Well I thought I’d uploaded these here already the day I made them, but now I remember that iCloud wasn’t working for me that day. That’s what happens when you live in the sticks and your technology is made for city people with abundant internet connection!
Always exciting to find those red hygrocybes and yellow earth fingers!
Earth Corals! Yeah!
Yesterday afternoon we had high winds and then driving rain, so it was an inside kind of day. For weeks now I’ve been cleaning and sorting everything in the shed, the house, the outbuildings and the yard. The last two years have been a blur of collecting materials and building, so it feels good to take a break from those two activities to sort and assess what I have, and figure out what I still need going into this next build year.
By first light this morning though, the winds and rain had subsided so Jasper and I went out to explore some of the human forgotten parts of the island within walking distance from our place. I collected many interesting specimens, made a few medleys, and took lots of short videos. One of my winter projects is to begin a YouTube channel of short nature videos showing my process. Hopefully it’ll debut early in the new year, stay tuned!
Two huge stropharias, anchored by two blewitts with lots of other found bits and bobs!
Now that we’re heading into the darkest days of winter, I’m sleeping much more and generally resting and recuperating. I’ve been tinkering with new market product display ideas, drinking lots of tea (Jasmine green or Jasmine white are my two favorites), cuddling with Jasper dog, and going on low key walking adventures together. Here’s a round up of several recent medleys and happenings.
Medley made for my 92-year old widow neighbor.
Sometimes I get paid to make piles of things and set them on fire!
Found around the garden.
Jasper had to sit right there while I made this one!
Another medley! Gathered these gems while Jasper and I walked the neighborhood. Last night was our first one below freezing. When mushrooms freeze they dry out and the gills get wavy. You can see this clearly on the second stack down from the top. I arranged these finds in one of my nasturtium flower beds, which will turn to goop once the freeze thaws and turns to rain. I’ll miss these sunny blooms!
I’m taking advantage of the non-rainy weather to get some yard work done around my place and a few island client’s places. I’m finding mushroom and other nature gems as I do!
Hardy fuscias and hot pink sorrel from my garden, maple and cedar leaves from a client’s grounds, plus mushrooms from everywhere I’ve ben!
Oh hey, hi! Well as usual Summer Manic Season got the best of me trying to balance weekly trips to town to vend at Farmers Markets, work for islanders, keeping up with the garden, and trying to get some work done on my build project. Now the summer work season is over and it’s quiet once again. Time to nestle in, rest, recuperate and go on low-key explorations!
I went to my sweetie’s family’s annual elk camp in NE Oregon last week. While the guys were out hunting for elk, deer, turkey or grouse, I explored miles of forest service roads and old logging roads for my bounty of choice. Here are the results of my hunt!
The forest floor was littered with pine needles, elk and deer dung.
Made in a switchback creekside meadow on the way to Horse Shoe Ridge.
Found this deer shoulder bone nestled in among the kinick-kinick.
Just as we were packing up to leave, the hunters scored a turkey! I brought home the tail and wings to commemorate the turkey that will be enjoyed on Thanksgiving. Isn’t my new Passion flower glorious?!
How cool is this? I received an email from a new virtual friend and fellow nature nerd Bethany the other day:
“I bought four of your Resilient stickers to recognize members of our dive team (WDFW Shellfish dive team), for their efforts in our annual May fitness challenge. We call it “Don’t Be Lazy” fitness challenge. Haha. We dive all over the WA waters of the Salish Sea. Here’s a picture of two of our divers in front of Allan Island about to get in to do an urchin survey. We love to put special stickers on our personal gear boxes - you can see my sticker on my box here.”
Turns out the team dives to check on our Pinto Abalone stocks as well, so I’m sending a few of those stickers along for the team to enjoy!
Taking two weeks out of my tight schedule to build the front deck is already paying off! Loading things in and out of the building is easy breezy now instead of an uneven minefield. 12’ metal roofing pieces and other odd pieces of lumber that’ve been taking up valuable floor space for 2 years OUT, 100 2x4s for framing the walls IN.
Jasper loves laying on the new front deck, his new vantage point to watch the world go by. While working on my email newsletter today in the shed, I heard someone outside walk by and exclaim “Oh Jasper, buddy, lookit you on your new porch!” I looked over at him and I swear he was beaming. He really does smile when he’s happy, and he does this whole “snarl smile” thing when he’s happy to see someone he hasn’t seen in a while. Someday I want to capture it on video for posterity.
Plywood bridge for now to get the heavy things inside. Cedar decking will replace it soon!
