Thanks to Mary at the Little Red House for once again hosting Mosaic Monday.
I hope you had an enjoyable Fourth of July. Early this morning I sat outside on my chaise lounge and worked on my lavender. The sun was slanting in through the oak trees, the Lord of the Manor was reading the paper, and we were sharing a pot of coffee. It was a wonderful way to start the Holiday Weekend. 
It always amazes me that these tiny little flowers could have such a powerful scent!
Happy Fourth of July from Amongst The Oaks.
I made quiche last night for dinner. Sometimes I forget how wonderful it is and don't cook it for a while, but I rememberd again last night why I love it.
A whole pound of bacon.
Crumbled into the flaky pastry.
Lots of cheese.
Custard and nutmeg.
Perfection!
Yum.
First I pounced my pattern. That means I took a little duster box full of powder and rubbed it over my perforated pattern. The chalk goes through the little holes and leaves a faint line for me to follow with my brush.
Then I painted on the Gold Size. Gold Size is basically a varnish that doesn't skin over as it dries. Then it was lunch time so I ran home for a sandwich and came back just in time to lay the gold. The size has to tack up a bit before the gold is applied. Below is the waiting size.
After lunch I pressed the gold into the tacky size being careful not to press the paper or my fingers into the size. For a job like this we use patent gold; gold that has a carrier sheet. For a gold leaf job on a window or door we use glass gold which has no carrier sheet. Talk about magic! Everyone is always amazed when they see that done, but we haven't done a gold leaf window in ages, so I guess the magic is gone.
As the gold is applied, it leaves ragged edges and overlaps, but that will go away when I burnish it.
Burnishing is nothing more than rubbing over the gold in one direction to get rid of the overlaps and ragged edges. If the customer had wanted engine turning, I would have made a little wad of cotton and twirled it around in circles over and over to create a pattern of swirls.
So with the gold all prepared, I put the pattern back on, pounce it again. See the guidelines?
Now I paint on the shadow and outline....
And Voila! it's done.
These two were walking (and mating?) on the river.
Lots of these were sucking minerals from the damp sand.
And this isn't my mustache, it's a caterpillar!
Wild Rose found in the shade of the Big Trees.
Lily or Iris? Found along the river.
Found in the shade of the trees.
This was quite small, found along the road above the river.
This one is called Indian Rhubarb.
This is Western Azalea and it smells heavenly!
This one is mountain misery, I think, and it smells bad.
I don't know what this is, but it looks rather like echinacea.
When Augustus Dowd first discovered these trees around 1850, there were even larger trees like the one shown above. Unfortunately, this one was cut down and for several years used as a dance floor, bowling alley, and meeting place. And back in the 1970's I attended a wedding there. Ah... the 70's.
Some trees that have fallen down are hollow and you can walk inside them. In the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park there is a fallen tree that was used as a home in the early days. These are some big trees, aren't they?
We enjoyed walking amongst the trees, breathing the fresh air and seeing the majesty of it all.
The campground is close to the Stanislaus River where the kids went fishing one day and caught two trout whilst I took photos of flowers and bugs which I'll share with you tomorrow.
We have just returned from a Father's Day Campout at Calaveras Big Trees. So my mosaic for today highlights some of the fun things about camping there.
So on Tuesday we got up at 4am, left at 5, arrived at SFO by 7am, had breakfast {deja vu}, hung around at the gate, and finally got Teen1 on her flight to Chicago. And it actually took off this time.
And she called me from Chicago saying everything was fine, but then when she arrived in Manchester she hit a little snag. Immigration pulled her aside, took her passport, and questioned her about why she was arriving in their country unescorted, who was meeting her, what was their relationship, etc, etc. She told me later she was really scared and had no idea what to do. Her cell phone wouldn't work there, she had no British money, and didn't know why she was being questioned. Somehow they found her host family (who were waiting in the arrivals hall), questioned them, decided their stories matched and let her go with them. Actually, it's nice to know they don't allow minors to wander into their country unescorted, possibly to meet a stranger with evil intentions.
So with Teen1 safely in Manchester, I got caught up at work, took down the decorations, did a million other things including taking my computer to the doctor, and now ten days later, I finally got a chance to sit down and blog. I feel like I've missed so much! I'll get back in gear and catch up with you all real soon. But for now, I'm just thankful it's calmed down a little here Amongst The Oaks.
See at the top where it says Eco Beauty? That's it! My new house. And we can make it ourselves! All we need is bales of rice straw and plaster. Not only is it energy efficient, it's gorgeous too!
I really like the way the house snuggles in the garden and under the wisteria.
Doesn't it look terribly English? Deep window recesses, simple white walls, lots of clutter. It could be a little cob cottage in England, couldn't it?
