2021...Slow Down a Bit

Image from Pixabay (linked)

This year is already flying by. I guess it isn't a bad thing since 2020 seemed to last about a decade. However, I have things to do, things that need to get done or things that I want to get done so I would like it to stop rushing by so fast!

Here is an update on life in my world...

Image from A for Artistic 

I am taking an online felt animal class from my amazing friend Christine Shively-Benjamin through A for Artistic. It starts on February 1 and I can't wait. I've order a selection of wool blend felt that will be here next week. Should be enough for at least a hundred animals. Click here to learn more about this class or click on the picture above This is not an affiliate link, I just love this class :0) 

Christine has a way with fabric. She is a NIADA artist, creating figurative wonders from felt, fabric, wire and beads. I've seen her create stunning figures with simple shapes and the blanket stitch. I have several of her dolls and also a few of her pincushions and I use them all the time. Her attention to detail takes her work to a level I strive for. 

I started sculpting again. I never quit, I just didn't do as much as I wanted to. Last year was hit and miss. I did a few doll swaps with the crew over at Yarnigras Swapper Spot but otherwise I didn't do a lot of sculpting. 

I spent most of the pandemic social distancing in my camper at ghost towns. you can read about some of my travels on my Travel Blog -TravelJourneyExplore.com I have been working on it slowly and it is starting to have some fun posts on it. I am slowing writing about the many journeys I have been on and hope to have more content on there soon. It is a different platform that I am not as proficient with so bear with me as I learn!! 

I am working on few of characters right now. A mischievous elf, a male zombie (possibly a baker, not sure yet) and a mysterious witchy woman. 

Here they are in their current states:

 

Here is my elf. She was a bit irritated to be photographed on a roll of paper towels 

The Witchy Woman. She was just started

 

Zombie. I sculpted him a while ago and just love his face. He didn't care about the paper towels! 

Lots more going on my world. I have camping trips planned, another trip to the Turks and Caicos planned (hopefully I can go!), a trip to South Dakota and another one to the Oregon coast. You can read about our last trip to Oregon here. I called it camping trip interrupted since we had to leave early due to major wildfires. It was a mad rush to get home.  

Since I work in education, I get my first Covid vaccine within the next week. I can't wait! My youngest son and one of my besties have recently completed their 2nd vaccine and while they felt pretty crappy for about a day, they both agree it is better than risking serious, life long complications or death from Covid. I hope our world starts to recover this year. It is going to take a while. I know art and camping will help me through it...

If you have read this far... THANK YOU and

Thanks for stopping by! 

D

Camping Trip Interrupted

Face Rock

Last week, my guy and I, and our good friends, took the campers to Gold Coast, Oregon. The first few days were amazing, then the smoke rolled in. Due to multiple fires in the area we had to cut our time in this beautiful state short. 

Normally we have a plethora of driving choices, but by Wednesday morning, all but 1 of the roads home were blocked by fire. Rather than wait to see if I-5 reopened we decided to take 299 - can I just say YIKES! It is a beautiful, twisty, hilly drive that wouldn't be too bad if we hadn't been pulling our camper. Fortunately, my guy and his buddy both have mad driving skills so we did fine but I am glad that drive is over.

Here are some fun pictures from our trip: 

If you travel near Bandon, Oregon, be sure to check out the West Coast Safari. Their animals were beautiful and well taken care of. The park grounds were cleaned regularly and staff were available to answer questions. I love petting zoos and thoroughly enjoyed these guys.  

This little one was very vocal 

The Oregon coast is stunning. The rock formations are fun to explore, especially during  low tide when you can find tide pools full of ocean life. 

And sunsets are amazing on the beach!

One of the best parts of the drive home on 299 was the Redwood forest. Talk about primordial. These trees are stunning and SO BIG! I have never seen "The Redwoods" before so it was an awe inspiring experience for me. I could almost hear the fairies laughing. The bottom picture includes my friend so you get a better picture of how large these amazing trees are. 

