Happy Friday! My dirt is coming! My dirt is coming!

LOL! Oxborrow is delivering my garden soil and decomposed granite today ~ asked them to give me a call here at work before they deliver so I can get home by the time they get there.

Am getting 3 cubic yards of Double Mix (topsoil and grape compost) and 3 cubic yards of D.G. 5/16″ (coarse). Have my wheelborrow and shovel ready!

Well have to go shopping for seeds and some plants afterwards. List has been made:

Here’s a picture of where it’s all going ~

Soil in the boxes ~ decomposed granite all around the boxes where the dirt is now. It’s going to be nice not having dirt all over the patio when the wind blows. Tired of sweeping out there all the time! I was going to get the fine D.G., but the lady at the counter asked what it was going to be used for. Told her and she suggested the coarse as the fine is like sand. She said that the coarse D.G. is what everyone uses in their xeri-scape landscaping. Small pebble size, like your pinky finger nail. I plan on using it in the front yard where I’ve been re-landscaping too.

ALSO! Wanted to remind everyone in the Reno/Sparks area that the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office will be holding their:

ANNUAL MASTER GARDENER PLANT FAIRE next Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 7:00 am to 11:30 am. 5305 Mill Street, Reno, NV. 784-4848.

From our gardens to your’s at great savings! Wide variety of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, grasses, shrubs, grapes and more. 4-inch and 1-gallon plants.

Here is a link to their Calendar of Events.

Photographs from the Mark Vollmer Fieldtrip to Washoe Valley

Well ~ Saturday we all met up at TMCC’s Meadowood building and carpooled down to the south end of Washoe Valley. Our first stop (besides Wendy’s so Colleen could buy a hamburger) was the wildlife viewing area with the boardwalk.

Very windy (what’s new for Washoe Valley, eh?!) down there. Not much to see but blackbirds ~ both red-winged and yellow-headed. You can’t see far into the lake from the viewing platform unless you have a telephoto lens that goes to as least 200mm…mine only goes to 72mm. So I took lots of fence pictures ~

We saw a flock of pelicans towards the enterance of Washoe Valley State Park so three of us headed back to see if they were still there. Parked at the trailhead of Deadman’s Creek trail and walked over to state park. No pelicans, but there was a redtail hawk sitting in her nest, who flew off once we were close enough for pictures. The bugger. I walked down to the beach while my sister and mom stayed under a couple of bird nest. Colleen got GREAT photos of a Western Tanager…and continued to get great pictures while teasing me with none.

We then went back to the trailhead to wait for the rest of the group ~ took a few pictures in the bottom part of the trail. Figured out the stupid macro on my camera there.

Lots of Phlox, Indian Paintbrush and Alpine Lupine on the way up to the top and at the top where the gazebo is. Sunset wasn’t that great, but pretty none-the-less.

And here’s a picture of Mark Vollmer setting up his shot of the sunset ~

DESERT IN BLOOM SLIDESHOW ~ I put most of my pictures (I took over 200 so I’ve narrowed it down some) onto my webshot’s album ~ I’m nv_michelle there.

All photos taken with a Canon Powershot S2 IS.

Front & Back Yard Gardening ~ Roses are in!

I took yesterday off work to work in my yard…wanted to finish up the front side-yard and my FIL came over to help me ro-do the raised garden beds.

THE ROSES ~ almost didn’t get my English Roses! G&G Nursery had a run on them over the weekend and there were only two Hansa’s left and a few David Austin Roses.

I bought a Weeks Roses Hansa ~ bred in 1905. Medium-tall/bushy round shrub that is suitable for growing in pots and hedges. Tolerant of poorer soils. Ornamental value of hips/large fruit. Very fragrant ~ spicy cloves. Large, full reddish-violet blooms. Very hardy and disease free.

In the ground ~ and a stock photo.

The Squire ~ a David Austin English Rose. The large double blooms of this rose are a deep rich dard red. The attractive strong fragrance of this wonderful cutting rose is a welcome addtion to your garden or bouquets. These roses are a wonderful combination of old world charm and new advancements in rose culture. They will help create a wonderful English Garden feel in your landscape and are excellent for bedding and hedges. Superb border plants.

