More Neon Haunts

   Spent the day in Seattle area looking for cabin lighting and came home with some  

   vintage neon.   

  Bardahl Oil Company Ballard, Washington 

   Can you see the secondary sign that lights up over top of the large letters?  

                                           It reads..." Add It To Your Gas"                                  

               I will have to return in the dark to try for a lit shot.                        

      Zesto Burger and Fish House 

  Ballard, Washington 

  Roxbury Auto Parts 

  White Center, Washington 

  Michael and I worked for this company back in 1984. 

  Dicks Drive-In sign decked for Christmas 

  Ballard, Washington 

   Yum!  Still the best burger around. 

  Court Of Monte Cristo Motel 

  Edmonds, Washington   

   Make plans to see this slice of Americana before it's too late. 

  It's scheduled for demolition soon.  

  Wish I could really bring them home.  

Respooling Autographic

Kodak A1 Folding Autographic

I bought this camera in Wenatchee this summer and was excited to give it a try. The only problem was the film it needed was 116 size and they don't make it anymore. So it was off to the bathroom to respool some 120 Lomo B&W onto the 116 spools and see if I could make it work.  The paper was smaller than the spool so keeping it straight may be a problem as the roll went along. I would have to experiment with the advancing of the film because the numbers on the backing paper wouldn't match this large of a camera. So I decided to turn the film advance key three rotations per shot (which turned out to be too many) and away I went. Developing in Diafine here are the five images I recieved.

Chieftain Motel Bremerton Washington

Poulsbo Marina

 Boat at anchor Port Angeles

The Goldfish Ruston Washington

 Ford pickup Omak Washington

I love how the old lens and the light leaks around the paper gave the shots an aged look despite the new film. I also liked how using narrower film gave me more of a panoramic view. It will be interesting to run a roll of color in her and see what I get.

888

Two sisters, one mom, four days and way too many sore muscles
has turned this...

 Into Eight Hundred Eighty Eight Dollars. Wow!

Road Sign Additions

Shining, faded, battered or abandoned, I love collecting pictures of vintage signs.

 Here are a few I have captured in the last couple of months.

Westport Washington

5-9-10

Orting 6-26-10

Morton 6-26-10

Chelan 7-31-10

Dryden 7-31-10

Bremerton / Manette 8-8-10

Of Cakes and Cabins

My cabin in the woods of Conconully has hit a new phase, Perma-Chink. In days gone by a cold pioneer might have stuffed the spaces between his logs with almost anything. I remember my grandmother's house on Toroda Creek had concrete chink that would fall out in long pieces if we touched it, exposing newspaper insulation stuffed in the cracks.
   Today there are lots of products that give a much better result that will stand up well to the weather or tiny fingers of curiosity. So a few weeks ago I headed to the hills armed with two buckets of chink and a collection of tools for what my neighbor Elaine calls " Frosting the Cabin". The wonders of Youtube gave me a starter course in technique and Mom came along to give me lots of help and moral support.
We started off by taping above and below the groove to hopefully make cleanup a little easier. This Perma-chink goo is really messy. kind of like Elmers mixed with sand and flour. There is also tape in the groove itself to provide a backer so the chink floats freely in the groove for expansion and contraction.

Using my super sized calking gun I filled the groove with chinking.

Then came the smoothing with putty knife and fingers too while misting with water to keep the stuff from drying too fast. After carefully removing the tape without tearing the edges of the chink too much, I again mist and smooth with my finger while I sponge off any drips. The finished groove will be dry to a gentle touch in about 48 hours.

Mom was a wonder with tape and sizzors making tiny masking runs for the next phase... crack repair.

This shot was taken after the repair was complete.

 It was fun getting a visit from Reve and Brenna while I worked.

So I'm happy to say the bathroom and kitchen are finished. And as you can see the sink is about to be hooked up in the kitchen. The outside of the cabin remains to be done, another challenge because the logs are round and will require a lot more fussy work.

 I have to agree with Elaine that the process was very much like frosting, not as simple or as tasty as a cake but much more fulfilling.

  

Caravan Cut

I know I've said it before but I love Americana! Nothing thrills me more when I'm out on a leasurly drive than coming upon a roadside oddity. A few months back while crusing back roads of the Olympic Penninsula I was surprised by this...

