Hillbillies and Flowers

Wednesday night it was too hot to sleep, so I finally broke down and turned on the air conditioning. Clouds rolled in on Thursday morning and threatened rain until just before I left from work, and then it poured and thundered. I got home and Spit would not come out from under the bed, even for dinner. I went right out again and met some people for dinner and by the time dinner was over the sun was out and I looked silly in my rain jacket. When I got home Spit was out from under the bed, hey, where's my dinner? The rain finally cooled things off so I could sleep.

I went out for dinner again on Friday night, both dinners were for Christelle's birthday and both included someone else that was paying for her dinner. I'm happy she included me and happy to have somewhat of a life today, but two nights out is busy for me.

Cruiser is warring with the neighbors cats and it is getting really old. The neighbor's cats sit safely in their own yard and Cruiser is having a fit on the other side of the fence as if he is fighting for his life. I finally went out and bought some stones and barricaded both of his tunnels. When I was done, he would not go out, just laid on the kitchen floor like he didn't care. How do they know?

Down and across the street from me is this house,


This is their side yard,


Even the windowsills are full of junk and all the drapes are always closed. They were cleaning up in front and hauled away half of the falling fence and a falling apart picnic table. Turns out, they were making room for the trailer. A truck hauled the trailer in and a man and a woman both gave directions on how to back the thing in. I couldn't hear the guy, but the woman loudly barked instructions non-stop. She wasn't much help, since it seemed to take forever. The trailer is on blocks and I figure someone is living in it.

Across the street at the end of my walk is this amazing piece of ingenuity,


The Harley-rider behind me owns his store, his house next to the store, and the house next to him where his son lives with his family. Next to the son's house is a tiny lot that was for sale by owner since I moved in, now it has a realtor sign. A few weeks after the realtor sign, he put up two no trespassing, no parking signs. Problem is, the son has five cars parked most of the time on his lot anyway. Here are some weeds in my alley with the lot (parked cars out of view) in the background,


Nice looking weeds. I have some right next to my garage that I was going to pull up, until I noticed the blue flowers that are only there in the morning.

Here is that stream part the graveyard that I cross on my walk,


How big does a stream have to be before it becomes a river?

In the graveyard are these trees that smell like jasmine,



The flowers don't look like much, but smell great. I think they are elm trees, but I can't find anything about elm trees having flowers.

Did you know that California poppies are native to Idaho? Several people on my walk have them filling up their median, although they are fading now. Here is a flower tour from my walk,










I am most impressed with the lilies, since you can't grow them in So Cal, not including the daylilies, and I always like sweat peas, the flower, those are growing across the street almost on their own. The tree growing those weird looking pink fuzzy branches is about 12 feet tall. I think it is really unusual looking, but I would not want one in my yard, and they would be impossible to paint. I was surprised to see so much lavender here, but this weekend was the 7th Annual Lakeside Lavender You Cut Festival. I didn't go, I started another painting instead.

My friend reminded me that last weekend's studies are a breakthrough. I paint water colors in layers and I have trouble with dark darks. This is fine when painting people, I layer up the skin tones, which gives great luminous color, but it takes confidence to get darks in watercolor, they have to be put down dark in the first place. I can layer over darks maybe twice, three times, and then they get muddy and the pigment starts coming up and they won't get darker. I also think I am cheap with paint, hey, I'm poor. In last weekend's studies I tried for some drama and contrast and put those darks down dark in the first place. That comes from some confidence from painting all the time.

The landlord sent in something for me to renew my lease for a year, which was due back by July 1. I sent it in and renewed my lease and it felt weird to commit myself to another year even though I love it here.

Camping

It's hot. In the 90's for a week and expected to continue. People like to say Boise has a dry heat, but it is a dry heat like Simi Valley, not a dry heat like Vegas. It was even hot in Idaho City on our way to camping.

