Carpal, Color, and the Coast

The world is right again. Tuesday replaced my missing appendage when I picked up a new phone.  Thankfully my contacts were all able to be transferred over along with most of my pictures which had been backed up on Google. I am now whole again.

Took today off to serve as caretaker for Marie, who went in for carpal tunnel surgery on her left hand. Delivered her to the surgery center at 6:45 am; swung over to Walmart to pick up her food request (vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup) and when I arrived home the center called and said she was ready to be picked up. Picked her up, hand swaddled, dropped her off at home, dropped off prescription, came home, chilled, painted nails, picked up prescription, dropped off, then over to Goodwill to browse.

On way home from Goodwill, passed by the hospital and saw this interesting antenna bobblehead. Gave me a grin!

Arrived home and began packing for a weekend at the beach. Yes - THE BEACH!  Will be enjoying Independence Day at Arch Cape from Friday to Monday. It's been too long!!

Beach on my mind, decided to paint a canvas tonight with coast colors.  Did the blue colors, meditated on it during dinner, then added the sand section. Here's a little secret to my hobby...the majority of my art work involves a significant part of my being - oxygen! I blow on different parts of the paint using my breath or a highly technical tool - the straw from my coffee cup - to enhance the blending.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Surviving Kayak Adventures and Losing a Cell Limb

Friday started out as a great day!  During the summer we have half-day Friday's so off work at noon then Sam and his friend Jacob picked me up for lunch around 12:30 pm. We ended up at Porky's Public House to break bread then after a quick stop by Walmart they dropped me off at home.

While I was gone, Marie loaded up the kayaks (one inflatable and one a hard shell, both borrowed from neighbors) and all the supplies to my rig so when I arrived home just needed to change my clothes and head out.  For some reason can't find any of my swimsuits so either hid them or gave them away.  Ended up pulling on a pair of black high waist underwear with a tank top and shorts and called it good.  After stopping at the Chevron for a couple of canned fruity beverages, we made our way to the Kalama River.

Many years ago second husband and I would go boat fishing on the same spot we planned to set sail on the kayaks. One evening we were fishing at twilight close to the mouth of the Columbia.  Lights twinkled from the houses nearby and in the moonlight there was salmon upon salmon jumping and slapping the current as we trolled in the boat.  Makes for a picturesque mental memory.

Back to Friday.  We unloaded the kayaks, added air to the inflatable one, then packed in our items.  I had previously used the inflatable kayak but was going to try out the hard shell kayak this trip. We each had an floatable bag into which I placed my wallet and car keys.  My cell phone I placed into a waterproof pouch that was made to hang over my neck, although I set it in the kayak and planned to place the cord around my neck after embarking.  Threw my can of Long Island Ice Tea and jug of water into the kayak, shed my shorts, and climbed in ready to set sail.

Marie was just getting into her kayak as I paddled out into the river.  Started to scoot around some to adjust my seat cushion when the kayak curled over and dumped me right into the river.  Wow, was that cold!  Thankfully, was wearing a life jacket (safety first even though I'm an excellent swimmer) so grabbed the kayak and the oar and swam my way back to the dock.

Time to assess the situation!  Floating bag with wallet and keys - check!  Water bottle - check!  Shorts - check!  Long Island Ice Tea - nope, gone to the bottom of the river.  Cell Phone?  Cell Phone?  Looks like we have a runner!!!  Yep, found out the phone pouch was waterproof but not floatable.  Gone to the bottom of the river.  If you know me, you know my cell phone is like another limb and my lifeline to contacts, movies, trivia, job sites, log-in codes, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, pictures, and this blog.  Standing there drenched in wet underwear and t-shirt, my poor heart sighed as I mourned the drowning death of my cell phone with so many phone numbers, camera, passwords, pictures, and notes gone, gone, gone. 

Being the optimist that I am, took that as a sign that maybe my phone has become just too darn important to me and I need to enjoy my adventures, such as this kayak trip, during the moment rather than through a camera lenses.  Switched back to the inflatable kayak as the hard shell one was cursed, loaded up, and set out on the Kalama River for our excursion on the hot, sunny day.  Stopped at one point early on our ride to share Marie's can of spiked lemonade as a toast to me surviving my kayak dunking.

Paddled East to the Kalama Campground area then retreated and paddled West to the mouth of the Columbia.  Gorgeous scenery, calm waters, and relaxing adventure.  On our way back to the boat loading area, paddled along the banks to look for the phone bag just in case, in the smallest chance, it floated and snagged.  At one point was sitting close to shore when I felt movement beneath my butt like an animal swimming below my kayak.  Holy Cow!  Couldn't paddle fast enough to get away from that area.

Arrived back at the boat dock around 7pm, washed the kayaks, loaded them up, and were on our way home.  By the time we ate dinner then unloaded the kayaks and put away our supplies, it was close to ten. 

This weekend will be investigating how to replace my phone, which is insured.  The idea of donning goggles and diving into the Kalama to find the waterproof bag is tempting but the more feasible idea is to simply replace it.  So, if anyone has been texting me or calling me and have begun to think I'm rude as hell for not responding, therein above lies the reason.  Once my cell limb has been reattached, I'll let everyone know as all of my contact information is lost at sea.

Jordan, Joker, and Jonesin for a Good Blow Out

Received last week a new hair tool I picked up on line from a Canadian company L'ange.  I've used quite a few of their hair products and all have been outstanding.  The hair tool is the called "Le Volume." It's a brush and blow dryer all in one.

