On the trail of the lonesome pine . . . my illustration for March's Gardens Illustrated

Until the email arrives, I have no idea what Frank Ronan is going to write about for his Gardens Illustrated column 'The Writer's Plot'. And as he lives in California for most of the year, I can't rely on familiar seasonal plants making an appearance.

But even for Frank, the March article was something different . . . a road trip!

Over lunch one day when Cliff was at home, we sat down and followed Frank's route on Google Maps. If you have the magazine and read the article, Frank writes: 'I made a road trip the other day...' with a casualness of saying he popped down to the supermarket; BUT let me explain, Cliff and I have driven from Portland to San Francisco, we've also driven from LA to San Francisco, taking the coastal route in both cases, and each of those trips took us over a week! At our pace I think we'd need 6 weeks to do Frank's trip! So I suspect he took more than just 'a day'! 

As you can imagine, the landscape and the conifers change dramatically along the route from gnarled coastal trees, then mile on mile of uniform forest and on to the Avenue of Giants back in California. Not to mention the wide pastures of Montana and the beauty of the Lolo National Forest (somewhere I hadn't heard of and is now on my 'must see' list!)

I admit to floundering about not knowing what to draw. My sketchbook is evidence of this!

Frank's writing is always full of passing cultural and literary references, some I'm familiar with others have me turning to google (who's Smokey Bear?) ... I learn a lot. The key that unlocked my ideas for this linocut was this sentence: "spectacular mountains give way to the sort of cowboy landscape I'd dreamed of seeing since the first reading of My Friend Flicka" . . . I remember that book, it's one of my Mum's favourites and she recommended it to me when I was young. I was more taken by the black and white illustrations by Charles Tunnicliffe and noticed he'd also illustrated some of my favourite Ladybird nature and wildlife books. I think this was when the seed was sown in my mind that drawing pictures could be a real job.

So slightly inspired by Tunnicliffe and My Friend Flicka, together with my own memories of huge landscape views in Oregon and California and some unspecific conifers – here is my finished illustration in the March edition of Gardens Illustrated.

To my surprise I've managed to get my work schedules back on track, it's amazing how fast I can carve lino when I have to!!! I can take the Easter weekend off, knowing I just have to print and scan the linocut for May's Gardens Illustrated to meet the deadline next week. Phew!

Wishing all of you a very happy and peaceful Easter weekend. I hope the sun shines, but if not finding somewhere cosy is good option.

Celia

xx

Timberline – a hand-made inspiration

There is one place we visited on our road trip that I really must tell you a little about . . .

It's a ski lodge on Mount Hood and if the weather is clear you can see this magical view across the Cascade Mountains; it was the location for an iconic US chiller 'The Shining', but that has nothing to do with it's real history . . . which is much more interesting.

Timberline was built when America was struggling to pull itself out of an economic depression; thousands were unemployed, businesses had failed, families were finding it hard to make ends meet and people were sleeping on the streets. Sounds familiar, dosesn't it?

However, I not talking about present day USA, this was the early 1930s and a federal agency, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was set up in 1933 to create projects to provide jobs for thousands of desperate Americans. In the state of Oregon a small team of experienced foremen were employed to teach the skills needed to hundreds of labourers who lived in a tent encampment on the lower slopes of Mount Hood. They were paid and decent wage and given three nutritious hot meals a day. They learnt new skills that would enable them to get work in the future.

But above all else, in less than 18 months the workforce of men and women created not just a building but a work of art; using craft skills in timber and stone they made a building which is timeless, it sits on the mountain side, becoming part of the landscape - afterall it is made of the same rock and timber as its surroundings.

All the furniture, fittings and interior decor was also hand crafted and are unique to Timberline; the drive and imagination behind the designs was an interior designer from Portland, Margery Hoffman Smith. She had just over a year to complete the task, there was no time to draw up ideas and dither around, under her guidance teams of older women made applique curatins and rag rugs from scrap fabrics; joiners made sturdy functional furniture; artists created murals from broken tiles and carved wood. Old telegraph poles were given a new lease of life as newel posts for the staircases, each one carved with a forest animal. Old railway tracks were skillfully forged into fire-dogs for the huge fireplace at the heart of the lodge.

This is part of a mural by Douglas Lynch, it is carved linoleum which has been coloured with transparent glazes of oil paint. Like everything else at Timberline, this artwork has been lovingly restored to near it's original condition by The Friends of Timberline.

Every single room in the lodge is furnished in much the same way as it was in 1937 when President Roosevelt opened the building (of course there has been a few modernisatins to the bathrooms and other modern facilities added but they are styled in keeping with the original decor.)

