A Very Different Fall

 The road coming into my house, with a few changing colors

 Thankful for my Japanese maples for the Fall colors 

This doesn't even begin to show the gorgeous reds.

 Oh O whats this. It is almost November and my impatients

are still growing and blooming.

Yes the weather has been so strange. So warm for 

this time of year here in the foothills of the Cascades.

Getting All Decked Out

 Just getting started with all the traditional things  we celebrate every year. The Santa in the

picture with the deer, we call Broken Santa as he was broken in one of my many moves. I have had him since my childhood and broken or not I love him and would never not have him on the tree.

 The front hall is filled with lots of treasures and beautiful memories. Gifts from 

friends, some who are no longer with us but their memories warm ones heart.

 And giggles from the powder room when people come upon 

my merry mice. I found them on a trip up to Whistler BC and fell

in love with them.

The tree is up and we are still decorating it. 

Yes decorating all but the bottom part as 

Max and Cooper wanted to remove ornaments as

they were being put on. They sure are wide eyed

and fascinated with everything.

Today it was actually 50 degrees out, snow is all gone.

The storm we had a week ago brought down lots

of evergreen boughs, so today Cooper and Max helped me collect

lots of boughs and we are filling the outdoor pots with them.

They smell wonderful and I truly love decorating from

what nature gives us.

Today was wonderful and I hope yours was too!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

They said it was coming and I caught this shot

from my living room window 2 days ago. They 

said we wouldn't get anything from this giant

storm, that it would be east of us.

I woke at1AM to no power and high winds of

50 mpr and more. I could hear things

 crashing and falling outside. When

daylight came, still no power and freezing cold.

I put the puppies in some sweaters that were suppose to 

be Teddy's gifts last Christmas. For those who don't

know Teddy was my precious Bichon who passed away

right before Christmas. The sweaters are a little big but

they helped. Outside the wind was still gusting and the temps were

still dropping. I went from window to window and saw the 

destruction. My beautiful cedar arbor which was new was now in 

pieces on the ground (and it had been anchored to bricks).

Tree branches. lawn furniture all strewn  about.

Talking to a neighbor on the road below, she said trees had come down

on the power lines and had started two fires. She is still without

power. Mine came back on around noon.

 They huddled together all day and were terrified from the 

sounds of the wind howling outside.

On a cheery note I finished making my own envelopes

Here they are waiting for the glue to dry.

Some of the finished ones.

And some cards all finished , packaged and 

ready to go.

Figured since there were trees hanging over the power lines

on the road, I'd stay home and finish some projects.

I even cleaned my big desk top.

They say we are in for it again tonight so maybe 

I'll get more done. You never know.

Around The World Blog Hop

I have been invited to do a post for the

Around the World Blog Hop, by my blogging friend

Barbara Lilian. She is a delightful lady who lives in 

France with her husband "Mr. France". She has the most gorgeous flowers

and she paints. I was delighted to find her posts awhile back. You 

should visit this delightful lady and enjoy here posts.

So for those of you who do not know me , this is me

on a good day....

and this is me after I have finished painting cards, weeding the 

many gardens I started 23 years ago, when I had the energy and playing with my new little 

puppies Cooper and Max.

Cooper and Max

came into my life last February. These wonderful little bundles of joy

helped heal my broken heart after losing my beloved Teddy to cancer.

They have done a great job and They are growing up into wonderful

little dogs.

So here are a few of the questions that were asked of me,

What am I working on.?

 Boy that's a loaded question that could take pages to answer. But

mainly I have a shop on Etsy called Wildflowerhouse that I try to keep 

filled. I also sell my cards in a shop down in town. I am also working on some large painting for a gallery show in Oct.-Nov.  I am a water-colorist and I do acrylic painting. Had to give up oil painting due to allergies.

Why do I create what I do?

I love all things nature  and love capturing it on paper, canvas, etc.

I love making my own journals when time allows. They are filled with 

memories and paintings.

 I guess I have been creating ever since I got my first box of crayons.

How does my creative process work?

I always have a sketch book with me. I have been known to draw on napkins

when in a pinch. ( you just can't take this girl anywhere) Camera is always at the ready too.

Things pop into my head in the middle of the night, so I have paper and pen 

on the bedside table. From all these the process of creating my painting comes

to life. I like plein air work when no one else is around. I'm a bit shy about

that but I am working on it. 

I will end  with telling you that I live in the foothills of the Cascade mountain chain

in Washington state. We usually get around 90 inches of rain to Seattle's 40 something.

 But this summer we have had little to no rain and one worries about fires.

I designed (with the help of a fabulous architect) my log home. Had it assembled in 

Montana and then brought here and reassembled on my 13 acres. I am surrounded by 

trees and mountains and lots of wild animals.

