PAINT DATE GRANTS PASS STYLE

written on the 13th of september

today mick, jeff and i spent most of the days painting in his studio. jeff has an amazing space at the front of his studio that is pretty much its own art gallery, with floor boards, super high ceilings and awesome paintings adorning the walls.

almost done

micks hanya
its awesome

my paint palette

messy fun

jeffs daughter haley went out and got us some scrumptious peanut butter cups, and we snacked and painted the day away.

after dinner at a cabin type restaurant with kim and Andrew we took the left over bread down to the river and fed the ducks and the geese! i cant even remember the last time I did that. it was so sweet and quaint, it truly made me appreciate the simpler things in life.

dusk by the river

im really going to miss oregon, everywhere we went was so green and the people were all so lovely. i cant say thankyou enough to jeff and kim and their whole family for being so wonderful and taking mick and i on so many adventure. i had an amazing first time in grants pass and i will deffienately be going back.

kittyxx

AMONGST THE TREES

written on the 11th of september
today mick and got up at the crack of dawn which in our jetlagged state was an extreme effort, but it was completely worth it. jeff, kim and their son andrew took us just out of oregon to see the giant redwood trees. they are the largest living things on the planet! and they are completely amazing! it felt like being in the movie fern gully. not being the most practical of girls I was wearing a floor length skirt which make trekking through the forrest and climbing trees a little interesting but a lot of fun.

 click to enlarge

were the tiny dots at the bottom of this massive tree

 just chilling in the forrest

itty bitty baby pine cone

following giant trees we (minus andrew and plus two of jeff and kims friends) went out to applegate valley (i think) for some wine tasting. our first stop was a gorgeous little vineyard who were having a type of release party for their new wines. wine tasting turned into wine drinking and mick and i spent some time relaxing in a hammock under the trees contemplating life. we hit one more winery as the afternoon wained and on the way home we pulled just off the road to a delightful fruit stand and picked up some fresh blackberries to add to our growing berry collection.

back in town we cooled off in the hotel pool and had delicious mexican food for dinner.

so lovely

more chilling

a few too many wines at this point

i am well and truly tuckered out, even though we had a sneaky nap on the way home from the redwoods.

kitty xx

WERE GOING TO JACKSON(VILLE)

written on the 9th of september

last night we landed in orgeon and jeff was kind enough to pick mick and i up from the airport. we pretty much stumbled off the plane straight and into bed. but tonight mick and i rallied our energy and went out to jacksonville with jeff, kim and some of their friends. they took us to see the b52s! with human league and men without hats.

tickets & classy red wine

team photo

i saw my very first deer on the trek from the car to the park! but alas i startled it with my squeals of joy and was unable to capture the delightful beast on my camera. the night air was beautifully warm in the park and we enjoyed red wine with picnicy treats as the sun went down and we waited to see the headlining act. it was so picturesque at dusk with the lights from the stage and mountains in the distance. kim and i both spilt red wine on our white clothing but didn’t even care amidst the laughing, drinking and dancing. 

almost deer photograph
he was right there

i have no idea what this is

but i tried it anyway

thankyou so much to everyone for such a wonderfully fun night. and a special thanks to my adoring boyfriend for dancing the night away with me with not even a sigh in protest.

kitty xx

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE INDEED

written on the 8th of september

today is our last day here in california, the days have all been around 100 degrees and the nights have been beautifully balmy. 

day 1 - upon arriving we picked up our hire car but were too early to check into our hotel on sunset strip, so we dropped our bags and went immediately to disneyland in anaheim. we got park hopper tickets for both disneyland and califoria adventure and spent 7 hours of joy there until we had to leave to make a show at the house of blues. 

park hopper tickets
let the memories begin

outside the disney castle,
 just before my camera battery died.
devastation.

disneyland has got to be one of my new favourite places on earth. the whole park is like being in a cartoon, it was completely magic and i cant wait to go back, there is still so much to see and do. my favourite rides we went on were splash mountain, the indiana jones ride and the spinning tea cups. back on sunset strip we finished up our first night at the house of blues watching steel panther before we collapsed at the hotel.

shocker

day 2 -  mick and i ended up back in anahiem to have dinner with the adam everett who makes fusion ink (seriously awesome ink). i had never met adam before and was almost taken aback by how friendly and open he was and together the three of us devoured a feast at bubba gump shrimp. so, hush puppies, i have no idea what they are but theyre completely delicious, and a also got a free souvenir cup, hello new pen holder. 

day 3 – mick worked at md tattoos out in the valley so i got to hangout with the lovely kaitlyn crane, who i discovered has some of the same strange quirks that i do.  i also had the pleasure of meeting some of the characters from the shop who we will be seeing again in massachusetts.  near md tattoos there is the most amazing frozen yogurt place called nummy nums which everyone in the shop enjoyed for lunch. into the evening mick, kaitlyn, jeff and i went out for dinner, but on the way we went through the quaintest farmers market. it smelt like fair food and being almost 9pm, was lit up with flood lights.  it was so lovely walking in the dim light in the balmy evening air and tasting all the delicious things the market place had to offer.

the market place 

organic fresh strawberries &
dried peach, plum and blueberries &
red velvet bundt cake
from the farmers markets

day 4 – mick  and i drove out to mega merch where mick gets his tshirts printed. it was really impressive to see the huge printing press and the whole business in motion. tonight we flyout to grants pass in oregan to stay with friends kim and jeff, im so excited to see them and meet their kids.

appologies for the long entry, im trying to get up to date

kittyxx

HITTING THE FROG & TOAD

still not having a laptop i am extremely far behind with my blog, especially as so much has happened. mick and i are officially on the road so we have internet sporadically, but i have been journally on micks laptop and will be posting them as i can. this is the entry from the first leg of our adventures which were spent in separate states. i headed to mount barker and mick lugged it to canberra.

so this week i did my very first guest spot at front yard tattoo in mount barker south australia. my wonderful friend emma picked me up from the airport and the drive gave me nervousness plenty of time to incubate, leaving me a bit nauseous but the time we made it to byrons shop. im a fairly neurotic person and changes in my surroundings and especially my work routine always sends my head spinning. this is something that im working on as i constantly daydream about working all over the world. but lucky for me byron, his wife and his staff are all extremely lovely and people, and most ive known for a good few years now, and made me feel so welcome. a friend of mine from port lincoln was also doing a guest spot when i got there which was a very happy surprise.

working in another shop and especially tattooing other tattooists is extra pressure that helps give me a buzz to work harder and be a better artist. i had such a wonderful time and it was a great first guest spot experience. i got to do a few really fun tattoos that i will post when i get home as they are on different cameras.
being around byron is always inspiring and getting to see emma makes me so happy.  theyre some of my favourite people and im so glad i got to spend some time with them.  aaaaand  there is a delightful vegan café afew doors down from frontyard that  i enjoyed almost every day of my stay.

thanks frontyard, hope to see you soon
kittyxx