Two Things

My Eyes! My Eyes are burning! This weekend I attempted to make some eyes out of sculpey clay for some Christmas projects I am working on. This is my absolute first time working with the stuff and it seems to be pretty forgiving. But. User error indicated that I am not very good at following directions or even pictures. My eyes were lopsided, fingerprinted, and not even as cute as the pictures showed. Regardless, I baked them for the time/temp indicated on the side of the clay and my "translucent" clay burned. Underneath the black is the translucent clay - now an interesting shade of burnt. I think I am sticking to button eyes.

It rained this weekend. It was the first rain of the 2008-2009 rainy season. We picked up all of .85" in 24 hours. Now, it probably won't rain again for the next three weeks or so. It hasn't rained since April 23 - and we received nearly 40" of rain in the last rainy season. Saturday afternoon I kept looking out the window - alternately seeing misty rain in the sunshine, or, the flutter of freshly hatched semi-transparent wings on the ba-jillion bugs... Ugh.

LA Sunday - Huntington Gardens 3 of 3

After the Japanese portion of the Garden, we went to the recently installed Chinese Garden, also known as the "Garden of Flowing Fragrance". As this garden has only recently begun, the bones of the garden are found in the architecture, as opposed to the plantings. Therefore, not much fragrance flowing just yet. From the Japanese Garden, you enter the Chinese Garden into a walled courtyard, with chrysanthemum imagery in the windows and lotus on the end caps of the roof tiles.

The floor of the courtyard, "Plantain Court", is an amazing job of interlocking panels of stone - round white rocks tipped on the side to make the inner medallions with black rocks in linear fashion to make the borders. Something to remember, if I ever have a courtyard garden. It might be difficult to sweep up and be hard on bare feet tho. Mmmm. Keep thinking then.

The centerpiece of the garden is the "Lake of Reflected Fragrance", not quite balanced as of our visit. But there are vistas from every vantage point. The lake is actually located on a piece of land which naturally collects water during the rain, however, we haven't had rain for quite some time. The limestone rocks surrounding the lake are supposed to represent the craggy mountains in Chinese paintings.

Passing through the "Corridor of Water & Clouds" was a joy. The "Wall of Water & Clouds" was topped with more of the roofing tiles from the entry wall, waving across the top in an echo of either a wave or the far mountain peaks. Each of the windows to the far side had a different pattern of fretwork installed and the zig-zag path lead us to the next place of beauty.

The "Love for the Lotus" pavilion is an intricate piece of architecture, with more to "find and seek" than I can imagine. There is fretwork and carving and views and and and...

Unfortunately, by this time, the docents of the garden were starting to herd visitors toward the entrance/exit of the garden, so we were not able to make it all the way around the Lake. One of the views, so exquisitely framed, was the "Pavilion of Three Friends" where bamboo, pine & plum share a grove.

At the exit we were greeted by this Chinese "Lion Dog". All in all, the Huntington Gardens and Library are worth several repeat visits. If you are ever in the LA area, make the trip to Pasadena to go. We arrived in the afternoon, and were only able to visit three of the FOURTEEN!!!! different gardens, let alone any of the art or library exhibits. I hear tale that the Children's Garden is awesome and the Conservatory has quite a collection of the odd and unique plants.

I had a blast on my trip to LA, not only because of the things we saw, but because of the people I was with. It was good to have a girly weekend, and to take a solo trip. I think that all women should feel comfortable and have the opportunity to take trips alone. There's a sense of - power? accomplishment? satisfaction? some of all, but not in a bad way - in fending for yourself, taking the time to stop when you want to, to not worry about anyone else's schedule, and taking a trip by yourself. Do it.

LA Sunday – Huntington Gardens 2 of 3

After marveling at the beautiful blooms in the Huntington Rose Garden, we passed the pair of Lion-Dogs guarding the entrance to the Huntington Japanese Garden. Where the Rose Garden was a riot of color and exuberant blooms, the Japanese Garden is a 9 acre canyon of green calm. The Japanese Garden was begun in 1911, and the mature plantings reflect the age. As you descend under the wisteria arbor, your first view is of the Japanese house on the far side of the gully.Closer in the foreground is a Japanese half-moon bridge, over a koi pond. Too bad for us, the koi pond and stream were undergoing renovation. However, the image of peace is persistent, despite the missing water. Traversing the gully to reach the Japanese house, you take time to notice the details like the Buddhas bordering the stream bed, or the lion head adorning the ridge-line of the bell house.





