Gardenscape

Yesterday my mom and I spent the day working in her garden. It was wonderful, I love the feeling of planting a new life and new color in the dirt. We also went to the nursery we have gone to ever since I can remember, Shiling's Solar City Gardens. It's a little out of the way but they have a really wonderful variety and good quality in their plants. Working in the garden, going to the nursery, and the heat made it feel like it really is summer.

Planning

I have always enjoyed having a summer birthday, it allows you, at least while you are in school, to have more freedom when trying to plan a party. Although, I haven't actually had a party with my friends in quite a few years. Part of the reason is that as we've gotten older we've started working over the summers, which makes planning more difficult, and another part of the reason is that my mom and I share a birthday. This means that most years we do something with our family to celebrate both of our birthdays and sometimes my brother's too, since it's just three weeks later. However, this year, I am planning already (my birthday isn't until August) to have a garden party in my mother's lovely back garden. It's really the perfect place to have one. And I am thinking about making these delicious looking strawberry shortcake cupcakes as part of the celebration.
In all honesty, though, I'm looking for any excuse to plan a party back there.

Color Post #1: Red

When I began this blog I named it A Cartography of Colors because color is one of the most important things to me, without it, I am at a loss as to what to do. I originally planned on having a color themed post every week, but that obviously hasn't happened. I am going to start it now, though. What better color to start with than the vivacious shade, red?

At first I didn't think that I would find much red around me, it's late and I just decided to do this, so I wasn't able to go out and take pictures, but then as I looked around, I realized that I really have surrounded myself with some really beautiful and wonderful shades of red. I personally don't like the really bright and primary-looking shades of red that you can find, but instead prefer the rich and deep tones. They really speak to me as having stories behind them, which I know sounds strange, colors having a story behind them. But to me it makes sense.

Above you see, the top of my desk, here at home, stained a really pretty shade of red, my cowboy boots, which I recently re-discovered my love for, and a teacup that was carried accross the country by my great-great-grandmother. Perhaps there really are stories behind colors, after all. Each of these things have stories, why can't it be the color that is telling the story?

Good Times Gone By

I miss these two and the delicious food at Cup and Saucer in Portland. I may have to take a road trip sometime this summer.

Hope everyone is having a grand time in the sunshine!

Banksy!

Oh goodness! If you don't know Banksy then get out of your cave! Sorry, no really though, he is one of my favorite and, to me a very inspiring, artists. Ok, so that sentance didn't make much sense, I'm sorry. It's kind of late and I just found out something amazing... BANKSY IS TAKING OVER AN ENTIRE MUSEUM FOR THE SUMMER!!

Sorry, I am a little over-excited, but hey, if anyone wants to buy me a plane ticket, I would love to go.

Find out more here.

I suppose I should give credit to this pretty awesome blog for finding out about this. Thanks to them!

Bend Wanderings

The ceiling at Thump Coffee, every board has someone's wish on it. I make one almost everytime I go in there.

Delicious coffee from Thump.

In Drake Park.

If I ever have such a nice house with such a great porch, it most definately needs bright yellow chairs!

The window at one of my favorite stores Ironhorse.

My lemonade stands were never this cool.

Osprey nest and Osprey.

The Deschutes River.

My favorite wildflowers.

Geese rule the river-side parks of Bend.

I had the weekend off this week, which isn't something that normally happens, so I decided to go and wander around some of my favorite parts of Bend since it had been so long. It really seemed like a perfect summer day, for a while. As I walked through one neighborhood, there was even an ice cream truck! The music and kids running after it really made it seem like summertime, even if it was a little chilly.

Packratism

The following are signs that you may be a packrat:

You bring so much stuff with you to college that it barely fits in the car and you have to sit on your brother's lap on the way home (because he is bigger).

You have 5+ years worth of magazines sitting in your closet, read, just waiting to be "cut up," which never happens.

This is about half your book collection.

All these hangers (and more) are used for your jackets, and various other clothes, the oldest of which are from when you were 12 or 13.

Don't worry, I'm getting rid of most of my stuff and giving up being a packrat (yeah right). But at least I'm trying.

Old Photos

So, upon returning to my house in Bend, I found a bunch of my old photos from four or five years ago, these ones just reminded me of summer, well not the first one, that one is what I want my hair to look like again... eventually. But it also is a lot like how the weather has been lately, very overcast. I don't even feel like it is summer yet. Tomorrow morning, though, I am going swimming which will be really nice.

Bend

This is one of my favorite places around Central Oregon, Tumalo Falls. It's a beautiful place, a little hard to get to, but definately worth it.
I have officially made it back to Bend, and thanks to my brother's amazing packing skills, so has all of my stuff (both the necessary and un-necessary). I am excited to start sharing somewhere that I am so close to, I really don't think the places you grow up ever leave you entirely, no matter how far you get from them. I need a few days to get everything in order and then I will be heading back to work, scooping ice cream. Hopefully I'll find time for some photos and posts in there.

Summer Wanderings

I hadn't realized I haven't blogged in so long! I meant to earlier this week but got distracted, I guess, and the last couple of days have been crazy with finals, but they are finally over with! I am so happy to begin my summer, and I feel like I did on Monday when I went for a hike along the Wildwood Trail through Washington Park. It was beautiful and not too hot, thankfully. I shot mostly film and have yet to get it developed, but these are some shots from the end of my trek.

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!

Storms

Portland has decided that summer is not yet to come to us. I am all right with that though, the heat that we've had the past few weeks has worn me out, and it is strange to me that the nights are so warm, I miss having to wear a coat if you go out at night, but that is just because I am used to it.

As I was sitting here looking at the grey weather today and thinking about how to celebrate being finished with my classes for the year (hooray!), I decided to do some sewing. Because I don't have my sewing machine here in Portland, I have been making handkerchiefs and, even a pillow, by hand this year. I decided that I would share my sewing box with you. I know it isn't all that interesting, but it makes me happy to see the things that I've collected over the years being put to good use.

All the boxes and buttons, fabric pieces and threads in this box have a story of some sort behind them.

As for the photo of the city... I like the idea of the city being all mapped out in such a careful way.

Have a good Friday!

Stock

Just an old picture from one day when I woke up with the sun. It's probably the last photo I will take out my window here, I'm moving back to Bend next week and I cannot wait! I just need to get through this next week.