\

Below you can see the difference in air quality. The same rock is in both photos. The first photo was taken Sept 6 at about 4:40 pm. The second picture was from our drive home, Wednesday, September 9th taken around 11:30 am. 

My heart breaks for those living near any of the fires that are currently raging across the US. Our area is inundated with heavy smoke. It is so bad that since our schools have increased how often the air is replaced within the schools due to Covid-19, they have not had a full week of in-person instruction yet because the increase in air circulation pumps smoky air into the schools. 

I really hope 2021 is a better year! 

Turks and Caicos

I just got back from the Turks and Caicos. What an amazing place. The people were wonderful, the scenery is stunning and the rum flows freely. My parents have been going to the Turks and Caicos' island of Providenciales for over 20 years and it was one of my dad's favorite places. It was nice to see the island he loved. 

While talking to one of the long-time resort staff who knew my dad, I discovered that he used to go feed the puppies at the wild dog rescue facility. We managed to get in a quick visit to the shelter, the pups are beautiful and available for adoption to US residents.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. 

We stayed in my parent's time-share at the Alexandra resort. Their unit overlooks the ocean and the first morning we woke to the sound of the waves. Here is a picture from the HUGE balcony.

Balcony View

The resort also offers bicycles for their guests to use. They were lined up in the parking area. We rented a car for the week so did not use them but next time (there will be a next time) we will check them out.

Ready to Ride

We visited the Turks Head brewery and tried a sample of each of the 8 beers they had on tap. They had a really good mix, John and I each found a favorite.

Local Brew

 We did a snorkeling tour and saw a 5' reef shark. Our guide swam down towards it and it turned and swam right at me, I am not sure who was more surprised, me or the shark. Fortunately reef sharks are not aggressive :)

SHARK!

We also learned about the Queen Conch, a major food source on the island. I tried conch ceviche, curried conch, and conch fritters and I liked them all. Below is a conch in its shell. I brought two shells home for mermaid stands. I can't wait to get started on the mermaids for my shells.

Queen Conch

Overall it was an amazing trip. We did a lot but were also able to relax. It was the first vacation I've had where I came back refreshed instead of exhausted. We have already started planning our return trip next year.

Now that I am home and finished with my degree, I am looking forward to sculpting again!! Stay tuned for updates on the mermaids I'll be making for the conch shells, the house elf I am getting ready to finish and my battle troll, an unexpected sculpture that started out as something to practice my painting skills on and ended up as someone who is demanding a body.

Something to Look Forward to

Photo by Rian Castillo

In February, we are heading to the Turks and Caicos Islands. This is one of my Dad's favorite places and I am looking forward to spending time in a place the he loved. I am hoping to be done (or at least close to being done) with my Master's program. I am only a capstone project away from my master's  degree and the end is in sight!!

I am taking the week in the Turks and Caicos off. No school. No studying, No Work! I promise to share pictures of our adventures.

D

Sunny Southern California!

As you may (or may not) know, my man is currently working in sunny So Cal. While he may occasionally miss me, the weather there gives him something to brag about. I got to go see him this past weekend and had such a great time! He took me to some of the interesting places he has found.

Mexican food and margaritas - YUM!

Tide pool full of little crabs and a giant red starfish

The beach... also called dog beach

Bird of Paradise at San Fernando Mission

I had such a great time. So much so that I rarely took any pictures. He took me to Knotts Berry Farm - so much fun, the San Fernando Mission (amazing), a cool local brewery housed in a warehouse and so many more places that I can't believe I only took a dozen or so pictures and only 4 worth sharing. I wore my fitbit and did almost 20,000 steps each day that I was there. Yes, we were busy and it was awesome.

The beach was lovely, almost as lovely as the 85 degree sunny weather. The beach he likes to walk on is called dog beach locally because it is dog friendly. It was fun to walk along the beach and see dozens of dogs happily playing on the beach and in the water, no aggression, no fights, just hanging with their humans. It was wonderful.