Once past the bridge and back up the hill, the 19th-century Japanese house offers a small vignette to reinforce the feeling of calm. Although not a tea house, it does have the set-up for a ceremony. It is filled with shoji, alcoves for display, and straw floor mats. Again, the details are what make the place special. The end-caps of the support beams are carved with floral scrolls and a lotus blossom perched atop what looks like a koi tail hugs the roof line.



We continued down a zigzag bridge through a stand of bamboo. The zigzag path is thought to confuse evil spirits who only travel in straight lines. The pathway led to a walled-in Zen rock garden, or karesansui. This dry landscape garden was added in 1968. The ginko trees were mature and beautiful in their greenness. Too many people, however, did not allow for the meditative factor that such a garden normally brings.

The Zen garden opens to a courtyard filled with Bonsai. There, various members of the local societies had either donated or were caring for a large number of bonsai trees. This juniper (could be a cypress, I'm not sure) is one of my favorites. They also had bonsai pomegranate and grape vines, complete with fruit.





Some of the details that I'd like to remember for when I get the urge to finally do something about my yard. I love the half-moon bridge and willow, but I like the zigzag path/bridge through the bamboo more. The rock wall that held back the hillside from the stone stream consisted of a variety of black granite slabs, some were smooth polish, some were rough cut, and some looked like leftovers. It was interesting in that it had texture, but it was calming in that it was of a consistent material.


Also, this "river" of mondo grass that wandered from the path outside the bonsai courtyard and down into the more native garden. It was placed under the oak trees and had large rocks bordering the curves so it seemed to flow naturally down the hill. It was also bordered by hostas, nandinas, azaleas, rhodes, and lilies. Although very green in the heat of the summer, I cannot begin to imagine what it would look like in the spring. I really think this would be awesome on my uphill yard. Assuming of course, that I could convince the deer not to eat it, and the moles not pillage it.

Saturday - Shopping & Eating in LA

Saturday morning I made my "famous" buttermilk biscuits for my hosts and slathered on lots of homemade strawberry jam.

Afterwards, we headed out to a yarn store - the Knitter's Studio (not pictured). I had found a place on Friday, but that store was full of discontinued, acrylic and novelty yarns, so I was sadly disappointed and will not review them. The Knitter's Studio, however, was just what I was looking for. They had cubbies wrapped around the perimeter of the store, nicely organized by color, style and maker. It was a joy to fondle the cashmere and silk yarns. I ended up with four skeins of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed in a beautiful aubergine color. I have to say aubergine instead of eggplant since Debbie Bliss is an English company. After feeding the parking meter three times (!) I managed to make my purchases so we could move on. If I lived in LA, they would be one of my favorite yarn stores. They were setting up for a beginning knitting class around the work table, complete with cupcakes & coffee.

We then headed to an extra large art & craft supply store called Pearl. They had a great selection of goodies for all your creative needs. However, I had to say no for purchases since I didn't really have a project in the works that I could legitimately buy for. I even passed on the sketch & notebooks! Can you believe it? Mostly because I couldn't find them when we were ready to check out.

By this time we were starting to feel a bit of a hunger clench in our bellies, so we headed in the direction of the ocean and ended up on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. I had suggested sushi since I don't get many takers in my family, and ended up at this interesting Balinese looking place called Monsoon. I ended up with a Rainbow Roll and a beef noodle bowl. I flustered the poor waiter by asking what he would have to eat for lunch. I wasn't picky about what to eat, just wanted something good. My friend had the Saikyo Yaki Black Cod, which is marinated in Miso Paste before it's cooked. My goodness, that was yummy. If I ever see it on another menu, I'll be having that for sure. The decor was pure Asian tongue-in-cheek, complete with brass dragon lanterns from the palm leaf ceiling and a stone "happy" fertility god in the ladies room. Fun!

