50/100

....I married the love of my life.

In the time that we have been together, I have laughed harder, loved deeper, and have been treated better than I ever thought possible.

Today, we celebrated by biking up Mt. Tabor and having a little picnic at the top, while watching the sunset, followed by gift-giving once we got back home. Dave had one of our beautiful wedding photos printed up, and I had commissioned a drawing of vintage plane tickets to represent our upcoming trip.

It was beautiful, simple, and fun...and completely perfect for how our life is right now.

Beautiful.

Simple.

Fun.

51/100

 52/100

45/100

...Chicken Butt!

Isn't she lovely? Look at all that fluffiness. I get to take care of these critters for another week, before DW and I leave for Maui.

 46/100

 47/100

 48/100

49/100

Chickens are such silly creatures.

 42/100

 43/100

44/100

Sometimes things just happen perfectly, when you least expect them.

100 Things is a challenge I set for myself to create 100 things between the end of May and August, 2012.

41/100

Seed Pod Earrings

These beauties just came out of the tumbler...they are a gift for the mother of a friend. I hope she likes them! I wear my own pair all the time.

100 Things is a challenge I set for myself to create 100 things between the end of May and August, 2012.

 40/100

The Fallen One

Portland is a funny city. Aside from all the hipsters and such, there are quirky little things like how the city keeps old horse rings on many of the streets, even if they have to repair the sidewalk. On many of these horse rings, you can find plastic horses attached with cables--usually placed there by children or families, and occasionally artists (I, personally, want to attach dinosaurs or other fantastical creatures to them). 

On one street near my house, there used to be horses tied on to each of the horse rings, until recently, when I noticed that they were all disappearing, at least on this particular street. This is the last one. I call him The Fallen One.

100 Things is a challenge I set for myself to create 100 things between the end of May and August, 2012.

 31/100

This morning, I woke from a dream at 5:30 am. The dream was about hiking with some school friends from Portland to Multnomah Falls or the Bonneville Dam. I remember distinctly walking across a path that seemed to be industrial, in the Dam area. One of the guys had agreed to carry all the food, and we were catching up with the others. I am sure that this was all the result of reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed while at work last night, and again before bed. It is an adventure that speaks to my heart--one of my dreams has always been to ride that trail on horseback. 

Once I had written the dream down, I tried to go back to sleep, but was unsuccessful. So I did the only thing that seemed logical--get up and go for a hike. I threw on my favorite jeans and a long sleeved shirt, put contacts in my eyes, grabbed my camera, scarf, phone, and protein bar, and headed out the door. I was greeted with air that was warmer than expected, and beautiful silence. The silence that settles in before the city wakes up. My legs carried me up the hills of Mt. Tabor, despite my weariness...all the way to the top.

32/100

On the way back down, the sun started cresting over the hills, warming up the trees and waking up all the little critters. There was evidence of some lost, while above there was chattering of squirrels and small birds chasing crows through the sky.

33/100

Little details stopped me, begging for a closer look.

 34/100

Who was I to question them?

35/100

The flowers of my childhood beckoned, teasing me with their charm.

 36/100

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38/100

And as I walked off the hill, the sounds of other hikers began to rise. The debates on the tennis court, someone talking on the phone...the sounds of the city waking up. I carried on through a different neighborhood, stopping at one of the last few horses left along the way. 

39/100

This is the dichotomy that I love about my neighborhood...the ability to get lost in the woods, only to drop back into the city, and roam amidst plastic horses tied to ancient horse rings.

100 Things is a challenge I set for myself to create 100 things between the end of May and August, 2012.

On Friday, I spent an incredible amount of time in the studio raising. I was in the studio for 7 hours, probably raising for 4-5 of those. I started with a large disc of 16g copper, which is rather thick, but my intention is to raise it and then chase patterns into it, so I need some of that thickness. 

After hours of hammering, I started to realize that the metal wasn't quite moving the way it should have been. It has been 6 years since I last raised anything, and my notes were definitely lacking. So, I called it a day and came home to investigate what I'd been doing wrong.

What I found out was this:

I was using the wrong style of hammer

I wasn't alternating directions with each revolution

I was holding the metal against the stake wrong

Hopefully I can get up to the studio for a bit tomorrow and bouge it out before attempting it again. For now, I give you this...my as-yet-unfinished copper vessel, number 30/100 of my 100 Things project.

30/100

Copper Vessel

100 Things is a challenge I set for myself to create 100 things between the end of May and August, 2012.