We camped on a mining claim outside of Idaho City. We took our time getting there and stopped for an ice cream, even though the trip wasn't a disaster yet. It is hard to believe the last time I was in Idaho City it was freezing and Sunday afternoon I was walking outside in a tank top and eating an ice cream. We took a look inside a bar that still looks like it is before the turn of the century, but first we had to wait for this biker girl to come out the door. She looked at us and called us campers, which I do not think she meant as a compliment. She should have let us go on in, since we waited 10 minutes for a leisurely stream of at least 10 bikers to spill out of the bar before we could go in. Half of the stream were women and while we waited, we were amused by the wide variety of large, ill-shaped breasts and decided this is a biker-chick requirement.

We pulled into the road to the mining claim and stopped when we got to the river,


Just down the way, we made camp,


not too far from this part of the river, which was running fast and freezing cold,



And on the opposite side of camp were meadows full of wildflowers,



I bought myself a camp chair, which came with the following disclaimers,

This chair holds a maximum of 225 lbs, exceeding this limit may cause personal injury.
Care should be taken to avoid tipping while seated.
Use chair only on level surface.
To avoid injuries to fingers, use care when folding the chair.

You know these warnings would be there, but really? I can see the chair being partly responsible for pinched fingers, but if you tip out of the chair because it is not on a level surface and fall and hit your head, is the chair liable? The chair was not actively responsible for the injury to your head. My chair came with one cup holder, but Margo's came with three, with a "shelf" feature really being an excuse for two more cup holders. Seems to me that to avoid tipping, there should be a maximum of one cup holder.

I did not need a mat, I slept on a 10 inch thick mat of pine needles, and I brought my chair, sleeping bag, emergency supplies, breakfast, including the apple bread, and metal camp mugs. Margo supplied the rest. Most of her stuff was second-hand or found and I was impressed. The only thing we thought we missed was a water bucket, and we should have planned the fire bucket better and placed it on rocks or something not flammable. Margo made fun of me making a deal about adding bug spray to my emergency pack, until we really needed it at about 6 pm.

When we left, as my thank you offering I left a set of colored threads from my sewing kit for the birds.

On my way home from Margo's I drove along the part of the rim which is above Ann Morrison Park, just down from my house. At 2 in the afternoon, chairs and people were lining up for the 4th of July view. After my peaceful day in the forest, the last thing I wanted to do was be in that crowd, so I did not go. Besides, Margo reminded me that it does not get dark in Boise until after 10, which means late fireworks until at least 11 pm on a work night. Neighborhood noise followed the park fireworks noise, so who knows when it got quiet, but I fell asleep anyway. Someone at work today said it was a really good year for fireworks sales.

Yesterday evening I picked some of my sweet peas and ate some out of the pod and then some I ate the whole pod, peas and all. They were the best peas I've ever had.

Squeaky Wheel and Studies

Bob's Bikes, which is near my work, was having a free safety check for a few days, so I roade over first thing yesterday morning. I figured they would be packed for the 4th of July weekend. I take it back, my work is two miles from my house, so I road two miles to Bob's with my squeaky front wheel. I beat the crowd by getting there when they opened at 10 am. My bike is perfectly safe, but had a front wheel running on one bearing. It should have about nine. They made an exception, since they usually don't do repair work on Saturdays, and fixed my front tire for $16. My ride back was much better.

Yesterday I finished two studies,



I tend to be whimpy with my darks, maybe I am cheap about using too much pigment, so I worked on getting some good darks and some contrast.

I mowed the lawn and had to reset the sprinkler timer and water, which made a pool of mud in the cat's tunnel. That did not deter them for a minute and both were covered with mud when I made them come in last night. Tia is home, that is slowing them down a bit.

This morning I got ready to camp and baked some apple bread to take with,



Off to camp, happy 4th of July and get well soon to Lani.

Sunset Offering

After work today I went to the framer looking for a already made frame for the 2nd painting accepted into the "Idaho Paints Idaho" show, which I found, and I saw this sheepherder wagon,


I couldn't tell if this guy was headed out on vacation or semi-homeless, since he has the cooler and the dog crate in the back of the truck. The wagon looked in pretty good shape, especially since I'm sure it was not built for pulling on streets at 30 MPH.

