Photography | Cabin Art

Watching Paint Dry

When I show paintings in progress on my blog, they don’t cause people to comment. Comments are fun for a blogger, show that people are reading and care enough to say something, and provide a way for a bit of interaction. When I talk about places I walk or hike and show photos, the comments come in more often.

Funny how that works – it is more enjoyable for my readers to see where I walk and what I see than to watch paint dry.

So, today there will be a little bit of drying paint, and a little bit of scenery.

Since switching to Spectrum, there is no longer a telephone in the painting workshop (or in my studio, but that is a very long, annoying and boring tale). So maybe it is time to erase the phone #s on the chalkboard. But this is long and boring and annoying, and I’ve promised you other photos.

The top of Blossom Peak as seen from a friend’s driveway. I want to go there but don’t know a good route. Besides, I have waited a bit too long. The grasses are tall so they hide the footing, and the snakes might be out. Next January, perhaps?

The 2 left points of Blossom. It has 3 parts as you can see in the next photo.

Like the power lines? Phone lines? Whatevs, the point is to see the 3 points.

Looking upstream on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.

Looking downstream from the same bridge.

Just loving the green with the fiddlenecks and popcorn flowers.

That was just a regular Three Rivers walk on a popular road for walkers. A friend who lives below Blossom Peak had neck surgery and has to walk a certain distance each day in a flat place. She got tired of circling her house, so I brought her to a flat place near my house to get in her steps. The pace was much slower than my regular morning walks, the light was much brighter, and it made everything look even prettier than normal.

There. Aren’t you glad you made it through the paint drying session?

Mineral King in January

It might be springlike in Three Rivers in January, but it is winter in Mineral King. Trail Guy made a day trip up there to check out the snow and the cabins. The photos look almost like black and white; I’m into green more than into white so I went walking up Salt Creek that day.

Mineral King

Spring in January

When we have had rain and the sun is out in January in Central California, it seems like spring. Sure, we think it is cold out, but compared to places with real winter, this is very springlike.

On a walk while visiting my friend, AKA The Captain, this was our view.

Look at this classic barn, still in use, not leaning over.

Same neighborhood, this barn is both retired and tired.

And here is another barn, very picturesque. Wooden barns beat metal barns or pole barns for paintability and photogenicness. (Is there a real word that means that?)

There are several streams in this area of the Central California foothills, which is about 1000 feet higher than Three Rivers.

Gotta dig this unit out before a horse eats it and dies. Horses are fragile creatures with delicate digestive systems. (Seems that way to this non-cowgirl. . . )

Ernie is beautiful, but a little bit rude to me, except when I am feeding him little pieces of peppermint. When I feed him hay, he jerks it out of my arms before I can drop or throw it. Rude.

The chickens are not rude; they provide lots of eggs (not the rooster, of course, because he provides beauty and noise.)

These paperwhites are blooming profusely in my yard back home in Three Rivers. See? Spring in January!

Thankful

Chasing the Big Trees and Dogwoods

We (Trail Guy, Hiking Buddy, and Mr. Hiking Buddy) joined in with the madding crowd (I don’t know what “madding” actually means, but I liked the book and the movies “Far From the Madding Crowd”) and visited the main part of Sequoia National Park.

I wanted to see the dogwoods in their autumn colors and gather more photos of the big trees, AKA Sequoia Gigantea AKA Redwoods (Redwood High School, Class of ’77, yea for us). It was a fun day, but also smoky and crowded up there.

Smoky – this mess is coming over a ridge or two from a lightning fire in the Camp Nelson area.

Dogwood is a tree that blesses us twice – flowers in spring, colored leaves in fall. This is by the Crystal Cave Road.

We walked on top of it and the midget man became Trail Guy, who helped us get down off of the big tree.

Tharp’s Log as it appeared when we approached it from a different trail.

I’ve painted this fence (not itself, but oil paintings of it) several times.

This big tree fell recently and its roots landed on a boulder.

It is tricky to find colored dogwood with redwood trees nearby, good sunlight, and a turnout off the road all together.

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.

Sequoia National park

Closing the Cabin in Mineral King

We usually choose a weekend in the middle of October to close our cabin for the season. The date is not weather based, but instead it is based on what fits our schedule, that of our neighbors, and how badly we just want to put away our duffle bags for the year and STAY HOME.

The weekend of Oct. 12-14 was our last weekend up the hill for the year. The road isn’t closed yet, and there may even still be water in the campgrounds. Silver City’s last day is October 27. The autumn colors were still present during our final stay, and the air was clear and nippy in the shade.