I never knew hydrangeas could be so vibrant....

until this summer

It seems that I have missed National Dog Day (Sunday). 

Let's face it though, everyday is dog day here.

Mondays are the hardest for me. It's not easy to feel ready for the week when the weekend is still fresh in my mind. This morning I prepared. I prepared for a productive day, and a productive week. I had a cup of coffee while I planned my day, my weekly goals, what's important and what's not so important. It energized me. Writing what I want to achieve and being able to cross it off throughout my day felt good, but seeing physically what else I'll be doing the rest of week is just as exciting.

This summer (year) has been flying by. 

Here are some pictures I've taken via instagram. You can follow me here. 

I have been listening to this a lot in the past week. (I have been listening to the originals all summer in preparation for the album's release, and well, I just simply love Fleetwood Mac.) It feels perfect for the transition from a hectic summer to a mellow fall.

We went into the lava tubes by Mount St. Helens. We had to climb down eight feet drop offs and over huge boulders.
For over two hours we were in the cave, making the sun even more sweet when we finally made it out.

Summer is leaving fast, and I think I'm ok with that. I always enjoy the moodier of the seasons, the bite when I walk outside. I always hate to wish time away though, so I think I'll also be ok with a couple more summer flings with Oregon before it becomes too wet to bear. 

It's our two year anniversary.

We've done so much in such a short time,

and I can't remember anything different. 

We went to Buck Lake in Mount Hood National Park a couple weekends ago. And it was beautiful, up in the mountains, tree-lined, waters filled with newts and fish. It was clear enough to swim with your eyes open and explore the bottoms. We lounged, swam, and sun bathed. (Ducky rolled in the leaves and moss, to each his own eh?)

“Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgandy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries.” 

Jack Kerouac

(Missouri dusk, over tomato vines and melon fields, over a family full of love)

Have you ever read a book that just really gets to you? I mean, you read it, you feel it, you think it. I just finished reading On the Road, and oh, I felt like I was there. And now I want more. I want to travel, I want to MMOOOVVEE, I want to explore and feel the quiet desperation of not knowing/caring/aloneness. While I'm on the bus or walking, I feel it in my bones. GO MAN GO.

Somehow summer is just arriving in Portland. It got over 100 degrees today, and I felt it. There's nothing that says summer more than cut grass and canning. And no, I didn't can today in this weather, but I did make lots of salads for tomorrow's mini excursion.
(can you say swimming holes in the Gorge?)

I've been working on some linoleum block prints. They will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon!
I'm also in the process of dyeing cotton totes with natural materials (today was roses from my backyard) and then I'll be printing on those as well. I'm really happy with the way they are turning out so far.. I'm still adding to the collection, next up is an long beaked ibis. (can you guess what the theme is)