We were lucky there was a room available, so we stayed for just one night - it was my birthday. We had a little room with a view towards the summit of Mount Hood. This was the telephone in our bedroom, the watercolour above it is one of many botanical studies of local plants which were painted by a German artist who had been living in a cardboard box on the streets of Portland, existing on dried beans he soaked in cold water.

The furnishings may not be the original fabrics, hand woven by the eager to learn team of workers from Oregon wool and linen thread, but they are in the spirit of Timberline and all the curtains and cushions are still hand stitched by local makers.

Every square inch of Timberline is a legacy of a huge team effort and an example of what can be done in difficult times to raise morale by making something beautiful by hand.


You can read more about Timberline Lodge here.

Celia
x

Holiday souvenirs . . . what do you buy?

What do you buy when you're travelling? . . . things that remind you of your adventures but not too bulky and heavy or fragile . . . things that are small, inexpensive and useful . . .

With apologies for the rubbish photographs (we are shrouded in thick autumnal fog in Suffolk this week), these are some of the things that fell out of my bag when I unpacked after our travels through Oregon and North California . . .

 

But I've discovered a new favourite souvenir – not only is it light weight and unbreakable but you meet lovely people to chat to in gorgeous shops and when you get home you have hours of happiness making it into wearable things which reminds you of the places you went to on your adventures . . .

YARN!

Here's my holiday stash . . .

 

from left to right we have

• Miro 'Portland' by Abstract Fiber bought from Knit Purl in the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon

• Royal Platinum Alpaca 'Spice Rack', Hand Dyed by Royal Fiber Spinnery bought from Brownsville Stitching Parlor in Brownsville, Oregon.

• Gombe Superfine Alpaca 'Desert Varnish' by Curious Creek Fibers bought from the Mendocino Yarn Shop in Mendocino, California

• Sonoma 'Chocolate Cherries' by Baah! bought from North Coast Knittery in Eureka, California

Knitting and yarn is BIG and COOL in the Pacific NW, the shops were overflowing with beautiful yarn (most of which is sourced from the UK, Ireland and Europe) and buzzing (click-clacking?) with enthusistic knitters. Just stepping through the doorway and whispering that you knit, is your passport to be welcomed like an old friend who speaks a common language.

Oh yes . . .  and thank you to Cliff for waiting patiently while I selected xx


Before I finish, I've got to show you this . . . it's my souvenir from Portland Saturday (& Sunday) Art Market . . . I couldn't resist buying a handbag from Mugwump, aka Suzanne Keolker. She makes funky accessories from upcycled books and stuff that is heading to landfill.

Celia
xx

Meeting giant trees

Hello! and thank you for the kind wishes in the comments after my last blogpost. This post is a bit long so settle down with a cuppa . . .

I'm now back in British Summer time, the post holiday washing is all done and I've answered all my emails and dealt with the post; I'm starting to remember what a wonderful adventure Cliff and I had on our long journey from Seattle down the Pacific North West coast of the USA to San Francisco.

One of the reasons for deciding to go back to the US west coast . . . well actually it was THE main reason . . . we both wanted to see the Coastal Redwood forests.

After a lovely train journey from Seattle, we spent a weekend in Portland - which was fabulous and fun; followed by a week in the Cascade Mountains before driving down the stunningly beautiful Oregon coast before we reached California and the Coastal Redwoods.

So far, the sun had shone every day of the trip (yes, even in Portland!) but as soon as we reached California the mornings were cool and foggy; we stopped at The Lady Bird Johnson Grove to meet our first giant trees . . .

We walked along a short trail into the forest and soon reached the Redwoods, their straight trunks like columns disappearing high above us into the mist.

These photographs remind me of the experience, but I'm not sure they really show you the sheer vastness of the trees that we saw here, and in the Redwood forests through Humbolt County over the following three days.

This photo may help you to grasp the scale . . . that teeny little toy-person propped against a tree is in fact really me standing against 'BIG TREE' one of the biggest of the ancient 'old stand' Redwoods still in existance.

This tree is 304 feet (92.6 metres) tall, that is roughly the same height as the Statue of Liberty in New York or Big Ben's Clock Tower (The Elizabeth Tower) in London.

The diametre of its trunk is 21.6ft (6.6 metres) and the circumference is 68 feet (20.7 metres).

The estimated age of BIG Tree is 1500 years.

For such huge trees the leaves and cones are surprisingly small scale, here are some leaves I picked up from the forest floor to stick into my travel diary - they are very similar to and not much larger than English Yew tree leaves. The tiny cones are about the size of acorns, and are full of hundreds of seeds.

