PAINTING PAINTING PAINTING

“Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things.”

---Pablo Picasso


While my painting wasn't of a picture it was painting that opened a door and is served as a stepping stone to other things.  Paint brings renewed life to things, color trends change, color schemes change but when you come right down to it color has meaning to each of us for different reasons.

As we started the paint color selection process, we tried to keep in mind colors that spoke to us for lack of a better word. In life I personally like to wear a bold splash of color, I was even quite surprised at myself when I had pink highlights put in my hair one time and another they were purple, but that is another story.  In the house, Bill and I tend towards earth tones with a little bold here and there.

Here are a few before, in process and after pictures of the house:

Guest Bedroom before

My nephew learning to paint!

Guest Bedroom After a new coat of paint

Guest Bedroom with new flooring

 

Guest Bath

Guest Bathroom...rather interesting I think

Guest Living room in process

Guest Living Room in process

Guest Living Room in process

Our Room in process

Our Room in process

Our room with the floors being scrubbed

Our room with new paint

Office in process

Office almost finished with paint

Office finished with paint

Stairs unfinished

Stairs with a coat of white wash

 Looks like I need to take some more photos of the other rooms but this is a start.  It's been lots of work and lots of paint but the house is starting to have a few touches to make it our home.

How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck If a Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?

Before my Mom purchased the house, I didn't have a clue what "shiplap" was.  Now I do!!! 

The true definition:

Shiplap is a type of wooden board used commonly in the construction of barns, sheds, outbuildings and inexpensive or seasonal homes. It is either rough-sawn 1" or milled 3/4" pine or similarly inexpensive wood between 3" and 10" wide with a 3/8" - 1/2" rabbet on opposite sides of each end.^[1] The rabbet allows the boards to overlap in this area. The profile of each board partially overlaps that of the board next to it creating a channel that gives shadow line effects, provides excellent weather protection and allows for dimensional movement.

The living room, dining room and the soon to become family room have "shiplap" on the walls.  That is a lot of wood, and it is dark wood and it hasn't been refinished in 20 years (at least).  There are cracks between each board and each board is approximately 1 x 8.  Let me say that cleaning the walls and all of the cracks was a task and  a half. 

This is what the walls looked like after they were scrubbed down.

After the walls were cleaned, well neither of us thought they were very attractive and we discussed just putting sheetrock over them to cover how bad they actually looked. There was a lot of discussion before we settled on trying to bring the old dingy wood back to life.

This process required several trips to the paint store to try and figure out what would be the best stain to put on the boards.  What turned out to be a perfect match was  Red Mahogany stain.

I'm not sure what was actually worse, the initial cleaning of the wood and the cracks or staining the wood and the cracks. 

I believe that we made a good choice on the color and the wood looks revitalized now.  We finished off the process with a clear satin finish to give it some shine.  While it's a bit dark, I'm hoping that as we go along the process of the remodel that accessories will help brighten things up.

 



 

This was a large project that we have now checked off the list.

Wood walls revitalized!!!

On to the next project!!!

Let The Face Lift Begin

We have embarked on a journey to bring new a new sparkle to my Mom's old home, and in the process turn it into our home.  The house was built in 1900 and has wonderful old cedar siding on it.  It had been many years since it was painted and last fall that was first on the list of to do's. 

I think we had four bids for the painting and ended up with the person that we liked best (we thought) although not the cheapest as cheap isn't always the way to go.  We discussed stains and paints and decided that in keeping with the character of the cedar we would have the house stained as it had been in the past.  After several discussions we decided to just go with a deeper richer color in the same tones as it had been 20 years ago. 

I personally was quite excited to drive up to see how it looked only to pull in the driveway to see it was almost the same color.  It was our mistake to not have put up a fuss at the time, but we let it go since it did look freshly painted even if it wasn't the color we had expected.  On a positive note, it could have been way worse. 

