HURRICANE WARNING ON THE OREGON COAST

Hi All :)

I hope Spring (Autumn for our S. Hemi Peeps) finds you well :)

2 weeks ago, I went to the Oregon Coast with my two Sons. We stayed in an amazing house on a sand dune right above the beach & looking out at the amazing vastness of the Pacific Ocean :)

We have stayed in this house before and knew it had awesome views with lots of windows facing the West for amazing Sunsets & Ocean viewing :)

What we didn't know was how bad the weather was going to be, rain had been forecast, hey, this is early March in Oregon so no surprises there, but we did not expect the Hurricane Warnings that started to show up the day after we arrived, oops! These are basically unheard of in Oregon. It definitely made for an interesting experience; I have experienced some strong winds in my life but for about 18 hours this was crazy and the rain, just pouring down like tomorrow was going out of fashion and the winds whipped the waves into a frenzy, the windows of the house were literally shaking (thankfully they were not glass) and we were happy to be indoors with a gas fire to keep us warm.

You can read about the Hurricane Winds Here; 

I went outside onto an upstairs balcony, a couple of times, very briefly, to take some photos of the very high waves but nearly got blown away; trying to hold my camera steady with a zoom lens was challenging but I tried :)

So, as fuzzy as some of these images are I wanted to share them with you because they have their own beauty. :)

The following day the waves were still high but lovely blue skies appeared; there was some flooding and some of the local coastal rivers were close to or at flood stage, we drove thru a few big pools of standing water along some coastal roads. Still not really quite believing what we had experienced.

Click on photos to see larger images :)

The Pacific Ocean, by early afternoon (1pm) the winds had picked up and the High Tide was churning - the sky was grey and the drizzle turned to rain. (Next 3 photos are early afternoon too)

I couldn't resist adding a little colour to this photo (and a few following ones) to see if I could show the brewing storm in a different light.

The Pacific Ocean at 3pm - The sky was so dark it was hard to see the horizon - the waves were powerful and swirling, it was amazing to hear their thunderous crashing.

1pm March 9th

1pm March 10th - 

It was amazing the transformation within those 24 hours

Same shot (Above and Below) 24 hrs. apart - Mother Nature is so awesome.

Again pretty much the same shot taken 24 hrs apart - the Ocean is beautiful, majestic, frightening and reassuring all at the same time. (High Tide both shots)

Looking out at the calmer Ocean at High Tide and the Blue Sky, if we hadn't lived it we would not have believed it had been so incredibly rainy and gale force winds less than 6 hours before and howling ALL night.

But as the camera was pointed South, there were still glimmers of those rain clouds moving inland towards the coastal range.

I have to admit I was just so excited to be by the Ocean again; it has been the longest time ever for me between trips to the Ocean, I had missed it so much. I'm a Water Girl, I need to see the Ocean and be by it on a regular basis or I dry up, lol :)

Well, I guess I got more water than I had bargained for but it was thrilling to be at the coast to experience this storm, call me crazy but I felt a kind of refreshed sense of renewal after it but I am also the kind of girl who likes to open the windows and breathe in deeply during a thunderstorm :)

Hope you enjoy my photos :)

Happy Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Birthday Ocean Photos :)

Hi All :)

I truly hope you are all doing well and enjoying life wherever you are :)

So, I keep promising myself that I will blog more and then that "life" thingy just keeps getting in the way, lol :) I know you haven't heard from me much recently but I will get around to telling you all about the "WHY" a little later on in the year (I know it all sounds so mysterious, doesn't it :)

Well, anyway, as some of you know I LOVE to go to Sunny San Diego every year to get away from the Dark, Cold, Windy and Rainy Pacific Northwest Winter and usually this trip takes place around my B.Day at the beginning of March. :)

Well, this year was no exception and I went to San Diego to soak up some much needed sunshine, the only problem was it was Dark, Cold, Windy and Rainy in San Diego on my B.Day :(

I have never seen this Beach and Ocean deserted esp. on a Saturday, there are usually lots of happy people on the beach and lots of surfers in the Ocean, yep the weather was that bad. No a person in sight.

Of course the view was still gorgeous to look at and reminded me so much of the Pacific Northwest (which, BTW, I love too :)

So, I was going to show you my photos of the huge and crazy waves crashing across the beach but they are all so gloomy and dark. Then I had an idea, why didn't I show you just one shot and how I quickly worked on it to make it a "Happier" photo :)

Here goes :)

Click on photos to see larger images :)

Here is the Original Shot :) 

Now, I was out shooting this with my "big" lens and no tripod in what felt like a gale, so a little shaky image but.........

