The Fire Within - Jewelry for a Cause

A Dam Fine Day!

My long-time buddy, Nancy, loves nature as much as I do.  Our first adventure in my new stomping grounds was to walk to Nine Mile Falls dam.

Nancy and Diane with Spillway in background.
 

There's a lot of history connected to this dam as it's over 100 years old and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.




The dam was originally built to power electric trains linking Spokane with rural communities.

Fortunately, Avista did a major renovation over the last couple of years, so it should last a lot longer.

 

Only one spillway is needed right now.

 

I'm still glad that I live above the dam!

If you zoom in and look really close, you can see my house

Nine Mile Falls Reservoir on the left;
Spokane River on the right.

 

Next adventure . . . bird watching!  :)



Welcome to The Res

So, I'm listening to Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Marricone. It is one of my favorite albums because it is so soothing. In fact it is so soothing, it's the music I chose for my colonoscopy. I bet you thought I was going to say wedding, didn't you?  Wedding, colonoscopy . . . anything that is high stress; this album will soothe it.  So, why am I playing it today? Well, we recently moved and I still have about 100 moving boxes to unpack. When the towers of moving boxes are taller than I am, I tend to feel overwhelmed. 

Of course, it also helps when the sun comes out and I look out on the lake.  Speaking of the "lake", I am no longer sure what to call it. My first clue was when I Googled Nine Mile Lake and nothing came up. My second clue was when our neighbors gave us a card that said "Welcome to the River". This was after I had already added a number of lake-related word art to my Amazon wish list, so I found myself a bit disappointed. Our waterfront home is on a section of the Spokane River that has been dammed. The next body of water below the dam is called Long Lake. It is also a section of the Spokane River that has been dammed. So, why does that one get to be called a lake?  Is it just because it is bigger? Sounds like discrimination to me! Technically, we live on Nine Mile Reservoir. So, I guess I will need to start shopping for wall art that says "Welcome to The Res".

 

 

Lavender Harvest 2011

Before the harvest.

Ready to be cut.

Pristine

All the necessary supplies are laid out.

First cut.

Gicle'e is "helping"

Making a lavender wand with Wanda. I think I'll called her Lavender Wanda from now on. :)

Partially done wand.

Harvest for Drying.

All trimmed up.

Wands!

I look forward to this each year. It was fun to share it with a few friends this time. I know of nothing else that you can make wands of like this. So fun, relaxing, and beautiful!

My brother, Kenny, took my "Sunbird" picture and made a handmade box for me of it with the picture in marquetry. Is this cool or what? The box is made of figured Maple with Bubinga insets in the corners. The sky is figured Koa and the sun is mottled African Satinwood with some yellow dye. The mountains are figured Walnut. Wow! What a special Christmas gift!!

Sunrise Hike in Dublin Hills Regional Park

I awoke at 7 am and threw on some warm clothes, grabbed a small water bottle and my camera and hopped in the car for a short 1 1/2 mile drive to the Donlon Point trail head of Dublin Hills Regional Park. Knowing that the sun would rise at around 7:30, I felt some urgency as I huffed and puffed up the trail.

When I rounded a bend, I got my first glimpse of the sun lighting up Mount Diablo and turning it red although the upper part of the mountain was shrouded in cloud cover.

Then I saw it. The sun was just cresting over the hill. I wasn't quite to the top yet to be able to look east over the valley.

Looking to my left, I could see that the sun was now casting its golden glow on the grassy hills around me.

Nearby was a coil of rusted old barbed wire, remnants of the portion of Schaefer Ranch that is now parkland.

There was also a pile of old fence posts from the old ranch.

Then there was the view overlooking the tri-valley area.

And below me the campus of Valley Christian Hill School. What a wonderful location for a school! No wonder they named the road "Inspiration Drive".

What an amazing, spectacular show I got to witness this morning. Millions of people in the Bay Area and yet this was a private showing; not a soul in sight. The price of admission? Simply to rise a half hour before sunrise, drive a short distance, and enjoy a 15 minute hike.

I felt myself feeling so thankful and praised God for the beauty of His creation.

I wondered to myself how someone could have the same experience and not believe in God; not be thankful to the Creator. I just don't have enough faith to believe that all of this beauty came about randomly.

Nice Clouds

We don't get clouds like this very often.

It was fun to watch them interact with the sunrise.

Even starlings have to scratch now and then

(see far right bird with his leg up in the air).

Montana Weekend

Along the side of the freeway

Sisters

Micro braids

For me?

Happy girls

Silly girls

Papa sure has big shoes!

Meskerem's first Shirley Temple

Kidist's first Shirley Temple. The cherry was their favorite part. Come to think of it, it's still my favorite part as well.