Ten Things Learned in February

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February is my favorite month, especially when it has rained and snowed around here. Orchards begin blooming, yard flowers and wildflowers are out (I saw some poppies across Lake Kaweah on February 21), the air is clean, and the weather is exciting. So few days, so much to learn.

  1. The Dream is a podcast with a series about multi-level marketing companies, and another about the wellness industry. The main lessons are A. Multi-level marketing is a useless exercise in trying to earn a living; B. There are 13 vitamins—A, C, D, E, K, and 8 different B; C. Supplements are not vitamins and are not regulated by the FDA.
  2. Remember when I told you what those scribbly squares are called? They are QR codes, and now I am participating in them. An upcoming show in Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery (now called CACHE) will have recordings with the art so that you can hear artists tell you about each piece if you scan the code with your smartphone (and I think you are supposed to bring ear dealies).
  3. Ever heard of a “sweetheart table“? This is a fad with brides and grooms: they sit at their own table at the head of the wedding reception. You ask, “Who cares?” So glad you asked. Trail Guy and I care enough about a couple getting married in April to build their sweetheart table for them. This involves more learning than you care to read about today.
  4. I learned what our average monthly propane use is. This is helpful information when one’s gauge doesn’t work, although I am pretty good at guessing by feeling the tank. (The delivery man pooh-poohed that method until he saw that I was right.)
  5. We tried a new coffee supplier: Community Coffee Company. It was part of my feeble attempt to stop using the giant A, to buy American, and to stay stocked up. They didn’t have a lot of choices, which made things easy. (There are many American coffee supply companies; no need to use the big A or drive down the hill.)
  6. A friend (Hi CK!) told me her favorite tea is Rooibus. Excuse me? It is pronounced “ROY-buss”, it is herbal (no caffeine), and it is hard for me to find any discernible flavor, so I like the version with vanilla from Celestial Seasonings, which is described here: Rooibus  (they don’t offer it any more!)
  7. I bought a huge pair of overalls (made in China, sigh) and converted them to a jumper! (Phooey, bought them from the big A).
  8. Eggs are “only” $3/dozen (fall down laughing) at Costco. My neighbor has kindly brought some to me for that bargain price.
  9. Gas was “only” $4.13/gallon at a Sinclair station in Tulare. I don’t make it a habit of driving 45 miles to save money on gas, but I certainly don’t pass up a good price when it appears.
  10. Occasionally tightening the screws on a roof of heavy gauge metal is a good plan if you like to keep your roof intact and attached. Three of our neighbors plus our church lost pieces of roofing in February storms.

Pippin isn’t too interested in learning anything other than how to sneak into the house, shove me out of this chair, and spend as much time as possible near the woodstove.

February 2023 in Three Rivers (before the snow)

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The first daffodil opened in my yard on February 17.

A neighbor’s flowering quince bloomed sooner than ours.

Yes, I know you have seen this many times.

There are some new steps at the gate to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area above our house.

This is the top of Case Mountain. When people talk about the BLM land, they call it Case Mt. but one would have to walk very far and do a tremendous amount of trespassing to reach actual Case Mt.

Fiddleneck are the first flowers of the season, often starting in January.

Redmaids ought to be called “magenta maids”.

That bank on the right will have some blueish purple flowers in another month. I can’t spell the name.

Hi, you little misnamed blooms.

We’ll conclude today’s tour with another fiddleneck.

Three Rivers Weather Report

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Several friends asked if we got snow last week. We hadn’t on Friday when I sent out a newsletter stating no snow.

Then, it snowed on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Not very much (we are at 1000′), but it stayed cold all day so the parts that weren’t dissolved by rain stayed around.

Pippin wasn’t interested in being an outdoor cat on Saturday.

On Sunday, snow was still visible on the foothills around our house.

Because it was a little bit sunny, we took a short walk. All the little drainages were flowing.

I was thinking about flowers and cold: flowers are kept in refrigerators at florist shops, so this can’t be too bad. These daffodils will probably bounce back. 

The rosemary is certainly flourishing.

More snow and rain is coming. 

Don’t you just love wet winters in California??

A Little Work, A Little Walk, A Little More Work

While I am waiting to begin the murals at the giant church in Visalia, I have time to paint. However, I don’t have any deadlines, no upcoming shows, no commissions (there are a couple, but they are still in the conversation stage), and it has been BEE-YOO-TEE-FULL outside.

So, I work a little, walk a little, and work a little more.

When I am thinking about walking, it is a little bit hard to focus on detail. So, the detail on this 6×18″ oil painting of Tulare County’s best will have to wait. 

Let’s make like a tree and leaf.

Nothing in particular to photograph, just the same beautiful scenes of February in my Three Rivers neighborhood.

The elephant on Alta Peak is very clear, with a shadow making an ear and a rocky place making an eye. His back leg is significantly larger than his front. And there is Moro Rock.

