WILLOW'S COTTAGE

Friends, Flowers, Walks, Words

2012-01-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

I love recording my week by focusing on the best events, the large and small delights. It helps me stay grounded in thankfulness. Fortunately, Susanne's weekly Friday Fave Five gives me the perfect opportunity to do just that.

1. For years, The Professor and I have enjoyed taking walks. We've walked in cities in the US, in England, in Indonesia. Almost daily, we walk in our neighborhood, and then we try to vary the routine by hiking in a different location once a week. On Sunday afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine between rain storms and return to Ventura for another walk. This time we started near the Ventura Pier and walked north. I kept looking back at the pier. Something was wrong. There were no people. It was empty.

We found out later that due to the extremely high surf, the city had closed the pier Sunday morning. We hadn't realized that there was a high surf warning for the coast from Ventura County all the way to the Mexican border.

We walked all the way to the mouth of the Ventura River, the same river where we had walked along the rail trail path last week.

Surfers Point, where the river flows in to the Pacific Ocean, is a famous surfing destination.

There were a few brave, die hard surfers attempting to ride the big ones.

2. One evening this week, we enjoyed hosting friends for dinner. Great food, great conversation.

3. Once in a while, I treat myself to flowers from the farmers market. Lilia, the flower lady, knows I prefer a small bouquet of non-fragrant blooms. These were a perfect choice.

4. Rain. Southern California doesn't get much rain and we need it. Two little storms blew through this week bringing a few inches of precipitation. It was not so blustery and violent that there were floods or slides. A more gentle rain fell. And one storm arrived on Monday so I didn't have to be out in it.

5. I love words. I love reading. When I am home after teaching my writing classes, I don't want to talk anymore for awhile. I sit and read and fill up my empty word tank again. Sometimes I read blogs. Sometimes I read books. I just read.

Words, walks, flowers and friends filled my week. How did you invest your days?

Gardens and Hikes and No Snow

2012-01-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

This mid January edition of Willow's Week has been brought to you and hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. You can participate too by clicking on this link and signing up with Mr. Linky.

1. Work on the back bank gardening project is progressing! Our dear friends the Salcedos arrived Saturday afternoon to help us with some of the heavy work like shoving railroad ties around, piling dirt, and planting our California native manzanitas, sages and grasses. We celebrated with dinner after.

2. On Monday afternoon, The Professor and I took a ramble along the Ventura River rail-trail path. It was a perfect day for a hike and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new-to-us trail.

3. No Snow. But we have white in the landscape. All the flowering plum trees are bursting in to bloom. In January.

4. Zicam. It's this girl's best friend when I feel a cold coming on. And echinacea tea.

5. How does killing my cell phone count as a fave? My phone died a sad and violent death at my own hand, literally. I dropped it. It's broken. For a week, I've been phoneless and I've realized how dependent (addicted?) on it I had become for everything from checking email and facebook and IMing and texting to finding out the time. And talking to people, even. It's been a wake up call. And I'm relieved that my phone is the one on the plan that's insured, which was wise planning on The Professor's part.

Bonus: Younger son, The Grad Student, celebrated his birthday this week. His birth, a little premature due to the fact that I had contracted malaria during the eighth month of pregnancy, caused us some trepidation. But thankfully he was a fine healthy baby. Because of this, he'll always be my 'miracle boy'. Happy Birthday!

More Getty Villa

2012-01-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Just because I love the photos...

architectural details

Even our shadows on the wall below the dining patio fascinate me.

Ramblings and Routines

2012-01-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

Friday Fave Five

An account of the best parts of my week

An exercise in reminding myself to focus on the positive

Hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story

1. A Friday out. We've visited the Getty Villa before, but we decided we really wanted to spend the afternoon there. Admission is free although there is a parking charge. Lunch packed, we drove through Malibu Canyon and out to the Pacific Ocean and down Hwy 1 to The Getty Villa where J. Paul Getty built a replica of an ancient Roman villa simply to store his collection of antiquities.

2. Another adventure. On Monday, we drove the other direction--to Santa Barbara to visit the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Most of the garden has been left in a natural state and it was a pleasure to walk the paths under the canopy of the gigantic California Live Oak trees.

From the creek bed, we climbed the steps

and at the top of one of the hills we could see across the city to the ocean and beyond to the island.

When we turned around, we faced the rugged coastal mountains. No, that's not snow; it's sand colored bare rock.

3. Coffee with a best buddy, just to catch up after the holidays.

4. I love it when my students have birthdays. Sometimes, like this week, they bring cookies to class to share.

5. Getting back in a routine is always good. Besides teaching classes again (see #4), I have enjoyed the morning lattes which The Professor provides and the evening walks we've taken together. The advantage of routine is knowing that I'm going to walk and do other physical exercise which I certainly need because it's simply part of 'my day'. Routines keep me accountable.

That was Willow's Week

How about you?

A Day to Remember Always

2012-01-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Friday's Fave Five is a reminder to review your week and focus on your favorite events. I love thinking back over my week and choosing the best of the best to remember. We spent most of our Christmas holiday in San Diego with our precious family. Here are five faves from one of my fave days.

On a perfect sunny day, we visited the San Diego Zoo. Seven adults to corral four preschoolers. Mostly, the adults had control. We certainly all had the best time!

1. A flock of flamingoes greeted us as we entered the San Diego Zoo main gate.

2. Gorillas are absolutely fascinating!

3. Awwww...what a sweet panda.

4. At last! A vegan polar bear!

5. Is this guy for real?

Sometimes watching the little ones watching the zoo animals is the most fun.

There is no way we could see the whole zoo in one day. We'll have to return again and again. Don't you agree?

Thanks, Susanne for hosting Friday's Fave Five. Click the link to participate.

I Could Do That

2012-01-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

Note: I wrote this little essay on Christmas Day and waited to post it. Not sure why I was hesitant to publish these thoughts. Anyway, here they are:

I have often wondered what my true career, my passion, is. I love my job teaching writing and composition. But I fell into teaching quite by accident. In fact, my choice of an English major in college was simply a matter of convenience and not of passionate interest.

This is what happened. I was representing the college I was attending in a singing group and was told that I had to write up a little blurb about myself for a press release. One bit of pertinent information I needed to add was what my major was. Well, I was an undeclared freshman and being not as directed as some other students, I had no clue. So another singer in the group suggested, "Just put down 'English' and you can change it when you decide next year." Fall semester arrived, and since my stated major was 'English' I got signed up for Intro to Poetry and a special Literature class. I discovered that, Wow, I'm good at this and, you mean, I can read all day and it's considered studying? Being an English major was enjoyable although I really didn't pick it; it picked me.

Basically the same thing happened in my pursuit of a teaching credential. I was happily working in my post college position as a clerk/front desk/admin in a small office. Being one of those weird people who actually enjoys filing, I excelled in my job. But a friend (same one who steered me down the English major path, as a matter of fact) mentioned that the laws regarding granting of the elementary credential were changing and if I didn't finish what I'd started in my last year of college, I'd lose the opportunity to finish the teacher training. So I did it. But I think that, at some level, teaching chose me.

As much as I enjoy reading, literature, poetry, writing and teaching, I think that perhaps I missed my passion. I should have been a clothing designer.

I don't mean the Paris, New York, Milan style of fashion design. That type of designing annoys me. Fashion of that kind encourages women (and men) to buy clothing that they don't need with money that they don't have, to become quickly dissatisfied with those items of clothing that they bought with those dollars they didn't have, and to discard the shirts, skirts, slacks and shoes that they no longer want but which aren't worn out or even much used. No, I would never have wanted to be that kind of a designer.

I ought to be a knitwear designer, someone who develops patterns and knits sweaters to be worn by people who love the clothes they purchase and wear them until they're used up, not thrown aside or given away when the fashion moment is over. My family tells me that when we are strolling along a street, standing in line for coffee, or sitting in church or a meeting, I invariably focus on the sweater or hat being worn by someone in the vicinity. Mentally, I dissect the pattern and unravel the stitches. I work out the increases and decreases. Then I state, "I could do that." I'll never make designing and knitting a career. For one thing, in chronological years, I'm beyond the point of switching careers. Instead, I take my ability to knit and spin and turn it in to real hats and scarves and sweaters and warm the world. I can do that.

The Last One for the Year

2011-12-29T19:54:00.000-08:00

This is the last Friday Fave Five that I will post for 2011. Thank you, Susanne, for faithfully hosting FFF so we can focus on being grateful for the large and small blessings of the week.

The past week has been symbolic of the way the whole year has gone---busy, busy, busy. There has been almost no time or opportunity for online time. But my time has been taken up with much more important things.

1. We have been down almost at the Mexican border with California being 'Meema' and 'Bapa' to three very busy preschoolers. The New Boy has been getting to know the two little ones who may become his cousins.

2. The boys had a special day with Meema and Bapa. We rode the San Diego trolley around the city.

Watching out the window

Snuggling with Bapa for security

3. All my children were in the same city at the same time. This is a very unusual event, so unusual that we commemorated it with formal pictures.

The Four Siblings (in birth order from youngest to oldest)

4. Morning snuggles with The New Boy. he tiptoes into the room and peeks to see if we're awake. Then he jumps up on the bed and climbs in under the blankets to say, "Good morning!"

5. My Christmas present from The Professor: it's not something you can see, but it's something you can hear. He hired a piano tuner. When we're back at The Cottage, I'll be able to play my favorite tunes (such as Moonlight Sonata) without wincing. Thanks, Honey!

Happy New Year 2012 to everyone!

A Birthday

2011-12-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

My Dad

Along the (Mighty) Columbia River Highway

On the Oregon side

Summer 1942

(I know it was summer because he isn't wearing a coat and it's not raining)

This photo was taken when my dad was twenty years old. He had left the dairy farm where he had grown up in southwest Oregon. The youngest of three boys, he had had his fill of milking cows and mucking out stalls. So, shortly after he graduated from high school, he moved from Myrtle Point with several friends from the football team and took a position at Boeing near Seattle working on planes being built during the run up to the US's entrance into World War II. Soon after this picture was taken, Dad left for Army Air Force basic training.

Yesterday was his birthday. He would have been eighty-nine.

Not a White Christmas

2011-12-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

More like a Brown and Blue and Green Christmas

Just a few miles north of the Mexican Border

Fourth Week of Advent and Christmas Day

2011-12-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Or as The New Boy announces,

Happy Merry Christmas!

Third Week of Advent

2011-12-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

It's the third week of December. As of Friday, December 16, there are nine days until Christmas. Cards are arriving in the mailbox. Christmas music is playing in the house and car. Soon, soon, maybe I'll begin addressing envelopes (yes, I'm running really late this year). As always, since it's Friday, I'm pausing to post my Friday Fave Fives which is hosted each week by Susanne at her blog Living to Tell the Story.

1. My daughter's surgery last week was 'uneventful' and considered by the doctor to be 'successful'. I am thankful for wise and skillful surgeons.

2. My drive from near the Mexican border north through FOUR Southern California counties, much of it during rush hour traffic, took FOUR hours! I think that's a record for me. A facebook friend asked how I'd done that--it was truly mostly luck in choosing the fast lanes and ducking around the back-ups.

3. We have had alternating rain and sunshine. The rain we need because Southern California is an arid place. The sunshine we love because, well, because we're Southern California sunshine addicts.

4. I think I have received a year's supply of goodies as Christmas gifts from my very sweet students--chocolate truffles, peanut brittle, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate covered raspberry candies, to name just a few. Undoubtedly, I am going to need to ration these desserts out for the next fifty-two weeks and share them with family, friends and neighbors! But I'll keep the Starbuck's card for myself.

5. Anticipation! I am now on Christmas Break! Three weeks!

And this Sunday I will light the third Advent Candle.

