Dipping, Driftwood and Dogs

Smelt dipping today turned out to be a real bust!

Our first stop was the Cowlitz river next to the Hall of Justice where Steve watched the dippers pulling in net after net full of smelt on February 14. Today was a different story. Crickets were chirping; the only action we saw were the horde of sea lions and seagulls swarming the water seeking a snack.

Onward to Lexington. Traffic was horrendous but it gave us a chance to ask smelters if they got anything. Over and over again all we heard was "Nothing!"

Last stop was Castle Rock. No action at the boat launch and the only activity we saw were people on the banks, chewing the fat, holding their nets as everyone waited with baited breath for the few dippers to come up with a fish.  Never happened so we threw in the towel and called it a day.

After Steve left figured it was time to tackle the big driftwood from Willow Grove project looming on my crafting horizon.  First question was should large or small canning jars be used or should the glass globes pulled from storage be the ticket. After going back and forth, decided the globes were the winner.

Before

Filled each hanging globe with shells and pebbles from Arch Cape and added a battery-powered tealight. Looped a piece of twine onto each globe then nailed it in place to the driftwood.  Most difficult part of the process was deciding the best spot for my beachy art as space in Chateau Diva is pretty limited. Cleared out a corner and winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Turned out rather classy!

After

At one point during the crafting process I looked around and saw all the animals were lending their support. Stubbs on the bed, three-legged Lily on the floor, and Romeo aka Bully aka Butthead aka Donald Trump (due to his over 20 pound build) had taken over Stubbs dog bed.