Monday, May 27, 2019

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!


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