That Jolie Girl

Filling the kiln

I spent the last week at my good friends' house taking care of their adorable beasts.  Since my kiln lives at their house, I also had the opportunity to get some glass done.  It feels like it's been years since I did any glass.  It was so nice to spend all day Saturday being creative.  I managed to fire 2 kiln loads.  That makes me so happy!

You will probably remember these guys since I house sit for my friends pretty regularly.   My iphone made getting candid shots a breeze.  I kept it near me most of the time and took lots of cute pictures.  It was also great to easily send pictures to my friends, so they wouldn't miss their kids too much.

Little Louie in my lap.

Even the cats couldn't hide from my iphone. 

So You Think You Can Dance

I'm a sucker for dance.  I love everything about it.  I think this love started from watching Debbie Allen on Fame when I was a kid.  Since then I've watched everything I can from musicals to the cheesiest of dance shows on TV.  Last night I went to see the So You Think You Can Dance tour with a friend.  I've been addicted to this show from it's premiere.  These contestants are so talented and over the years the show and choreography has gotten better and better.  AND Debbie Allen has been a frequent guest judge. 

 

The tour didn't disappoint.  It was great to see all of my favorite performances.   It was interesting that some dancers were in almost every dance and others only did 1 or 2 performances.  Also, there was more filler than necessary.  But as a whole, the dancing was amazing and I'm so happy I went.

Here is a picture I took last night.  Our seats were really great.  It looked better than this picture.  It was crazy to see so many phones taking pictures. 

Wondrous Art Wednesday

Wow, I can't believe I went without blogging for so long.  Time has just gotten away from me.  Today when thinking about what to post, I just wanted to have some art with birds.  They always have a calming effect on me.  I love Richard Longden's birds.  They are just so whimsical and fun.  They make me smile.  Richard is having a sale on his Etsy's site, so this would be a great time to pick up one (or three) of his prints.  

Chipmunk Fever

People who know me, know I love squirrels.  The only thing I like more than squirrels are chipmunks.  During our hike last weekend on Mt. Howard, we were surrounded by tons of very friendly chipmunks.  I was in hog heaven.   I probably took more pictures of the chipmunks than I did of the vistas.  This little guy was so friendly and took me by surprise when he jumped on my leg.  Chipmunks tried to get into my backpack and even jumped on my husband's wrist and took a bite out of his prayer bead bracelet. 

I did manage to find more wild life, but not much.  These birds were very plentiful and very noisy.  We also saw 4 dear and many hawks driving to Eastern Oregon.

In the Imnaha Valley, we came across a covey of quail.  I hadn't seen quail in a million years and they were always a favorite of my mom's.  They were super fast and I only managed to get a picture of the very last one.

Wondrous Art Wednesday

On vacation this past weekend, I saw a lot of David Jensen's photography.  From galleries to the local Chamber of Commerce, his work was everywhere.  One can see why.  His photography is absolutely beautiful.  I tried to channel him a little bit when taking pictures in the Imnaha Valley.  Yeah, I can't even come close.  He is a great inspiration and really highlights how beautiful this region is.  All the pictures I've chosen this week are right around where I vacationed.  His work ranges all over the Northwest. 

Wallowa County

I spent a long Labor Day weekend in Wallowa County which is in the very rural Northeastern corner of Oregon.  On the drive out, we stopped at the Stonehenge in Maryhill, WA.  This Stonehenge was built to scale after WWI to commemorate the men from the area who died in battle. 

Not having seen the real one, this one is still very impressive and such a great attraction to have in our area.

We also toured the Maryhill Museum, which was built by Sam Hill.  He also built Stonehenge.  It's amazing to see such amazing art in such a rural environment.

The scariest part of our adventure was riding the Wallowa Tram.  It's the steepest tram in North America and the ride is 15 minutes long.  My husband and I are not fans of heights; I know I held my breath a lot on the trip.  The views from the top were spectacular.  We hiked the top of Mt Howard for a couple of miles.  Every view was better than the last.

We also rented a paddle boat and had a mellow couple of hours on the Wallowa River.

We were in Nez Perce country and had the opportunity to visit Chief Joseph's grave.  It was interesting to see all the momentos that were left at his grave. 

We took a day trip to Imnaha which is a tiny town about 30 miles from Joseph.  The landscape was incredible.  I seemed to be saying "this is so beautiful" around every bend in the road. 

We were blessed with a beautiful day.  It was just stunning.

There weren't that many plants around this late in the summer, but I did have to look out for these suckers.  I didn't want to get stuck by these thorns.