Life took an unexpected turn yesterday morning when I woke up to go to the Anacortes Farmers Market. I had a severe food allergy reaction, passed out on the boat while getting ready, knocked my noggin on the steps on the way down, and called 911 to come check my bloody head gash. Thankfully it didn’t require stitches or a trip to the hospital, just a few days bed rest. Ouch though!
I cancelled both markets for the weekend (rescheduling for next weekend) & my sailor sweetie came to the mainland. Today we were getting restless on the boat, so we spent the day at a u-pick blueberry patch leisurely, intermittently picking berries and napping in the shade.
I was bummed to miss the markets, but taking a whole day to pick my own yearly 50 pounds of berries for the chest freezer with my favorite guy and dog was an unexpected luxury. A day grounding in the blueberry fields has done wonders for my head, belly & outlook!
The front deck build is coming along! I have the framing all finished & will cover the path to the door with scrap plywood for now to get things in and out of the building. I have the decking on hand, but need to prioritize a few other tasks before the rains come!
This week I also worked on installing the last two windows and trim. These will be my kitchen windows looking out to the forest behind the house! And my septic drain field, which will eventually become a native wildflower meadow.
I was able to spend some time in the shade in the garden harvesting chamomile for tea and to seed my septic tank mound. A lovely meditative time!
With all the additional summer visitors to our island, my internet connection has gotten so bad I don’t bother with it most days. I’m pretty busy working on my house build and in the garden while the weather is clear anyhow!
Working on the front deck installation last week, and this week!
Every other week I head to the mainland to participate in some local Farmer’s Markets. Come visit Jasper dog and I if you can!
Jasper chillaxes under my market table every weekend!
I’ve had better internet connectivity success using telegram on my phone. Follow along there if you’d like more real-time updates! I’ll be back to posting here on the blog more regularly when the season wanes and the visitors leave. Until then, happy high summer friends!
I tweaked this found one a bit also. Also accurate!
I came across this meme and tweaked it for hyper-local accuracy!
I’m on the floating condo (my sailor sweetie’s sailboat) today catching up with the internet after a weekend of mainland markets. The YouTube algorithm recommended this video about Marguerite Wildenhein and I’m now enthralled with this woman’s legacy, I resonate deeply with her life and philosophy. I can see my life emulating hers in some ways. Do you have complimentary videos to recommend? Please comment below!
I had so many other synchronistic moments this past weekend vending at the farmers markets. Talking with a younger artist visitor to my Everett Farmer’s Market booth, his enthusiasm for nature and yearning for a life path to incorporate it more fully, I suddenly remembered a fateful meeting I had while vending at farmer’s markets in my then-home Portland OR when I was younger and looking for the next direction my life would take. Gosh, it’s been almost 11 years ago now since I came home here to the Salish Sea!
Anyhow, talking to the younger artist yesterday, I remembered a conversation I had years ago with a middle-aged woman in my booth who was looking over all my nature prints and notecards and emphatically exclaiming over and over that I just HAD to go to the San Juan islands, my artwork resonated with her experiences there. Truth be told, this happened several times with several different booth visitors in the 5 years I lived in Portland, but that particular woman left the strongest impression. I wish I remembered more details about her! In my life’s story, she was a harbinger of the future to come, just as perhaps I have been for the young artist who visited with me yesterday.
Other important-feeling visitors/harbingers of the future-to-come this weekend were a group of regenerative permaculture-principle farmers. We traded stories, artwork and plant starts; and I caught a glimpse of a possible future coming into being. That’s all I can definitely say for now. I’ll have to let the vision percolate a bit and reveal more as time goes on!
I also met a woman named Hope, who purchased my Hope image in sticker form. I jokingly shared with her that I never had kids but if I had had a daughter I daydreamed of naming her Hope to match my last name (if you say “Hope Bliss” out loud you’ll understand my humor). The woman named Hope standing in front of me shared that her given last name was Foley. Her parents had my sense of humor! She also shared that her grandmother liked to remind her that she stopped the parents from giving Hope the middle name of Leslie. Ha!
On the barge, heading home. The best mid-summer gift!
Here we are, midway through summer. The garden is coming into it’s own this year, year 3.
So grateful for all this bounty!
In the last few weeks I’ve made two major home purchases on the mainland: septic tank and kitchen stove, both destined for my island home-in-progress. Here’s a recap in pics of the septic tank’s journey from the mainland to home via a few forklifts, the barge and Truckie:
Dropped off at the barge office.
Offloading from the barge on the island
The new barge/forklift operator: “Where’s this going?” Me:”On top of my truck.” Barge op: “Awesome!”
Truckie, the champ
Island neighbors came to help me off-load.
The stove is making a similar journey (still in progress as I write this):
Into the mainland van
Out of the van and into a trailer, awaiting barge transport.