But, although some Readwoods do grow from the scattered seeds, the more usual method of reproduction is by side shoots - which explains their scientific name: Sequoia sempervirons, meaning 'everlasting'.

The life cycle of the tree spans a millennium . . . one thousand years . . . new growth from the knobbly 'buds' around the base of the trunk is triggered when a mature tree becomes stressed - a severe drought or a lightning strike starting a forest fire is often the cause. The side-shoots grow fast and straight, it is the survival of the fittest and one, two or sometimes three eventually out-grow the others.

The side shoot has the same dna as the parent . . . in all respects it is the same tree with the same roots.

The parent tree often already weakened by fire damage, is gradually broken down by winter storms and the ring of new giant trees takes its place around the ancient stump.



Fire can burn away the dry heart-wood but this rarely kills the Redwwod - its thick bark holds a huge amount of water and protects the vital outer layer of the trunk - the tree survives until it's off-shoot is tall and strong. The ancient burnt out trees provide safe winter shelters for forest animals . . . cougar, bobcat and bear.



Eventually the biggest giants fall . . . the tree in the photo below was, until 1991 the biggest in this area of forest . . . a bigger and older neighbour of 'BIG TREE', it toppled over in a storm. The sound of it crashing onto the forest floor was heard miles away and people feared they had heard a train crash!

Twenty years later the fallen giant is providing nutrients for the ferns that have colonized its thick, soft bark; the succession of decomposing fern leaves make compost for various smaller shrubs and trees to colonise a 300ft long seed bed.

The legacy will eventually be a straight line of trees through the forest, and the vast trunk returned to the forest floor. 

The Redwood timber was prized by logging companies who had already felled almost 2 million acres before a few concerned people in the early 20th century woke up to the fact that the unique habitat was about to disappear for ever. Even so, the biggest of the giants had been felled - here is a slice of the largest tree felled in Medocina County with the saw that was used to cut through it's vast trunk.





It was estimated to have been 1900 years old when it was felled in 1943. By the early 1960s, about 95% of the original Californian Coastal Redwoods had gone, but thankfully the voices of those who fought for the protection of the remaining 100,000 acres were being heard and state parks were created around the last remaining pockets of the forests.

I can't find the right words to thank the sense and foresight of those who saved the trees, just being able to stand in the forest is a deeply moving experience and unforgettable.

These trees are as old as our written history and hopefully they will survive far into the future.





 
I hope you got an idea of what it's like to walk though the Coastal Redwood Forests . . . it really is magical.



Celia
x



USA Road Trip: part 4 – San Francisco

We'd travelled along 450 miles of the wonderful, amazing, breathtaking Californian Pacific coast and look! there's the Golden Gate Bridge peeping over the San Francisco Friday evening traffic – we'd come to the end of the Road Trip.

But, we still had two full days left and we wanted to see as much of the city as we could cram in . . . we were staying at Fisherman's Wharf (and quite frankly a half hour of that was enough for me), spending a good part of a precious day doing Alcatraz didn't appeal to us, but this did – The Real SF Tour.

The brain child of Chris Courtney, this is a full day 'urban adventure', you need to wear comfy walking shoes and be fairly nimble and capable of negotiating flights of stairs and slopes up and down. We met Chris, and with four others jumped aboard the California Street cable car to start the tour . . . 

Chris gave a commentary throughout the day – never boring or too history orientated, full of interesting and practical information – but in fact, as Chris said, it's best when

the city speaks for itself . . .

You can see our route here; I was taking photos along the way and the slide show above shows them in order through the day. The music is 'Gold Dust Woman' by Fleetwood Mac from the album 'Rumours', chosen because a) I like it and have the original vinyl lp; and b) it was recorded just over the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito – an incidental fact Chris mentioned during the tour. 

If you're planning to visit San Francisco (or if you live nearby and want to know more about the different neighbourhoods) the The Real SF Tour is a great way to see the city and come away with a list of places to revisit, plus recommended restaurants, shops and neighbourhoods to fill a whole week. Don't be put off by the thought of walking all day (it's not that tough!) afterwards we still had enough energy to walk all the way back to our hotel at Fisherman's Wharf; we gave it 10/10 for a fantastic day exploring 'the real' San Francisco.

So, our last full day in San Francisco . . . lets start with breakfast in the Beach Street Grill, just along the road from our hotel – that will set us up for a day's cycling!

We hired our bikes at Anchorage Square and set of along the bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge, a nice level cycle way :-)

It then get's a tad harder work, you see the road over the bridge is a lot higher than the water! Phew!

