When we lived in Salinas, we had parties a lot. Every holiday we made treats, decorated, cleaned like mad, and had a dozen folks over to have fun.
Harold and Mr. Ross-Riley in Salinas
It was so much fun!
Me as Sybil Trelawny and our cookies, eyeballs, and ‘finger’ sandwiches
And this past weekend, we had a party at our new place. I didn’t take pictures of our guests, because I didn’t want to put anyone on the spot.
So we baked, decorated, and cleaned like mad, and then the neighbors came. Stacy and John and Bella, and Jonathon from next door. Four humans not related to us, here in our house.
Wise Owl Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa ”Charlie Brown”
We even played Halloween trivia (Stacy and Bella won) and gave homemade voodoo dolls for presents.
Mouse checking out The Assistant…
We talked about food, history, books, and cats. Bella and Stacy gave Mouse lots of love and scritches, because they are good cat people.
After plenty of food and wine and conversation, the guests headed off and we tidied up, happy to have had our first, but not our last, party here in Portland.
Since it is October, we have been watching ”monster movies”. But we don’t like gory stuff or really scary stories, so we are pretty fussy about what we watch.
We start with the silly ones, because we like to be silly. Charles Schulz’s ”It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, and Mel Brooks’ ”Young Frankenstein” are two of our favorites.
The old classic movies, like Boris Karloff’s 1932 “The Mummy” and the 1954 “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”, have such delightful dialogue, characters and stories that they feel like old friends that we visit once a year. This year we tried a ”new” one, 1953s “The Magnetic Monster.” It was interesting, but I think maybe one watching is enough.
“The Blob”, which starred a very young Steve McQueen in 1958, had pretty ridiculous special effects, but it was just so much fun. The courageous teenagers who worked so hard to make the adults believe that the monster was real, and to save everyone, always give me hope. And the early rock n’roll theme song is just adorable.
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Our bow to the Disco era is ”Love at First Bite”, a Dracula spoof with handsome George Hamilton playing the ancient count in modern New York City.
We watched the modern stop-motion film “ParaNorman”. It is a stunning homage to classic horror movies and created by our local Laika studio. They use thousands of hand made sets and pieces to create better-than-lifelike characters. The story is so sweet and moving, I cry just a little when the ’evil witch’ can finally stop haunting and rest.
From the 1945 Blythe Spirit
The newest film we watched this year was a remake of “Blythe Spirit”. Judi Dench played the eccentric spiritualist Madame Arcati, who accidentally brings a lady back ’from the other side’ and then can’t figure out how to send her back. It wasn’t as good, in my humble opinion, as the 1945 version, with the delightful Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati.
We are coming up on Halloween pretty quick, so we are about done with our monster movie watching for this year. But that’s okay! In just another month, it’s Christmas movie time!
Auntie Bridgett has been writing her new comic, AuntieBeeswax, for the Willamette Week newspaper for a few months now. Readers have gotten to know cheerful, eccentric Bee, her cats, her chickens, and her hive of honey-makers.
And apparently, they like what they see!
We found this out in a sort of backwards way. Today is the day the newspaper comes out, and we were going to pick one up this afternoon. But before we had a chance, Bridgett began getting alerts in her phone.
Where was AuntieBeeswax?
Our friend Jack, who originally placed Auntie Bee in the paper, has been laid off due to budget cuts. The part time (probably lower-paid) person the newspaper hired to manage the design dropped the ball, and left Auntie Bee off the funny pages. And people noticed!
We are sad for the slip-up, but it is good to be missed. And I’m sure all will be right in the end.
And just so YOU don’t miss it, here is today’s comic!
One thing I love about going for long walks is that you never know what you’re going to learn.
Grandpa Nelson and I headed south the other day, and ”almost accidentally”stopped at Palio Bakery in Ladd’s Addition for snacks and coffee. While we were there, we texted Auntie Katie, who came by and shared our cake. We caught up on news, and then it was time for the Cousins to be coming home from school!
Down at Books with Pictures, I found something new. Amarette Gregor has opened up her new business, Pup Tent Flowers and Gifts, out of Auntie Katie’s garage!
