Goodbye June

I can't believe today is the last day of June. It's been busy with relatives and a new dog. I also painted our living room twice and we held a mildly successful garage sale. Those professional RV- garage sale folks are a little intense in their quest for guns, ammo and antique military memorabilia.... Sadly we couldn't accommodate any of their initial requests, but did send them away with a cast iron dutch oven. Which reminds me, I've got to order these for camping this summer!

And the picture? That's Mt. St. Helens. I grew up in Oregon, but only went there for the 2nd time last week. It's spectacular. I still recall sweeping up our driveway on the coast, collecting ash from the explosion to save in tiny jars. I don't know what became of my jar. I wish I had it now. I would use it to launch a curiosity collection. Burnt toast in the likeness of deities and such...

2 days at the Beach

We just returned from 2 days at Rockaway Beach. The sun rarely comes out for me when I visit the Oregon coast. We packed winter coats and expected to be bundled up inside this time, but the weather turned out perfect.

Our rental was right on the beach and perfectly cozy. After the back deck with the fantastic view, the next best feature of the house was the kitchen. Eggs cooked in a pink pan on a pink range, just taste better.

Vinny proved himself to be a great beach dog and even smiled for a photo!

Vinny keeps an eye on things

We've had Vinny for a little over a week now. I'm loving taking him for walks, but at home he can get a little restless. Yesterday I tied three leashes together and set him up on the front porch so he can wander in the house and out to the sidewalk freely. He immediately chilled out. Vinny likes to keep the neighborhood in check and watch the skateboarders. He's a porch dog.

Hummingbirds

9 x 9" oil on oak floor tile
Here are some hummingbirds I've been working on for my mother in law. I still need to coat them with resin. I hadn't painted birds for a while so it took me a while to get back to it. I love birds, but I seem to enjoy painting humminbirds more than any other kind. They can be so colorful and strange. Now that they're finished, I think I'll work on some more birds for the shop.

It's a Boy!

I think we're welcoming a new member to our family today. Monday I was taking a nap after work and Shawn woke me up to say there was a pug on the Humane Society website and they were open for another 20 minutes and did I want to go visit him. We'd been loosely keeping an eye out for a small dog, and so in a sleepy haze we went to visit. He's a sweet one, though a bit out of shape (he and I both...) and with a skin condition that hopefully can be cleared up with a good diet. His name is Baylee (pronounced Bailey) and I'd hate to change since it's been his name for 5 years, but I guess it's all in the tone right? We'd like to name him Vinnie, though I figure we could also get away with 'Bay Leaf' pretty easily and he might not detect a difference.