I Need a Nap or Three

It was a busy week in the Atomic City -- I had my first overnight house guests (for three days!). 

My guests were Cyn and Sandra, former co-workers from the Puget Sound area.  They arrived Thursday, and I took just a few photos during their visit, since I was busy being the Hostess with the Mostest and because pretty much every place we went has been featured on the blog before.  So I shall start with pics from earlier in the week.

Monday:  I played with the new Arteza watercolor brushes some more, and was quite pleased with how this Golden Eagle study turned out:

Next I need to figure out how to bring them along on a sketch outing -- the case the brushes came in is cheap and flimsy and not practical for plein air work.  Also I don't need to lug all 48 colors about.  So I shall look for a brush carrying device for a subset and report back.

On Tuesday I took the Hounds to the river where we saw lots of goslings:

And we also spotted our favorite riverboat, the American Empress.

On Wednesday I joined the urban sketch group at a private home which boasts a fabulous iris garden.  The other sketchers focused on the flowers:

I decided to draw the house instead, and to take photos of the irises for later practice at home.

On Thursday afternoon my guests arrived.  While Sandra went off to visit nearby relatives, Cyn and I hit my gym for a nice, long, relaxing swim.  In the evening we ate at home and watched an old Disney classic, That Darn Cat (with Hayley Mills and Dean Jones).

On Friday we had a driving tour of Pasco and Kennewick, stopping at my favorite Pasco riverfront park, seeing the Moore Mansion and the historic courthouse, and then tootling across the river to see the small lighthouse on Clover Island.  Then we hit the Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens in Kennewick.

Here is Cyn at the gardens:

The roses were in full bloom, as were red poppies.

Next we had lunch before heading down the road to the Reach Museum, which features natural  history and Hanford/Manhattan Project history.  They were most impressed by it.

We had a bit of downtime in the late afternoon, which we spent lounging on my back patio.  Sandra made us soft tacos for dinner, and then we tried to watch the Mariners, but soon gave up on our hapless team in favor of another classic 1960s film, The Great Race (with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Natalie Wood).

On Saturday I gave them the tour of Richland, where they enjoyed this highlight -- the conning tower from a Trident nuclear submarine (the first submarine to circumnavigate the globe entirely under the sea):

Then we hit the historic Uptown Shopping Center for the two big antique malls there, where we all found a few things to take home. 

There was also a tour of West Richland and Badger Mountain, plus a dog walk for the much-neglected Hounds at the Park at the Lakes:

There we saw American White Pelicans, which made Cyn's day, as she had been wanting to see them ever since her arrival. 

Finally we hit the used bookstore in Richland, Adventures Underground:

We entertained ourselves that evening with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (fun!).

After Sunday breakfast my guests headed out, and I got my house back -- yay!  It was an excellent visit -- they truly seemed to enjoy the area, they said suitably flattering things about my new house, we had fun chats, and paced ourselves well. 

Now all I need is a week to recover!

Of Home Decor and Other Things

Well, it was another active week at Dog End 2.0.  Birds, art, home decor -- and lots of walks, as it was 65-70 every day.  A most pleasant week all round.

On Monday the Hounds and I walked at the Park at the Lakes, where we spotted some common birds:

Killdeer

Mourning Dove

Red-winged Blackbird

On Monday evening I was invited to see my book shop volunteer partner Ann's home, which she said had "unique decor."  This is the outside:

And this is the entry to the living room, with bird house collection:

She is fond of yellow, blue, and fuchsia. 

She has a Christmas tree up year-round, decorated according to the season.  And she has a collection of small chairs, displayed in a rather interesting fashion:

BLUE stuff:

I agreed that it was unique.  And then I went home and looked around and had Thoughts.  Many, many thoughts, all about decorating.  I realized that I had simply accepted the previous owners' choice of paint and that they were not, for the most part, colors that I would have chosen.  This gave me pause.  And Ideas.

You may remember when I painted a faux window on the main bathroom wall.  This photo showing that endeavor also shows how utterly boring and white the bathroom walls were:

Well, after feeling inspired by Ann's home, I fixed that!

