog) and stomp it if they catch it. 
They will also clean up that alfalfa my does refuse to eat because it has touched the ground.

OH, yeah, I want one.  

...FiddleSong Farm needs a donkey....

...Smilin' Sal....

It was a gorgeous, warm sunny day here today. The birds were screaming in the trees.  I accomplished a few tasks that I had been putting off ~ some gardening chores, I washed and polished the floors, did some laundry, and made a box for Jenna's painting. Smilin' Sal will soon begin the long journey to upstate New York. A huge smile lit my face as I padded the painting with recycled air pouches and taped it up. I love that feeling of doing the right thing for the right reason. Sharing art is a wonderful thing, and Jenna is going to just love her painting....  

On Wednesday it rained. It started around midnight, and continued throughout the day.  I LOVE the rain.  I love how it makes the air smell, I love that it washes away from the trees the dust that has settled on their leaves and needles, making them sparkle with good health. I can almost see them taking a long, deep sip of the cool water trickling down through their soil. 

On Thursday, I drove up Fiddletown Road on my way to work. The mist was thick and beautiful, casting a soft glowing light where the sun filtered through the tree branches. 

There is something magical about mist. 

My inner voice says "I would love to paint this.  But how do I describe those misty trees in paint? There really is no color, just a soft blue-gray, with hints of darkness and light here and there."  Then I realize that the most intriguing thing about what I was seeing, was that movement cause by my passage. The way the sun filters through and behind each passing tree ~sometimes hiding, sometimes defining branch and leaf and needle ~ creates a sense of mystery.  I drove slower and slower, barely seeing the road, soaking in the atmosphere ~ feeling as if I was witnessing a miracle of Nature.

...sometimes the simplest things in life can give the most joy...