The architecture in Downtown Santa Monica is unique. They are trying to infuse the city with a sense of community, so all new & remodel work is going with three tiers. The bottom floor is retail space, the second floor office space, and the third floor housing. Evidently, it's being snapped up, because there is no where to turn without seeing some new construction. But, for the older buildings, you have to look up to see the more interesting parts. We were parked on an upper level of a garage, so I got to take pictures looking down on some

of the details. A long stop at Michael's had me lusting after beads, but I don't need a new set of tools! I put them back again. And again. And again.

So what do we do then? Head to another bead store, called Ritual Adornments. We wandered around, running our fingers through the lovely pieces of stone, glass, wood, and other fabulousness. I wish I had taken out my camera - a bowl of skull beads would have been a perfect Halloween photo op. Ah well. I still managed not to snag any beads on my shopping trip.

The sun was past the mid-day point, way past by this time, and we had an hour or so left on the parking meter, so we hit the beach for a walk in the waves. We hiked up our pants, took our shoes off and headed up the coast line, with no destination in mind, just enjoying the last of the sun and the waves splashing. Just enough time to get a little bit of sun and exercise.

Headed back to the apartment for some homemade guacamole and chips and watching Phelps win yet another race. All in all a good day.

Santa Barbara Mission - The first stop

The drive down to LA is about 400 miles, or 7-ish hours. I knew I was going to hit rush hour traffic, no matter what time I got there, so I planned for a stop in Santa Barbara to visit a historical landmark, the Santa Barbara Mission. There were 21 Catholic Missions established in California, and this is the first one I have visited - at least intentionally. I know very little about them, other than they exist, because frankly, I took Texas history, not California history in grade school. Although I should know more, this was a tourist stop for me, hopefully with the potential for some interesting photographs. Next time, I'll know more, thanks to wikipedia.

My basic understanding is that the Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order established a line of Missions near the coast of California, both as a means to indoctrinate the local Indian tribes, but also to provide a safe route from the Los Angeles to San Francisco areas. This route is called "El Camino Real" which explains all the roads so named in the area. Hey, learn something new every day. The road way is marked with bells on a hook, a signpost that was developed in more recent history due to the lack of standard signage when the roadway was first established as a state highway.

Now, I can't tell if this is a recent development, but it appears that the Mission attempted to recreate the architecture of the Spanish homeland, both through the liberal applications of arches, tile roofs, carved railings, and also through the splendor of the intricate stone work in the cathedrals. However, instead or outfitting the mission with stone, the adobe plaster is painted to look like stone. Again, I don't know if this is modern or historical decoration. But, having been to some of the cathedrals in Europe, the details are similar. The columns seen in the picture are flat to the wall, painted to look like marble, as well as the cornice surrounding the doorway. The floral stone caps where arches meet in the ceiling of the cathedral - painted on the adobe. It feels primitive, like the Indians who may have painted it.

A walk through the cemetery gave me a better sense of history. This gateway feels more like the original architecture than the clean and bright interior of the chapel. Things are a little more rustic, down to earth, and not quite as polished.

I don't know what this bear was doing on the grounds, but I love the spareness of his form. All in all, it was a good stop. I think I may try and do a series of Mission stops and put together some kind of blurb book for my future tourist needs.

Have a good day!

Home Again

Home now... The trip was most excellent - the people, the food, the sights and sounds, the shopping. It was really just exactly what I needed. I took 250 pix, so you know it's going to take some time to download, sort and figure out what I want to post. But just a quick note to let you know I'm home safe and sound.

Thanks for checking in on me!

Taking a Trip

I'm headed down to LA for a quick visit with one of my best high school friends. I hadn't spoken to her for - oh - probably a year, but when I picked up the phone, it was tho no time had passed. I'm bumming alone around LA on Friday, and then on Saturday & Sunday I'll get some girl time.

I'm driving down in the KitKar so I shouldn't need a map, just final addresses. One day, if they don't already, they will put the search function into the nav system as well. I guess I better make sure I know where I want to go, even if I don't know how to get there.

All this to say, I'll be offline until Tuesday. Here's hoping for some really good photos and stories (shouldn't be a problem!). Have a great weekend!

A bowl full of summer

I was at a restaurant the other night and ordered a salad. Alongside of the of the nicely dressed greens and lightly seared Ahi Tuna were three round slabs of tomato. I'd say they were about 4" in diameter, pink and firm like Styrofoam. Don't even bother.