I asked how this came about, and Amarette said that she just walked into Books with Pictures, introduced herself to Katie and said, “How would you like a flower shop?” And she did!
Amarette’s business is mostly pop-up and delivery, but she also has display space in the garage.
After hugs and a chat with Jasper and Kestrel, we walked through the Clinton neighborhood, passing the historic Clinton Theater, where they still show The Rocky Horror Picture Show every Saturday at Midnight.
As the weather is getting colder, these long walks will be on hold until Spring, but I sure love walking around town!
I went out for a walk the other day to enjoy the colors and clear my head. Sitting with a cat on your lap, watching the fire burn, though very pleasant, makes me a bit fuzzy headed.
I bundled up, headed out, and got inspired. Here is my take on the seasons.
ForTheLeaves
The Spring brought us colors of blossom and bloom,
The beginnings of life, bursting forth, making room.
The summer brought jewel-colored fruits of the vine
Apples for a pie and grapes for some wine.
In Autumn the world became darker and cold,
The youth of the spring has grown up and grown old.
No longer bursting, it no longer glows
It flashes an instant before the storm blows
But just for this moment, the wind holds its peace
This yard, with metal cutouts of dragons and Bigfoot on its fence, has been a favorite for while. But now, their fantastical critters are joined by witty headstones. “Hamlet…. not to be” and ”Elphaba… It isn’t easy being green” cracked me up. I admit, I had to look up who Elphaba was. According to the Broadway show WICKED, Elphaba is the given name of the Wicked Witch of the West in ”The Wizard of Oz” stories.
Down the street from the headstones was this entertaining scene. On one side of the yard, several skeletons were working very hard to keep make sure whatever was in a coffin stayed in that coffin.
And on the other side of the yard, two of Hamlet’s Weird Sisters were hard at work, stirring a cauldron. I can imagine that on Halloween night it will be properly lit up and have dry ice bubbling out of the cauldron!
Our house is getting sort of Halloweened up, too. Our biggest decoration, The Assistant, is sitting at the table, wearing a witch’s hat and, of course, a mask. He is enjoying some properly Halloween colored flowers.
Having lived most of my life in Southern and Central California, home of evergreen landscaping, I am dumfounded every Fall by our colors. The intense yellows of the ginkoes, gold of the birches, the red of quince and the flaming maples, just knock me out.
Laurelhurst Park, of course, is acres of loveliness. But our neighborhood trees, some of which are a hundred years old, also make me understand why people who move from elsewhere to Southern California say “they miss the seasons”.
I guess I get sort of goofy in the Fall. Summer’s flowers and sunshine are so bright, it is almost blinding. In Fall, it is grayer, darker, and… wetter. The bright leaves are our last hurrah of color until spring, and I don’t want to miss it.
So, while I go walking and leaf-peeping whenever I feel sad or restless, I hope these pictures let you see why I love our Fall so much.
It has been so pretty this Fall! The air is cool and fresh and the leaves are a million different colors. It was time for a walk to Lone Fir Cemetery.
Auntie Bridgett had a new friend she wanted me to meet, so we went there first. This narrow grave stone marks the grave of Emma Hawthorne. She was our famous Dr. Hawthorne’s first wife. She was twenty years younger than Dr. Hawthorne and died in 1862 after only twoweeks of marriage. There are a scant two lines about her death in the Oregonian, which seems weird, since she was the bride of such an important doctor and businessman.
Why was no more said about her, her life or her funeral arrangements, in the local newspapers of the time? Why is she buried in a sloping corner of the cemetery while the rest of the family (including the doctor’s second wife) have large monuments on a sunny hill?
We have heard rumors that she died by suicide, which at the time was considered a sin against God. While we have no proof, that would be one explanation for what seems like shabby treatment.
While we were thinking about young Emma and her lonely fate, we sat on a low wall and listened to the chestnuts rattle through the branches and thump to the ground. It is Conker season, for sure. The squirrels and Auntie Bridgett dashed about, collecting them, and I just love being part of it.