I clicked a few pics with digital and  film and filed the memory under fun things I need to do soon...

"Get my hair cut inside this silver beauty"

Indrya' the owner of A Hair Stream Salon was fun to work with,

putting me right at ease with here gentle touch and tales of world travel.

The retro waiting area is bright and cheerful, and my haircut was just what I wanted.

So if you are ever near the little town of Vaughn, keep an eye out for the Hair Stream.

Or give Indrya' a call and file your own roadside memory.

“Who Knows Where the Time Goes”

There is a song by Judy Collins with that title and it still sends me back to younger and less complicated times.
I have the pleasure of celebrating the graduation of several beautiful girls this week. The most near to my heart is my niece Ryann who will take her diploma from the same hallowed halls that I walked when I was looking out upon a road full of possibility.
This of course got me thinking back to where and what I was doing the year of my graduation
So please indulge me in the stroll, allow me to weave a memory of the year 1980.

It was a year of reward…

My parents and I on the day I was chosen Washington’s top soprano at the WMEA state solo contest singing Rossini's 

"Una Voce Poco Fa"

It was the year I learned to ride a lawnmower instead of pushing one,

but I never learned to like my picture being taken.

On a cool June evening, wearing Pioneer red and black

I sang “Who Know Where the Time Goes” before receiving my diploma from Omak High.

It was a year of reaching new heights…

I captured this view from the top of the Empire State looking out toward the Twin Towers.

and flying far afield…

Versailles Gardens with other members of the “America’s Youth in Concert” choir on our month long trip through Europe

And it was a year of Love…

My Michael & I with the Harley of course

Happy Graduation dear Ryann

may your year be full of sweet memory.

Ryann Joy Hill

Pinhole Day 2010 X Two

My first attempts at pinhole photography have been a bit hap hazard but I wanted to share the outcome just the same. Excited to participate in this years World Wide Pinhole Day 2010, I inadvertently celebrated the date twice. April 18th hubby and I took off for Sequim with my YaYa Diana loaded with re-spooled 35mm black and white. Only to discover that the following Sunday was the actual pinhole day. Oh well, here is my favorite shot from my Pre Pinhole Practice Day.

Railroad bridge Sequim, Washington with ghost of man and dog 

A week later I tried again using color Superia 100. Not the best image ever. I need to experiment with longer exposures.

Alexander's Castle at Fort Worden

Port Townsend Marina

 Just for fun here is a shot I took a few days later with the pinhole Diana and then manipulated digitally.

Old Mill Park Silverdale, Washington

Who Is Martha and How Does Her Garden Grow?

I recently discovered that there were people out there in blog world who had a love of developing old film found at flea markets or inside old cameras. One of my favorites to read is CraftBangBoom. Inspired by her no fear approach to experimenting I ventured into the dark with wild and wonderful chemical concoctions to see what kind of magic I could pull from some of my camera finds.

This Ansco D-6 Cadet I picked up for $10.00 at a local antique mall, had a roll of 116 Verichrome Pan inside. Noticing the larger film would never fit on my Paterson developing reel I set out to the hardware store to see if I could retro-fit.

The Paterson reel has several parts, two halves, a black centre column and a white spring collar. You can sit the collar aside, you won’t be needing it for this job. I purchased a length of clear plastic hose and cut a piece 1 and 1/8th inch long and slid it down inside the larger half of the reel.

After placing the centre column inside the other half of the reel you can now put the two halves together by placing the center column inside your home-made bushing. In the dark I carefully cut a small piece of the film from the roll so I would have it as a guide for setting the distance between the reel halves. Then I rewrapped the film and set it aside for later. In the light I could now set the reel height for the film by simply adjusting the center column depth inside the bushing. The plastic bushing grips really well in fact if it gets stuck it helps to wet it before you try to disassemble the reel.

I developed the roll using a protocol I found at another blog site I love,  FilmFound 
HC-110 A at 58 Degrees for five minutes and Ta-Da!
From the distant past we are introduced to, oh let’s call her Martha, and her lovely flower garden.

Is this her humble home?

No home is complete without a swing for the little ones.

And finally a shot that looks as though it was taken in a store, maybe where the camera was for sale.

Oh Martha ...I wonder, what were your children’s names and who takes care of your garden now?