Picture updates

A few updates on some of the things we've been doing.



This was one of our last kayaking trips. It was the longest trip yet. We did almost 8 miles that day. We started at the Tualatin River at Highway 99 and went up river to the Tualatin Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful day, not hot at all, and we had most of the day to spend on the river. I never know how the pictures are going to turn out while I'm on the river. I have a clear, waterproof bag that I put my phone in and it hangs around my neck. I don't take it out of the bag to use it so I can't get picky about my pictures. This one did turn out okay.



I did say I had another chalk painting project and here it is. I'm done with the red now. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Bulb Garden

There was a corner of our back yard that needed some help. It had a nice archway with a Clematis growing up one side of it. Whenever I looked at the archway I was always looking for something inviting to be seen on the other side of it. However there was nothing nice to look at. There was weeds, piles of moldy grass clippings the previous owners left, and years of tangled, pruned tree branches. There was also too many trees planted in that area. So we took out some trees. Now I could see my lilac bush and my maple tree. Then of course I had to clean up the weeds and left over branches. That lead to an idea...a bulb garden

   

So I cleaned up the ground, we got some more "good" dirt, dug it in, watered it, and dug it in some more. In the meantime I searched the area for bulbs, especially bulbs that would do well in part shade. I told my 6 year old grandson about my idea and he was fascinated with the idea of a flower coming out of a bulb. I showed him pictures of different bulbs and their flowers. Then he wanted to help me with my idea. When planting day arrived, he was there to help me. We transferred some of the ferns, columbines, and iris from other parts of the yard. Then we started in on the bulbs. Once I described the planting process to him, he was "all in". We did not plant individual bulbs but groups of bulbs. It was a good way for him to use his math skills as we had to divide up bags of bulbs. He loved using the garden tools, various shovels and rakes, to make it all work. In the end together we added up the number of bulbs we had planted 330!!! It's a good thing we planted them in clusters, I think digging 330 holes would have been too much for either of us. Here is our after picture. I'll have to post a flowering picture in the spring time.




Mr UAW and I will refinish the park benches in the back and we have a trellis to set up behind them. Now I think the arch way has something inviting on the other side of it.

Chalk painting

I've read about chalk painting and have wanted to give it a try. My first project was a picture frame. It seemed like an easy, small project and if I messed it up it would be no problem to change it up. I started with an idea I got from my daughter, a large picture frame with 4 pieces of twine strung horizontally so that I could hang 4 x 6 pictures from it. I wanted to make these pictures the "adventure" pictures of my family. So I started with my thrift store $5 large picture frame. The painting inside was a canvas of an ocean scene, the paint was peeling, cracking and wasn't something I wanted so I didn't mind getting rid of it. I cut out the canvas because I was after the frame. I did not want to buy a whole can of chalk paint for a small project to I researched on Pinterest how to make my own. I had the color of latex paint that I wanted, I just figured out how to make a small portion of it into chalk paint. If your interested, there are many recipes on Pinterest on how to do it. I also knew I wanted to dark wax it but again didn't want to buy a large can of dark wax. So I did the same thing and ended up making my own out of clear wax and black paint that I had bought for something else. So now I was ready, I had all my supplies made up and ready to go. Painting was easy. Distressing it was easy. I clear waxed it first then came back with the dark wax. I think I came out pretty good. Below are pictures of it. From left to right: first is the chalk paint and distressed, second after the clear wax was applied, and the third is after the dark wax. Then a picture of the final project.