Further on, we found another new friend. Several years ago I wrote about a local drummer named Andrew Loomis who had a wonderfully down to earth epitaph on his headstone (Life is good sept the parts that suck). Now, it seems his younger brother Matthew has passed away, and has joined Andrew in his space.
There were more graves, which I’m sure have their own stories, but my eyes were so full of the beautiful leaves!
This time of year has a quiet, lovely melancholy which I find comforting. The nearness of death is not scary, somehow, but peaceful.
Saturday was predicted to be our last warm, dry day for a while, so we went out for a drive. We headed for Sauvie Island, where we always enjoy mazes, roasted corn, and lots of fun folks and farm animals.
As we headed north out of town, though, the traffic got very slow. Grandpa Nelson looked at the road directions on his phone and realized that all those cars were headed to the same place we were! No crowds for us, thanks.
We turned right around and headed back the way we had come, but we didn’t want to go home. Grandpa Nelson said “Well, we’ve never been on Germantown Road, let’s turn there.” And we did.
The Germantown Road goes right up into the west hills, twisting and turning and going up and up. We drove through shady forest with the afternoon sun lighting up the trees in the distance, looking just like the landscape paintings I have been learning to paint. It was so pretty!
From there, we navigated by Serendipity, which means randomly turning at various corners and seeing where we end up. We were driving through a very expensive neighborhood with fancy houses and big yards, called Oak Hills.
Then all of a sudden, we saw groups of kids with band uniforms, playing marching band music. Turns out, we had stumbled upon the 32nd Annual Sunset Classic, a band competition, being held at Sunset High School. Eight High School ‘show bands’ from Grants Pass, Tigard, and other schools near and far were performing their combinations of music, marching, flag work, dance, and stagecraft. After some parking snafus, we bought tickets and found seats in the sunny bleachers.
We sat there, totally impressed by the level of playing and choreography. The first piece we saw all the way through was performed by local Century Marching Band, from Hillsborough. The title was “Per aspera ad astra”, or “Through Hardships to the Stars.” Besides really interesting dance moves and great, modulated playing, this number featured a giant inflatable moon!
The sun was beating down on us, (who thinks to bring sun hats in October?) but we were determined to see a few more. The next really memorable piece was performed by Kamiak High School of Mukilteo, Washington. They performed with backdrops of famous Banksy street paintings and their graphic design was really good.
I wish I could let you hear the music! The drum cadences were strong and fast, made more interesting by half a dozen marimbas, gongs, and other instruments you don’t usually see with a marching band.
After the last band played, there was an intermission before the evening’s awards and more performances, but the sun had done us in. We got back to the car and talked about music, dance, and High School all the way home!
A dear friend, Lynn Huff, referred me to an artist who does youtube.com videos. The teacher is Karen Rice. She has many, many followers, a lovely British accent, and a fine hand at watercolors. I decided to give it a try, as Ruthie Inman says, ”for practice”.
Here is the picture Karen Rice was having us paint:
She used quinacridome gold, burnt sienna, and ultramarine. I have the sienna and ultramarine, but no gold. I used a yellow ochre instead.
I did one picture yesterday, but was so busy trying to follow the directions that I forgot to take pictures as I went along! Here is that first painting, all finished:
Doing another one today, I gained from my practice, but watercolor is such a chancy medium that I never know how it’s going to come out. Today, I followed the directions carefully…
I sketched the main parts of the picture with a pencil, then wetted the paper and laid down the wet-in-wet background.
I sprinkled salt in some of the wet paint to give it texture, then let it all dry.
Next, I borrowed a sea sponge from Auntie Bridgett to dab in colors for the foliage. This part is hard because if the paint is too wet, it runs together and doesn’t look leafy. The tricks seems to be to add thousands of tiny, separate flecks without getting them too close together.
Once the foliage was dry, I put in the trunks of the trees. This made the whole forest make sense, tying all the leaves together. I kept adding more blue to make it more moody and contrast with the bright background. I know my picture is more BLUE than Karen Rice’s, but I’m okay with that.
This lesson has taught me how to make this sort of picture, but also a more important lesson: If you think you ‘can’t get’ something, keep trying! Keep looking and dabbing and …. who knows what might happen?
Dear Liza 