The tide pool is on this beach, it is at the base of a large pile of boulders. Each boulder is as tall as I am and the lower ones are covered in mussels. It was pretty awesome to see and that starfish was easily as big as a large dinner plate!

I am ready to go back, especially since it is supposed to snow here by Friday morning.

I'll post more sculpting pics this weekend... right now I am still wishing I was in So Cal!

Kayaking Loch Ness

Loch Ness, Scotland

When I was a little girl I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. My grandfather was an amazing man. He was a gardener, a fisherman, a boater and more. He taught me how to drive and dock a boat and scale a flounder before I was 10. He also had a subscription to National Geographic magazine. If the weather was bad I would pour over the stack of bright yellow magazines and dream about visiting some of those far away places.

There were so many that I wanted to see, but Loch Ness in Scotland was the number one. I loved the lore of the Loch Ness monster. The stark beauty of the surrounding area and the strength of the Scottish people. That is what I took away from an article in National Geographic magazine about Loch Ness.

When we started planning our trip to Ireland and Scotland each member of our party selected one thing they wanted to do. Mine was kayaking on Loch Ness. Everyone was up for the adventure and that day was one of the highlights of the trip, for everyone.

We started our day in Culloden. I will post those pictures on a later date. After spending some time on the battlefield we made our way to where we thought we were supposed to be and got very lucky that our guide had returned to his office to get additional kayaks for our tour. We followed him to the dock.

He provided us with water proof pants. We all thought is was a bit silly but we put them on and went on our journey. When the rain started we were happy to have them but it was so beautiful we really didn't need them long.

Being on the water was amazing. The water itself looks almost black due to the peat particle floating in it. Looking out on the lake, if you are a fanciful person (I am), you can see how Nessie could survive all these years without detection. The lake is vast and dark. It is shrouded in areas with mist. It is beautiful.

Launching Dock

Heading out to the Loch proper

The weather changed often. It rained, was hot and sunny, rained again 

and was beautiful the entire time. 

Our guide has us stop on this rocky shore for hot chocolate and cake. He sent my son and his friend out into the Loch to fill the tea kettles with water.

My son and his friend

The mist shrouded shores were awesome!

My son and his best friend drinking Hot Chocolate made from Loch Ness water

Here we are, wet and happy on Loch Ness

A Castle on the Loch

Our Kayak Guide

Loch Ness

We did see Nessie. She was much smaller than I thought she would be.

Another Kayaker

While we were out with our guide a couple of kayakers came in from further out on the lake. They also had Nessie with them. 

If you ever get the chance to kayak on Loch Ness take it! It was a magical part of our trip. One that I will cherish forever and hope to repeat.

Ireland Vacation - Continued

It's been a year since I went to Ireland and Scotland and I still haven't shared all of the pictures that I wanted to, so here is one more snapshot of my trip...

In Dublin we stayed at the Temple Bar Hotel in the Temple Bar district. An amazing area full of shops, pubs, restaurants and, of course, lots of tourists and college students.

Remembering the Famine

One of the things I love about Ireland is the abundance of flowers. They are everywhere. Hanging from the light poles, from the eves of buildings and in pots and containers on steps and streets. It is beautiful to see. 

As in most large tourist districts you will find street performers. We enjoyed seeing the many young artists performing near out hotel. 

This picture was taken in the afternoon, by evening the streets were packed with people, most of them enjoying the lovely Dublin night, looking for music and a pint.

Temple Bar Hotel (and one of our cars)

If you head to Dublin and decide to stay in the Temple Bar area be sure to pack ear plugs. It is a loud, boisterous area, full of music, pubs and lots of college kids having fun and sometimes kids that have had a wee bit too much fun. Fortunately they wash the streets every morning in that part of town so the ramains to the previous nights indulgences are gone.