Last night I drove up Bogus Basin to leave an offering and see the sunset. When I came to Boise on my road trip, I left one offering a day at a good spot. I chose an orange as my offering, so part of my road trip supplies was a large bag of oranges. One spot in Boise that I left an offering was up the road to Bogus Basin. Bogus Basin the ski resort is 16 miles from Boise and I probably went halfway. Where I stopped I could see the whole valley, which is called Treasure Valley, and there happened to be a cairn out on the ledge waiting for my offering.

Since it has been just over a year since my road trip, I've been meaning to go back up and leave another offering as a thank you for the last year, but I was waiting for a good potential sunset and no rain. It took me a while to find the spot and I took some pictures on the way,




And I left my offering with a view of the city of Boise down below,


I'm sure it is not as good of an orange as the one from So Cal that I left last year, maybe I should have left some of my home grown peas, but that would not make a good picture. I picked my way carefully to the cairn, since it was getting dark and it is rattlesnake season, left my offering, and said a thank you for everything I've been given this year and a prayer some people that I love.

I almost can't believe it has been more than a year since I started this adventure.

On my way back downhill, a car had just dropped off two cyclists. I guess the thing to do is have someone drive you up Bogus Basin and drop you off so you can fly downhill on your bike. I passed a few cyclists actually riding themselves uphill, but not nearly as many as I saw flying down it. Of the two cyclists dropped off right in front of me, one flew downhill at close to 40 MPH and the other one wouldn't go over 25. That left me stuck behind him and unable to pass, which I'm sure he found as annoying as I did. I finally passed the 25 MPH guy, but I never caught the 40 MPH guy and he was waiting at the bottom of the hill when I got there.

Margo wants to go camping. I told her that I would love to go, but confessed that whenever I have been camping, someone else has been in charge with all the stuff. I just help pick out food. So, we are having an "introduction to camping" this Sunday night. That's where we bring what we have and think we need and do a short practice camping that shows us everything we forgot. If it turns out to be a disaster, we come home and get an ice cream and sleep in our own beds. Margo has somebody's property near Idaho City where we can go, so we won't be out with the holiday crowd, no beer, no loud music, no ATVs.

Who knows what celebration the Harley-riding karaoke singer has in store for the 4th, he has actually been pretty quiet the last few weeks, but I would like to miss at least part of it.

I have peas!

I have peas!


These must have been there over the weekend and I did not notice them. I have a green thumb, but I have not tried to grow vegetables since a traumatic experience as a kid with tomato plants devastated by worms. I have not tried eating any peas yet, I'm waiting for them to get bigger. I did try one strawberry, sweet, but mushy.

For the last two days it has been 97 degrees when I left work and 92 degrees at my house. That is according to my car and I don't know how accurate it is, but I guess it is cooler along the rim than in the flat industrial area where I work. Even though it is only two miles away, I don't like it over there, I prefer downtown. Sarah invited me to ride bikes over to downtown tomorrow night for Alive After Five, which is a free concert at the park in front of the Capitol building. I think they have them every week during the summer. I will have to try it next week, my borrowed bike is squeaking and I think it needs a tune up and I think I need a practice run before I humiliate myself in front of people by not being able to pedal up Americana on our way home.

Last night it did not cool off and it was one of those nights where it is too hot to sleep. Both cats slept downstairs, where it was cooler. Tonight does not feel much cooler, so I am just going to read. I hated Under the Tuscan Sun, spoiled Americans in Italy, after about the first 80 pages it turned into recipes and a travel log. Why would anyone make a movie from a book that is nothing like the book? I traded paperbacks today and now have Elmore Leonard, PD James, and Stieg Larsson and I started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I have two studies and two paintings drawn on stretched watercolor paper, but it has been too hot to paint when I got home this week. This weekend is a three day weekend, so I'm hoping for some painting time. My neighbors say we can just walk down the street and watch the fireworks on the 4th from the edge of the rim.

My street tree now has a flower show from top to bottom.