Second Week of Advent

2011-12-08T23:20:00.000-08:00

It's Friday and time for Friday Fave Fives which is hosted by Susanne on her blog Living to Tell the Story. Firday is the day I look back on my week and think about what events or activities impressed me with grace and gratitude.

1. How many times during this week did I say, "Wow! It's SO clear!" (At least fifty!) Because the Santa Ana winds blew again most of the week, the skies were crystal clear and everywhere I turned, I could see the mountains and beaches and islands that I know are there but not always visible. We could see the silhouettes of the Channel Islands miles out from the coastline. And the sky itself provided rich beauty in brilliant clouds and blowing palm trees.

2. On Saturday and Sunday, we doggie-sat our friends' pit bull. They live near the beach so we took advantage of the location and walked along "The Strand". Windy days are perfect for kite flying on the beach.

We walked until the sun dropped below the horizon.

Sometimes boats really do sail off into the sunset.

3. Winds bring beauty to our area but they also can bring wild fires. On Saturday morning we had to detour from our usual exit to by our home because there was a fire right on the edge of the freeway less than a mile from our house. Why would I choose this as something I'm thankful for? I'm thankful that we have an excellent and well trained group of fire fighters in our county. They respond quickly and know how to deal quickly with a potential disaster. This nearby fire was contained to only twelve acres, there was little damage to property and no one was injured. Things could so easily have ended very differently but for our wonderful fire fighters.

4. Thursday afternoon, I drove to San Diego to stay with my daughter after she had surgery. I'm thankful that I have a job that allows me to be away on long four day weekends so I can be available to help when I'm needed.

5. Because I stopped in Orange County to have a late lunch with the pit bull's 'mommy', I managed to hit San Diego right at rush hour. The shining red lights of the cars in front of me were strung along the lanes like Christmas lights around a roof and the white lights facing me for miles on the opposite side of the freeway were as bright as Christmas tree lights. Fortunately, I was relaxed, knowing that eventually I'd arrive at my daughter's house. I had the company of Celtic Woman and Boney M singing Christmas carols and a marvelous choir performing The Messiah. Do other drivers sing O Come All Ye Faithful and Little Drummer Boy at the top of their lungs, or am I the only one?

So that was Willow's Week. I hope your week has been filled with beauty and song, too.

First Week of Advent

2011-12-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

1. I admit to not yet being in the Christmas spirit. Because I'm not a shopper, the gift giving part of Christmas does not excite me. However, our family tradition of drawing names and buying ONE gift for ONE person helps me generate a little bit of interest in that part of Christmas. This month I'll be planning and purchasing a gift for my youngest girl. Of course, The New Boy is exempt, but we'll be choosing a small gift that will fit in his suitcase and instead focusing on an activity to enjoy together during the days we'll be together.

2. However, I do love Christmas music! As I am typing this, I am listening to Celtic Woman singing O Holy Night.

3. Although there are no decorations inside the cottage yet, the December camellias have been decorating their bushes along the side of the front porch.

4. The box of hats for the Chicago area food pantry kids' Christmas party was sent off just before Thanksgiving. I heard this week that it had arrived--all twenty-six hats inside.

5. Now I am knitting some Christmas projects. No photos of those yet--obviously. That would spoil the surprise. I'll give you a hint, though. They involve several balls of different colors of yarn and a knowledge of fair isle technique.

I shall light the second Advent candle this weekend, the candle that represents LOVE. It follows the first candle, HOPE. This week, among my offerings of gratitude through Friday Fave Five, I send my LOVE to all, friends and family, and my thanks to Susanne for hosting FFF every Friday.

A Simple List

2011-11-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

It is Thanksgiving Day and it's time to write up Friday's Fave Five. I have a simple list.

1. I am thankful for my husband, he who carries the wallet, who drives so I don't have to, who trails after me into knit shops all over the world. We sit quietly together in the evenings. After all these years, we still talk and laugh daily.

2. I am thankful for my children--four of them with a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law. And a precious grandson. Simply, I love them.

3. Because I've lived in places where they were not available, I am thankful for clean water, secure shelter, and abundant food. I hope I never take these things for granted.

4. I am thankful for friends. I am truly blessed with many old and new friends.

5. I am thankful for the ability to read, access to a seemingly endless and infinite supply of reading material.

This is by no means an exhaustable list of thanksiving, just a quick and simple list.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Please visit Susanne to link up for Friday Fave Five.

The Marines Came

2011-11-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

The Marines know how to bake pies--fruit, apple, and pumpkin.Who knew?

They also know how to carve the turkey. And wash dishes. They are awesome help in the kitchen. They can repair planes, shoot guns and secure unsafe places, too.

The Army and Navy were also well represented.

Now they're all playing chess and slapjack. I'm knitting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy

2011-11-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

I had not intended to fall off the 'post-every-day' regimen. But I seriously underestimated the amount of time I would have during my Thanksgiving break. Since arriving by train in San Diego, I have been trailing behind my daughter and have realized how busy her life is. I can't keep up. However, I have finished my main part of the Thanksgiving Day dinner (homemade cranberry sauce) and am now sitting resting before returning to the kitchen to start on the family famous Grandma Rylander Rolls. Obviously, there hasn't been much time to post on my blog or read other blogs since last Thursday night.

All the children but one (along with the New Boy) are here in San Diego. The girls took off to buy a meat thermometer, the boys are playing a game, the dog is wagging her tail incessantly, and the cat is huddled into her hidey-hole. The Professor and I are sitting and smiling. We are happy.

fff nov XI 2 XVIII

2011-11-17T22:37:00.000-08:00

Friday Fave Five happens every week. Choose five events from your week which you are thankful for, post them on your blog and then link them up to Susanne's blog. Thank you, Susanne, for hosting this every week. Here are mine:

1. expectation. The anticipation of our Thanksgiving visit with our family in San Diego. Most of the fam will be together.

2. flexibility. I'm thankful that my schedule is flexible enough this weekend and next week, so I can hop a train to San Diego today (Friday) and help my daughter MamaMia with some stuff in preparation for Thanksgiving (see #1).

3. transportation. I love taking the train and Amtrak's Surfliner is special. The views are world class!

4. yumminess at Minimalist Woman. My friend Meg has just published an e-cookbook. I have been reading the introduction and browsing the recipes. What I truly appreciate about this cookbook is the simplicity of the recipes. I'm not a fancy cook and I *heart* one pot recipes which is what Meg's book focuses on. I am definitely going to be trying the Pacific Soup (think sweet potatoes, coconut, and pineapple) and the Cranberry Orange Muffins.

5. a purchase. This week I bought -- wait for it-- railroad ties. We are in the process of doing a bit of stabilization on the steep bank behind the house here at Willow's Cottage. We'll be planting some California natives and are using those massive blocks of wood to keep the dirt from sliding down the slope. Having the railroad ties means that the work will soon be completed.

Before next week's Fave Five, we will have celebrated Thanksgiving in the US. So I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Cap Recap

2011-11-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

I promised to knit twenty hats for a Chicago area food bank's children's Christmas party the first week in December. My goal has been to make twenty hats. Currently, I am knitting Hat #19.

A friend handed me four hats last Friday. So as of Wednesday evening, November 16, I have twenty-three hats to send (as soon as I finish the hat which is now on my needles).

Shall I go for twenty-five hats total?

November Flowers and Leaves

2011-11-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

I am fascinated by the camelia blossoms.

They bloom at the same time the sycamore leaves turn red and orange and then drop to the ground.

The iceberg roses are still blooming and the bumblebees are still bumbling.

This is November in Southern California.

Eleven Eleven Eleven

2011-11-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Willow's Fave Fives--a little late this week. But here they are--

1. When our espresso machine broke a few weeks ago, The Professor looked for a replacement part online to fix it. Unfortunately, the part could not be ordered. In typical Professor fashion, he attempted a couple of fixes and found that using a 3/8" socket drive would turn the broken handle. Then he realized that if he had a piece of 1/4" steel stock, he could cut it to fit and repair the broken 'turn thingie' himself. Where to find such an item? I emailed my friend Roxie and her amazing husband posted a 6 inch long cylinder of 1/4" steel stock to us. We're back in production thanks to The Professor's ingenuity and Roxie's hubby's generosity.

2. I wrote earlier this week about my fun adventure in teaching some girls to knit. This afternoon, I'll be doing a return gig to instruct them in increasing and decreasing.

3. Today is 11-11-11. On this day, we celebrate and thank the men and women who have served the United States in the military. As the daughter, niece, and wife of veterans, and as the mother and mother-in-law of active duty military personnel, I have much invested in this day of thanks and remembrance. THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED MY COUNTRY.

4. In addition to this day being a federal holiday, it is also the wedding anniversary of my son and daughter-in-law. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

5. Weather. I just like weather. I've been noticing that the quality of the light during day hours is changing. I'm not sure why or how, but it just seems like winter and it's the LIGHT which makes me realize that we are moving nearer to the winter solstice. This week we have experienced some warm, sunny, windy days and also some rainy days, like today. Unexpectedly, the leaves turned from rich magenta and vibrant tangerine to sodden, drab washed out versions of the purples and oranges. Perhaps tomorrow while they are still hanging from the branches, the leaves will brighten back up again in the sunshine. Even in Southern California weather can be (a little) interesting.

This has been Willow's Weekly Fave Fives. If you want to join in focusing a weekely post on thanksgiving and gratitude, you can link up at Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story.

Oopsie!

2011-11-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

I did not post here on the blog yesterday although I did write many many words on student papers. Mostly, I scribbled 'Excellent!', 'Very creative epilogue!', and 'Wow! You really understand alliteration now!' A couple of times I penned, 'Fragment' or 'Watch your punctuation and quotations' or 'Oops! Banned Word!'

In my class, students are not allowed to use say/said, get/got, come/came, go/went, or see/saw/look (this list is representative but not complete) because those verbs are overused and have become meaningless and boring. Students are required to use their thesaurus (gasp! yes, really) to discover stronger, more vibrant verbs to substitute in their stories. I also have banned the use of very and really as adverbs. Pretty and ugly can easily be replaced with more descriptive adjectives. How many times have you heard someone or something described as 'pretty ugly'? Banning boring words increases my correcting times but at the same time increases my enjoyment quotient while reading stories. How fun it is to read a nine year old's paper where the characters 'admonishingly stated', 'replied smugly', 'demanded', 'shouted' and 'exclaimed'. Another child (also nine) wrote that his characters 'fumed' and 'inquired'. However, my favorite substitution for said this week was 'whined woefully'.

Now it is time for me to depart for my class where I will enthusiastically teach my students to exchange 'gallop, run, trot, race, proceed, saunter, and stroll' for that boring banned verb 'go'. Gotta go leave now!

My Legacy

2011-11-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Having missed yesterday, which was Sunday, I think I should declare Sunday to be a sabbath rest day from posting on my blog. That's my excuse.

On Friday afternoon, I spent two hours teaching several ten to twelve year old girls how to knit and purl. The feedback has been wonderful. Three parents (including a dad) have seen me at church, on the street, in Starbuck's, and informed me that their daughters are so excited about knitting. The dad told me that he has to insist that the girls observe their usual bedtime, and his daughters have replied, "Just a minute. I have to finish my row!" I assured Dad that The Professor has heard those words literally thousands of times as I've raced through the last ten stitches before turning out the bed lamp light, opened the car door, or started cooking dinner. Evidently I'm teaching these young ladies well to understand what's important!

I choose to use my leisure time passing on my fiber art skills. I consider it part of my legacy to the next generation. Who will knit charity hats, cozy scarves and sweet baby sweaters after my hands are cold and stiff if I don't show these girls now how to work the purls and knits, the increases and decreases, the pick ups and bind offs? Hanging out with enthusiastic tweens keeps me young. They make me laugh. They make me proud. I'm lovin' it.

