FEEDING FRENZY...

"Chicken Little" @ Mom's ~ 5.27.12

W.O.R.K.

this week has been a 

"feeding frenzy"

Stayed up late last night, fixing a report...

I felt a little

"plucked over"

& 

"foggy"

ALL-DAY!

It's always like this

at the end of the school year!

reports, deadlines, planning, 

 presentations,

&

 celebrations!! 

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 5.27.12

cactus on Mom's porch ~ all pics taken 5.27.12

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY was two days ago! JPE & I were gone for the Memorial Day Weekend - just now getting around to posting last week's SHS.

Check Ashley's blog to see if I'm the last to post!!

The SHS words were:

BENEATH YOUR FEET, CAPTURING MOVEMENT, TEXTURE, FACE YOUR FEARS & CURRENTLY. 

BENEATH YOUR FEET

Standing outside Mom's back patio, this is the view {my stocking toes} BENEATH YOUR FEET.... Mom & Dad gathered & moved these rocks from the house I grew up in... there's comfort in surrounding yourself with things that bring to mind memories of times past!

CAPTURING MOVEMENT

JPE, mom & I went to the Huntington Gardens & Library on Sunday afternoon. Here's a statue of Hermes (the Greek god) or Mercury (Roman god)... his winged helmet signified his role as a "messenger" between humans & god... my best example of  CAPTURING MOVEMENT. 

TEXTURE

In addition to the colors in this cactus, don't you find the TEXTURE of the pink protrusions (leaves?) slightly intriguing? are they soft? will they stick you when you touch them? If... when, my brother reads this post, I'll add the plant name... where is he when I need him?

FACING YOUR FEARS

I've worn prescription glasses since I was in 4th grade. I've always worried about going blind. You might say this statue is an example of FACING MY FEARS... I must add that I don't worry about blindness as much as I used to! My daughter, SLE, was diagnosed with STARGARDT'S (juvenile macular degeneration) at age 15 & she's a dynamo... vision loss has not stopped her!

CURRENTLY

I think life is "blowing me a raspberry"... even though I completed a state-required report, I learned there continues to be an error in the way my organization allocates resources... CURRENTLY, I'm upset & rather discouraged!!!

Join us next week? 

Good Luck hunting for this week's words...

SHINE, FAST, LEFT, PEACE, & PLAIN.

WHAT A TREAT...

"JPE & JAY"
Sunday, May 20, 2012 ~ back patio

"UMM... I'LL TRY A WALNUT!"

"WHAT??  WE HAVE TO SHARE?"

"AHH... I DON'T THINK SO!"

"I'LL TAKE MY TREAT AND..."

"... MAKE MY ESCAPE NOW! SEE YA LATER"

Off to So California tonight...

{JPE has a meeting Friday}

& we'll be visiting MOM...

JAY is watching over the house!

Will check in Friday?? or Saturday!

What are your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend?

LOVE IT...

Yesterday, a large package arrived... 

I had been alerted that something was being delivered!

I had NO idea that package would be

so large & contain a live plant!!

a bonsai GARDENIA...

has found its new home on the patio.

THANK YOU...

NB, Lydia & JMcG

for my Mother's Day gift.

LOVE U 

{off to the dentist... then work}

ECLIPSING TIME...

SUNDAY EVENING ~ MAY 20, 2012

On the Central Coast of California...

...the eclipse was beginning (5:06 pm)

SAFE WAY TO VIEW THE ECLIPSE...

{standing with our backs to the setting sun;

in front of neighbor's condo}

poke a pinhole in paper #1

the shadow of the eclipse will show on paper #2

ECLIPSE WAS SEEN IN MULTIPLE WAYS...

the leaves on the tree served as a filter

{tree in front of our condo}

(5:26 pm)

TREE PROVIDING A FILTER...

view looking UP...

{second story of our condo}

(5:33 PM)

ECLIPSE NEARING THE END!

(5:36 pm)

SOFTENING EDGES...

view against the waterdrain

(6:40 pm)

FINAL VIEW

in addition to the view...

we noticed the increased activity of the birds...

geese flew over our condo... birds shrilled their excitement...

there was a "positive energy" floating in the air...

what a way to end the weekend!!!

DID YOU SEE THE ECLIPSE IN YOUR AREA?

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 5.20.12

"a WELL-OILED MACHINE"

My weekend has been incredibly productive...

I feel like a "well-oiled machine"...

Saturday, I tidied the garage... SO, bags of thrift shop donations will be picked up Tues; stuff set aside for storage; & five bags of trash ready to be tossed out. 