They look great! Can’t wait for them to grow, grow, GROW! I did a jig out there on the lawn after mulching and watering!

Now onto backyard ~ I decided to take the top boards off of the raised bed as it was just way too deep. My FIL came over yesterday morning and we whacked the crap out the top boards (5 nails each side into a treated 4×4 ~ OY!)…took us a while but we were able to pry them off. We then made a 6×6 box and a small 18″x18″ for a tomato box. We left a nice walk way in between the raised garden beds and will put DG around the beds. Now I have to call Oxborrow and order the double or triple mix of topsoil/grape compost/organic lite.

Now the beds are 5′x12′x1′ and 6′x6′x1′ ~ Soon to be planted ~ tomatoes, peppers, sugar peas, bush beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, lettuce. Near the corn I’m going to plant a couple of rhubarb plants and maybe some asparagus.

Capture Desert’s Spring Colors Workshop ~ Mark Vollmer

Last night was our class lecture and the highlights were:

* Class overview & introductions
* Opening multi-media slide show
* Slide show lecture: how natural light and compositional elements such as lines, patterns and colors come together to make pleasing spring photographs.
* Depth of field discussion
* Slide show lecture: how to use knowledge of lighting and composistional techniques to bring your emotions onto your image

Improving Your Photos:

1. Seeing Like Your Camera ~ Film nor a memory card can see details in light and dark at the same time with the same clarity of our eyes. Exposing for shadows tend to wash out bright areas just as exposing for sunlight will darken shadows. To compensate for this problem, expose the key part of the frame…since the main subject is normally at least 60% of the frame, expose for that most important highlight.

2. Realizing Your Vision ~ Mark states that the Goal of Photography is translating what moves us about a scene into a photograph. “A successful image resembles the feeling we had at the time. If someone views our photo and reacts with the same emotions that we had when we saw the scene, then the photo works”. Achieving this goal involves two processes:

A. Focusing our senses before focusing the camera. Smell, touch, taste, hearing ~ these four senses combine with sight to heighten our awareness with our surroundings and our creativity as photograhers.

B. With knowledge of lighting, design elements, intuitive use of the Guideline of Thirds, and awareness of how the camera will render the scene, we can successfully transfer our emotions into the image. Practice, Practice, Practice!

The class lecture brought a lot of new ideas along with jarring out what I already knew, but seemed to have filed away as I use digital now. It certainly has me thinking I should go buy an old 35mm camera, I don’t think I would even know where to look for the one I had over 15 years ago!

I have a Canon PowerShot S2 IS digital camera now. It’s a great little camera that I can shoot limited manual if I wanted to. It has all speeds, but the apetures only go from 2.7 - 8.0 ~ I wish it would go to at least 16.0. I can also buy different camera lenses, the lense now is a Canon Zoom Lense 12X 6.0-72.0mm. Maybe one that shoots to 200mm would be nice.

Washoe Valley, south end of lake looking north. 7/2006.

Tomorrow we are going to Washoe Valley for our field shoot. Looks like we’ll be going to the south end of the lake to the birding area where the boardwalk trail is. Then off to Deadman Creek Trail and hike up to the gazebo. I’m hoping that the Bald Eagles will be out for the photo shoot!

I’ll post pictures over the weekend!

Link to more trails out in Washoe Valley.

Ending with two quotes Mark had on his handouts ~

“To become a better nature photographer, one must first become a better naturalist.” - John Hendrickson

“The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

I’m a Featured Local Blog on Washoe Valley’s Website! Very Cool!

How cool is that? I was just checking my blogstats when I saw WASHOE VALLEY WEBSITE as a referrer so I clicked it on to see what it was. I didn’t know Washoe Valley had their own website!

Washoe Valley. Taken from south end of lake looking NW towards Slide Mountain. 7/2006.