Because I'm a left handed knitter, I have enlisted the help of a brilliant and creative seventeen year old young lady who is the TA in four of my writing classes. Pen can learn a technique on Thursday and teach it on Friday. I do not want to confuse anyone with my "Hold the empty needle in your left hand, no, your right hand. Umm, wait a sec... yes, your right hand, no, your left hand..." mumbling as my brain works to translate left handed to right handed knitting. Pen's young and agile brain can make those transfers so much faster than I can.

I'm looking forward to this Friday! The girls will learn to decrease and increase and then they will be able to make this scarf--

The instructions for knitting this scarf are free online here.

Details for my scarf: Willow's handspun superwash wool, leftover from a spinning project done for someone else. Size 9US needles. 3 1/2 inches wide, 78 inches long. Usually, I wear it doubled and then looped around my neck because I like the warmth.

One Day

2011-11-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

One day's knitting.

Plain vest by pickles.no

I've knitted this little size 1 vest before, also in pink.

But this time, I used a much lighter shade.

The button choice brightens the plainness.

If you need a quick knit for a baby shower gift for a new little girl, try the Plain Vest.

Details here.

Because It's Nine PM

2011-11-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Because I am hoping to post something here on my blog every day this month, because I was lazy and preferred to sit in a coffee shop with my husband and contentedly sip a decaf soy mocha (no whip) this afternoon, and because I spent two hours with seven sweet pretween girls helping them improve their knitting skills, I have not prepared a fascinating paragraph for publication.

All I can say here is, "This evening I walked two miles," which is exciting to me since that is farther than I have walked in the past nine weeks. My severely sprained ankle is finally healing!

Slow and Simple

2011-11-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Slow and simple. That best describes this past week.

1. Logging slow miles. Actually, to be precise, I logged a mile. Each day this week, I've walked a little farther, and on Wednesday, I walked ONE mile.

2. Last week, I mentioned that I have been knitting hats. I posted about the Chicago food bank which will be giving away 1,000 or more hats to children who attend the Christmas party the first week of December. I just cast on stitches for Hat #10. My goal is to send twenty hats. If you are interested in helping by knitting or crocheting hats, check out my post HERE. Simple knitting can reap wonderful warm benefits.

3. Santa Ana Winds would not normally be on my faves lists because, well, it's windy. On Wednesday the Santa Anas blew gusts up to 40 miles per hour from the desert to the ocean. What I enjoyed was the aftermath, not the blown leaves, the downed power lines at The Professor's university, or the small fire that burned at the side of the freeway, but the crystal clear air that resulted from everything dusty and hazy being blown away. A simple thing like a beautiful day makes me happy.

4. A simple lullaby. My older daughter, mama of my New Boy, wrote this post yesterday about her singing a song to him as she tucks him in at night. I loved it. Made me cry. And miss him. He's growing so fast. It is probably time to knit him another new sweater.

Gratuitous photo of him modeling the sweater I gave him in July.

5. Simple meals. Warning: if you are an enthusiastic cook, maybe you should skip this one. Because I've been fighting a cold (and mostly losing the battle), my interest in preparing exciting dinners has been at a low low low ebb. This was dinner one evening this week: leftover brown rice with canned organic black beans dumped on the top. The Professor steamed some broccoli to accompany his meal and added barbeque sauce and green salsa. I went the minimalist route--before I microwaved my bowl of rice and beans, I threw fresh spinach on top and heated everything together then topped it with the green salsa. It was a very simple yet tasty and delicious dinner. (Ellen, I warned you!) But we followed it with chocolate so perhaps the lack of forethought and preparation can be forgiven.

There you have it. Willow's very quiet and simple Week in Five Faves. I've linked up with Susanne's Friday Fave Five as usual.

How about you? Was your week complicated or simple?

The Writing Teacher's Challenge

2011-11-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short. I'm feeling uncomfortable. I don't write. I teach writing. Instead of simply correcting student papers every day, I should be writing more myself. Although I'm not even remotely interested in writing a novel, I decided to challenge myself to write a daily blog post this month. We'll see how long this lasts.

Today's story is a simple retelling of the traditional tale of The Hare and the Tortoise.

Slow and Steady

by Willow

      In a pleasant evergreen forest there lived a community of woodland animals. A tortoise, who had escaped from a nearby farmhouse many years before, lived among the rugged gray rocks on the edge of the meadow. Under a large fir tree, a loud, lively hare had dug a den for himself. Hare loved to boast about his ability to outrun any forest animal even the red fox. Because Hare was a bragging boaster, he did not have many friends. Obviously, most of the other animals preferred to avoid him.

      One day Hare and Tortoise met by chance near the brook which bubbled through the clearing in the middle of the forest. As Tortoise trudged along the path, Hare viciously taunted him. "Out of my way, Tortoise! You are so slow you may not make it across the clearing before dark, and then the night owls will swoop down and grab you for their breakfast!" "I am fine, Master Hare. If I keep walking steadily, I will be safely back under my rock home in time for dinner. In fact, I could beat you," replied Tortoise mildly. "Ha! I'll race you across the clearing and we'll see who's the fastest creature in the forest," challenged Hare. The other animals heard the loud voices and curiously hopped over to listen. Hare yelled, "Hey, Red Fox, will you mark our beginning and finish lines? I'll prove to this old reptilian slow-poke that he should never question the fleetest runner in the forest!" Red Fox agreed. Carefully, he mapped out the route along the creek, through the farmer's garden and up the slope to the fallen log on the other side of the meadow and then indicated to the two contestants the start and finish lines. "Ready, set, go!" Tortoise placed one leathery claw in front of the other and slowly made his way past the crowd of animals which lined the trail. Hare sped off. Soon he was out of sight. When he approached the farmer's garden, he slowed down a bit and noticed that the carrot tops were poking through the moist soil. He decided that he needed a sweet snack and stopped to nibble a few green shoots. Then he spied the lettuces. After eating his second helping of carrot tops, he became sleepy. Having forgotten all about the race, he curled up under an apple tree by the edge of the path and fell fast asleep. Meanwhile, Tortoise reached the end of the path along the creek and hurried as quickly as his short stumpy legs could move past the farmer's garden. He noticed Hare. He did not waken him.

      Eventually, Hare awoke and leisurely sat up. He observed Tortoise near the top of the meadow and suddenly remembered the race. Although he hopped twice as quickly as he usually did, Hare crossed the finish line twenty seconds after Tortoise. All the forest animals excitedly cheered for Tortoise as Hare stood there in humiliation and disbelief while Fox placed the winner's garland of springtime flowers on Tortoise's head. Fox turned to Hare and remarked, "Slow and steady wins the race."

Calling All Hat Knitters!

2011-11-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Do you have yarn lying around in your stash waiting to be knit up? Do you have little balls of fun colors which were left over from various projects? If you do, you can knit them into HATS! I imagine you are thinking, "Once they're knitted up, what can I do with them? All my family members and friends already have been gifted with my marvelous fibery prowess." Well, do I have the perfect opportunity for you! This month, you can pull out those partial skeins and knit (or crochet) them up in to hats to keep little heads in the Chicago area warm this winter!

I noticed a post on Robyn the minimalist knitter's blog about making hats for all the children who attend a Christmas party at a food pantry in the Chicago area. Since I have an abundance of those little leftovers and I have been steadily knitting down my yarn stash, I thought this would be a great way to use my yarn and talents and also bless those cold ears from wind and snow. I contacted Robyn who put me in touch with Kathie.

Here is Kathie's response and explanation:

"When I first started knitting the ladies in our church were very supportive. One lady volunteered in a food pantry and she thought some hats would be great for the children who come to a holiday party in early December each year. Last year I knit 60 hats and she said they went fast. When I asked her how many children came to the party, she said over 1,000 children. I just couldn’t believe it.

The food pantry is in a middle class neighborhood on Irving Park Rd. in Chicago. Last year they gave bags of food to over 30,000 people. This is a very small location that is only open 2 days per week. The most wonderful group of volunteers work there and they think there will be an even larger group of children coming to the party this year. So I’m looking for people to help crochet or knit hats. I’ve knit over 100 hats this year and have received 130 hats from people on Ravelry so there is over 230 hats ready to donate.

I’ve been putting descriptive labels on them that say the name and state of the person that made them. “Handmade for you by Mary in Georgia”. I want to show the kids that people from all over the country have thought of them and volunteered to help. My hope is that they will see this and feel special. Hopefully some day they will think of others and pass on their talents.

Kathie"

Kathie needs to turn in all the hats by the end of November so we have only a few weeks to knit and crochet and drop those boxes in the mail. So far, I've knitted seven hats and have cast on for my eighth! According to Kathie, any size is welcome although women's small or medium caps are a good general size.

You can contact Kathie through ravelry (her Rav name is kathied5732) or you can e-mail me at willowknits@yahoo.com for her address.

Don't leave all that yarn in a bag in the back of your cupboard when it could keep a child warm this winter!

Gratefulness

2011-10-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

1. This has been a momentous week! I am now back in the driver's seat of my Honda!

2. I took my first short walk post ankle sprain, eight weeks ago. It was simply up the hill and around the corner to my neighbor's house. But still.

3. This chat conversation with my older daughter is typical of what our discussions are like. Some are less serious. (With her permission):

her: I'm trying to think of more interesting stuff to post.
me: Post about your new appliances

her: and how they use less electricity!

me: How old the frig was. Or the washer--exaggerate. It was a hand cranked wringer style. haha
Yes. How you evaluated and rated to choose therm. NOT by color

her: Nope, it wasn't even a washing machine. I had a branch of the Licking River diverted through my basement, and I had to beat the clothes with paddles to get them clean.

me: My situation was that I sneaked down to the local swimming hole at night to wash my clothes.

her: I had to wait for rainy days so I could go stand out in it. Fortunately, it rains a lot in Ohio.

me: lol

4. Knitting down my yarn stash a little bit more. This time around, I'm knitting hats. They will most likely be traveling to a snowy climate to warm up cold little ears.

5. This quote which I ~~stole~~ found and copied from Colleen in Australia's blog: “In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

And that's why I write my Fave Fives every Friday. You, too, can share your gratefulness and, if you want, link to Susanne's blog here.

Things That Make Me...

2011-10-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

1. Laugh. This week my friend MARILYN brought me a cup of coffee at the end of my class. The barista had written her name on the side of the cup. But it was spelled MARYLAND.

2. Smile. Spending several hours Wednesday evening with my daughter Kiti who was in Los Angeles for business meetings this week. Chatting, laughing, talking over a yummy Thai meal, I realized that there is no substitute for face to face conversations. Skyping, texting, and chatting are great but sitting across the dinner table is best.

3. Relieved. My grad student son who has been wandering around Indonesia for three months is back stateside. When I saw that the phone call I missed during class Thursday morning was from his 'domestic' cell phone, I realized he was 'home'.

4. Pleased. With another finished sweater.

and buttons sewn on this one.

5. Thoughtful. The combination of what I have been learning in my Precepts Bible Study on the book of Daniel (that guy in the Old Testament--you know, the one who got thrown into the lions' den), my discussion group about the book The Power of a Whisper, Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond by Bill Hybels, and my continued (slow) reading of Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicity has provided me with ample thought-provoking and challenging material to meditate on this week.

My week has been one that has simply made me grateful to be alive and well here in my own little corner of California. Thank you, Susanne, for providing the opportunity to link up for Friday Fave Five!

Just Add Buttons

2011-10-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

This week (like many other weeks recently) was quite busy. I have not had much time to be online or visit other blogs. I'm hoping that my days will slow down a little. Here are highlights from Willow's Week. As usual, I am linking up with Susanne's Friday Fave Five as I focus on, not the busyness, but the blessings of the week.