               


So then I got ambitious. I have a hutch that is really nice for storing things, but it is heavy and was badly chipped, the veneer was peeling off, someone had tried to nail the veneer back on, it had stains on it I couldn't get off. I didn't want to move it to Oregon and we tried to sell it in California, but no takers. It's an older piece, 1940's, and it belonged to Mr UAW's grandmother. So for this project I purchased the official Annie Sloan chalk paint. I wanted a certain color, Empire Silk, for my project. And I purchased the dark wax from Annie Sloan. Because I had a large piece of furniture that I was working with, I wanted the color of the paint and wax to be consistent throughout the project. I felt comfortable making my own chalk paint and dark wax for something small, but not something this big. It took 3 days to do. I did chalk paint, distressed it, put clear wax on it, then the dark wax. Just the chalk paint itself was a pretty bright red, but the clear wax gave a depth to the red and the dark wax just made it rich.

before and after 

before

after

       

          

So I have a few more chalk painting projects to do. One in the same red and dark wax, good thing I have some left over. The other project is another picture frame only this one will be black, distressed so the white shows up underneath and just clear waxed. These are small projects so I can get them done in the garage if the weather turns nasty. More to come on this theme later.

Kayaking

We bought some used kayaks and have been kayaking on the Tualatin River near our house. I'm not used to paddling anything on a river. Mr UAW used to white water raft class 5 rivers, so he has plenty of experience with a raft on a river. Kayaking is a bit different than a raft. So since I'm the one with the least water/river paddling experience, we have been sticking to the Tualatin River. It is a slow meandering river at this time of the year, perfect for learning how to kayak. We usually spend 2+ hours on the river paddling up and relaxing as we return to our take out point. Each time we kayak I get better. I remember the first time I needed help getting in and out and now I can do it by myself. I used to accidentally hit the side of the kayak with my paddle as I was paddling...frequently. But now I'm practicing proper paddling technique and I do better. And I've learned how to use my core and legs to help me paddle, not just my arms. So for the remainder of this year's kayaking we will be sticking with the easier areas. We'd like to go to some mountain lakes but it's getting late in the season so that might have to wait for next year. To date we have gone four times. The weather is starting to turn so I'm not sure how long we can continue to go out.

         

The "traffic" is sure better down here on the river than up there on Hwy 99

Smoke update

The fires in the Oregon area have been devastating. Earlier this summer the smoke from fires in Canada was blown into the Portland area. Now it is mainly the Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbian Gorge that has created so much smoke for us. And it is with great sorrow that I learn that many areas in the Gorge that I wanted to see are burnt. For all the people here that enjoy that area it is a great loss. The brave first responders are so appreciated. So for all my friends that are wondering how we are doing, we are okay. Just limited outdoor activities due to the smoke and ash in the air.

Camping at Cape Lookout

We finally went camping here in Oregon, Cape Lookout. We've been here before on a day trip but this time stayed for 4 days. It was so nice. The camp ground was so clean, the bathrooms were so clean, showers were free-I didn't have to feed it quarters in order to get water! The people were so friendly. It was nice to get away from the heat of the Williamette Valley. The post eclipse traffic was no problem as we headed for the coast.

Since we'd been to Cape Lookout in May and hiked the trail to the lookout point, we went on trails that were new to us. One of our hikes took us on the North Trail from the campground. It was so nice, hiking on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The fern lined trail was covered in Sitka Spruce. It lead to a nice swinging bridge. The trail on the other side of the bridge was not next to the ocean but it was still beautiful. It lead to the trail that goes to the point of Cape Lookout. Since we had already done that trail we returned to the campground and spent the rest of the day on the beach. From the campground it was about a 6 mile round trip hike. One morning I got up at my usual time, 5:30, and headed for the beach. (Yes, I still get up early.) I happened to be the first one on the beach that day and watched the sun light up the sky and the fog roll around the bluffs that met the ocean. As I walked on the beach I felt as if I was the first one to enter a new world. It was a refreshing time.

I noticed that ending a vacation while retired is different than it was while I was working. Before it was a dreaded task to pack it all up because there was work, schedules, pressures that were going to have to be dealt with again. And when I returned I had "vacation brain"- trying to grasp the work world and be productive was sometimes a struggle as my brain was somewhere else. Now packing up was okay, it was as if we were leaving one adventure to go to another adventure. And upon arriving home there was no scrambling to catch up on the world I had left. Vacations should always end this way...if it's really called a vacation while you're retired!