I loved living in Washoe Valley. We moved up to Northern Nevada from Southern California after my dad retired from LAPD. He wanted us far far away from there…Bozeman, Montana actually. But mom put her foot down and they compromized and bought a house on Partridge Lane, Washoe Valley, Nevada. (I think there is a goat farm at our old house now) So in July of 1980 we moved to Washoe Valley. Thus started the longest damn bus rides to Wooster High School…first on the bus and the last to get off. Ugh. ROFL! Kids have it made today…Galena High is much closer.

My sister and I joined 4-H ~ sewing, pigs, dogs, photography, cooking, ceramics…my favorite being in the Swinging Swine pig club. We were the East Side kids…there was another pig group over there on the West Side. I loved my photography group too. I was good enough to join Wooster’s Yearbook staff. We had four pigs, two mallards, three chickens, two white geese (one later became Thanksgiving dinner after goosing mom one too many times), three Springer Spaniels, one cat.

Swam at Washoe Lake, Bower’s Mansion and Jumbo pond. Ice skated at Little Washoe, Davis Creek. Hiked, rode horses and 4-wheeled up Jumbo Grade to Virginia City. I still have a bucket full of square nails that I found along the water flume that went from Virginia City to Washoe Lake area. 4-wheeled in our 2 wheel Datsun pickup among the sage brush between Ormsby Lane and the lake. It was amazing where us teenage girls could get that little truck into. LOL! Attended Bower’s Mansion Bluegrass Festival (started up right after I graduated from high school). Kruse’s Feed & Hardware store…loved that place. I wonder if they still hold the spaghetti feed and dance every year out back of the store…pretty sure it was a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department.

Washoe Valley, south end of lake looking north. 7/2006.

Pelican (my favorite birdie) on Washoe Lake, south end. 7/2006.

Fishing at Davis Creek Park. 2007

Hannah’s fish from Davis Creek Park. 2007

We lived there when Slide Mountain came down. I had just retreived my sister and her friend from swimming at Bowers when it came a rumbling down the mountain. Lived there when a fire burned most of the west side (List Ranch & Little Valley area). Luckily we moved out just before the flood came and washed out Jumbo pond…as that came down and wiped out the whole of our front yard.

I still think the best part of living out there was just the smell. I loved the cool crisp mornings ~ the smell of the sage brush and earth after a rain. I pray that Reno doesn’t get their hands on Washoe Valley like they have been every other place. Would hate to see the valley over-built.

Raised Garden Bed Box for Backyard ~ Finished! Well…it’s made.

Yesterday after buying a new bed for upstairs I dropped my husband off at Savers and I went to Lowes to shop for the garden lumber. Taking with me the directions from Sunset’s Western Landscaping Book (below) ~

I bought 6 2×12x12 redwood planks and 2 4×4x8 treated fir posts, and one box of 3-1/4″ galvanized nails. Looking back…I should have looked for 2×8x10 or 2×8x12 as now I have LOTS of back-fill to look for! Luckily I have oodles of river rocks and can place at the bottom of the bed and then fill with some dirt then mix in some top soil/manure. Off to Craigslist to see if anyone has any free dirt I can go get.

The finished container is 2×5x12 (2′ high x 5′ wide x 12′ long). I’m thinking I’ll put a wood sealer on the redwood as I opted out of the treated wood. I may staple plastic sheeting along the insides too. Not really sure about that. And Boy-Howdy! If you make the size I did…you’ll want two extra hands on flipping that box over! It was a struggle with the two of us, but we did it.

And ladies…find the roll of duct tape as your husband will probably want to cuss up a blue streak. I about threw my hammer at mine, no patience at all that man! I would have much rather had my mom and sister helping me than my husband. I’m very handy with a saw and hammer…which I don’t think he has gotten used to, even after 13 years of marriage. LOL!

Here are before and after shots of our back area. We’ve finally decided to find some decomposed granite for the the rest of the yard. Got lots of that around Northern Nevada…just back your truck up to any road side cut and filler up!

Soon to be veggies ~ Onions, beans, sugar peas, cucumbers, lettuce ~ red leaf and spinach, radishes, carrots, corn (outside the box next to the wall), garlic, potatoes (I have two tires for them to go into), zucs, tomatos (outside container), pumpkins (actually in front side yard), peppers.