1. Choosing to spend a couple of hours reading on Monday morning was the right thing to do. I just needed a short sabbath to relax before the week roared in to high gear.

2. All that remains to finish the February Lady Cardigan for my daughter is sewing on the buttons. I am more motivated to do it this weeked in anticipation of seeing her when she is in Los Angeles on a business trip this next week. Two faves in one; but who's counting?

3. We rushed down to West Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon after our classes to meet up with friends who we hadn't seen for a couple of years for dinner. The young woman we watched grow from a jr higher to a lovely adult as a classmate and close friend of our daughter (see #1). I furiously knitted on a little sweater for their new baby and almost finished it. Part of one sleeve, the hood, and five buttons left to work. The yarn came from my stash and so that is THREE faves in one--knitting, using up my stash and cuddling a precious new baby boy. But who's counting?

4. More spinning and demonstrating, this time at the Ventura Scottish Highland Games. We were positioned near the building entrance by the stage where Celtic Spring performed four times during the day. LOVE their music! And I sold more hats and scarves which means more $ for Generate Hope. Another two for one?

5. Thursday (last) night we attended a dinner at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Wow! What an amazing place. After the dinner/program, I just stood under Air Force One and marveled at the plane and at the helicopter. I think that President Reagan would have approved of the function--The Prison Fellowship (Chuck Colson) and The Urban Ministry Institute (a ministry of World Impact) are partnering to provide seminary education to people in prison in a program called Prisoners to Pastors. Since The Professor is a board member with The Urban Ministry Institute Satellite in Los Angeles, we were excited to hear about the partnership and enjoyed spending a couple of hours with some friends and former colleagues in a marvelous venue.

Some Mobility

2011-10-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Lately, it seems that I manage to post a Friday Fave Five every week, but that is about all. I find that my days are flying by this autumn especially since I started back to teaching the writing classes. This year I have more students and more classes. While I am happy for the extra income and the opportunity to teach more students excellent writing skills, the work has seriously cut in to my photography and blogging time. And truthfully, recovering from the sprained ankle has taken much time and energy.

Nevertheless, even in the midst of busyness and healing, I continue to focus on what is important to me, what blessings God has provided to me each week. Because that really is the reason for Friday Fave Five. Thanks to Susanne for hosting FFF every week!

1. I had agreed two months ago to demonstrate spinning with the weavers/spinners guild at Reyes Adobe Days in Agoura Hills, CA (far northwest suburb of Los Angeles County). On Sunday morning, The Professor loaded up my spinning wheel and accesories into the car and drove me over there. I discovered that, yes, I can manipulate the spinning wheel with one foot. I enjoyed the day spinning a lovely blue and green wool and silk blend fiber. (Photos to follow when the two ply yarn is finished.)

2. The best part of the day was selling several items including two boy bunnies, all but one of the coffee cozies, that sweet turquoise, grey and white striped baby sweater, and several scarves and hats. All proceeds will be going to help THIS GROUP.

3. The Professor was looking for a particular library book that isn't in our city library system. He found it was available at the main library location in Ventura so, of course, we drove up there to pick it up. While he was searching the shelves for his book, I found a volume of all three of Elaine St. James' books which included Simplify Your Life, Inner Simplicity and Living the Simple Life. This week I'm rereading St. James' ideas. I had read the books in the 1990s shortly after they were published and appeared in our library in Oregon. It has been good to remind myself of how far I've come on my simplicity journey and remember some things I'd forgotten in the past few years. My favorite: remembering why I love very simple eating (and cooking) habits.

4. We had a lovely and refreshing rainstorm this week. Our very thirsty, dry, brown mountains happily soaked up the wetness. I think that just the one day of rain turned the hills a little bit green. Maybe it's just my imagination. But they look green to me.

5. These weeks while I've been sitting around, NOT walking much, besides the knitting I've been doing, I've also been tackling the mountains and boxes and files of old photos and slides. Finally, I overcame my resistance to learning to operate the scanner. I've been scanning photos and organizing them on my computer. In a pile of old slides I found this one:

Me on a trail in the Papuan jungle

That was Willow's Week. How was yours? Did you reread any favorite books, enjoy a hobby, rediscover an old memory?

When You Can't Walk-

2011-09-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

you can still knit

1. a cabled hat

2. coffee cozies

3. a pair of Girly-Girl Socks

4. and a child's striped pullover sweater.

And you can crochet

5. a granny square blanket.

and maybe some other granny circle-squares.

There are many productive ways to use your time when your doctor says, "No driving yet. And limited walking."

It's important to find ways to be thankful in every situation.

Thank you, Susanne, for hosting Friday Fave Five. It helps me remember each week to look for areas of thankfulness and gratitude.

Thankfulness This Week

2011-09-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and that means Friday Fave Five, a time to contemplate the best things that have happened this week. Susanne provides this opportunity every week for us to remember our Weekly Favorites.

1. My friends (and husband) who have driven me to the doctor(s) and to classes this week. Without them, I would never have been able to begin teaching my writing classes this week. I'm truly grateful for my husband and friends who have helped me so much!

2. My favorite new fashion statement: a big black boot to hold my swollen, sprained ankle steady without (very much) pain. It goes well with my silver crutches.

3. These quotes from Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. Foster. Foster published this book about Christian Simplicity in 1981. In reference to Matthew 6:22--"If all within us is honed down to the single treasure of Christ and his Kingdom, then we are living in the light of simplicity." "With our eye focused on Christ the Center, we are to live with glad and generous hearts. This is simplicity."

4. One thing I've done while I've been sitting around this week is look through my files and files (and files) of photos. I've found flowers and shells and beaches, photos I've taken for the past 6 years. But the photo that touched my heart most was this one of our kitty Angel who moved to San Diego with Mama Mia after she was married but went on to kitty heaven three years ago. Angel was the BEST kitty we ever had. What a sweet memory.

5. The best news I received all week was this text from my daughter in law regarding my Army Captain Chaplain son, who has been deployed over the past year: "He is officially home." For that, I am truly and completely thankful.

Summer Memories

2011-09-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Surf

Sand

Sea shells

Memories of summer to hold when the rains come

Painfully Quiet

2011-09-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

The past seven days I have not ventured out beyond my door except for two doctor appointments. It has been a painfully quiet week of elevating and icing my swollen and bruised ankle. Finally this morning I decided that if my ankle hasn't healed in a week, then maybe, maybe, I ought to have my doctor have a look at it.
Incredibly, I was able to get in immediately to see the doctor because of a cancellation. And just as incredibly, a friend was available to zip over, pick me up and take me to the doctor's office. I am so thankful for

1. a timely appointment and

2. friend in need who is a friend indeed

Immediately, I was sent to the x-ray lab and now I am awaiting the results. Maybe, maybe my ankle is broken, but maybe maybe it's 'just' a sprain. I see that I was wise to call the doctor.

However, the entire week was not lost in a morass of pain and pain-killing pill popping. While I was doing all that elevating and icing, I also spent my days working on lesson plans and

3. I am as finished as I can be at the beginning of a school year. When I was bored with that, I played around on my laptop, learning some new tricks, organizing files and deleting others that I no longer need.

Through all the hopping, crawling, grimacing and learning to handle the neighbor's borrowed crutches,

4. my wonderful and patient husband has waited on me, washed dishes, cooked meals and done laundry, all while he was working his own very full teaching schedule.

5. Mostly I am so very thankful that his position provides health care for us so that when mishaps happen, we can simply pick up the phone and call the doctor.

That was my painfully dull and quiet week here at Willow's Cottage. It was a week to be reminded to be careful what you wish for. I had wanted a quiet week at home to focus on the essentials. It seems I got just that.

Thanks to Susanne for providing a venue for posting Friday Fave Five every week!

Added later: the diagnosis is 'severe ~~pain~~ sprain', so now I'm just waiting until Monday afternoon to see what further measures need to be taken.

Also, like Ellen, I am having problems posting on many blogs. If you wonder why I haven't been around to read your FFF or other posts, I have been. Unfortunately, whenever I submit my comment, I'm rejected.

End of Summer Special

2011-09-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Sadly, it is truly the 'last day of summer'. Labor Day in the US has always marked the change of seasons from summer to fall because it is traditionally 'The Day Before School Starts'. With schedule changes, the traditional beginning of school is no longer really the day after Labor Day. In fact, my daughter in law has been teaching for two weeks, and The Professor's semester has been in session for a week.

However, I wish to honor the 'real' end of summer with this presentation of

The Beach Umbrellas of August

The Quiet Week

2011-09-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

It was a quiet week here at Willow's Cottage. Most of the noise came from the covey of quail which have been scurrying around on our back hill, most likely searching for dropped seeds. One other fun bit of noise came from my computer one evening when our son skyped us again from Indonesia. We were able to 'see' the view of the green green hills which surround the neighborhood where he is living and even hear the tropical birds chirping. With her usual perfect timing, our MamaMia phoned so she was able to say hi to her brother from her cell phone to my cell phone to my laptop to his laptop. Don't you just LOVE technology??

Anyway, as I was saying, our mostly quiet week was still filled with joyful and satisfying things. I look for these little examples of joy to share in Friday Fave Five. This little exercise helps me to be watchful and grateful for the blessings of my week. Susanne hosts this EVERY FRIDAY. That takes a lot of dedication on her part and I truly do appreciate her taking the lead on this each week.

1. Every year, on the Thursday before classes begin at Cal State Univ Channel Islands, the lovely people who work in the library host a faculty and families back to school reception in one of the university library's courtyards. Every year, The Professor and I happily attend and spend a couple of pleasant hours eating wonderful catered dishes, drinking excellent wine, and dipping strawberries, bananas and chocolate chip cookies into the chocolate fountain while we chat with the other faculty and families.

2. After that rather filling dinner, we strolled around the library lawn and the rest of the campus. Because the university is nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains near where they descend to the Pacific Ocean, it is natural that most of the grounds are planted with California natives.

I love the bunch grasses! (Well, yes, this one is bluish, but yes, I did doctor the color just a little bit. But wouldn't it be wonderful if it really were that blue?)

3. On Saturday, we loaded up our bikes and drove to Ventura and rode the bike/walkway along the beachfront. It was a perfect day for a bike ride. Cloudy but not cold. Breezy but not too windy.

Past Surfers Point

Beyond the pier all the way to the harbor.

And back.

4. I've been crocheting. I had some skeins of leftover wool from a project I knitted for my master knitter certification. In my quest to use up my yarn stash this year, I decided to see how large an afghan I could make with the four colors-pink, purple, green and cream. Forty-two squares. Each 4 1/4 inches across. A 6 x 7 square design. Without the edging, the afghan will be 'about' 26 inches by 30 inches. Not very large, but it will still be 'lap-size'.

5. My neighbor, who is also my friend, had never been to our little indie coffee shop in town. So on Tuesday morning we dropped in there for coffee and the best biscotti I have ever tasted! We agreed that this little shop is the perfect place to meet up every week for a little study session. Oh, the coffee's great, too.

That was Willow's Week. I spent the rest of my hours sitting here in the cottage planning lessons which happily are mostly finished.

How was yours?

Addendum: Shortly after posting this, I somehow, I really am not sure how, I fell (tripped, stumbled, was a complete clutz?) and severely sprained my right ankle. It looks like next week will be another Quiet Week around here.

Mission La Purisima

2011-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

As we were driving away from Solvang which we visited during our camping trip to Gaviota State Beach, we decided to return to the campsite via Lompoc and spend an hour touring Mission La Purisima. Because it is now preserved as a California state park, it has remained as one of the few mission that still reflects much of the way of life in the early missions where priests, native Americans, and Spanish soldiers all lived within the mission compound.