What we have here however, are three tiny tomatoes that have been waiting patiently on the deck for the perfect moment of ripeness. They span the summer spectrum of red to yellow all in the same fruit, and are firm and juicy at the same time.

Seasoned with some kosher salt, cracked pepper and a side of mayo, it's a sweet bowl full of summer sunshine.

Fighting with Yarn

Over the weekend, I took some time to start (yet another) yarn project. I wanted something that didn't feel quite so overwhelming. Like a sweater, or the scarf that's been hidden deep in bag for more than a year, or the 20 gajillion toys I need to make for the boy-o's (just kidding - you know I love you!)

Socks are actually much more complicated and yet easier than you would think. I wanted to design my own sock pattern - it's just a matter of matching up gauge with the yarn and choosing a stitch pattern that will work for you.

But what you see above, well, that toe has been knit three times - once the gauge swatch lied so I had to re-do it for the smaller gauge, then, I didn't like the lace/cable pattern I picked - the 6 stitch cable is too lumpy to actually wear on your foot, and then a white foot showing through dark purple yarn - ummmm, not very attractive. So that was frogged back, while I thumbed through multiple stitch guides looking for something else. I tried a 3 stitch mock cable, but because of the "eastern" layout of my stitch work, that's more difficult than an actual cable. I tried a shell rib - but the repeat was too close together. Frogged again. But learning every time - no lace in a dark yarn, small cable shifts, longer repeats.

Back to the stitch-ionaries. I pulled the "Knitting on the Edge" from the shelf, because I know I really need a rib stitch, and she's got pretty ones gathered together in one space. Maypole Rib it is. It suits my needs. It's only crossing two stitches at a time, there are no holes in the pattern, and the repeat is 8 rows long. I think that in a blue/black/grey/brown yarn this would be fairly manly, but in my Velvet Plum Jitterbug by Colinette, it's feminine enough to suit me. So it's my own design, and I'm keeping the notes for it on my Ravelry account here.

So we may fight, but I'll getcha in the end!

Found

Hidden deep in the messy drawers of my kitchen. Tucked inside a oven mitt. Waiting patiently, maybe since Thanksgiving (hmmmm?). Only to be discovered last night.

When I pulled the mitt out, there was something hard inside, and given our recent escapades with the rodents, I was afraid -afraid that somebody had crawled inside and was now mummified. You can imagine my relief to find, no, it was only one of my many plastic mice. Silly sister!

Thanks for the smile...

May 2001 - Pineapple Anyone?

When was the last time you cleaned out your pantry? It's been a while for me, but yesterday found me emptying the shelves of everything and taking stock of what's been hiding back there. About half the stuff has a "best by" date of sometime prior to today. And it's a lot of the same thing, over and over again. Like 6 cans of Chicken Noodle Soup. And 12 boxes of Jell-o/Pudding Mix. Beans and Diced Tomatoes.

So I'm going to set up an "interim" pantry - where I have to use one or two items from the old stock every day. Most of it's not bad, it's just not "best". The old rule about canned items was that as long as they weren't leaking, dented, or off in color or smell, they were probably OK. So we'll use up what we have. And how bad is Jell-o or Pudding going to get in it's hermetically sealed little pouch in the box? Especially when it's sugar-free?

What's going back in the main pantry are the current items. Doesn't look like much does it? I mean really, what are you going to do with four cans of boiled peanuts? And 6 cans of hominy - just because you can't find it in the first place. You know it's in there, but it's been buried under who-knows-what. And just how many jars of Mayhaw Jelly does one diabetic South Georgian need?

I can tell that we have a definite Southern influence in our pantry - jams & jellies, cornbread, black-eyed peas, hominy... But there's some regional influence as well - like 5 different brands of barbecue sauce. And 4 different salsas. And fish sauce, and rose water, and anchovy fillets.

What's the oddest thing in your pantry?

03/01 Setting Goals

Yesterday was a day for dreaming and scheming. So, in an attempt to get some things done around here, I'm going to post my list of goals for the week. It makes for boring reading, but it should help me get on the way for March.