Today, I spray painted the patio furniture... coastal fog reeks havoc {ummm... rust} on patio furniture!

Seriously cut into my camera & editing time... my SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY post is a "tad" late.

Here are this week's words: RAINBOW, FLUFFY, LETTERS, METAL & TREES.

RAINBOW

Boy... I really struggled with this word. I didn't want to dig into my photo archives for a picture of a RAINBOW... I planned to create a RAINBOW of buttons, but played with this raffia... although I'm missing some colors, this reminds of a RAINBOW!

FLUFFY

We walked two mornings in a row! {perhaps that is the reason I have so much energy?} Our "LOOP WALK" takes about 35-45 minutes... with some up-hill - get your heart pounding & some cooling down - a gradual walk down-hill... SOOOO, I think all that activity meant... today was a pancake day!! JPE makes the best, FLUFFIEST pancakes ever... and we topped it with the strawberry jam {he canned a double batch, last weekend}. YUM!

LETTERS 

This was pulled from my photo archives. I LOVE TYPOGRAPHY... this photo was taken the summer JPE & I rented a flat in LONDON ~ we visited the Portobello Market, Nottinghill {tube station}... wishing I had purchased these LETTERS! why I didn't, I don't know???

METAL

Check out this cool METAL clock... It's made of bicycle gears... found in a store window downtown SLO... you can see a bit of the reflection from the window in the photo; sorry about that!

TREES

Sorry... this is a "stretch"... if you were an elf or a gnome, the dew-heavy grasses could be considered a TREE. Saw the sun shining on the grasses ~ ran back to grab my camera ~ snapped a shot & took the camera back home!

Sometimes, I surprise myself with the way I interpret the SHS words. For me, I enjoy visiting all the other "hunters" who post on Ashley's site, Ramblings & Photos. The RAINBOW pictures are my favorite this week!!! I dare you to take a peek!

Wanna "hunt" for next week's words?

Look for: BENEATH YOUR FEET, 

CAPTURING MOVEMENT, 

TEXTURE, FACE YOUR FEARS, & CURRENTLY.

WHEW! A WEEKEND...

pic taken in Ojai ~ a year ago

What's on your agenda for this weekend?

ME? 

you're asking me?

more de-cluttering! 

{oh... JPE wants to see the Avengers tonight!}

PULP FICTION!!

yesterday's surprise!

I thought about contacting my clever blogger friend, MANDY over at MANDYLAND to write this post....


But, I'm still dealing with a day-old mess & didn't get around to calling her! Besides, she's a single mom with two children (under the age of 6), who works full-time, gardens, reads, writes for other blogs & posts on FaceBook. Whew! I couldn't guilt her into helping!


Yesterday, I dumped & started a load of towels, washcloths & some ratty pj's before heading to work. Nothing unusual about that! Don't you start a load of laundry before you leave the house in the morning?


I returned home late (after 6:30pm), went to pull the wet laundry out, and YIKES!!! what a mess! it looked like a mouse had shredded paper to build a nest! upon closer examination... this wet, yucky mess had black marks... what ?@!&# (no, I didn't utter a single nasty word)...

I pulled out the wet laundry! THEN realized... I had WASHED a paper back book!!


Uh! oh! I remember NOW!!! thinking I would save myself a trip upstairs --- I had tossed the book on the pile of laundry, dumped it ALL in the washer, and walked away --- forgetting to remove the paperback from the top of the laundry pile!


Disgusting mess! have you EVER tried to peel wet paper from soggy, damp towels? leaving them outdoors for a day to dry out didn't help separate the soggy, ashen, black pulp from the towels. 


This is where I need Mandy... morale of the story? lesson learned? what catchy phrase do I use to wrap this post up??

Don't air your dirty laundry in public?

WHAT'S GOING ON DOWNTOWN?

A couple of weeks ago, JPE & I went to dinner

with a weekend guest...

We enjoy sharing the "sights" in our community!

AND, we are never surprised by what we see...

The roosters were having a TGIF on the greenbelt behind

BILL'S PLACE

(one of the local bars)

What unusual sight would we see in your community?

THEY NEVER GAVE UP!

AVILA BEACH, CA ~ Harford Pier

Avila Beach (pronounced AH-vee-lah), CA, is a favorite beach community of Central Coast residents. Actually, you might say it's the little town that "never gave up"...