A neighbor’s narcissus are in bloom. Mine are too, but I don’t want you to get too bored with the repetition here.

Back to work, Central California Artist!

This is 10×20″. Sawtooth is the peak on the left, and Homer’s Nose is visible on the right. 

I photographed this at an angle so you could see a bit of the reference photo minus the glare.

Nothing is finished after today’s disjointed painting attempts, but there was progress made, and February was enjoyed. Such a short month. Sigh.

Procrastination, Not Anticipation

Remember that song by Carly Simon “Anticipation”? I was singing that in my head the other day, but instead of “Anticipation is making me wait”, the words were “Procrastination is making me late”.The day was both cold and beautiful. I worked in the house where it was warm, wondering if anything was important enough to be in the workshop or studio where it was cold. If I was going to be cold, it was more appealing to go for a walk.

So, I did.

Then, I painted.

This one needed the mid-range hills detailed and a crop of oranges added, along with a wind machine.

This one needs everything.

Oops. Now it is dark and cold, time to go back into the house for the evening.

Procrastination would only be making me late if there were deadlines. 

A Little Walk and A Little Paint

The end of January gave us some brilliant days. Instead of just planting myself in front of the easels, I went for a walk first. I haven’t been on this walk for many months and was thrilled by all the greenery and flowing (and standing) water. When we moved to Three Rivers 24 years ago, there wasn’t much traffic here, either bicycle or foot. Now it is rare to be alone out there, and usually we run into someone we know. There are many more trails, added steps on steep areas, new corrals, and a few maintained bridges.

When we got home, I was very pleased to see some bulbs sprouting out in the afternoon sunshine. The ones in shade haven’t yet emerged.

GET TO WORK!!

I painted until I was almost frozen. It was a fine fine day of enjoying the beauty of January in Three Rivers, the best place to live in Tulare County (unless you prefer conveniences).

 

Photographic Reasons I Love February in Tulare County

How’s that for a giant title? Let’s see it again: “Photographic Reasons I Love February in Tulare County”. However, I confess to taking these photos at the end of January. Sometimes the anticipation is just overwhelming, or maybe February is pushing back at being the shortest month and intruding on January.

Driving down the hill one day, I just had to pull over and gawk.

It happened again when I was closer to Exeter.

These paperwhites are very fragrant.

I tried to get a profound photo of a black cat with white flowers, but Tucker just wanted to sit on my lap and purr and drip.

Fourteen Things Learned in January

The Learned List is Longer than usual, maybe because I was just lollygagging around while waiting to begin painting the murals in Visalia.

  1. Pam, the cooking spray, stands for Product of Authur Meyerhoff; he invented it the year I was born. Yeppers, that old Pam and I are yearmates. (You too, JC. We are triplets.)
  2. When Tulare County Roads does not remove the removable railings from bridges in town during big storms, those bridges get damaged. (What is wrong with that department?? The bridges were designed with removable railings, and they used to do that sort of preventive maintenance.)
  3. Living in California has its benefits. By January, most gardeners have passed the window for buying and planting bulbs. This means those of us in warmer climates can get the leftovers at a tremendous discount. I used Holland Bulb Farms and indulged my love of iris. 
  4. Rain is terrible for the specialty orange called Sumo. (Have you had one of these? They are FANTABULOSO. They are also astronomically priced, although maybe not as high as eggs).
  5. A bad bird flu is killing hens all over the country. Or maybe is causing the birds to have to be killed to stop the spread. (Aren’t you thankful that wasn’t necessary to stop the WuFlu??) And that is why I recently paid $11.49 for 20 eggs and felt as if it was a bargain. (I heard they are $14 for a dozen in Three Rivers.)
  6. Watches are made to NOT have their batteries replaced. My current wristwatch is 4 years old, is on the verge of needing a new battery, and there is no way to pry the back off. The last time I replaced it, a friend got the back off somehow, and then I had to go to a jeweler to have the back replaced. I looked it up on YouTube, and realized that if it involves a C-clamp along with some other tools, I probably won’t be getting the back off or back on again. Such a waste.
  7. More about eggs: Those 20 eggs I bought were huge, so when I made a cookie recipe that called for 4 eggs, I just used 3. It turned out fine.
  8. There were 2 Ott lamps in my life, super bright floor lamps that bent over to illuminate tasks. Both stopped working. Neither one needed a new bulb. Maybe a new switch would do the job, so 2 friends and I started experimenting. We dismantled one lamp, and the friend least intimidated by electricity messed with the wires, determining that it wasn’t the switch that was disfunctional. So, he dismantled the base, which was: A. very well constructed; B. impossible to understand. Both of those lamps are now in a landfill somewhere. WHAT IS WRONG WITH MANUFACTURERS??
  9. Headlights on old cars get foggy and dull. It is the piece of plastic covering the bulb which gets messed up by sunlight. There are multiple options for restoration, all of them involving heavy elbow-grease. I combined that with baking soda, white vinegar, and used a magic eraser. They got better, but not like new. Fernando was grateful, but he is getting camera shy in his old age, so no pictures.
  10. Often when I reply to someone’s email, it bounces back as “undeliverable“. I have observed this is mostly g-mail accounts. This hands me the burden of responding over and over, checking and rechecking. I tried to understand it, but realized it will require hours on the phone with someone passing me along to supervisors, senior consultants, best of the best experts, on and on.
  11. Weird messages about viruses keep popping in and out on my laptop. I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Apple. After installing an upgrade and then running a virus detection software, the conclusion is that my laptop is virus free and the only way to stop those messages is to not be connected to the internet. The Apple technician said all the creeps out there invent new scams faster than Apple can create ways to stop them. This is difficult to accept, but often reality is difficult to accept.
  12. My neighbors’ dog likes to get in their pool, even on a cold day in January.
  13. I stopped by my church during a day in the week and saw this on a pick-em-up truck, there to do pest control spraying.
  14. Did you know (I didn’t) that when you use a plunger properly, it doesn’t just shove the muck down; it brings it back up so you can (oh gag) pick it up with your hands and throw it away.