We slowly strolled through the buildings and around the mission grounds since we did not have any fixed schedule we were required to keep other than exiting when the park closed.

mission bell

an outbuilding

grain mill

the simple paintings and decor in the chapel

Of course I was fascinated with the old spinning wheel. The spinner/weaver lived a simple life.

I was suprised to learn a few months ago that wild mustard is NOT a California native plant. It grows everywhere so I assumed that it was native to our mediterranean flora. If my source is correct, the wild mustard was first introduced to California Alta by the Spanish padres who sprinkled the seeds along El Camino Real, the road one traveled from mission to mission from San Diego to Sonoma, so it would be easier to follow the trail and not stray and become lost.

Here the wild mustard thrives on the grounds of La Purisima

marking both sides of El Camino Real.

Remembering

2011-08-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome! It has been a quiet week here at Willow's Cottage. Catching up on chores, writing more lessons, especially vocabulary words. Learning new tricks in Microsoft 2007 thanks to The Professor who is just brilliant when it comes to formatting vocabulary quizzes. This evening (Thursday) we have been at the university attending the annual welcome-back-to-campus librarians' reception for faculty and families, so this Fave Five is short on prose and long on photos.

1. Happy to be back at our farmers market

But still remembering our wonderful week at the beach. And getting our photos uploaded.

2. This seagull was the perfect model

3. Views of Gaviota Pier on the Pacific Ocean, California

A favorite place to fish

or stroll on the beach

Or sit and relax and watch the sea gulls

4. Speaking of campfires...

5. Visiting Mission La Purisima State Park

Lovely to remember while I'm sitting at my desk planning lessons for September and October and December.

How was your week?

Thanks to Susanne for hosting Friday Fave Five.

What I'm Wearing

2011-08-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

My current favorite shoes

I had no idea that crocs could be so cute and so comfortable.

So Much More

2011-08-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

Since I have been camping at the beach all week and just returned home this evening, I don't have much time to write and I certainly haven't had time to upload and sort all the beach photos I snapped, so this will be a short check-in here. But I think it is important to spend time every Friday (or Thursday evening) reflecting on things for which I am grateful through Friday Fave Five. It is just my Friday thing and really So Much More. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story always posts a link for anyone who wishes to participate in Friday Fave Five and you can join us if you want to.

1. We love to camp! It had been way too long since we had pulled out our gear and gone camping, so it was especially fun to pitch our tent and roll out our sleeping bags. Three nights of camping by the beach was mostly peaceful. Winds gusting up to 60 mph (yes, really!) tested our resolve to stay up and burn the last piece of our firewood at night, but nothing beats drinking our morning coffee while staring into the campfire flames.

2. This week I've been without my cell phone. Over the past 4-6 weeks, my provider has worked with me to determine the source of the problem of my malfunctioning phone. Three. new. phones. Hopefully, this newest phone will work properly. The fave? A mixed blessing. I relaxed a bit more without being tied to email and facebook. Also, I do appreciate the customer service and good attitude I've received from the manager and staff at the store.

3. We have Great Neighbors. They keep an eye on our place when we're gone and my next door neighbors watched for the new cell phone to arrive by UPS and took it in to protect it while we were gone. We knew it would be delivered during the week so we asked them to keep it until we returned this evening. They picked up our paper for us too. Good Neighbors are truly a blessing!

4. Long bike rides. 6 miles. 14 miles. 9 miles. In some of the most beautiful places in the world. Photos later, after I've slept in my own bed for 8 hours.

5. After a hiatus of several weeks, our small group of friends (including two other Great Neighbors) are back meeting together for a Bible Study on Sunday nights. We've missed being with them, so it was good to resume our regular Sunday evening get togethers.

I know there is So Much More I could add to my faves this week, but part of my brain is still at the beach, another part is already sound asleep and yet another is concentrating on camping clean up. I invite you to tune part of your brain into the Thankful Channel and remember what you can be grateful for this week!

More Dog Days

2011-08-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

How was your week during these Dog Days of August (in the northern hemisphere, anyway)? What wonderful little moments did you experience this week? At Susanne's blog Living To Tell The Story, you can add your Friday Fave Five and share what five things, large or small, made your Thankful list this week.

Here's mine:

1. We finished our week of dog sitting by venturing out to the beach with his lordship. We could have spent our walking time gazing at beach apartments facing the ocean, imagining what it would be like to sit on that balcony and enjoy the beach scene view every day,

we could have laid out our beach blankets and watched the sunbathers, the surfers and the boaters,

or the colorful bikers whizzing past on their color-coordinated cycles;

but mostly we did this--watched and waited while our four legged charge investigated every curious smell at every post, garbage can and tree.

2. This is County Fair week! On Tuesday, I was scheduled to demonstrate spinning during the three hour afternoon shift at the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild booth, so The Professor and I drove up to Ventura in the morning, wandered around the fair visiting the textile arts building (of course!) and checking out what exactly Fried Kool Aid was (yes, truly, it was sold this year along with the chocolated covered bacon and all the other usual suspects of fair food). I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with so many people who strolled past our booth, stopped to watch us spinning and weaving fiber into beautiful fabric.

3. Evidently, I signed up for the perfect day to volunteer because we discovered that The Beach Boys were performing that evening! Of course, we stayed for the concert! What fun it was to sing along to all the Beach Boys songs with a standing room only crowd of Beach Boy lovers of all ages. They certainly got a rousing cheer for "I Wish They All Could Be California Girls" and "Surfer Girl". That's not surprising since all the women in the audience were California Girls and we were in a stadium no more than 1/2 mile from Surfer's Point in Ventura. They sang for almost two hours! What's your favorite Beach Boys song?

4. The rest of the week when I wasn't typing up lesson plans for next school year (yes, it's coming on really really fast), I was busily knitting on the February Lady sweater. Making great progress, I'm done with the body and nearly finished with the first sleeve.

5. Do you ever happen upon a book that you've heard about but then forgot and when you see it, you think, "I've heard about that book. I think I'd like to read it." When we were in the local libary yesterday, I saw How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill sitting on a shelf. I grabbed it and sat down right there and began reading it. It was good; not great, but good. Gill is an entertaining story teller and his story of being "an advertising executive who had it all, then lost it all--and was finally redeemed by his new job, and his twenty-eight-year-old boss, at Starbucks" grabbed and held my attention through the whole book.

So that's it--Willow's Week. There was actually so much more--another phone call from The Grad Student, this time from Singapore, to tell us he was on his way to Indonesia for the next six weeks of study. And there was eating our fresh ripe garden grown tomatoes. And more reading. And more knitting. And more organizing. But those are topics for another day or another Fave Five.

The Dog Days of August

2011-08-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

Can it really be a week since I posted? I think I've been having a lazy week. At least I'm checking in on Fridays to write my favorite weekly post, Friday Fave Five which is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

1. At the end of all of Ellen's travels and activities in Southern California, she and her daugther needed to drive back to LAX and drop off their rental car. Their departure happened to coincide with my arrival in the LAX area to spend a week dog sitting for my friend. So, of course, we met up for lunch.

2. The dog sitting has involved walking a ninety pound pit bull, feeding him, playing with him, getting licked by him. Mostly Lord Surrey spends his daytime hours doing this:

3. The Professor and I have been doing a bit of that, too, while staring at blue skies, green palm trees and brilliant pink bouggainvillea blossoms

and ambling along the same familiar haunts in the LA Beach Cities. I mentioned to him that I have probably taken dozens of photos of this beach over the past four years. But I never tire of gazing out at the pier and the surf.

4. Because the local yarn shop which I used to frequent when I lived in LA is closing, I've been able to purchase some knitting needles in sizes/styles I didn't own for a discounted price. (Yeah, I know. It seems impossible that someone who knits as much as I do would not have every knitting needle in every size But, I don't.). I also scored the Cascade 220 wool yarn in cream that I needed to finish a crochet project and four skeins of blue baby type yarn to knit up a sweater for my great nephew to match one that his twin sister already has. Everything in the store is 50% off!

5. It seems that I am not the only person who loves, savors, and saves quotes. Here are two more I've gleaned recently in my reading and listening.

An African Proverb: Wherever man goes to dwell, his character goes with him.

Willow's paraphrase: Wherever you go, there you are.

"Generosity is the outward expression of a contented heart." Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist

Oh, here's a free BONUS fave! I think almost everyone in the world knows that Border's book stores is going out of business. Since we were still holding a couple of gift cards, we searched the shelves this week for volumes we've been wishing for. I scored a copy of the most recent 2011 Newbery Award book Moon Over Manifest by Clara Venderpool at the discounted price.

So this has been Willow's Week. What's been happening in your neighborhood?

Reading, Knitting, Eating, Etc.

2011-07-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here at Willow's Cottage, we had a quiet week of finishing the big kitchen painting project. The last of the cupboard doors are done. When we put the doors back up, I'll be decluttering all those shelves yet again. It was also another week of watching for those little things that make me thankful--those quiet moments or slow hours that slip by almost unnoticed. Friday Fave Five helps me to be mindful all week to not take them for granted.

1. Worthy quotes I read this week somewhere but I can't remember where. I think I need to heed my daugther Mia's advice and keep a notebook of quotes and thoughts I want to remember, writing them down as soon as I find them.

“The bread that you store up belongs to the hungry; the coat that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.” St. Basil the Great

"Live simply so others may simply live." Mother Teresa

2. Books I am reading this week.

Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. The Throne of Fire by Richard Riordan. All three from the library.

A friend has again passed on to me another collection of mostly fiber related books from a relative's estate, but a small booklet titled Plants of Shakespeare by Adelma Grenier Simmons was tucked in the bag and I'm enjoying it as much as the weaving and spinning volumes. The majority of the books and magazines will be passed on to my spinning/weaving guild for its library, but the deal is that I can keep for myself any books I wish. Another booklet I plan to keep at least for awhile and read is Plants Used in Basketry by the California Indians, a reprint of an article from 1923 in American Archaeology and Ethnology by Ruth Earl Merrill. Fascinating stuff, at least to me. Evidently, anthropologist/archaeologist children come by their passions honestly from both parents.

3. Knitting this sweater, February Lady Sweater, by Pamela Wynne. It's a free pattern I downloaded from her blog FlintKnits.

I'm knitting February Lady in a dark greyish blue acrylic yarn (passed on to me from someone else's stash to use up), not for me, but for my older daughter, Our Boy's Mama, who has requested longer full length sleeves instead of the three-quarter length ones shown here. No pictures yet. I've been too lazy this week to pull out the camera for a photo shoot. I'm thinking maybe I'll knit up this same pattern for myself in some handspun alpaca/silk blend if there's enough yardage in the yarn I'm considering using.

4. Fantastic fresh fruit. The apricots from the farmers market are perfectly ripe and oh so sweet.

5. While I was running a little errand at the pre-fair set ups for the Ventura County Fair, The Professor took his bike and rode along the beach route up the coast from Ventura toward Santa Barbara and back. Then we met up to eat our packed lunches and enjoy a cup of coffee before heading home again. That's what I love about summer--having the time to make an errand into a day trip.

How have you captured the slower flow of summer this week? (or winter, if you are living below the equator) What has made it on to your list of thankfulness? You can share with others by linking up at Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story.

Theodore Payne Foundation for California Wild Flowers and Native Plants

2011-07-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

This sign was posted at Descanso Gardens, but I thought it was a wonderful tribute to Theodore Payne, the pioneer of modern California native gardens.

At both Descanso Gardens and Payne Nursery the wild flowers were abundantly featured. Many of these beauties will be planted in my back hill garden among the poppies that already bloom there.

