Summer in the Pacific Northwest...

... is just as hot as summer in Los Angeles! (It just doesn't last as long)

We've been busy every weekend meeting people here in our new home. On Saturdays, between 8am - 1:30 you can find Robert and me side by side in our booths at the Art Court in Beaverton. It's run by the wonderful people at the Beaverton United Methodist Church (thanx Carin) & runs adjacent to the fabulous Farmer's Market. Needless to say, we've gotten healthier and happier since we've been set up there. Every week I pull Robert away from drawing caricatures & have him man the jewelry booth for a few minutes as I rush up and down the aisles getting organic produce for the week. The berries, butter lettuce and asparagus are things we never get tired of. I even know how to make a strawberry rhubarb cobbler now!



On Sundays, we have a whole different experience in Milwaukie, in front of the Masonic Lodge. Patrick Sheehan makes it fun to be on Main Street criss-cross from the Milwaukie Farmer's Market. We're there from 10am until 2, except for when I zip over to the Market to get the plants that are all over our balcony. I'm wild for hot pink & purple fuchsias, so I have several of them.(They always put me in mind of black & white Humphrey Bogart movies and arched doorways.) I got a big pot of miniature petunias in purple, white and violet. Last week I got an ornamental oregano, which I'd never before seen. It's foliage has very subtle coloring, lavender, green, cream - but the amazing thing is - if you rub the leaves it releases a heady oregano scent. Otherwise, it gives off a much lighter version all the time. It's heavenly to sit out there at night, smelling the pine trees & spice.



I've been making a lot of new jewelry, I can't wait to see who gets what. It's always such fun when people find 'their' special piece. It happened last week with a lady who stopped in her tracks when she saw a kyanite necklace I had on display. The stones matched her eyes and looked incredible on her. But it wasn't quite the right style for her... she told me what she thought would be perfect... but she wasn't sure she should splurge... Well, her husband was behind her, watching, and when she reluctantly moved on he came up to me and said "Make her the necklace you two talked about... it's her. She looked beautiful in it." I'd like to add a picture here of the lady "in" the necklace, but I think he's going to give it to her in a more personal setting. Meanwhile, I put the first kyanite necklace out again the next day and a woman put it on and never took it off. Don't you love it when that happens?