That was fun.

Not.

And on that note, we conclude another month of learning.

Waiting Around, Chapter Three

While waiting around to get permission to begin painting at the new Catholic church in Visalia, I hung out in the yard a little bit, between rainstorms.

Pippin and Tucker wondered why I was jerking their salad out of the ground. (Humans call it “pulling weeds”.)

Trail Guy and I talked about this old bird bath. Cowboy Bert made it for me out of 2 discs and a pipe, added an auger-tip to the top, and I did a tile mosaic. Because of the auger tip, it continually rusted until all the tiles fell off. Then I just moved it to our Someday pile.

Trail Guy thought we could figure out how to turn it into a bird feeder, and I said yes, we can, by flipping it over so the auger tip goes into the ground and the base becomes the top. I wanted to sand it some and then cover it with several coats of Rustoleum.

However, Trail Guy was eager to get those birds situated, so the painting will have to wait. He also did some sort of man-powertool-stuff so the pipe won’t fill up with water.

While Pippin and Tucker participated in our outdoor activities, Jackson took a nap indoors in the sunshine. He is more sedentary and introverted than Brother Pippin and Uncle Tuck.

I also spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Apple, cleaned out some cupboards, knit, read, did the yearend bookkeeping, polished the headlights on Fernando (that is my car), worked on the book about TB which is a long story that began here, here, and here. Someday, when we finish the project, I will tell you the whole story. Of course if this waiting time continues and I run out of other topics for posting, I may tell you before the project is finished.

Thus we conclude Chapter Three of While I Was Waiting.

Waiting Around, Chapter One

Last October, I met with the project manager and the priest of the Catholic church under construction in Visalia. They chose me to paint 2 outdoor murals, to complete them by the end of December. Now it is January and I am still waiting for them to sign the contract and allow me to begin.

So, I am just enjoying life at a slower pace, getting little things done, hanging around while waiting. We finally had a day of sun and Trail Guy and I went for a short walk around the neighborhood.

First we stopped by a neighbor’s house where I stashed a ziplock of old documents on his front porch, took a photo and texted him. You are curious? My 4th-grade best friend married a guy whose dad built that house; he recently found some old papers that pertain to the place. (Yep, still friends with my 4th grade best friend!)

This is such a perfect view of Moro Rock and Alta Peak with another neighbor’s flag that I am sure I have taken this photo and shown you in previous posts.

Here is another great view of those two landmarks.

Sometimes I look Northwest toward Comb Rocks, because it is so very green. Maybe in a couple of months it will be bright orange. Don’t be alarmed: I am thinking about poppies, not fire.

We walked up to the Catholic church (nope, not the one where I hope to be painting murals—that one is 36 miles away). I remembered a joke my dad told me, one that involved a merger of 4 companies, 2 of which I had never heard of, so the joke was wasted on me. The 2 companies I had heard of were Mary Kay and Fuller Brush. The punchline to the joke was “Hale Mary Fuller Grace”. Does anyone out there know about those other two companies, Hale or Grace?

My mural on the water treatment plant doors has a weird spot where I must have used the wrong color of teal and thus, the yellow faded away leaving just a strong cobalt blue. Can you spot it?

Looking downstream on the middle fork of the Kaweah River

Look—a gift from the high water. We went down below the bridge to retrieve this thing: a Christmas tree stand bolted to a chunk of wood. Good thing there is a dumpster near the bridge.

Looking upstream.

And thus we conclude our Walk While Waiting.