Swarms of Earthquakes in Western Nevada

26 April 2008 Update….had a nice earthquake around 11:40 pm Friday night.  Was downstairs at the time as I was finishing sewing a quilt.  Good rumbler…I think they said it was around a 4.6 - heard the ground moan and pop. 

I grew up in Canyon Country, California…so these wee earthquakes are nothing to write home about, but since we’ve had so MANY of them and friends are emailing and calling, here is the poop:

University of Nevada’s Mackay School of Mines (yes, I still call it that) SEISMO LAB PRESS RELEASE on yesterday’s 24+ earthquakes.

And for a really cool look at all of them in the past few days…USGS’s EARTHQUAKE LIST ~ I love the USGS’s site.

I was dropping some paperwork off at the lower end of campus before the 4.2 earthquake hit…walking down the hallway when the door next to me started rattling. I looked at it and thought “what the hell is wrong with them?”…then passed another door and looked in and saw the water cooler swishing…AHHH! An earthquake. Just kept walking. Got downstairs and there was a group of women standing in the hallway all wide-eyed. I then commented that the hallway, under all of those lights is NOT the place to run out to when there is an earthquake. Under your desk, women.

As stated, I grew up in Southern California (first 14 years of my life)…went through the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake which had a magnitude of 6.5 or 6.6. And I remember screaming (I was almost 5 years old) on the top of my lungs UNDER the maple dinning table (mom still has that table). The aftershocks were big and lots of them.

The point is ~ Nevada is the 3rd most active state for earthquake activity, behind Alaska and California. As a kid we had Earthquake Drills in school. I started high school here in Nevada and thinking back, we didn’t have earthquake drills at all. Just fire drills. Do kids here know what to do if there is one? Obviously the workers in Ross Hall yesterday had no clue…let’s run out into the hallway! Where there are things to fall on top of our heads! What a great idea!

UNR’s Police Department sent out an email to employees yesterday afternoon and I thought it had pretty good sound information ~

According to the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council:

Nevada is the 3rd most seismically active state in the U.S., after Alaska and California.
Western Nevada is in a seismic zone similar to Los Angeles.
We are due for a 6.0 or greater earthquake.

What to Do When the Shaking Begins

DROP, COVER, AND HOLD ON!

Take cover under a piece of furniture or against an inside wall. Stay indoors until the shaking stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit. Stay away from windows. In a high-rise building, expect the fire alarms and sprinklers to go off during a quake.

If you are in bed, hold on and stay there, protecting your head with a pillow.

If you are outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, and power lines. Drop to the ground.

If you are in a car, slow down and drive to a clear place (as described above). Stay in the car until the shaking stops.

Other recommendations which are contrary to the DROP, COVER and HOLD ON advice, have been made by individuals with limited expertise and questionable credibility.

Research has shown that most injuries in U.S. earthquakes occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave. Quickly seeking a place of safety, such as under a sturdy table or desk, and moving as short a distance as possible to that place of safety, is recommended based on research.

In the 2003 San Simeon, California, earthquake, two people were crushed by falling debris when they ran from the building. Studies of the 1979 El Centro, 1987 Whittier, 1989 Loma Prieta, and 1994 Northridge earthquakes, as well as mounting evidence from earthquakes outside the United States, confirm this pattern of injuries. DROP, COVER, and HOLD ON reduces the likelihood of serious injury from falling objects.

After the Shaking Stops

Be prepared for aftershocks which can occur in the first hours, days, weeks or even months after the quake.

Help injured or trapped persons.

Check your home or building for damage. Leave the area if you smell gas or chemical fumes.

Leo, The Devil’s Cabana Boy and Max, Mama’s Bubba-boo

It’s time to meet the boys ~ we have two cats…with totally two differrent personalities. 

We’ve had Max since he was a kitten, picked him out of a litter in Mogul (between Reno and Verdi). His mom was a Ragdoll and his dad was the neighbor’s Russian Blue…they weren’t supposed to get together! But glad they did. Max is 13 years old now. Cranky…hates Leo. Tolerates my husband. Loves me. LOL! He was a perfectly adjusted guy that loved to drown his stuffed dino in the water dish, fetch his dino if we threw him, sleep on your head, and sounded like one of those large percolator coffee pots when he purred. He has long soft grey fur lined with silver…very handsome when combed. He LOVES to have his belly rubbed…will plop down in front of you and roll onto his back begging for a belly rub.

