Home Again, Home

No – I didn’t fall off the edge of the world.  Didn’t go hitchhiking through the galaxy.  Didn’t forget how to turn on my computer. 

A few days after Christmas, I came down with the PLAGUE (or more likely walking pneumonia).  And I spent 5 days either sleeping or laying on the sofa reading.  Not feeling sick enough to go to a doctor and not feeling well enough to move.  Ugh.

Then, the last week in Washington, we did have a chance to get out and about.  So, here goes a short travelogue full of interesting, pretty, weird stuff . . . .

Winter in this part of WA means fog, mist, drizzle, overcast skies, chilly days, drizzle, mist, drippy rain and so forth.  It’s not really cold – temps stayed in the mid-40’s; down to high-30’s.  (Similar to here, when we actually have winter which we are not having this year.) 

  

Surprisingly there are hummers that hang around through the winter.  This guy and his girlfriend visited the feeders every morning.

In a past life, my brother was a bio-medical engineer.  In this current time --- he is an artist.

His medium is wood and he makes beautiful things; furniture, cabinets, boxes, and these collector items –

Nothing is made from a “kit”.  He starts with wood from the local wood store and handcrafts every part. 

 One morning we went to a Bee Club meeting (he has hives all around his property). 

Preservation Beekeeping Council -Our mission is to preserve and support the natural behavior of wild honeybees through practices that allow our bees their “bee-ness.” As bee shepherds, keepers, and stewards, we ask ourselves, “What do bees want?” and we endeavor to give them that. We encourage and celebrate swarming, natural comb building, smaller hives, and minimal intrusion. We welcome those who keep bees, who maintain pollinator gardens, and all who love bees.

It was interesting and one of the things I saw was this –

Any guesses?  It’s Propolis – a sort of bee glue - a resinous mixture that honey bees make to seal up any unwanted open spaces in the hive.  Interesting.  Did you know ? bee propolis has been used medicinally by humans since ancient times.  Its benefits include it having antimicrobial, antioxidative, anti-ulcer and anti-tumor properties.  Ya just never know what you’re likely to learn.

As we left the meeting, we saw a display of handcrafted quilt blocks.  I liked this one best.

Outstanding in its Field

Audrey Prothero

The Portland Bead Society had a display of The 2019 Margaret Scovil Bead Challenge pieces.  The goal is to create a piece based on the theme “Change” The piece must be composed of at least 50% beads, and must be wearable. 

 Janis L. VanWyhe

Ridgefield, WA

The Monarch

One day we went to the Pendleton wool mill.  There we saw raw wool

spun into thread

then woven

into fabric

Pretty interesting.

We went down to the Columbia River.  The 2^nd largest river in North America, it starts in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, then flows northwest and then south into Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean.  This is a River, let me tell you.  Makes our little Colorado here look a bit puny.

And then, Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jump.

13 Jan 2020