Sages and grasses are important staples in a California native garden.

Cleveland sage

Point Sal Sage grows low (2 ft) and wide (8 ft). We've already purchased two of these wonderfully fragrant sages. I plucked a leaf for my neighbor to smell and she kept it, crushing and sniffing its pungent odor throughout the day.

Native grasses help to stabilize slopes. I think these will add structural interest when they poke up through the sage.

I'm wondering if our interest in California native plants is unusual or if people from other regions of the world encourage the growth of native trees, bushes and flowers. Where you live, do you focus on native plants from your area?

A Promise Fulfilled--Descanso Gardens

2011-07-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

This visit was not our first one to Descanso Gardens. Four years ago, we spent a day there with Mia to celebrate The Professor's birthday. You can see the posts I wrote at that time here and here if you care.

This year, we skipped the rose garden and focused most of our time on the California native section. But the entire garden still drew us in and fascinated us.

near the entrance

japanese gate

oak tree canopies

Everything from the mundane green beans spiraling up an inverted tomato cage

to exotic lilies

to unusual tree blossoms blooming concurrently with little buds and shriveled pods

to tree needles that simply caught my attention.

And that doesn't include the CA natives or Theodore Payne Nursery because I don't want to overload the senses with too many intoxicating photos in one post.

Payne Nursery coming soon.

Best of The Week Awards

2011-07-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

We've been away this past week visiting our daughter and grandson in the eastern half of the US. Even though I (well, actually The Professor) lugged my laptop through the airports, through security, into and out of the planes, I connected to the internet with it only once while I was gone. I think that next trip, I won't bother. However, the lack of easy, constant online access other than via my phone kept me from reading and commenting on many blogs. I'm working to catch up now that we're home. And here it is already, Friday, and time for my favorite post of the week: Friday Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

A chance comment by my husband got me thinking about awards, specifically the "best of" kind. My week held several "bests" to share.

1. The Best Los Angeles Friend of the Year Award goes to our friend Kristie who still picked us up from LAX at 2:30AM after our flight was delayed leaving Minneapolis because of a mechanical problem with the plane. Then she allowed us to crash in a freshly made bed until morning. She's definitely No.1 Best LA Friend in our opinion!

2. Best Grandson of the Year Award was an easy choice. He's cute, he's three, he's our only one.

3. Best Harry Potter Movie of the Year Award. Again, it's the only Harry Potter Movie of 2011, but it was still great fun to see Deathly Hallows 2 with Kiti and her friend. It was fitting that I was knitting the sleeves of a Weasley Sweater for Our Boy during the movie.

"You want me to sit here on the porch and have my picture taken in my new sweater?"

"Cheese!"

"Are we done yet? I want to go back inside and play with my trains."

4. After seven nights away, our own bed was given the Best Place to Sleep Award. We love to travel and we especially love snuggling with Our Boy on the bed, but you know how it is--it's always wonderful to crawl back in to your own bed when you arrive home again.

5. Finally, the Best Return to California Beach Walk Award--goes to Pt. Dume (DooMAY) Nature Preserve. Wanting to put our feet firmly back on Coastal California sand after our truly lovely trip east of the Mississippi River, we stopped on the way home from Los Angeles along Pacific Coast Highway. The last time I was at Pt. Dume State Beach was 12 hours before I went in to labor with my second child. I was already a week overdue to birth our little girl and could barely waddle across the sand and certainly could not climb any rise or dune. But waddle I did along the beach in the wet sand. Fun memories. Anyway, we decided to detour to the beach at the 'north' end of Malibu, found an easy place to park and hiked up to the Pt. Dume look out and then down to the beach. Considering how crowded Zuma State Beach was, we were surprised at how deserted the tide pools at Dume were. Of course, it's not easy to climb down the stairs to reach the beach and that certainly deters most beach goers.

Killer Stairs--they really are that steep

Pt. Dume Nature Preserve (and beach) is not for wimps. But until I become too old or too wimpish to climb these stairs, we'll be going back to enjoy the relative solitude of this wonderful beach.

This was Willow's Week in the Wild Wild ~~West~~ East. How was your week?

Thirty-Eight

2011-07-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and time to write up my Friday Fave Fives. Unfortunately, I didn't get any more photos of Descanso Gardens posted, but I will do that soon, soon, soon. I do have a couple of good excuses though, as you will see. Without any more preliminaries except to remind you that Susanne at Living To Tell the Story hosts us every week and you are welcome to join us in celebrating what we are grateful for during the week, here is Willow's Week:

1. So at 10:30pm Friday night, my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but I answerd it anyway. I wasn't asleep, and I could just tell the person on the line that it was a wrong number. But it wasn't a wrong number! It was my son calling from Jordan, from the Dead Sea. After saying several times, "Sorry, I can't hear you very well," we switched over to a Skype call. Clear. Quick. Steady. Skype calls are amazing! And then on Monday, he called again from his archeological dig site using his newly purchased international phone. Oh I love hearing his voice and knowing he's OK.

2. Our kitchen is newly painted. Notice that I did not write that I am thankful that we painted the kitchen although we did in fact paint it all ourselves. It was major effort of cutting, brushing and rolling, but it's almost finished. We still have most of the cupboard doors to paint but everything else is done and the paint is hardening. What color? White, of course. And the added little benefit will be that as I replace everything in the drawers, I will have the opportunity to declutter anything that is just not going to make it back into the kitchen.

3. As I type this, my precious grandson 'The New Boy' is snuggled up next to me on the sofa at his house. We are visiting him and his mama for a week. He's getting so big and he's talking and recognizing that the number at the beginning of the last paragraph is 'two'. Maybe I should change his name to 'Our Boy' because he's really not 'new' anymore.

4. Yesterday afternoon, we drove to LA for our flight to Ohio. We always plan our trips to LA carefully to avoid the worst of the traffic. Since we had several hours to wait near LAX before we needed to be at the airport, we had dinner with our friends. It was great to just sit on the patio of the Mediterranean restaurant and chat for a couple of hours without rushing off somewhere else. Then they dropped us off at the airport because our car is parked in their driveway for the week. Those are friends indeed!

5. Because we flew on a 'red eye special' overnight, for four hours, we didn't get much sleep last night. I claim that as the excuse for BOTH of us to forget that today was a special day. We didn't remember that it was our thirty-eighth wedding anniversary until our daughter in law called us to wish us 'Happy Anniversary'. I am so very fortunate to be happily married to a wonderful faithful man. He makes me laugh every day, he fixes me a latte (or two) every morning, and after all these years, he still tells me he loves me. I'm truly blessed!

No photos tonight because I'm typing on my daughter's computer. If I get my own laptop up and running here, I'll try to add some pictures. In the meantime, do let us know what you are thankful for in the comments.

THINGS I did this week

2011-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is Friday and that means Friday Fave Five, an opportunity to focus on what happened during the week that made you pause to be thankful and grateful Here are mine:

1. The Fourth of July was spent mostly quietly at Willow's Cottage. Puttering might the the best word to describe the morning. In the afternoon, we did a few quick choresand tidied up a few things. The Professor pulled out the grill, and I added a tablecloth to the dining table. Friends arrived. We chatted. We celebrated. Quietly.

2. One of the things on my Summer Get It Done List is documenting our personal inventory list for our home insurance--what furniture do we own, when and where it was purchased. You know the drill. Descriptions, receipts, maybe a photo. I spent parts of two afternoons writing up a doc. file and reorganizing the notebooks. Am I finished? No. Did I get a good start on it? Yes.

3. The thing about borrowing books from the library is that when you return them, you find new books to read. This is not a bad thing. Next up on my reading list: Bella Tuscany (France Mayes) and I, Claudius (Robert Graves).

4. I have 'this thing' about bunnies. Where we walk in the evenings, there are bunnies hopping and hiding in almost every garden. Tall ears; fluffy white tails; brown, tan, grey fur. I knit furry, wooly and acrylicy bunnies, too. Here is the latest creation. This little guy is so new he doesn't have a name yet. Made of my handspun, hand-dyed wool, he's a very special hopper. He's on his way to live in San Diego at my daughter Mia's home.

5. I saved the best thing til last. Yesterday we drove to the hot, hot interior of Los Angeles County. Descanso Gardens in La Canada is a delightful place to wander through rose gardens, camellia gardens, Japanese gardens and a large California native garden. Oak groves are the backbone of many California woodlands and hillsides.

We hiked up the Chaparral Trail past the dry creek beds where in the spring the rain rushes down the hillside and then wandered down through a grove shaded by the high canopy of spreading branches. I haven't had time yet to finish uploading and sorting the more than one hundred photos I took at Descanso and at Payne's Native Plant Nursery, which was our other destination, but I had to share this unusual sage, Cleveland Sage, with you. I may be in love...

So that was Willow's Week, the things that occupied my time and interest this week. You can share your things you did too for Friday Fave Five at Susanne's blog. Have a great weekend! Come back during the weekend for more photos of Descano Gardens and Payne's Nursery.

6. PS: How could I have forgotten this one?? If you were watching the Mets vs Dodgers game on the Fourth of July, you might have seen some shout outs from deployed servicemen/women shown on the big screen. One of them was MY BOY!

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't say that we are a military family although my father, father-in-law, various uncles, my husband and my son and my son-in-law have all served in the military. The current count of active duty members in my immediate family is two--my son who is an Army Reserve Chaplain currently deployed and my son-in-law who is a US Marine.

What's it like to be a military family? My daughter posted this on her blog today:

http://mariamia.blogspot.com/2011/07/fourth-of-july.html

The next time you see a man or woman in uniform, thank them for serving. And thank their families, too.

Slow Summer Days

2011-06-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

Because we were traveling again last week, I missed Friday Fave Five. I wondered if I would gradually lose focus and not think about those special moments and events of gratitude. But I think I can recreate two weeks' worth of faves although they may not be in any particular chronological order. And this week I can link up to Susanne's blog for Friday Fave Five. If you want to join, click HERE.

1. San Diego Zoo. What a beautiful place it is. We spent several hours wandering through only a small portion of this splendid place. What were my favorites? Hmmm, that's a hard question. The meerkats were highly amusing. ADHD kitties, always busy, always hyper focused.

This little guy was on sentry duty and took his job very seriously.

The sleepy koalas didn't seem nearly as concerned about security.

2. Wandering around Coronado. We decided that after a long drive into East San Diego County (very mountainous and much hotter than the city of San Diego itself) that a long walk on the cool, coastal Coronado Island would make a nice contrast. The weather at the beach was our typical June Gloom overcast. But in every block and on every street there are unique homes, some small cottages and others gigantic mansions, and all are architecturally interesting.

3. Sunday was The Professor's birthday. I think he spent it just the way he wanted which included a lunch with friends, phone calls from all but one child (and he sent greetings the only way he could--via email), 'Happy Birthday' messages from friends and siblings. We had had a little party in San Diego too, so the celebration lasted more than one day.

4. We also drove over to Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa State Park this week. Nestled in the coastal hills, connected to Point Mugu State Beach and part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, it's the perfect place to walk in the hills and observe the California native landscape. Because we've been researching what California native plants we would like to add to our back garden, seeing many of the plants in their native habitat was helpful in identifying what we'd been reading about in Gardening with a Wild Heart by Judith Larner Lowry.

5. A wonderful part of being a teacher on an academic schedule is, well, the schedule. Summer afternoons this week have been spent dropping by the local library to pick up this or that book to read, then taking our books (and my knitting) and sitting somewhere either at home on our front patio or in a local coffee place to relax and read. Summer doesn't get any better than this!

So that has been Willow's Two Weeks. Traveling, celebrating (I didn't even mention the TWO graduations we attended in Los Angeles), and relaxing. How have you been whiling away the summer days?