I found out later after going to the paint store where the stain had been purchased that our painter had taken an old vent from the house and had the paint store do an exact match.  Interesting that anyone would try to match 20 years of sun fade....but our paint guy was quite successful.  This should be considered forewarning of our future luck with hiring contractors rather than doing it ourselves.

The house was painted in the Fall but I thought the snow added additional charm.  This will be our new home in the future.

It's been a very long time...

I've recently had the urge to rekindle our blog as there are many projects going on in our lives that I thought worthy of blogging about. As I resurrected the Two In Motion blog I discovered the last time I wrote, it was about the heartbreaking loss of Lacey. It has been four years this month since Lacey crossed the Rainbow Bridge and I still think of her often.

I stopped blogging on a sad note and much has happened over the years. Lacey's daughter Kayla had puppies, we made a whirlwind trip to Spain, Italy, France and Finland, and the most emotional and heartbreaking was the passing of my Mom.

Many people have told me with nonchalance, "well you knew it was coming so it shouldn't be that hard". Yes I knew my Mom was old and yes I knew that her health wasn't what it once was.  I don't understand how anyone can make such a heartless comment. 

Saturday, November 9, 2014, I had been planning to go and visit my Mom.  I had picked out a knitting project that was simple enough that I could knit and visit with my Mom and had been planning to spend the afternoon with her.    It was 8:00 am and I was outside saying good bye to Bill as he was heading off for the day, his phone rang and it was my Mom's caregiver, calling to tell us that my Mom had passed away unexpectedly.

It has been almost four months and there are days when I want to pick up the phone and call and tell my Mom some little thing that I thought would bring a smile to her face and then realization hits that oooohhhhhh, I can't call her anymore.

I miss my Mom more than words can say, she is responsible for helping me grow into the person I am.  One of the gifts from my Mom was her strength and determination, a gift I shall always treasure.  She will always be with me.

In the last year, Bill and I decided that we would purchase my Mom's home and make it ours. It is a journey that will take us a while to complete and I am planning on documenting the transition.

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzzz

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzzz.

Our ears are still humming to the sound of honey bees. What a grand day. Bonnie and I got to spend the day at George Hansen's Foothills Honey, Colton, OR for the Bill Ruhl Memorial Bee Day event.

The Portland-Metro Beekeepers Association (PMBA) sponsors this gathering of multiple local bee clubs. The day started our with a twenty minute talk about equipment and a second presentation by Dr. Ramesh Sagili spoke on the life of the honey bee and current day developments and problems.

Then outside we went to five stations for live instruction varying from bee diseases, queen identification, three stages of bee development, what makes a strong hive, creating a new hive from nukes purchased or taking frames from a strong hive and inserting a new queen, and of course managing diseases.

Some individuals were interested in pollination, while others were desiring to collect honey for their use.

An event you should not miss next year if you have any interest in bee keeping.

Letting go is hard to do….

Every dog that has entered my life is special, but every once in a while there is one that tugs just a bit more at my heart, makes me smile a bit more when I see them wag their tails, comforts me when life seems overwhelming and they seem to know just when you need a bit more love.

Lacey was all that and more for me. When she was just a baby, Lacey (via my Mom) bought me a double chair for the dog shows so that she could sit on one side and me on the other. She was the only Saluki that I have ever shown that acted like a bucking bronco and insisted that I learn how to show her the way she wanted, rather than me training her to show the way I wanted. It took six months for me to be trained, but once that happened, we were a TEAM in the ring. She never let down, always moved beautifully around the ring and had beautiful flowing ears. At home she was the princess and let everyone know it. Lacey knew that I didn't like doggy kisses so we developed the air technique, she would lick both of my cheeks without actually kissing me, she would talk back to me with her mouth opening and closing but not a sound came out. Sounds wasn’t needed anyway as I knew what she was saying.

When we finally decided who to breed her to, she wasn't too thrilled with the process and when the puppies were do, she did everything she could to not go into labor, resulting in a c-section and a rough week for all involved, but when the two little girls were big enough, she loved to rough house and play with them.