Next, I very slightly brightened the image by 5% and contrasted by 25% to enhance the definition of waves, spray and foam :) 

I then enhanced slightly with an auto "cool" setting which added a much needed blue tone to the Ocean and Sky :)

Then I added this layer from my collection that I have created over the years :)

I laid the layer on top of the photo and put it to about 68% opacity :)

So, I feel I got my Sunshine at the beach on my B.Day after all :)

What do you think? :)

Have a wonderful Tuesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Getting Cozy for the Night :)

Hi All :)

I hope you are staying warm and dry :)

They said on the news last night that if we (N.W.Oregon) didn't get anymore rain until the middle of next Spring we still will have reached our yearly rainfall total :(

So, as the nights have drawn in, I find myself wanting to cozy up in a soft nightie and cozy dressing gown and my homemade quilt :)

Recently, I took a little trip to Nordies (Nordstroms, that is, LOL!!!) one of my fav. stores, that I do not get to go to very often anymore ;( 

I was looking for some soft, cotton nighties and this is what I found. Carole Hochman's sleepwear. They are amazing :)

Check out her website CAROLE HOCHMAN

This is what I bought :)

An Early Christmas Prezzie, of course (He! He! :)

With a matching long sleeved nightie, they are heavenly, cozy and so feminine, I LOVE Them!!! :)

What makes you all cozy???

Have a Lovely Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Pretty Pink Peonies From My Garden :)

Hi All :)

I hope you are well and life is treating you kindly :)

Well, again the weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been frustratingly wet :(

It is always challenging for me as a Gardener seeing, earlier in the season, first my Daffs and then my Tulips bashed by the rain and then over the past few weeks seeing my Poppies and now my Peonies smushed. After all the hard work it is sometimes almost soul destroying. 

Usually I hope that there will be a dry spell and the flowers will get to bloom to their full glory in the garden but watching the weather forecast on the local news the other night it was predicting rain for days and my Peonies were just about to hit full bloom, so I got out my trusty pruners and decided I was going to enjoy these gorgeous flowers in the house!!! (Shaking my fist, with pruners attached, at the menacing clouds above, as I went on my way, LOL! :)  

So, of course I couldn't resist taking some photos of the Beautiful Pink Peonies to share with you all :) 

They smell amazing too :)

Enjoy!!! :)

This Weekend it is going to be 84 degrees and so I need to go shake off all the raindrops from the flowers so they don't scorch! Seriously, they are more demanding than little kiddies, LOL!!! :)

Have a lovely Evening :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

I Think Spring is Here!

Happy Friday Everyone!

It is officially Spring YAY! (But of course it is still raining here in the PNW and has been every day but one in March so far, oh lucky us! :(

But this intrepid Photographer (He! He!) could stand it no long, hopped into her SUV and went out determined to take photos in between the down pours :)

I wanted to share with you what I found :)

Well, first here are a couple of shots I took at home, these are some of the Roses from my Birthday Bouquets :)

"Past Pleasures"

Oh, it is definitely time for a Tea Party (could we do a virtual one!)

I LOVE the paint stroke feature on Paintshop but just for playing around :)

This Bluebell shot (above) is from last year but I decided to cropped it a bit (below) What do you think?

"Bluebells"

This Buddleia shot is also from last year. I have been experimenting a little with Photoshop, I have it on trial right now and just added a warmer filter, I like it.

And then I hit the road :)

(Original)

I think you can tell it is overcast but it gives a lovely background to these Magnolia Buds :)

Added a warmer filter :)

These 2 are from last year. I cropped them as I wanted to see what a longer narrower format would look like and then I added a little redder colour to one and a little sepia tone to the other :)

"Magnolia Blooms"

Original Shot!

Then cropped and a warmer filter added. Can't decided which I like the best.

"Leaving"

I LOVE these old suitcases, they were in a window display in downtown P.Town!

These Daffs look like they are trying to escape :)

I LOVE this fence, the pattern and textures, amazing. It must stretch for 3/4 of a mile or more around this property.

This just cracked me up. You can tell they have been "Just Hanging Around" for a long time 'coz they have grassing growing out of them :)

(Original)

Then I went to the park and took some shots of the trees reflected in the water (just as it started to rain again!)   

Added a little red tone to all 3 of these at different levels, I like them but.........

I like this one in sepia tones the best :)

And just to prove that occasionally the Sun does shine in Oregon I grabbed my camera and took a shot of the brave Daffs in my Garden (yep, that is a bit of blue sky there in the background in between those white fluffy things :)

Let me know what you think! :)

Hope you all have a lovely Weekend!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.