ROOTS & WINGS

Collecting Plants & Making Fairy Gardens...

and adding Succulents to the patio wall.

Buying Tropical Plants with super cool flowers 

at the most spectacular nursery along the Newport Coast,

one of my favorite places in the whole world.

And collecting seashells at the sea shore in Corona Del Mar...

with my beautiful boy last weekend.

Then receiving a glorious orchid bouquet the next weekend...

with brunch down in Laguna Beach

and a pit stop to see the Rescued Seals.

A visit to a new yarn store,

and time made to place flowers on my mother' grave...

with my incredibly thoughtful and patient daugther.

A mother couldn't feel more loved or cherished.

Thank you Zach and Danielle for always coming back to the nest that I built for you,

for taking time out of your hectic & crazy lives to spend these days with me.

What a special treat from the both of you.

I couldn't ask for more wonderful children.

Everyday with the two of you in my life has been a blessing and a joy.

Making Memories

As my children grow older I see them less and less,

so that when I do we try to make it as special as possible.

For New Years Day my son brought his girlfriend down and

we spent the day in Laguna Beach,

brunching at Las Brisas and checking out the sea life at low tide.

The kids rolled up their pant legs and went exploring..

while Jim and I enjoyed the view

 and the gorgeous Southern California weather up top.

Put Another Candle on My Birthday Cake...

I was another year older on the 31st of March, and my husband, children and students made it memorable. 

Dinner with my husband at our favorite resturant in Laguna Beach, The Lumberyard.  Flowers from my son's garden (above), and the most heartfelt card form my daughter (below), plus the full line of Perricom face products from her job at Planet Beauty.  I think they are working Dani, cuz I feel younger already  :)

And a big, beautiful cake from the student council kids that I had the pleasure of sharing with my 5th period ceramics students (we ate it so fast that I didn't think to get a pix)  LOL





And calla lilies from senior Michelle Lee, and Dutch Iris from my ex's garden.

And a day spent with my son at my favorite nursery, Roger's Gardens in Corona Del Mar.

My favorite flowers in bloom, Hydrengas.

And a bright spot of nastursums below.

The most magical hangings made from the shells of coconuts.

Zach found something special, a colorful Japanese Maple with the brightest red truck, and green leaves with red all around the tips.

This fabulous raised vegetable bed, and all the veggies ready for harvesting (2 summers ago Zach had a little business and built several of these for his friends parent's backyards)

And then off we drove down the coast thru Laguna Beach to it's southern most tip, the Montage Hotel.  My new daughter-in-law told me they have raised veggie beds there that we had to check out.

But first we had to check out the view from the top of the hotel.

The Front View... 

The view to the right...

and the view to the left. 

Spectacular!

And finally the raised beds.  Five of them in a row.  The hotel cooks send out their helpers to pick the herbs and lettaces to use in the kitchens.

And Aunt Stella, this lady bug is for you.  I couldn't resist.  :)

Crystal Cove over Thanksgiving Break

I was extremely thankful this year for many things.  One of which was a week off break this last Thanksgiving Holiday.  Yeap, a whole week off, and it was soooo good!!  Jim and I had lots of fun getting our Xmas shopping done, getting special projects out of the way and just hanging out with the family.  But our most memorable day was driving down to the beach to explore Crystal Cove.  This piece of coastline has been turned into a State Park and is known for it's beauty, it's seclusion and it's rustic cabins; some of which have been renovated and can be rented out on a daily basis (although they are booked up 7 months ahead, so good luck!).

 The houses were built throughout the 1920's thru the 40's for a total of 46 cottages.  Tent camping was also very big there in the 1950' and 60's.  All of the homes are very weathered and lots of people come here just to visit and take pix.  In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  There is even a coffee table book of the place.

Below is one of the cabins that has been remodeled, you can see it's being rented, the man on the balcony is enjoying the gorgeous day.

Above is one of the homes that hasn't been redone.  You can see how the ocean air has weathered the wood. They have a little museum on the premises and right now they are having a gallery showing of all the weathered objects that have survived over the years and been collected.  They even have opened up one of the homes so you can go inside and see how it must have looked in the 50's.  So cool!

These two shots were my favorites of this old mailbox with the ivy vines climbing it's sides and the worn out stairs below. 

They even have a cute little beach cafe (below) so if you can't get a cabin you can stop in for bite.  My daughter Dan has actually stayed in 3 different cabins here overnight with girlfriends families.  Lucky girl. 

It was such a magnificent day that we continued along the coast to Main Beach in Laguna, for some people watching, sitting in the fresh air and ocean spray, shopping and lunch.  

This is Main Beach looking in both directions.  The guy below thought we wanted his pix and got overly friendly with us.  I don't think so buddy, I  was actually going for the lite house in the background.  LOL

Weekend Adventures - Part I - Laguna Sunset

Friday nite while Jimmy and I were driving in my new Mini with the top down, scarfing down oh so yummy $1 cheeseburgers and fries, we decided to take a drive down to Laguna Beach to watch the sun set and walk in the surf. We got there just in time and were able to get a good parking spot next to Main Beach where all the action is. We either went out into the water a little to far or the waves were bigger then we anticipated, but by the time the sun had set Jim was soaking wet LOL. He wasn't laughing though, just me. I think we may have followed those cheeseburgers and fries with some frozen yogurt, mum mum good!