Personal | Cabin Art

Rain in Three Rivers

Three Rivers got 9″ of rain in 10 days. This is phenomenal! We walked to the Dinely Bridge several times to check out the river.

I can’t remember how many storms – one big one? a wave of storms? The early ones were warm and the river was very exciting.

See that white stick on the lower left? It shows the depth of the river. I’m not sure the water even reached the stick last winter. In these storms, the stick washed away.

Looking downstream, Kaweah River middle fork, from the Dinely bridge.

Looking upstream. St. Anthony Retreat Center is the group of white buildings with red roofs in the distance.

Looking downstream again. Either the stick is buried or it is washed away. See the little rocks sticking up on the distant ridge? Stay tuned.

Looking upstream on the Dinely Road side of the river.

Looking upstream on the highway side of the river.

Okay, now for those rocks in the distance. They are called “Comb Rocks”, either because they look like a rooster’s comb or because someone named Mr. Comb (or Combs?) owned them. I don’t know.

What I do know is that my walking buddy said to me one morning, “Turn your head sideways and look at those rocks. Whose profile does that resemble?”

That’s what I’d call a peculiar sight.

Three Rivers

A List and an Attitude

Here is a list about the vicissitudes* of my life; you may detect a certain attitude coming through. Tomorrow I will try to resume a more professional and detached approach to blogging.

Samson caught his first rat! Yep, rat, not mouse. He played with it until Michael took it away. His cat food must be too tasty for him to consume a rodent.
I updated the web page of The Cabins of Wilsonia so you can now look inside the book a little bit. There are arrows on the side of the book that take you to those interior pages. Or use the dots. Or is it my outdated browser on my outdated operating system on my outdated laptop that makes it appear this way?
I no longer have a cell phone. What? You didn’t know I had one? Yes, a flip phone with a broken hinge served me somewhat for about 15 years. The Huge and Rude and Indifferent Phone Company offered me a replacement and said the old one would no longer work by the first of the year. I accepted the new phone, waited until the last possible minute, and called Huge&Rude to activate it. No problem. Done. Nope, not done. Called Huge&Rude again who insisted that I needed a passcode. A what? Can’t set it up over the phone, sorry, my apologies. Maybe via email? Oh guess what – they’ve had the wrong email address for me since 2001. My apologies, Ma’am, can’t correct the eddress without a passcode. You’ll have to go to a Huge&Rude store to set one up. I decided that I’d rather not continue with Huge&Rude, so I asked to cancel. Oh guess what – they cannot cancel over the phone but I need to visit Huge&Rude in person in order to set up a passcode in order to cancel. Why have a cell phone if there is sketchy service at my address and if I choose to not be available 24/7? No reason. I’m not driving 40 miles to stand in line at a store for 2 hours to get a passcode to cancel.
My laptop is on its last legs. I had to make a very expensive decision. I hope nothing gets interrupted or lost.
This is getting unpleasant. Here’s a better subject: the Mineral King Room at the Three Rivers Museum will have its grand opening on Sunday, January 22, from 1-4 p.m. You can see my murals in person, listen to people talk about Mineral King, look at artifacts and learn about the mining and the Disney era, and eat and drink.
UPDATE – and now I’m hearing that the various for sale pages aren’t working on the website. HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?? Somebody make it stop.

If you made it to the end of the list, you deserve a treat.

Cruise, anyone? Wouldn’t it be nice to escape the rats, the Huge&Rudes, updates, and broken things?

Dream on.

Okay, here’s what I really think:

Samson agrees, but he is a bit more attitudinal.

*Vicissitudes is a fantastic word. It means “changes of circumstance or fortune, typically unpleasant or unwelcome”.

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Happy Birthday, Trail Guy!

If you see this man around, treat him to a vanilla latte with a blueberry muffin. He is aging well, dontcha think? 😎

more-trail cruiseship

Happiness is being surprised by Trail Guy!

Trail Guy throwing rocks at Soda Springs

Just One More Frivolous Post

I know, I was going to get back to work, but Samson is so fun that I have become one of those internet ~~weirdos~~ bores who post endless photos of her cats.

This is for Kaylee, and I don’t mind you called The Boy “Sammy”.

This is my blog, I’m 57, so I’ll post what I want. Risky, I know.

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Those year end newsletters are good for updates, and they make everyone else’s life seem so sparkly, happy and fun, just like Facebook (Nope, not on, and not going to join). Life is a balance of both good and bad things, but who wants to put the sad, bad and hard stuff in a newsletter?

Here is some of what I remember about 2016, but not all of it. I want my life to look sparkly, happy and fun too, but realistic. The list could be longer, but I want you to stay for the photos at the end.