Then I brought home Leo…

We adopted Leo from a lab tech here in the Med School at UNR. I saw the flyer on the bulletin board for a FREE CAT. She said she adopted him from Petsmart one weekend and said he was over a year old. Took him to the vet and we figured he was under a year…still a kitten and still growing. We’ve had him for 6 years now. He’s a lean, mean 15 pounder now and is pretty pissed that Max is Alpha Male. We call him the Devil’s Cabana Boy as he’s part Bengal and part Terror Tabby. Also Snufflelufagus as I’m pretty sure he was hit or kicked in the head when he was little…his right nasal cavity is closed shut. He wakes us up at 3:30 am wanting to be fed. If I don’t get up he’ll start knocking things off the shelves, walls, nibble on you, snuffle in your ear, rouse Max off my head and make him howl. He is a lovey-dovey. Loves to snuggle, likes to get under the covers at night to sleep (bed hog!) and loves water. Begs to get in the shower. Likes to chase a stick. He has the most wonderful soft fur…like a rabbit’s pelt…and it always smells so good!

Leo trying to open (and succeeding!) the fireplace insert at Grandma’s house that we rented before buying our current house ~

Leo being sweet ~ when he’s sleeping! The second picture is what I used for Sleepy Cat Hollow logo.

Sea Salt Soap, Quilting and Pizza!

SEA SALT SOAP ~

Last month I played hooky and made up a batch of Raspberry Lemonade Sea Salt Soap. I used coarse Dead Sea Salts and fine Pacific Sea Salt in this batch ~ along with colloidal oatmeal. The oils used were Sunflower, Castor, Jojoba, Palm & Coconut. Butters used were Shea, Cocoa and Mango. Then I swirled with ultramarine pink.

Well ~ it’s ready to be used and I put it up on my Etsy shop ~ RASPBERRY LEMONDADE SEA SALT SOAP.

SPLIT RAIL FENCE QUILT ~

Continued working on the Spilt Rail Fence quilt…it’s definitely alotta pink. LOL! Not something I would make for myself…not even sure why I had that material in my stash! Hmmm…wonder if I have fabric gremlins? Trading out my Civil War repos with hot pink?! I get up at 4:30 am now, so I don’t have a lot of time to stay up like I used to. For some odd reason I’m pooped out by 9:30 pm. LOL! It’s going to take a while to finish these quilts, me thinks! Here is what I did last night ~ four 12.5″ blocks then sewn together. I’m using 6 different 2.5″ fabric strips for this quilt.

PIZZA! ~

Ok…even though I’ve lost a lot of weight (63 pounds and more to go!)…I love pizza. And I’m able to indulge myself at BLACK ROCK PIZZA in Sparks, NV. It is THE BEST pizza I’ve ever had. Very original pizzas, and great customer service. Thanks Stephanie and Juan Carlos!

Black Rock is owned by Linda & Dave Winchester and they’re there every day (at least every day we are there…and we go at least once a week). ALL PIZZAS (30+) are thin crust with either Multi Grain or Sweet Italian…I love the multi grain crust. There are many sauces ~ Pesto, Olive Oil/Garlic, BBQ, Spicy Sicilian, Thai, Hot Wing, Ricotta White.