The bridge is 1.7 miles wide and on one side there's a two way cycle lane, fenced off from the traffic; to be honest I was too busy looking at the the bridge structure or concentrating on not colliding with herds of lycra clad racing cyclists going in the opposite direction, to appreciate the views of the bay!

But, yay! I did it!

We continued down the very steep, busy road into the little town of Sausalito on the north side of the bay; at the bottom I quickly insisted that we got the ferry back (Fen girls aren't used to cycling up hills!).

So that was it – our big adventure was nearly over. We celebrated by having dinner at Greens, the iconic San Francisco vegetarian restaurant at Fort Mason. The food was very good as was the autumn cocktail (rum, apple and wheat beer); but I had enjoyed the meal we had at Plant, on Pier 3, even better – especially the apple, nutty, spicy, crumbly dessert with the almond milk ice-cream – heavenly!

We'll remember this USA Road Trip for a long long time.

Would we go back? Definitely!!!

Celia

x

USA Road Trip: part 3 – Highway 1

The next part of our Road Trip was the main reason we planned this adventure – we'd been longing to drive along Highway 1 . . .

Probably the best ocean drive in the world

We had four days to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco, driving along the famous coastal highway, the Pacific Ocean would be on our left all the way, and it looked as if the weather was going to be perfect.

We decided to head for Pismo Bay and book into the Sea Gypsy Motel. In the morning we couldn't resist a walk on this glorious beach, before a hearty breakfast at Penny's All American Cafe.

A little detour south took us to Oso Flaco Beach, and a beautiful boardwalk over the lakes and dunes . . .

. . . which led to a vast sandy beach!

Our lunch stop was Morro Bay, a little fishing port dominated by the majestic Morro Rock . . .

Where would we stop tonight? Cambria looked interesting, the main part of the village was inland from the coast and was full of galleries, hotels and restaurants; but before we looked for a place to stay we decided to check out Moonstone Beach Drive – and we were so pleased we did! There were so many lovely inns and hotels, all with a view of the ocean :-)

I plumped for the Cambria Shores Inn because – well because it just looked really inviting, and it was! Soon afterwards we were enjoying the complimentary sparkling cider and nibbles as we sat back and watched the sun go down. Later we had a very nice meal at The Sow's Ear in Cambria village.

Early morning beachcombing :-) I think that's one our favourite things to do, and Moonstone Beach was perfect . . . misty and beautiful; we even found some Moonstones!

On the road again, and the mist had quickly disappeared – mid-morning and already it was sunny and very hot. Our first stop was at the Elephant Seal Rookery at Piedros Blancas.

The cliffs were getting higher and the views bigger and more spectacular with every twist and turn of the road.

When we checked out of the Cambria Shores Inn, we were given a tip for where to stop for lunch, Nepenthe . . . Wow! And the shop is pretty good too! (The knitters/stitchers reading this may want to click here) 

And afterwards another tip-off about a stunning place just a few miles north . . . Pfeiffer Beach – I think this is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen . . .

The sun was high in the sky and it was very hot, so we climbed high up into the cool pine forest and watched the ocean crashing onto the beach far below . . .

By evening we'd reached Monteray and decided to stay there for a couple of nights, so we could explore around the Monteray Bay area before driving the final stretch of the route San Francisco.

We discovered the lovely village of Pacific Grove, here's the Art Deco department store (now an antique emporium, and great to mooch around) and there in the stained glass is a clue of one of the attractions nearby . . .

Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctury . . . high up in the leaves of the Eucalyptus trees, can you see them?

Monarch Butterflies! Waiting for the sun to warm their wings.

There's something else Monteray is, or rather was, famous for – canned sardines.

Have you read 'Cannery Row' by John Steinbeck? I'd forgotten that it all happened here in Monteray . . . and Cannery Row is still there, but teeming with tourists and lots of shopping opportunities. There are still fish in Cannery Row and they are in a canning factory – but one that has been trasformed into one of the most spectacular aquariums anywhere in the world, Monteray Bay Aquarium. A cool and beautiful retreat from the heat and crowds outside.

Vast seawater tanks are home to whole communities of fishes, even large shoals of fish, stunning!

There were kelp forests and reefs, rock pools and waves; penguins, shoreline birds and sea otters; but my favourite were the jellyfish!

Celia

x

Next, the end of our adventure . . . Part 4 – San Francisco (the city speaks for itself)

USA Road Trip: part 2 – L. A.

Part 1 of our holiday had passed without a hitch – thanks to months of planning by Cliff. We left Flagstaff and hopped on a small plane to Phoenix and from there flew to Los Angeles; we had been rather overwhelmed with options of where to stay in such an urban sprawl, but in the end I had chosen The Farmer's Daughter in West Hollywood – here's a clue why, this is the bedroom wallpaper!