Lacey and her two daughters became the three musketeers. There was only a time or two when Lacey had to stay home by herself and she was so sad that we didn't do that anymore, so they went everywhere together.

Two years ago, she wasn't feeling very well. I just knew something was wrong as she had never missed a bit of food in her life. Our vet was closed so we went to a 24 hour clinic and something just didn't feel right about it so we ended up going to an emergency clinic that I had lots of faith in.

That weekend changed a lot of things for the next two years. Lacey had heart problems that we didn't know existed and needed a pacemaker immediately. The clinic kept her over the weekend and bundled us up and sent us down to the OSU Vet School.

It was quite an education learning all that we did about heart problems and pacemakers. Lacey was examined on a Monday, scheduled for surgery on Wednesday and came home on Thursday wrapped in blue vet wrap with a pink heart on it. We were told that was the traditional wrap for a heart patient. Her pink heart is still on the fridge.

30 days after her surgery she was given the OK to go back to her regular life. Lacey was a special gift that I received a second time in life. The air kisses were just a bit sweeter, the tail wags tugged a bit more at my heart and life was a bit more precious.

A year after Lacey's surgery she started to develop more heart issues requiring mediation. Life now revolved around her pill schedule of 5:30 am and 5:30 pm. Everything was adjusted to meet that schedule and it just because a part of life. She knew when pill time was and if I was late, I heard about it. She'd be standing there waiting for me to come around the corner of the house and gave me a "where have you been look". Lacey got extra pets, and every night before going to bed, I'd pet her and ask if she had a good day today. It was our little routine.

We always knew there would come a time in the future when things would change, we just never knew how unexpectedly and quickly it would happen. One Wednesday she was having some problems breathing so we dashed her over to the vet, and the next day she was gone.

Lacey will always be remembered….now with a tear but in the future with a smile.

Ch. Snowynde Winterborne

12/22/1999 – 3/25/2010

How does the garden begin...

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we decided it was time to get busy in the garden, as it was still under all of the fall leaves that had protected it over the winter.

Bill got out the tiller and got it going and did his thing.



In the mean time, I decided the the trellis for the peas would be natural and I had just read an article talking about using apple tree branches for the trellis. We just happened to have an apple tree and a few branches that we cut off last weekend, so off to the burn pile I went. When I was finished, here was my prize:



Without a true plan in mind we began the process of creating "teepee's that we hope will become a trellis for the garden.



the plan is to grow peas on the four legged trellis' and as the peas go away, we are going to try and grow squash on the trellis. The three legged trellis will be used to grow beans.

Who knows if it will work or not, but it will be fun to try. We are even going to try and plant the seeds in stages to spread out the crop. We'll see if any of it will happen, but it will be fun to try.

Happy Gardening!

Buddy's final radiation treatment

Today Bill & I took Buddy to see Dr. Cyman for his final radiation treatment. Dr. Cyman came out and told us what to watch for as his disease progresses.

While we had the opportunity, Bill asked her a question about the safety of her job and the radiation and the "vault" as she called it. It was quite an education, most of it was over my head, but I can say that the "vault" where the treatment occurs has concrete walls 3 feet thick, and a 10,000 pound lead door. She said that they "over shielded" the "vault" for safety purposes.

It was quite an education that I never wanted.

On Thursday, Buddy starts the vaccine for melanoma. It is a series of 4 shots ever other week. Then a booster at 6 months.

We'll see how that goes, and will be switching back to Dr. Freeman.

Buddy is in good spirits and Mom is spoiling him rotten.

And the treatments begin....

Buddy’s schedule of radiation treatments were Friday Feb 19, Monday, Thursday, Monday, Thursday and the final treatment scheduled for Monday March 8.

According to all discussions, dogs do not have the same types of side effects as people do, but they do have side effects. Due to the melanoma being in his mouth, they were treating his mouth, plus the lymph nodes on his neck. The side effects are a tender mouth and throat.