Extra Bike

Just in case you didn't believe me about that great lightning storm last week,



These are compliments of some Idaho Statesman readers. The lightning started a few fires in the foothills and shocked some guy looking at the storm while holding his metal screen door. People are still talking about the show.

The rain that came with the lightning half filled in Cruiser's tunnel under the fence, so only Spit could get out until Saturday morning when Cruiser had time to work on it some more. Saturday morning I heard the sound of cat fight and went out in my pajamas to find Cruiser paying back Pierre for 5 months of teasing. Cruiser is a big cat and Pierre is half his size and Pierre was cowering. This confrontation pleased Cruiser so much that he slept quietly for the rest of the day.



This is a close up of the flower on my street tree, it looks orchid-like,


I went out to dinner with Mary Kay last night to the Thai restaurant down the street that more than one person has recommended. Next door is the Navaho Room, which appears to be a seedy bar, and last night we walked up to a girl sprawled passed out on the sidewalk with two guys trying to revive her. Mary Kay is a nurse, so we had to wait to make sure she didn't need to help and then the ambulance drove up. They woke the girl up with smelling salts and then she started to heave and maybe have a seizure and I told Mary Kay that we should go in and eat before watching the girl throw up made us loose our appetite. I'm not much of a nurse, but I'm not a looky-loo either.

The Thai restaurant was pretty good and really nice inside and that whole strip mall down the street cracks me up. There is a smoke shop, a noodle place that looks more like a grown your own plants from cuttings store, the Navaho Room seedy bar, the Thai restaurant, the bowling alley, the Bosnian market, the Sewer District office, the Asian market, and soon the local theater. The Navaho Room is one of those seedy bars with no windows to see inside, every neighborhood seems to have one, in Simi my neighborhood had Judge Roy Beans. Sarah says the bowling alley is really nice inside and also has pool tables.

Mary Kay had an extra bike that she let me borrow and she brought it over for me this afternoon,


I had to put air in the tires and rode it around enough this afternoon to get the seat adjusted and test the brakes. That is a green alligator that squeaks in lieu of a bell. Hardly anyone wears a helmet here while riding a bike or a motorcycle. I watched two guys Friday night on motorcycles without helmets doing wheelies in the lane in front of me. They did look around first, I wasn't sure if they wanted to see if the cops were around or to check to be sure I was watching.

The lawn is much easier to mow now that the weather is hotter and the grass is not growing like mad. My peas are happy and still blooming, but I lost the jalapeno. You would think jalapenos would like it hot, but one hot day on my patio and that plant gave up. The strawberries are really happy and the cucumber is already getting huge. I'm still not sure if I will get any blueberries, but the plants are really full and green. One thing about Idaho, it is a long wait for that green, but the green is greener, brighter.

It's Summer!

Yesterday was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. Sunrise here was at 6:01 am and sunset at 9:27. It got up to 85 degrees. I came home from work to the sound of weed whacking, Kurt's home. He said hello over the fence and today he's gone again.

I let the cats out when I got home and later when I went to the backyard to check on them, they were gone. They finished their hole to freedom under the side fence next to Kurt's yard. Both were wandering around the neighbors yards on my side of the street. You terrible cats, why can't you just be happy! Spit looked at me as if to say, hey, you look like the one who is unhappy! I decided she was right and I just left the front door open for them. They are lucky Kurt's dog wasn't out.

It was hot today, in the 90s, and a beautiful hot blue sky with puffy clouds day. My street tree was the last tree to get leaves this spring, but now it has it's June flowers,


I went out after work and met a friend who lost her job 2 weeks ago. She's been looking for me to ask me how I got through almost a year of unemployment. Interesting how I end up being useful. She worked for a company I wanted to work for and I often wondered if she could get me a job there.

I got home, went for a walk, watered the vegetable garden, and thought it might be too hot to sleep. Then about 10 pm it started to pour, and I mean pour, down rain with thunder and lightning. Oh yea, I am in Idaho. The lightning show is right over my house, so I went outside and stood in the warm rain and watched it.