Personally:

Lost neighbors on three sides, all for different reasons (We aren’t lawn-parkers, don’t have barking dogs, don’t have loud parties or lights that stay on all night – what’s the deal??)
Lost Perkins, the kindest-hearted cat of 17 years, and gained Samson, the fiercest little feline I’ve ever met
Visited Israel (still in shock – did this really happen??)
Took very long road trip – Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada
Hit 30 years in the marriage department
Walked the Lake Tahoe Marathon

Professionally:

Edited a novel
Edited, designed and published Trail of Promises
Painted 5 murals (2 in someone’s Events Room and 3 in the Three Rivers Museum)
Designed and published 4.9 coloring books (#5 is completed but not printed yet, waiting customer approval)
Did all the other normal work stuff – lessons, oil painting workshops, speaking to groups, oil painting, pencil drawing, blogging, bazaars/festivals/boutiques/shows
Received an award, Women in the Arts, from the DAR (Not sure why, but appreciative all the same!)

strawberry

Trail of Promises

The cover of the next "Heart of" series of local coloring books for grown-ups.

botkin-2

T and I were cold, excited and ready! — T and I were cold, excited and ready for our 1/2 marathon in Lake Tahoe

Bridges, always bridges. . . what is it with the Central California artist and bridges? The answer is that a bridge picture is the perfect combination of scenery and architecture. This one is in Oregon, not in Central California. I don’t know if California has any covered bridges except for one in Wawona near Yosemite.

mineral king coloring book Heart of the Hills

DAR award

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Mineral King mural in Three Rivers Museum of Empire Mt. mining area.

2 more murals in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum

Thank you, dear blog readers, for sticking with me through 2016.

Happy New Year!

P.S. Am I always standing by people I love with my arm thrown over their shoulders?? Nope. Couldn’t stand to be touched in Israel because it was always too hot.

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Two Last Non-Art Subjects

Subject #5

What is this? Inquiring minds NEED to know. . . we got a pair of insulating mugs for Christmas, and got curious as to which sort of mug will keep coffee the hottest. So, we conducted an experiment. They were all within degrees of one another, with the short Starbuck’s mug in the middle slightly ahead. Trail Guy is a little bit sad that his special old mug from Cabela’s with its hand-carved wooden handle didn’t win.

Subject #6

On Boxing Day, as December 26 is known in England, Trail Guy and I drove down to Lake Kaweah (AKA “The Lake”) to take a walk. This is an interesting place to spend time when the water level is low. There are great views of Alta Peak, lots of birds, an old road to walk on, a bridge or two to cross, cockleburrs to pick out of your socks, rocks to contemplate, the river (Kaweah) to watch, mud to slide around on, and people’s undisciplined dogs to fend off.

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Three Rivers

2 More Random Non-Art Subjects

Subject #3

This deserves no photos. On Christmas Eve it was raining and dark when we got home from our church’s Christmas Eve service. Trail Guy pressed the button on the garage door opener (my favorite luxury item) and nothing happened. He pressed it again, the door went up a little bit, then it thudded back down with an uncharacteristic loud clunk.

Say what? My car is in there! The pickup is out here! What’s the deal?

A spring broke. It was very important. It took an hour with lots of banging, grunting, and possibly some swearing although no one here is going to admit to even knowing those words, and now the garage door is neatly folded in a pile in our front yard.

Here – look at the new green chair and feel better. I wonder how long it will take to find the right lamp table. . . will we go dumpster diving? curbside shopping? garage saling?

Subject #4

On Christmas Day we had 2 very dear friends join us for lunch along with my mama. It was a perfect day for a post-lunch walk.

Nothing to say except a good time was had by all, and the Central California artist probably ought to make a New Year’s resolution to give up sweets.

Forget it.

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Three Rivers

Time Off to Take in the Views

This week I will post several different subjects, all unrelated to art work. These could be titled “Sources of Inspiration”, although I don’t know if they will result in paintings or drawings.

Subject #1

Trail Guy took the Botmobile to a secret location with a great view of the High Sierra. The mountain range is the Sierra Nevada, and it is only people from Southern California who say “the Sierras”. Those of us in Central California generally know better in spite of being uneducated, poor and fat.

I wasn’t there because I was finishing the mural, not goofing off. Yet.

Can you pick out Sawtooth?

Here – have a slightly closer look.

Subject #2

The Captain decided that this rocking chair, more of a glider, a beautiful piece made by the Amish, no longer suits her. Together we figured out how to fit it into my car, and voila! It looks just right in this corner of our living room.

There used to be plants on that table, but Samson thought it was his personal jungle. Now there is a squirt bottle handy to remind him that our hands and feet are not his chew toys.

The view out the window looked like this:

Hey, this isn’t complete. We should be seeing Moro Rock to the left of Alta Peak. Time for some yard work.

Alrighty then. Life in Three Rivers for this Central California artist and her husband, AKA Trail Guy, seems to be about views.

Three Rivers

The Chair From the Dump

Remember the chair I found in a dump this past summer? Trail Guy asked about it and learned it got tossed off a balcony. We looked it over and decided it could be repaired. Then Trail Guy loaded it in the back of the Bot-mobile and brought it home. It has been at the upholsterer’s since July.

Last week it was ready, Trail Guy brought it home, and we put it in the green room.

Next, I need to find a lamp table that looks solid and chunky to go with the chair.

Samson has been attacking, killing and hauling this stuffed cat around from when he was smaller than the thing. He looks harmless here, but ask the black cat how harmless he is.

Meanwhile, I can’t uncover it because of Samson. He has been going wild in the plastic, and I think he’d shred the new fabric in a matter of minutes. We don’t leave him in the house alone, but if we aren’t watching him every minute, providing diversion, fighting him off, chasing him around, he is either attacking us or attacking something.

I miss Perkins.

Mineral King in November

It is Friday, and I have some recent Mineral King photos for you. Trail Guy and a friend went up the hill for a day. He is retired, I am not. That’s okay – he provides photos for you who love Mineral King and I post them. We are a team here.

Check out the red tree at the Sweet Ranch.