• Notify Recruiters that I'm ready to look at contract work
• Make one Cold Call
• Sign up for SEC Reporting Class
• Clean the Garage
• Make Progress on Finishing the Blue Bathroom Vanity
• Maintain the house, daily
• Send in Passport Paperwork
• Send in 401k Paperwork
• Challenge BBS to Red Photo Challenge
• Participate in 100 days
• Blog Daily
• Work on Quilt - have 1/3 of blocks put together
• Exercise three times
• Catch up on Reading

See, told you it was boring. The good news is that BBS is happy to be working with me on the photo challenge. And I like the combos we've posted so far. We'll see just how much I actually get done this week. Love you later!

Day Twenty (or Thanksgiving Wrap-up)

I took some pictures today, hoping for my next large scale project. I think I am going to do a 6'x4' painting of some of these tulips for my new and improved exercise room. I love working on the large scale, and I'm learning so many things by doing it myself - no art classes.

As for the wrap-up... the BBS and family were here and I don't know about them, but I had a blast. We ended up at Yosemite and the Monterey Aquarium as "events" and had a couple of nothing but play days. I took over 8G in pictures, and the food, well, the food left something to be desired. I get teased all the time for scheduling my Thanksgiving day - when I need to cook something, do I have the oven/stove space, what serving dishes will I use - that I decided to fly by the seat of my pants. After all, I've been doing this for 15 years or so, I should know what I am doing. Turns out, the schedule is my lifesaver. The food was all good, just not done when it needed to be done. It was more like a traveling feast. I am definitly going to try and brine a chicken sometime in the next twelve months and see if that will make a difference.

Day Twelve (or Any Random Saturday)

Why is it that the Saturday's are always filled with chores, and tasks, and to do lists and not so much with the fun things in life? I know it's because we work all week long, and in the evenings we just sit our honeys on the sofa watching TV, but I'd like to change that in my life.

This morning I've been watching out the window on the deck and the d*&m squirrels are running back and forth along the railing eating everything green. I've tried to go out there with the BB gun, but they disappear when they hear the screen door open. I am not going to get any apples off the tree this year, thanks to the birds and the squirrels.

This morning tho, I did see a buck run across the yard. I see doe all the time, but a buck is few and far between. I think it must have been September, we had eleven doe and two bucks in the space of 15 minutes walk past on the deer trail right outside our living room window.

Things to do, and posting another entry is not going to get them done. I leave for Austin tomorrow night, and I'd like to get the house picked up before I leave. I'd like to kill the damn squirrels too.

Day Ten (or A Shrimp Haiku)

A Shrimp Haiku

Yummy tasty shrimp
Swimming around linguine
A tomato sea

Day Five (or Home Again)

It wasn't supposed to rain last night - the front was supposed to be headed north. But there I was all snuggled under the blankets, next to my honey, in the easy light of the one lamp, listening to the rain on the roof. Thank you. (Quilts by G'ma-watermelon Pattern Unknown, MIL-blue Storm at Sea, FleaMkt Purchase-Made in India red & white Postage Stamp)

In the quiet of the morning, I've had a chance to get my first cup of cream & coffee. There's no cars rushing by on the highway, not even the sounds of the neighbors getting their Saturday morning chores done. The sun is starting to climb the ridge line and brushing the tops of our redwood trees in the clean light. It'll be noon before it reaches the clearing, but that's OK. I need the peace of a morning like this. Even tho there are always a million and one things to do, I need this time to gather my thoughts, to savor the sounds of nothing. It's actually quieter (more quiet?) than normal - I think the birds must be sleeping in too.

In the spirit of "write it down, get it done" I want to set a few tasks for the weekend:

1. Unpack and get the laundry done ~ I am the worst at this... I hate seeing the suitcases strewn about the house, but all I want to do is be home.


2. Cut and prepare to mail the quilts to MIL ~ She'll be looking for them now, and I hope she'll be able to get working on them. I think they will help keep her mind active and busy.


3. Work on my creative space ~ The kiddo's will be here soon, especially when you subtract the time I'll be in Austin, and they need a place to sleep. And, BBSis is going to be interested in what we can do when she's here.

That should be more than enough. Keep it easy and don't overwhelm yourself.