Jack London State Park

The shame of it! I had never been to Jack London State Park until today. Now I know what I have been missing, and how much more of that place I have yet to discover. I'm already anxious to go back.

After a nice visit with Velva, we headed out to Jack London with Sandra and Keith. Jo was working in the museum. Boy did she have a busy day - lots of visitors today in this beautiful weather.

What a gorgeous place. There is so much to see - absolutely endless things to photograph. We saw lots of people just lounging around with their noses in books. Jack London books, no doubt. I want to go back in early morning light, and again in late afternoon light. I want to go back with my bike, and sketchbook and watercolors. I want to see the Lake and the Pig Palace. The park is gigantic, and in the three hours we were there, we only saw a tiny portion of it. Amelia & I have vowed to go back and stay the whole day sometime.

I think we hit it at the prime time of year - everything is green, the wildflowers are blooming, and the weather was sunny and invitingly warm. I can imagine it gets mighty hot up there in the summer.

This evening, I enjoyed re-living the day by sorting through my photos.

Spring Break

Today we picked Amelia up from the airport - yay! We get to enjoy her company for a whole 5 days before she heads back to school. We stopped for lunch at Cafe Gratitude, and then headed home via the scenic coastal route. After braking for cookies in Pt. Reyes Station (Bovine Bakery Gingerbread - wow) we headed up along Tomales Bay, and were lucky enough to spot another nesting Osprey.

At the moment, I can hear pages flipping, which means she is busy working on her animation... can't wait to see this.

Here are a few pictures of our day.

Wine Country 'Ukulele Fest Design Contest

This is what I was working on a couple of weeks ago - The folks putting on the Napa Valley 'Ukulele Fest this year are having a contest for the event poster & t shirt design. This is what I came up with. The prize is a $380 Ohana Koa Soprano 'ukulele.

Fingers crossed... I won't know till late April.

Sunday drive

Feeling a litte restless today, we decided to take a drive. We ended up going over to Calistoga, up to Angwin, then on to Pope Valley, Lake Berryessa, Lake Hennesey, and back through St. Helena. I'd been working on a poster design for an event in the Napa Valley all week, and feeling a yearning to go there - knowing the mustard is in bloom. I still feel rooted to that valley; it's one of my "comfort" places in this world.

We got super lucky when we stopped for a potty break and heard an unusual bird call coming from virtually right overhead. Check out the Osprey nest:



I swear, we wouldn't have even seen her if she had kept quiet. I would guess there were eggs in that nest, and that she was upset with us for being around. Or he?

Looks like a dangerous place for a nest, but Dave noticed that somebody had put insulation over some of the wires, so hopefully she's safe.





Check out the talons. That was a big birdie.



The sun was peeking through the overcast to illuminate this island in Lake Berryessa:



THEN! As if the Osprey weren't exciting enough, we were lucky enough to happen upon this beautiful red-tailed hawk. Again, we were practically right underneath him.

Yip Yip Aliens

**edit** These Yip Yips are not for sale







I have finished my pair of Yip Yip Alien puppets! They took a long time to make, as they are completely hand-made out of wool fiber by wet- and needle-felting. I'm pretty sure I could whip out a couple of these with my sewing machine from crushed velour, ping-pong balls, and a sharpie in a few hours. But I wouldn't want to.

Other hand-felted items can be found on my shop:
www.feltfarm.etsy.com

Oh, and if you have never heard of the Yip Yip Aliens, they were a pair of puppets on the Muppet Show, introduced in 1971. Here they are on You Tube discovering a telephone:

Couture Felt

"Roots"


"Blossom"


"Avocado"



Now this is what I want to see on the red carpet next year at the Oscars! Come on, people! This designer, Hort, is in Akron, Ohio. Check out his website for more. http://www.horstcouture.com/welcome.htm

A description of his process is here: http://dept.kent.edu/museum/exhibit/horst/process.htm