Some of the other interesting items have been that Dr. Freeman had us start giving him fish oil pills as they are very good for cancer patients, and suggested that rather than the chicken and rice that has been added to his dinner, we drop the rice and increase the protein. Dr. Cyman also suggested a high protein low carb diet, and recommended a couple different brands of dry food. We ended up selecting EVO. He is now eating their turkey/chicken kibble and we are also using the same brand of biscuits and alternate between the turkey/chicken and red meat treats.

On March 1st Buddy started showing signs of side effects. The Dr said this was right on schedule. While he appeared to be hungry and thirsty he would only pick at both food and water and he started drooling. His reactions made us think of a severe sore throat. Dr. Cyman started him on some pain medication to help through this period. She also pushed his Thursday appointment out to Friday to give his body a chance to recover a bit more.

During this period either my brother Bob or Bill transported Buddy to his appointment. On Monday, March 8, I will be also going to the appointment so that I can learn about what happens now.

Sometimes when it rains…..

it absolutely pours.

The holidays were hectic, January wasn't much better but we figured that things would begin to quiet down a bit in February.

We were sadly mistaken. On Saturday, January 30th we took Buddy in to see his Dr. for an old dog check-up to make sure all was ok, with the plan of having his teeth cleaned. When his Dr Laborde checked his mouth, she found a tumor growing that we had not noticed, and she thought it could be melanoma. His blood work came back the next day and was a total mess which resulted in another trip to the vet to check his blood pressure and his clotting to make sure that he could have surgery to remove the tumor.

The following Saturday Buddy made another trip to the vet to have the tumor removed. He came through the surgery really well, which was great, but it was only the beginning.

Three days later the biopsy results came back and the tumor was an aggressive form of cancer, and we were given several options to think about....surgery, oncologist, do nothing....

We had a family discussion and I was on the phone with the Oncologist later that day so that we could here all of the available options.

So on Thursday after his Saturday surgery Buddy and I found ourselves at a Cancer Clinic within the Dove Lewis Clinic seeing an Oncologist for a consultation.

Dr Freeman did the exam and gave us a list of options: 1. surgery, 2. chemo, 3. radiation, 4. melanoma vaccine. To start the process of knowing where we were, she did an aspiration of the lymph nodes a chest x-rays and the other problem was that the biopsy did not have a specific cancer diagnosis and we had to send it off to TX to determine exactly what we were dealing with. All of this takes time.

On Friday Dr. Freeman called and said no sign of spreading in the lymph nodes, nor the lungs, so now we wait for the biopsy results

On Wednesday while out for my lunchtime walk, I received a phone call from Dr. Freeman. The diagnosis was oral melanoma and an aggressive form. She recommended that we go to another oncologist over in Beaverton, Dr. Cyman for a consultation for radiation, and that I needed to move immediately because the clinic was scheduled to close in a couple of weeks. Good thing for lunch hours, by time I got back to the office Buddy was scheduled the following day for another consultation with Dr. Cyman. More scrambling and my brother Bob was enlisted in the process, so he drove from Seaside to Sandy, picked up Buddy and drove him to Beaverton and I met them at the clinic.

Dr. Cyman examined Buddy and her recommendation was radiation, and she wanted to start the next day (Friday) for six treatments

Lacey's Check up

Friday was Lacey's 4 month check up to see how things are going. We always pick the 9:45 appointment as it allows for a somewhat relaxed departure time, plus the always necessary latte/mocha stop.

The weather for the last week has been cold and dry. Even Lacey is unable to do a thing with her hair!



Dr. Scollan was out of the office so we saw Dr. Bulmer. Our student this time was Jennifer. We thought she was very professional and gave us a great tip of buying capsules and putting all of her tiny tablets in the capsule for ease of handling. We give Jennifer a A++ for this tip, it makes things easier for both the pill receiver as well as the pill giver.

After the initial exam Dr Bulmer let us know what tests they would be running and said he'd call if they found any additional tests needed to be run. So off we headed to the Inter-zone Cafe. I don't think that we were there more than 15 minutes when my phone rang. It was Jennifer saying everything was fine, but they wanted to run some blood work as they wanted to make some adjustments to Lacey's meds. I was not expecting a phone call, but the conversation wasn't as bad as it could have been.