More Zoo

2011-06-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

The Tropical Rain Forest area reminded me of the jungles of Indonesia where we lived.

I've always been fascinated with gorillas.

I wonder if they're fascinated with me.

Birds blend in to their surroundings.

Adult male homo sapiens in their natural habitat.

Young ones play and pretend to be stomped by the elephant statue.

How could anyone be bored at the San Diego Zoo?

Zoo

2011-06-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

This time it was San Diego, not San Francisco.

Cuddly koalas

Marine Corps Meerkat sentry, always on hyper alert status

This little primate amused the watchers with his novel method of taking a drink of water. He only miscalculated one minor detail.

He wasn't the only one using the pond.

More photos another day.

Slower Days of Summer

2011-06-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

This has been a quieter week here at Willow's Cottage. We needed a slow, simple week. My faves have been small ones, close to home. And that has been just fine with me. I've linked this Friday Fave Five to Susanne's blog HERE.

1. Facebook chat with a long time friend who I haven't connected with for several years. It was great to catch up with her and her family!

2. Crossing several items off my Summer To Do List already. Of course, the list is very very long and certainly over-ambitious, but nevertheless I love marking the item ~~done~~ when I've finished it.

3. Progress on the photograph organization. Promising myself that this summer I would truly make it a priority, I have started on the daunting task of finally sorting and organizing the years and years of family photos of which I am custodian. This week I made a good start on them. I pulled them out. I sorted. I culled. Things are looking hopeful.

4. Progress on my goal of owning all the Newbery Award books. At the local library used book store, I found three more books on my list. The current count of books I still need is FIFTEEN!

5. I broke a self imposed rule this week, and I'm really excited about it. The first email came in and stated, "Free alpaca fleeces for guild members". Although I already own way too many llama fleeces waiting in bags to be spun into beautiful yarn, I decided to just 'go over and check them out'. Ha! I knew I'd bring one home and I did. This alpaca fleece is a creamy white color and absolutely gorgeous. I haven't photographed it yet as it is still sitting in the back seat of the Honda. The Professore asked me if I was going to leave it there all summer, but I am just waiting for a day when I have enough uninterrupted hours to lay it out on an old sheet, spread it open and 'skirt' it, cleaning the short clippings and picking the 'junk' out of it. That process takes a few hours and it's easier to do if I am not stopping and starting the work over a couple of days. I've been daydreaming about what to knit when I eventually have it all cleaned, carded, and spun. A sweater? An afghan? There's enough poundage in this fleece to make several projects. It's not like I really needed more fiber, though...

6. And here is a bonus, a photo that has nothing to do with anything but which amuses me. I caught this king of the chimps sitting on top of a wooden shed in his enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo last week, regally surveying his little kingdom.

Did you mark anything off your to do list this week? Or break any rules?

Reflections on Traveling

2011-06-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

My Friday Fave Fives this week are focused on the short trip we took to San Francisco this week. It was a week filled with fun experiences and many hours spent sitting in our car. If you want to know more about Friday Fave Five, check out this link to Susanne's blog.

1. time spent with my family
We met up with The New Boy, his mama and the Grad Student, all of us converging at the same time in one spot on this planet although for different reasons. Spending even a few days with our grandson (and two of our children) gives us great joy!

2. a random meeting with someone who reads my blog
We wandered in to a shop and the clerk commented on my felted bag. One thing led to another and I discovered that wow! she's a knitter, and she reads my blog! What fun randomness!

3. revisiting San Francisco

When I was a child, my family drove from Oregon to San Francisco every summer. I have so many memories of that city which I considered the most exciting and exotic place in the world, or at least my little world. The Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Zoo, Ghirardelli Square

cable cars, hills and more hills, houses jammed up against each other with NO space between, Presidio of San Francisco, Golden Gate Park. What fun we had sharing some of those places with The New Boy and his mama.

4. Half Moon Bay

Neither of us had ever been to Half Moon Bay even though it is very close to San Francisco and part of the peninsula on the Pacific Coast side of San Francisco. On a whim, we decided to drive over the hills and visit that famous little seaside town. We walked along Main Street, wandered in to the absolutely amazing and delightful Fengari yarn shop and chatted with Ann the owner for a few minutes, stopped for a bowl of soup and a coffee at a local cafe, and ended up at the top of the cliff overlooking the local beach. In typical Coastal California June Gloom weather, it was windy, gray and misty, so we didn't stay long.

5. driving along the Central California Coast

A seven hour drive each way along Hwy 101 allows for extended periods to spend gazing at the wonderful and beautiful California scenery. We drove along the Pacific Coast beaches, through the coastal hills covered with live oak trees and orange poppies. Watching the hills, dotted with horses and cows or covered with vineyards, roll past reminded me what an incredible state I live in--one that extends for almost nine hundred miles north to south, encompasses some of the most majestic scenery in the world, and is home to people living on citrus or cattle ranches, in small sleepy towns nestled in the golden foothills, and huge crowded, bustling cities.

How was your week?

Taking a Trip

2011-06-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

I am traveling this weekend. So I am preposting this Fave Five with Willow's Packing Tips. I haven't heard if Susanne is traveling but you can check in at her blog Living To Tell the Story and find out who else is.

Willow's Travel Tips--Packing Plans

#1. Pack your swimsuit first. Every. Time. Otherwise, like me, you will arrive at the fancy hotel with the pool and hot tub and sadly realize you forgot it.

#2. a. Make careful plans for what you are planning to take with you. Spend about fifteen minutes choosing your clothes and throwing them in your suitcase.
b. You'll need a minimum of two hours to decide which knitting projects you wish to work on during your travels and adequate time to gather the yarns, patterns, needles and assorted accessories. It would be wise to allow extra time for this step.

#3. Carefully choose your reading material. Take at least two books.

#4. Pack chocolate(s) and a camera. Remember the camera cables and batteries.

#5. Before you begin to pack your bag, check the weather forecast for your desination. If you do not include this step, #2a will take longer since you will need to pull out the short sleeved shirts and capris and repack the bag with cashmere sweaters, long slacks, and a rain slicker.

Old Sarum

2011-06-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

Instead of correcting papers and writing thank you notes to those students who sweetly and kindly presented me with end of the year pressies, I've been reading Sarum--The Story of England by Edward Rutherfurd. I mentioned the novel in a recent post because Sara had recommended the author. I'm captivated by history in general, and I love British history in particular. Add in the fact that The Professor and I visited Old Sarum and Salisbury a few years ago, and I have a perfect match of interests.

View of the Old Sarum church ruins from the top of the hill

Willow pretending to be Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Did you ever watch Katharine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor in The Lion In Winter?) imprisoned in the castle by her husband King Henry II

Stonehenge is mentioned in one of the early chapters of Sarum.

I love the memories of our trips to England that Sarum is invoking!

Flying

2011-05-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

As in that's what the past week has done. It has flown by so very quickly. Was it really a whole week since I wrote a blog post?

Where did my week go?

1. On Sunday, The Professor and I drove to Long Beach (second largest city in Los Angeles County) to a church we were part of when we lived in LA. There was a special informational meeting after the service which we particularly wanted to attend, hosted by the group Ugandan Lambs through which we have sponsored a boy from Uganda for the past seven years. The meeting was wonderful on so many levels--seeing old friends, learning what has been acoomplished in Uganda in the past year, hearing the vision for the future of the these precious orphans, even receiving a letter and photo from 'our boy'. We connected with a very special friend for lunch--she even found a great restaurant, The Veggie Grill, where we could all find something tasty and yummy to eat.

2. Our week has ended with a house guest brightening up our lives. Our daugther in law (she who we call The Princess) drove over to spend a few days with us. Already, we have laughed and laughed, watched The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (with Ingrid Bergen), sat around and shared our favorite new books, and enjoyed a couple of special meals.

3. This morning we were here:

picking these:

4. On a whim, we decided to drive to Ventura this afternoon. Our original goal was to cruise through a few thrift stores. None of us are shoppers, but we do love to poke around in the used books sections of these shops. We walked in to ONE book shop on the way to the thrift store and never left until we had found a total of (ahem) eight books. In my defense, I will state that this amazing little shop had a treasure trove of Newbery Award Books. Because I am always looking for the award books to fill out my collection and achieve a life goal to own and read every Newbery Award Book, I was delighted to find THREE more volumes. These books were especially exciting because two of them were hard copies, and if they weren't first editions, they were certainly orginally purchased the year they won the Medal. Inside the covers, the original owner had written "Newbery Award Book-- and then the year (1955, 1947)". I just had to have those books because I felt a close kinship to the owner since she obviously also collected all the winners through the years. I am now within SEVENTEEN books of having them all! I'm so pleased that we gave in to our whim and then serendipitously strolled in to that little book shop.

5. Speaking of books, I read about a new (to me) author on another blog and then found some copies of his books at our local library. I enjoy novels placed in historical settings, so I am looking forward to reading Sarum, the Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd. With just one week of classes left, I am looking forward to a wonderful summer of reading!

This week passed so quickly and happily, filled with little moments of gratitude and pleasure. I'm sharing these Five Faves for Friday's Fave Five and linking to Susanne's blog. Thanks, Susanne, for hosting us each week and offering us the chance to focus on our fleeting moments of thankfulness.

A Week in May

2011-05-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy weather week here at Willow's Cottage. Rain? In Southern Calfornia? In May? Finally, the sky is clear of rain clouds although the wind has still been whipping things around. Wild weather or mild, I find things to be thankful for every week.

1. Can I ever say too much about my local farmers market? I don't think so! The Professor and I shop there every Saturday morning we are in town. Each week, the vendors greet us, ask us if we want 'the usual' (usually we do), and then as they hand us the produce, they thank us and drop an extra little something in, a cucumber or apple or carrot. Nothing tastes better than organic, fresh, in season, locally grown produce!

2. Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival was great! On Sunday, I attended with The Professor. Actually, I spent the entire day NOT listening to bluegrass music. My spinners/weavers guild volunteered to demonstrate--spinning and weaving--so I took my spinning wheel and--spun--fiber while he wandered around and enjoyed some truly fun music. I spun and spun all day while groups and herds and gaggles of people strolled past, stopped and watched and said, "That's so cool!" (or other words to that effect). Watching demonstrations of a 'lost art' evidently fascinates people. The muscial atmosphere was joyful. There's something about bango and fiddle music which makes everyone want to dance.

3. Sometimes, spectators spy an item in my basket of handspun samples that they particularly like. Sometimes, they ask if it's for sale. Sometimes, it is. Sometimes, I am willing to sell it. Always, I assure them that all profits will be sent to a non-profit organization. I will be sending a check to Generate Hope this weekend.

4. The school year is winding down to a close. Yesterday was the last day for two writing groups. Who was more sad, the teacher or the students? I'm not sure. We've had a fantastic year. Evidently, my students have other talents besides writing.

5. Spending hours in my garden is theraputic for me. Even when the time is invested in pulling weeds, I find my mind relaxing and resting. Birds sing. Lizards bask. Ants race. My body finds its rhythm in reaching, grabbing and pulling.

Have you experienced any favorite activities or received sweet gifts and notes this week? You can share your Fave Five at Susanne's blog.

Musings about Yarn

2011-05-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

I spent all day Sunday spinning. Spinning yarn, that is, not bike wheels. When my spinners/weavers guild sent a sign-up for demonstrating at Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Festival, I knew I HAD to volunteer. Held at the old movie set spot, Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, it was the perfect place to spend a spring Sunday. Of course, The Professor offered to tag along and help carry my spinning wheel and provide nutrition (read: hot chocolate) when I needed it. With my hands and mind deep in to fiber, I spun and spun, showed boys, girls, teenagers, men and women how yarn is created. Other demonstrators were weaving, spinnning and making bobbin lace. Perhaps it was just the crowd, those who love bluegrass music also love hand made anything, but we were busy all day long.