I have Ideas about the other walls in the house, too.  I've been busy collecting paint sample chips.  Stay tuned!

On Tuesday, while I was at the Ace Hardware store collecting paint chips, I noticed a swinging patio seat.  I adore the swinging seats that dot the riverfront parks here, and this much nicer, comfier seat was on sale, and not only that, the wonderful Ace Hardware folks said they would assemble and deliver it for a very reasonable fee.  So guess what I did?

It is super comfy, though I have to work to get the Hounds to stay on it.  No idea why they are resistant, since they always sit with me on the ones in the park.  Go figure.

By Wednesday, my urge to redecorate my entire house had hit full stride.  I blame Ann, for showing me what a truly dedicated decorator could do.  And I realized that I'd been restrained thus far in my efforts -- I had tried to convince myself that I liked cleaner lines and less clutter.  I was wrong.  While I think she went a bit overboard with the Wee Chairs, on the whole I adored Ann's home, and wanted to move right in.  (Possibly the fact that it also contained an indoor pool had an influence there.)

So I decided to embrace my love of clutter, or as I prefer to call it, unique home decor, and tootled off to Walla Walla to check out the antique stores there.

There are two good antique shops in Richland, but I've been through them many times, and wanted new shopping experiences, and I succeeded.

After diligent internet research, I chose three places that seemed large and well regarded.

I bought stuff at every one, though at the Shady Lawn Creamery antique shop, I wound up with just one of their souvenir t-shirts.

My best find was a pelican picture done in needlepoint.  Score!

On Thursday, the urge to decorate was still going strong, so I opted to revisit the largest of the two local antique malls, on the theory that on past visits I'd been focused on finding my typical items -- pelicans, lighthouses, or dachshunds -- so if I went with a more open mind, I might see new things.  And I did!

This stand called to me (the chair is provided for scale).  And it was marked down to $19!  I'm going to put a plant on it one of these days.

I have no idea what this obelisk is all about, but it had peacocks on it, and it was odd, so I bought it.  It's about 1-1/2 feet high.

Next I spotted this lovely quail print.  It's now hanging in the dining room.  Not that I plan to eat quail, mind you.  It just went well with the wall color in there.

 The kiwi figurine below is one that I found a few months back, so when I spotted the echidna figurine, I knew it had to come home and sit next to the kiwi on the mantle. 

Finally, though I wasn't focused on my usual stuff, I found it anyway -- another pelican!

By Friday I had calmed down and did not go shopping anywhere.  But I do feel this is the beginning of a whole new approach to home decor.  Whee!

Over the weekend I went on more riverfront walks with the Hounds.  Sunday was a particularly splendid outing -- having been to each of my favorite parks in Richland during the week, I decided to venture over to Pasco to Chiawanna Park, which I first visited last Fall and enjoyed very much.

There, just a short distance from the parking lot, I spotted a Great Egret (they are kind of hard to miss):

Farther along, I saw three American White Pelicans swimming near the shore.  As I hurried to get closer for photos, they took off.

I was disappointed, but continued on, not seeing any more fabulous birds the rest of the way.  Then, on a total whim, I drove over to Kennewick to another riverfront trail that I hadn't visited since last Fall.

And there I was greeted by three American White Pelicans swimming not far from the shore.  Yay!

They were busy fishing.

I got to admire them for quite some time, and I was quite pleased.

So that wraps up a fun-filled, albeit somewhat expensive, week.  Oh, except for art -- almost forgot that!  My friends John and Nicole have been traveling in Spain and Portugal, and they posted a pic of a gate-keeper's house that I particularly liked, so I sketched it.

I used the new Arteza watercolor brush pens to color it in, and they worked well.  This coming week I suspect I should stay home and spend less money and do more art projects, at least until Thursday.  On Thursday I have company coming from out of town -- my first overnight guests.  Aiiee.  They'll be here until Sunday morning -- wish me luck.

Perhaps I'd better start cleaning, too!