After coffee we headed off to our favorite stops in Corvallis and enjoyed the day. At 1:30 we headed back to the school to pick up Lacey and find out the results of her tests.

The results were good and bad. No sign of arrhythmia which was excellent, but Lacey's heart had become a bit more enlarged which was bad. But a positive along those lines is because of the pacemaker, they were able to increase her heart rate up to 90.

There was a minor adjustment to her meds and a request to keep and eye on her and farewell with a see you in 3 months.

Here we are in front of the interesting artwork at the hospital.

Bikes Again Only This Time As Spectators

For sometime now Bonnie and Bill have discussed watching a cycle-cross bike race. Well, with one being held within five miles of their home why not. Barton Park: behind the park is a large gravel pit. Bill decided to take rubber boots, green ones at that. Oh well, being dry was more important than being fashionable. Was not long and Bonnie went back to the car to install her boots as well.
Not sure what to expect other than mud, expectations were, well open. When Bonnie and Bill entered the parking lot area there was a line of riders waiting to wash off their bikes as well as themselves. Hmm, this might be a bit more extreme than anticipated. I might add, this was not just a guy thing. As Bonnie and Bill were leaving at the start line maybe 200 woman participants were prepping for their races. These may have been the novice groups, but still quite serious about their sport, young and old alike.
About half way through the time Bonnie and Bill were there, a kids race was announced. And yes these were kids, maybe six and under. Parents running along side of their child assisting when needed. The kids track was around a shed, but with all the traffic from the various races, there was mud and water to be had even for the little ones.
A couple of pictures here show some of the extreme times, but none of the races were easy. Minimum time ~45 minutes. Most races were six laps or less depending on class by skill set, age, and weight.

BRRRRR

For some reason Bonnie and Bill decided to go for a bike ride, and with the Farmers Market in downtown Portland calling their names off they were. No, they did not ride from Damascus. They drove into Sellwood and road in from there.
What a busy path along the old rail line. Numerous walkers and many bikes. It was 40 degrees when they left the house. Yes warm dress was in order, only to realize another layer would have been nice. But the ride with a bit of fall chill was well worth it. They were rewarded with squash and apples from their favorite Hood River orchard to make a squash soup for an up and coming club meeting. At the market they found a pastry business that looked too good to pass up. Once again they were rewarded with two fabulous cookies, a cranberry and raisin granola, as well as a butter toffee chocolate chip cookie. The best award has yet to be given. Ha, but to leave with only two items. Not. They picked up a blue cheese, tomato, and asparagus tart, and of course a cranberry tart dessert. These were for home consumption.
So, back to home they headed. Still a bit cool, but closer to 45 than 40. Bonnie dawned her footie boots for wind break, and Bill added a toe wind break to help with thawing the toes.
The outing would not be complete without a coffee shop break. On the way in Bonnie had spotted a new shop, so of course this was our next stop. Bonnie had her white chocolate mohca and Bill had his second egg-nog latte of the season. Both were quite pleasant.
Onward the truck rolled only to be delayed again with a stop at a local sport shop to check out foul weather gear: lobster gloves for both, and a head warmer for Bonnie, of course with a pony tail slit.
Overall a great morning that remained dry between the NW storms.

Though the path will never be the same….the memories of our time together will be strong.

I don’t know who it is harder on, the one getting old, or the ones watching those whom we love get old.

It has been a very sad week for both our household as well as my Mom’s. Dion who was 13 ½ years old has been starting to show signs of old age over the past several weeks, and on Monday evening he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

This poem has circulated many times and always brings a tear to my eye. There is the sadness of farewell and the knowing he is going to a better place at this time of his life.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

I remember when my Mom decided that we were going to take Dion as a puppy back from Elizabeth’s litter out of Rhett & Aajah. Since Dion was our only puppy at the time. He was spoiled and yet always a gentleman, and mild mannered.