 The weather is turning to Fall with warm days and cool nights.

So as I close I have invited two fantastic ladies to join in this hop.

 They are, drum roll please.

Marcy Antle  and you can find her here with all her absolutely gorgeous

jeweled creations.

and 

Donna Liljegren and you can find her here. Now Donna is the most fantastic quilter that I know.

I must add that she shares her blog with her wonderful little Corgi named Tag. He blogs on Tuesdays and always has a lot to say.

These ladies will be posting on Sept. 22nd for the the Around the world blog hop.

I must add that I am a few hours late posting but I had computer 

trouble. So sorry but all is OK now I hope.

Thanks for visiting and I would love to hear from you.

Enjoying the Fall Weather

You wouldn't think it was coming into Fall

what with the temps in the 80's. When the sun

goes down it cools off just enough.

But soon it will turn chilly as it is already showing

in my Japanese maples with touches of red and orange.

But the pots on the  deck are giving their last hurrah!

The flowers are spilling over and enjoying the early morning sunshine.

I love the fact that the elk can't get to them. I know they

would if they could. LOL

Have been painting deck rails and botanicals. I prefer the botanicals.

So that's what I have been up to besides praying for a mild winter.

That would be nice.

I Can Hear Them Growing.....

Let's start with Mothers Day.

I was so very sick  and are plans had to be put

on hold but my son wanted me to have these

complete with a chocolate orchid. What a

sweetheart.

  Ok. I broke down after 10 days of this and went

to the Dr. Acute bronchitis,bad cold, yadda yadda yadda...

Now on drugs that make me worthless and sleepy.

I am to remain quiet and sedate.... people who know

me know that might be difficult....

This is the photo coming to front door.

 My bedroom window (upstairs) looking down

onto front garden

My Iris growing through the weeds

(I can hear them growing the weeds that is) 

 My yellow Exbury azalea... yes it is orange but I bought yellow some 20 years ago....

 My sweet hostas rescued from the mouths of those sweet 

deer, now living in pots on our deck ( the hostas not the deer) 

Pink Ballet rhodie by the pond off our deck.

When I moved here 24 years ago I planted over 50 rhododendrons, some 

around the house a lot in the woods. It really paid off beautifully. So nice to 

walk and come upon these beauty's. I love them one and all (even the orange one the
thinks it's yellow)
Well I am off to be sedate and quiet...
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Please make some noise in my honor. :-)

Mother Nature Got the Best of Me...

I woke to fog and chilly weather.

A girl can't weed in the fog, can she...

so I painted and that why there are still weeds

in my garden.

and

and that's my story!

Fall Paintbrush Magic

You go to sleep one night and everything is green

and you wake to this...

My Japanese Bloodgood tree.

So bright and spectacular

My Japanese Coral Bark Maple. In the 

winter the coral bark is gorgeous against the snow

Another Coral Bark by the pond.

Can't remember this maples name but what a sunny

show it puts on

Leaves of the Bloodgood.

I supose if I told you I actually took my watercolors out

late one night and painted these trees...... you

wouldn't believe me. Nay didn't think so!

Have a great weekend. Get out and enjoy the

 colors mother nature has created

just for you.

Look Who Came to Visit and a Few WC Cards

This little guy has been coming to visit almost every evening.

 His momma comes with as she is very protective of him. I am sure 

she senses that he is different. She seems to trust me and lets

me get fairly close to take his picture. He is a little love.

 Had a request for these herb cards from a friend.

I have lavender everywhere in all my gardens.

One can never have enough of this treasured

plant. 

 She is giving these to a friend who is

really into herbs and a great gardener.

 I grow borage because I love the flower.

Rosemary I grow and use a lot to 

season. Really love rosemary.

Well it's Friday and I am off to town for a little

shopping and meeting friends for lunch.

Have a great weekend.

Be creative!!!!!!

A Fire on Mount Si

I was so hoping we could avoid fires.

We have been so dry with only one 

morning of rain in a long long time.

Sadly  Mt. Si that I look at everyday

caught fire on Friday afternoon and is

still burning. 

 They have been dropping water by helicopter 

trying to contain it. It is traveling up the 

mountain into the wilderness. Hard to get

to by foot. It is across the valley from me and we

are safe. But it is so sad to see the trees go up

in flames, not to mention the wildlife.

We were coming home Saturday eve and I snapped 

these shots. They have closed the mountains 
hiking trails.

We had dinner in Snoqualmie across from the old 

train depot.

They restore old trains to their former glory.
On weekends you can ride the train through the valley
to North Bend and back.
They just finished up a weekend of 
Thomas the Tank.
The children go wild for this event and I love to
watch all the comings and goings.  It is a fun time
for all.
Well back to my sketching and painting and watching the fire.