For those of you who have never been to Avila Beach... it's been called a "cul-de-sac" community as there is only one road into & out of San Luis Bay! as you can imagine, this created problems for people who work in Avila (at the harbor, Diablo Nuclear Power Plant, the golf course, or hotels & small businesses) & those who vacation or enjoy the sunshine in this tiny beach community.

Sand Luis Bay Inn & Golf Course (large arrow)

Our family spent long, summer days at Avila... more specifically, at the "mommy beach" (underneath the pier pilings --- lower right hand arrow)! Taking our picnic lunch, beach toys, and towels, we'd spend the day playing in the secluded inlet of water that followed the "ebb & flow" of the tides.

if it was foggy, we would spend some time on the swings... 

looking south from "mommy beach"

In the mid-1990's it was determined that the oil tanks on the top of the hill had been leaking oil into the sand & surrounding community. After years of negotiation, Unocal agreed to clean-up its mess.... so little town & beach were closed down for a couple of years, while the restoration took place.

Avila Beach doesn't have the "funky" beach store fronts or bar (where the "bikers" began congregating on Friday afternoon & stayed until late into the evening on Sunday)... Mr Rick's, was a beloved establishment, so the "biker bar" ended up being rebuilt, AND was plopped down closer to the Avila Beach Pier & Yacht Club...

original sign design... new site

The Avila Market, Custom House (restaurant) and the Sea Barn (sells swimsuits, towels, flipflops, beach toys, etc) were all rebuilt according to specifications from the business owners. Additional businesses have been added, including Joe Momma's Coffee Shop & Beachstay rooms for rent...

Sea Barn with a newly redesigned sign

Keeping the town designed around the location of the Avila Pier and Avila Beach Yacht Club was key to the restoration of this tiny community...  Other benefits of the redesign, were the additions of a pedestrian walkway (which blocked off the road, creating a safer place to walk), a seawall for sitting (to people-watch - my FAVE activity), wheelchair ramps, outdoor showers & a clean bathroom facility for public use. 

Stained glass window from inside the Avila Beach Yacht Club

But, the best part of the redesign was the addition of permanent artwork! 

The "Circle of Life" tilework project depicts the evolution of Avila Beach from its earliest beginnings - including tiles that remind us that this land once belonged to the Chumash Indians... 

and one of the California Missions was built here...

represents San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, built in 1772

...when California became a state (1850)

& even a tile that commemorates the Avila Beach clean-up efforts!

(click HERE for the SUNSET MAGAZINE
article about AVILA BEACH)

and...
...SO, in the words of Heraclitus 

(a ancient Greek philospher)

"You cannot step twice into the same river, 

for other waters are continually flowing on."

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 5.13.12

"Tile TIMELINE" ~ AVILA BEACH

MOTHER'S DAY +

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

what could be better???

Didn't post much last week....

but, looking to change that this week!!

Some photos of this week's words: 

SIDEWALK, INSPIRING, TIME, CLOSE-UP

& WITH MIRROR

SIDEWALK

The "redesigned" SIDEWALK in Avila Beach! Lovely tile-work details the evolution of this formerly "funky" beach community. I'll post more about how Avila Beach acquired this sidewalk in tomorrow's post!

INSPIRING

This picture was not taken intentionally for SHS. For those of you who know me {personally}, you know I'm a "quote" & "self-help" junkie. I love books that provide INSPIRATION... I was practicing taking nighttime pictures... & didn't plan to use this pic, so it's really bugging me that there are two specks of white dust next to the book.

TIME

To welcome 2000, this clock was erected outside the San Luis Obispo County Court house after being donated by the Arnold Volny Family. The inscription on the dial face reads, "Spend TIME with those you love" ~ JPE & I were in SLO yesterday to grab a bite to eat & see the movie, "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" ~ funny title... it's actually an adorable love story!

CLOSE-UP

I didn't realize how many colorful pieces of art I'll see when we travel to PERU this summer. Here's a CLOSE-UP of two pieces in my current collection. The HEART was purchased from THE FOLK TREE & the other item is a Peruvian WHISTLE (which SLE brought back from her trip to PERU). I've posted about them HERE & HERE!!!

WITH MIRROR

I carry my Canon Point & Shoot & I-Phone in my purse ~ good thing, because JPE pointed out this photo op! This is SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera)! Before we crossed the street towards the JCPenney's building, we looked up & saw this reflection. I think this qualifies for WITH MIRROR... (the trees across the street are planted in front of the GAP).

I've heard from my girls

(either by email, phone, or written cards)...

I LOVE my girls... 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

to all

the beautiful girls... ladies... special women

in my life &

cyber-space!!!