I showed him and he easily completed his championship, and then was retired until I met Bill and decided perhaps Dion was the perfect Veteran to teach Bill what it takes to show a dog.

Dion couldn’t have been a better instructor and he and Bill made quite a team, picking up several awards from the veterans class (dogs over age 7).

Dion also taught Bill how to hold a leash properly. I don’t think that we will ever forget walking in the vineyards behind John & Tracey Skupny’s house. They turned Indi and Tazi loose to run and Dion decided he was going too.

The leash slipped right through Bills fingers and Dion was free. It was a heart stopping moment for everyone except Dion who was thrilled to be running in the vineyards with the other dogs.

Thank heavens they didn’t scare up a bunny that day.

After I got married the boys remained at home with my Mom. Dion, Buddy and my Mom became constant companions. A gentleman watching over the household sitting on his favorite chair or in front of the fire.

We are two households and a single family that deeply miss one special Saluki boy, Dion.

Ch. Snowynde Pandava of Tiarc, JC

March 15, 1996 – November 2, 2009

Great Columbia Bridge Crossing -- Astoria, OR

We were debating how many times we have done the Astoria Bridge Crossing and we aren't sure, perhaps 4 or 5 times. We do know that the first year was an absolutely HORRIBLE storm and that the water was coming up the drains in the bridge maybe 6 feet high. It's quite surprising that we ever went back, but we did.

This morning we got up at 3:45 am so that we could head to Astoria for what we hoped was a nice day to run across the bridge from Washington to Oregon. This is a 10K run/walk where one lane of traffic is closed on the bridge so that the 1000's of people can walk or run across. The only guidelines are that the runners and walkers must be finished at 11:00 am.

We checked the weather before leaving and the forecast was 45 for a low and 55 for a high. During the drive the temps dropped to 26 degrees....brrrr this was not encouraging, it did warm up to 44 degrees by time we arrived in Astoria.

Packet pick up ended at 7:30 this morning so we planned our arrival at 7:00. There were already lots of people there. Bill dropped me off at the tent to pick up our numbers and there was the usual issue on where they filed my packet. Was it under the B's or the J's. No one ever seems to figure it out. Finally after checking the B's and then the J's and then the B's and then the J's and then going to the main list, they found my packet so off we headed to the parking area.

Parking is at the Port of Astoria is a LONG ways from the bus waiting area. As we drove into the parking lot sunrise was so beautiful we couldn't resist taking a picture.



The next big decision was what to wear, should we take a clothes bag over to the start line and drop it off so that we could stay warm, or not bother with that and just tough out the cold while waiting for the bus. In the end we tried on a couple of different items. Made the decision and decided not to take warm clothes to the start line. So, off we headed to the bus line.



The bus line went on forever and we were actually in line for about 45 minutes. Here I am freezing my buns off.

Once we finally got to the head of the line, we seemed to be in the forgotten line. I think that six different buses passed us before it was finally our turn. The bus was toasty warm after standing outside for so long and we both enjoyed the warmth on the very short ride across the river to Washington.

Once we were off the bus we took a couple of pictures at the start line, which is at a rest area 1 mile from the bridge. I don't know how many people were actually there but it was packed without much room to move around.



At 9:00 the run started and we headed off. It was COLD to say the least. White caps on the river, and a very breezy wind blowing.

It was a pretty good run this year, and this was the first year that we have taken the camera with us. It was kind of fun to stop and take a few pictures along the way. When driving this bridge in a car, it doesn't seem quite as steep as it is when on foot. We took pictures heading up the incline (I over heard someone say it was about 1/2 mile) and then turned and took pictures of all of the people behind us. It's very hard to tell in this size photo, but there are people all of the way back to shore in the looking back photo. The bridge itself is 4.1 miles and we are about 1/4 mile from the summit.

Here is a picture of a very frozen me.

We had a good run and even walked for a bit, just to enjoy the beautiful day. Sure would have been nice if the wind had not been blowing!