Normally to straighten my hair the process is to use the blow dryer in one hand and a brush in the other then follow up with a straightening iron.  Combining the brush and dryer into one is awesome! It gets my hair so straight and smooth I don't need to use the iron!  Have also been using one of their new products, Glass Hair, which is sprayed all over damp hair and it made a big difference.  Normally after blow drying my hair is coarse and rough; Glass leaves it soft and smooth.  Definitely both the Le Volume and Glass were a great purchase!

In my HR days, I always belonged to the national HR association, even serving as President of the local chapter years ago.  These national associations are priceless for getting useful info and legal updates.  Asked my boss for insurance associations and she hooked me up with a Portland chapter.  Tonight I attended their Zoom chapter meeting.  Highlight was they had a yoga teacher leading some stress relief exercises and stretches. Was an enjoyable session which made up for the fact it ran from 6pm to 7pm.

Ran into Jordan and Candy yesterday and we pulled over to chat.  Jordan is rocking the mustache just like his dad so I had to take a few pix!

Sam recently completed a commission picture of the Joker.  A wife had seen one of his drawings on line so got in touch with him to create a Joker pic for her husband for Father's Day.  Picture turned out fantastic!

Tonight decided that my toes needed serious TLC.  Grabbed some polish stickers which had been in the polish basket forever and slapped those on my tosses.  Turned out pretty good and no drying wait time!

Fix It's and Father's Day

Bound and determined to fix the painting disasters, this weekend was dedicated to painting.

After meditating over the first one, decided what I saw was water and the sky. Where there's water there should be a fisherman sitting on a large boulder dangling his bobber into the lake.  Included a tree, gold leaf moon, and even tried to paint a dog but, when it began to resemble a lion, scratched that and covered it with foliage.  Happy with the fix-it job.

This morning tackled the more difficult canvas. When in doubt, go for a mermaid!  Laid out the pattern I created then covered the outside with black paint. Hmm...just didn't have a pop so created a new full mermaid pattern for the middle.

Filled in the gal with black, then painted its tail with a variety of pink and coral. Added a crown covered in multi-colored gold leaf. The leaf is a little zip lock filled with tiny pieces of gold, bronze, and blue pieces of metallic leaf. Involves using tweezers to pluck the bits from the bag and placing them in just the right spot. This process was time-consuming, especially when I decided to leaf the tail.

But it was worth it!  Looks so much better than the before version!

After packing in the painting, cleaned up and ran to the store for a few groceries. Had pico de gallo on the brain so grabbed tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and limes. For some odd reason, have morphed into a spicy eater. Just love jalapeño, hot salsa, and red pepper flakes.

Whipped up the tomato goodness with one hand while preparing pasta salad with the other.  Sunday is almost over so an evening of chillaxin has begun.

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

Vision Vortex

At times it can be so frustrating to have a vision in your mind that just won't come to fruition!

Tonight gathered up my painting tools with the intent to make a duo canvas with pink and gray tones to match my bedroom.  Had a vision to do a Dutch pour on both which means using the blow dryer.  Thinned down the paint, puddled it on and arrrgggg!!! Just did not turn out as it appeared in my head!  Did some swirling, some dabbing, and it continued to fail. Gave up, wiped the paint off and started again with different colors and thinner paint.

And it still didn't happen!  At this point I was hot, sweaty and irritable so gave it up, packed it in, and left the canvas out to dry.  Those canvas can sit outside all night and think about what ithey did.

For me I hear a glass of wine calling my name!!!

Flowers and Filling

With the rain and sunshine fighting to see who will stay on top, the foliage outside has been blooming.

Last week was chewing gum for some odd reason. Actually, had a small container of sugar free chews I discovered when I was changing purses. Not big on gum as it quickly turns into Bessie chewing her cud, quickly evolving into snaps, cracks, and bubbles.  In this case after the snapping but before the bubble blowing, felt a small chunk within the gum itself. Uh oh. Extracted the chunk of chew and saw a piece of filling imbedded within the gooey lump.

Thankfully this occurred on a tooth which was already being scheduled for a new crown.  Into the dentist this morning I went, which meant getting cleaned up for the public as opposed to rolling out of bed in my jammies.

Filling replacement and temporary crown meant one thing - novocaine. Novacaine seems to grab on to my mouth and refuses to let go until bedtime.  Ended up in the dentist chair for almost two hours. Discovered a new benefit of the quarantine mask - it provides superb coverage for a lopsided, drooling mouth numb from nose to neck.

Grand Slam Saturday

Last night Marie had a hankering for a Grand Slam so we made our way to Denny's for dinner. First time being back in a restaurant for sit-down dinner since the onslaught of the pandemic. Restaurant was quiet, booths were double-cleaned, silverware wrapped in paper, and condiments including salt abs pepper were distributed in disposable containers.

Grand Slams hit the spot! Decided to visit Jordan and Candy to check up on their menagerie of arachnids and reptiles or what they refer to as pets.

At this point they have about ten tarantulas and two snakes along with a healthy food supply of mice. Jim and Contessa, the snakes, were friendly, curious, and harmless.  Looked but didn't touch the spiders.  

This morning slept in then after coffee decided it was a laundry and painting day. Changed into my painting overalls (yes, now have acrylic couture to accompany my creative process), and did two 18 x 24 acrylic pours.  The first was to create one focused on the colors of an African violet. The second was to create a new painting on top of a previous wreck of a painting.

Before Wreck

Have to say both turned out acceptable.  Love, love, love the violet picture. The redo is much better than how it started but not perfect.  Then again, what is??  They almost fit together as if one is sunrise and the other is sinset.

After on the left

Romeo aka Romy aka Brute aka Trump was in rare form today, more than likely due to a snackie of  catnip.