It was while checking in to the hotel that I discovered that my small handbag and it's very crucial contents were missing . . . probably still in the taxi that had brought us from the airport. This was not a good moment. Cliff had every right to be very cross and I felt like collapsing into a sobbing heap on the floor – but we both quickly realised that wouldn't achieve much!

A departure from the script

Our plans for the evening and foreseeable future were put aside and we concentrated on blocking bank cards and my iPhone; and finding out how and where to get the paperwork for me to get home. The hotel staff were really helpful, we could use the computer and printer in the lobby as much as we liked and there were unlimited supplies of pink lemonade and freshly baked cookies; but despite everyone's efforts by the next morning it looked as if my bag and it's contents would never be seen again.

Instead of seeing the highlights of tinsel town, we were scurrying around making phone calls and catching taxis; road signs caught my eye . . . Santa Monica Boulevard . . . Beverley Hills . . . but I had no time to take photos, we had to get things sorted out fast. I hadn't expected to see the interior of an LAPD station – thankfully it was a place of calm efficiency and Officer Taylor issued me with the necessary paperwork to take to the British Consulate.


In case you're ever in the same unfortunate situation, I recommend completely ignoring the British Consulate's answer-phone message which tells you to leave your name and contact number and wait to be called back and then make an appointment to come to see them. We decided to go straight over to Santa Monica, where we walked into the British Consulate office and asked for help. I was expecting to spend the rest of the day sitting on a plastic chair in a waiting room – but no! A lovely helpful woman immediately got on the case and advised us to pop out for lunch and then come back and see her colleague who would issue me with an emergency passport.


And that's what happened . . . we had a very tasty bento box at a delightful Japanese restaurant; returned to the British Consulate and hey presto . . . sorted!

As well as calmly getting my paperwork together, the Consulate staff recommended that we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon by hopping on a Blue Bus to the beach . . . what a very British idea!

After a stroll along Santa Monica Pier and eating an ice-cream we felt in a holiday mood and ready to enjoy the rest of our adventure.

Back on track

What do you do when you have a day to see a new city? A tour? We're not that keen on bus tours, so Cliff had hunted around and discovered a walking tour of Historic Downtown by the LA Conservancy. We met our guide, Stuart, and where taken on a fascinating tour of streets and buildings – stately beaux arts, moderne (art deco) and glass clad skyscrapers clustered around the small open space of Pershing Square. It was a very enjoyable wander through places we'd never have found by ourselves; afterwards we took Stuart's advice and went to Pete's Cafe & Bar for Mac'n'cheese – yum yum!

It was time to collect our hire car for the next stage of the Road Trip – I'm not sure how Cliff was feeling, but the traffic and roads we'd seen on our many taxi rides had scared me rigid!

But, with the help of the sat-nav we safely navigated our way along the Santa Monica Freeway and Highway 405 to The Getty Centre – this was high on my list of must-see places.

The art collection was all that can be expected with a limitless budget – everything is the very very best example of its genre – breathtaking! What's more, you can stand really close to the exhibits. The painting that blew me away wasn't Van Gogh's 'Irises' or Turner's 'Modern Rome' (of course they were stunning) but Mantegna's 'Adoration of the Magi' – it is indescribably beautiful.

There's another reason to visit the Getty Centre . . . the view!

And the gardens . . . I love the steel structures for the bougainvillea and the topiary maze over the pond.

Time to move on from L.A., we packed our bags for an early start and drove south down the Santa Ana; we were going have lunch with my godfather in San Clemente. He has lived in California since the early 1960s and I had only a vague memory of our last meeting when I was a teenager, so I was wondering how we'd get on. I needn't have worried at all, we had a lovely time together and lunch in the sunshine with a view of the ocean glittering in the distance.


After we'd said farewell, Cliff and I drove back north to Long Beach – our bed for the the night was in a cabin on the Queen Mary.

In the morning we explored the engine room and museum about the history of the ship from exclusive liner, serving as a troop ship in WWII and then as a cruise ship again. We probably nosed around rooms we weren't supposed to go into, but no-one told us off and we we had a great time promenading up and down the decks and endless corridors.

So, off we go on the road again – but first we had to make a detour back to the Farmer's Daughter Hotel  . . . you see, we'd had a message that my bag had been found! And when it was handed to me, I found that all the contents were there intact – yes, even the cash in my wallet!

Celia

x

Next . . . Part 3 – Highway 1 (Probably the best ocean drive in the world)