My favorites are the veggie Planet X (Ricotta White Sauce, Fresh Garlic, Spinch, Roma Tomatoes, Asiago Cheese) ~ Wild Wings (Buffalo Sauce, Buffalo Chicken, Celery, Jalapenos, Gorgonzola Cheese) ~ Sage Brush (Olive/Garlic Sauce, Turkey Sausage, Sage, Lemon Juice, Fresh Garlic, Romano cheese) ~ Stone Boy (Pesto Sauce, Basque Chorizo, Roasted Red Peppers, Sun dried tomatoes, red onions, gorgonzola cheese) ~ Carlin Trend (Pesto Sauce, Sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, asiago cheese and sliced almonds) ~ Razorback (BBQ’d smoked pulled pork shoulder and green onions) and the Poker Brown (Thai peanut sauce, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, smoked red onion, green onions, celery, red bell pepper topped with habanero jack cheese and oriental noodles!). I also love the Pale Face (Olive/Garlic sauce, fresh chopped garlic, pine nuts with gorgonzola and provolone cheese)…but I had gallstones and this one made my stones go crazy. Luckily that sucker was pulled last October so now I can eat it again. I’d stay away from this one if you do have gallstones! LOL!

The sandwiches are to die for too! Great salads ~ and I’m in love with the Gorgonzola Dressing. They should market that stuff! Starters are tasty ~ Rattlesteaks (Thin strips of Sirloin Steak, marinated in Buttermilk, Seasoned, cooked crisp, drizzled with Chipotle Sauce) ~ Sawtooth Knobs (Mushrooms filled with ham, fresh garlic, cream cheese, jalapeños, onions; all distinctively flavored in BRP’s smoker) ~ Tumbleweeds (Artichokes tumbled through seasoned breading, served with marinara, ranch, gorgonzola or balsamic vinaigrette).

Made you hungry yet? If you live here in Reno or Sparks ~ there is no excuse why you haven’t given them a try yet. You’ll be hooked on the first visit. If you’re coming into town ~ they are at 2855 N. McCarran Blvd, Sparks, NV 89431.

Blue Oyster Cult & the Rest of the Weekend

Had a pretty good weekend, even if the flipping Washoe Zephyrs tried to blow us off of the road. I really, really, really hate the winds…I don’t mind a breeze…hate the winds, especially those over 40 mph. Grrrrr….

Hit the garage sales and found a few things for $4 total ~ including a 1999 Daisy Longaberger Basket for $1! Also picked up a tube of thin copper sheeting, wooden copper tools, a metal fishing box and a nice size trowel.

GO GO GODZILLA!

My husband was a little bummed that he didn’t get to go to the Van Halen concert that was in town last week…so he asked me to buy tickets for Blue Oyster Cult that was playing at Harrah’s Tahoe on Saturday. For less than the price of one Van Halen ticket I got two for BOC ~ really enjoyed the concert. They played the 3 main songs that the radio stations play (it’s amazing that a band can be 30+ years old and radio stations think that people only want to listen to 3 of their songs)…along with other great songs. Loved Eric Bloom & Buck Dharma…Jules Radino on the drums was a lot of fun to watch ~ he and the bass player (not sure of his name…Eric said he played with Ozzie, Whitesnake and some other band that totally escapes me at the moment) made my heart have an irregular beat a few times, me thinks. LOL! Richie Castellano was pretty good too. Solos were excellent ~ music sounded great, crowd was good mixture of ages. I enjoyed myself.

Taken with my cell phone…so not the best picture.

The ride up to Tahoe was AWFUL! Damn winds…my hands and shoulders were killing me when we finally got up to Harrahs. And they didn’t die down when we drove home! On top of that it started to snow. Oy! I hate springtime in Nevada.

Spent more time out in the front yard planting and digging up plants then planting them elsewhere. Last year I planted two Russian sage near some iris’ ~ they’re getting too big for the area so I dug them up and planted them near the weeping cherry tree. Had a quote of $550 to take out the rest of the junipers in the NE corner of our property. Hmmm…I may tackle some of it myself again. Even though I said never again. (I lied!)

Cut 2-1/2″ strips for a couple of quilts for the Odyssey Healthcare hospice in Gulfport, MS…dug through my fabric stash and found some purples/green/tans for one quilt and hot pinks/pink for another. Will have to dig out some blues too. I’m going to just do a Split Rail type of quilt.

Cut 2-1/2 inch strips ~ color off somewhat.

Finished Blocks ~ true to color. BIG SIGH! Ok guys…Better? :-p

I was in a Spring Exchange with my Crafters’ Cafe Ebay group…received two paintings done by Nana (Betty) ~ I absolutely love thistles.