Now that I'm back home and settled in to teaching, correcting, and planning for the last weeks of classes, part of my brain is still focused on yarn. It's hard not to be thinking about fiber when it's everywhere around me at home. Currently, I have a nearly finished cap lying on the ottoman in the living room. Made from variegated blues and grays handspun super wash wool, it's a feast for my senses--touch and sight. In the family room the cap's matching fingerless gloves are waiting for me to make a change in one--I miscounted rows early in the pattern and one glove is longer than the other. And you know, usually, hands are the same size, so I need to change one. There is also a skein of yarn snuggled up next to the gloves. It's waiting for me to cast on and make it in to a sweater for one of my niece's twins who are scheduled to make an appearance in a couple of months (or less, knowing twins). But that's not all the yarn that's around Willow's Cottage.

There is, among many other yarns and projects, a sweater languishing in a paper gift bag. I spun the undyed brown Cowichan wool into a fine yarn a few years ago. It sat there waiting for the perfect pattern to appear magically. Finally, I decided to design a pattern myself. I used the Charmed Knits pattern for the Weasley Sweater as my inspiration. Instead of a plain stockinette stitch I worked the whole thing in ribs with occasional simple cables.

The sweater is nearly finished, and guess what. I don't like it. The neckline is too wide--I wanted a wider neckline so the wool wouldn't sit up against my sensitive skin and make me itch, but I over did the wideness. I've tried all kinds of fixes but it's just not working. Also, I have to ask myself why I keep knitting wool sweaters when most of the year it's just too warm in my climate to wear it. I already have the wool, and I want to be a good steward of my resources, so I endeavor to use up what I have. I think, finally, I've admitted to myself (and now to the world) that I need to unravel this thing and start over. Maybe it won't be a sweater again. Maybe it will become hats, scarves or socks, or even an afghan. I certainly have enough of the stuff to make an afghan.

It gets dangerous around here when I begin overthinking my yarn projects.

Short Trips

2011-05-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Blogger's problems have kept me from posting Friday Fave Five in a timely manner. However, I have finally been allowed back online and am posting FFF and linking up to Susanne (if she is back online now too). Gratitude and thankfulness are the focus of this weekly post. Here is what has made me grateful and thankful and just plain smiling-happy this week.

I've never kept secret the fact that I love to travel. This wanderlust of mine is shared by my husband (and children--we taught them well by example and participation). While I do love simply being at home, I also enjoy short trips to keep the travel bug in balance.

1. On Friday late in the afternoon, we gave in to the urge to wander. Packing a quick picnic supper and grabbing our jackets (a wise move it turns out), we jumped in our Honda and headed up the highway to the nearby beach town. It was a gray and misty evening; sometimes you couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the sky began out at the horizon. Most of the beach goers had given up and gone. But the pelicans! The pelicans were patrolling the coastline in formations of three, four, five and six member squadrons.

They were dive bombing, searching the area for unwary schools of tasty fish. (Do you see that kamikaze pelican in the right background zeroing in on its target?)

Occasionally, a single pelican would break formation to inspect a suspicious intruder. This bird was keeping pace with the human matching stroke with flap as he scrutinized the black wet-suited surfer.

2. Mother's Day was spent quietly. The children duitfully called to wish me a happy day. Whenever they call, it's a happy day for me. In the evening, we decided to escape again for a couple of hours. Another picnic of peanut butter sandwiches, veggies and coffee was packed and we headed back to the beach, this time to the closest sandy spot near our house. The wind was nasty, so we opted to stay in the car and just enjoy the view of Mugu Rock and the coastline, sunny this time. We searched for pelicans (I could gaze at pelicans by the hour!) but the only birds around were the seagulls which I also find amusing and interesting. But there was ONE whale cavorting in the sea just off shore and we watched it for a long time as it breached, blew water from its breath hole and submerged again and again. A beach sunset is a wonderful way to end Mother's Day.

3. As if that wasn't enough traveling for a week, I hopped a commuter train on Tuesday morning and rode to Los Angeles Union Station. A friend and I had arranged to meet up there and spend the day walking around LA. After a short stroll through Olvera Street (the birthplace of Los Angeles, located across the street from Union Station), we headed toward downtown. After all these years of living in and around LA, I had never noticed the Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. So we walked into the courtyard. I was mesmerized by the bells (and the jacaranda trees blooming out their lovely lavender flowers in the background across the street).

Then we strolled past the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I do wonder though why there was a car parked by the front doors.

This building baffled us. Was it an office building, apartments or condos? A storage facility? My best guess is that it's a movie prop left over from one of the Terminator movies.

My friend left to return home and I had over an hour to wait for my commuter, so I discovered a coffee place right in Union Station (!), ordered a soy hot chocolate, walked through the waiting room, sat down in this elegant courtyard, pulled out my knitting and pretended that I was in an exotic far away place on a grand adventure. Which, you know, I really was. Los Angeles is truly an amazing city!

4. The rest of the week I've been happily returning home after teaching my classes and picking up a fun new book to read. My son knows me well and shares a love of fantasy with me, so of course he knew that this book would please me greatly as a Mother's Day gift. Book One of The Kane Chronicles, The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. It's a kids' book, but I'm loving it, especially after reading the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series.

5. Other reading material I'm enjoying this week is the British edition of Country Living. A student's mom receives a subscription to the magazine and when she's finished with it, she passes it on to me. I read it and then give it to Donna, the lady who owns the local tea shop. Currently, I'm four months behind, so I'm reading a little each day this week. Country Living British style is a beautiful magazine, a feast for my eyes and satisfaction for my wanderlust soul.

That's what I've been wandering around doing this week. Have you had any adventures?

Three Fun and Fantastic Links From My Meanderings on the Web

2011-05-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

This free e-book is the best single source I've found that explains the changes I've made in my diet and my reasons for doing so. Healthy Eating Rules by Christianna Pierce.

Miss minimalist recently published this post concerning the aftermath of the tragedy in Japan. I wish everyone in the entire world would read it!

My husband pointed out this story in our local newspaper, commenting that it's ONE way to declutter your belongings.

It's MAY!

2011-05-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

1. Yes, Disneyland and California Adventure are certainly happy places. At least, we were very happy while we were there. Mickey looked down benevolently at us from many vantage points.

These swings reminded me of my childhood summer days spent swinging, pumping as hard as I could and flying as high as possible.

Undoubtedly, my favorite California Adventure ride was Soarin' Over California. What an exhilirating way to view the beauty of my adopted state~in a simulated hang glider. No photos of that since, you know, I was holding on to the safety bar on my seat. All the usual rides were still great: Space Mountain, Grizzly Rapids, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise...

The best part was still being with my boy and his lovely wife. Whatever they did, we wanted to do it, too.

2. Another activity we shared with them was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books which was held this year at USC. That's University of Southern California, not University of South Carolina. When my parents were living in Columbia, SC, I visited them, saw all those USC shirts and marveled at the number of University of Southern California fans there were on the East Coast until my father smirkingly pointed out that SC meant South Carolina. Anyway. We reveled in the piles and piles of books on any and every subject we could imagine. All of those books!

3. But that's not all, no, that's not all! Our Grad Student son happened to be in LA for the weekend and joined us for the day and for dinner at a local Indonesian restaurant in Culver City. There is no better cuisine in the whole world than Indonesian!

4. All wonderful Spring Breaks must come to an end, and so it was back to classes this week; but that's OK because I love my job! I love it when the students waltz in saying, "Hi, Mrs. Willow! We missed coming to class!"

4. Spring gardening is underway. We've been eating our homegrown lettuce for two weeks now. The lavender is outdoing itself in bloom production. I. Love. Lavender. Sadly, lavender doesn't love The Professor. So all the lavender lives outside. But it's beautiful, isn't it?

Well, that was Willow's Week this frist week of May, another edition of Friday Fave Five. These five expressions of gratitude are just the highlights of my week; it's how I choose to focus my memories--on being thankful. If you want, you can join Friday Fave Five at Susanne's blog.

Special Times and Happy Places

2011-04-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Friday Fave Five, Willow's Week in review. I missed posting my faves last week. And I really do mean that-- I missed the opportunity to share with others what I choose to focus on during the week--events and happenings for which I am grateful and thankful. I was mostly offline, meandering around my home and wending my way south almost to the international border with Mexico. But I'm back this week and linking to Susanne's blog to post my Friday Fave Fives.

1. Spring break: two weeks. Sitting in my favorite comfy chair reading several books, cup of coffee and knitting project nearby, for hours and hours: priceless!

2. Spending Easter Weekend in San Diego: four hours driving in the car, some of it along the most beautiful coastline in the world. Saturday afternoon baby shower for a friend and Sunday morning Easter service: priceless!

3. Walking on the beach: two hours. Strolling with my girl and her dog: priceless!

4. A train ride from San Diego: $32. The views of the Pacific Ocean from the train windows: priceless!

5. Friday we will be playing at the Happiest Place on Earth with #1 Son and his wife! Receiving comp. tickets to Disneyland and California Adventure: mega bucks. Seeing my son for the first time in almost eight months: priceless! (This explains why I may not get around in a timely manner to visit other participants in FFF, but I'll do my best.)

Happy Times and Happy Week! Do you have anything fun planned?

Partay! I'm on Spring Break. Bak son! (ala Christopher Robin)

2011-04-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

A Pleasant Surprise

2011-04-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ok. This has to be my BIG FIRST fave five this week. Blogger allowed me to upload this photo:

I decided to try adding a photo tonight figuring, "What do I have to lose? If I can't upload a photo, I'll click where directed to read up on my options." Imagine my shock when the photo simply and easily uploaded!

I love looking at this picture of the fishing boat which was cruising (do fishing boats cruise?) off the coast of Faria Beach State Park because it reminds me of all the wonderful sunny days I have spent at beaches around the world from Oregon and California to Florida to England to Indonesia. And if you know me, you know I love the beach.

Secondly, blogger allowed me to upload this:

This is the Plain Vest from Pickles website's list of free patterns which I mentioned in a FFF post two weeks ago. I chose to experiment with a second photo and added this vest because it makes me think excitedly about my plans for next week when I'll be spending a few days in that wonderful city of San Diego, visiting my daughter and son-in-law and attending the baby shower for their friends' new little girl who will be born soon and hopefully wear this little pink vest when she's about a year old. Isn't it just the cutest thing?

Because I'm not one for pushing my luck, I think I'll stop with the uploading photos. I have NO IDEA why these photos were allowed to be uploaded tonight. But I'm not complaining.

Now then. Third Fave Five. Last week, The Professor commented that he was surprised that I had not mentioned an important event from our week. I replied that I had hinted at it when I added the little phrase about selling a big item via Craig's List. Well. We bought a car and then sold our old one. Truly, it should be a fave because I do love my newer Honda CR-V, my little Silver Bullet. Better gas mileage. 21,000 miles. Higher visibility. And most important of all, our bike rack will fit on the back without sagging and scraping the pavement whenever we hit a low spot (once we get the hitch installed). Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last car I ever have to purchase. One can dream...

When I logged on to a clothing website yesterday to check sizing for a pair of slacks I wanted, I discovered to my great delight that the slacks are ON SALE for HALF PRICE right now! And free shipping! So I bought myself a pair of summer slacks.

Last, Spring Break! Two weeks off! That says it all.

That's my Fave Five for Willow's Week. Did you have any fun and exciting surprises? Do tell. If you want, you can link to Susanne's blog HERE.

A Week's Worth

2011-04-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Since I have not made any attempt to decide how I intend to handle the abrupt cessation of photo posting here at Willow's Cottage, this is another week of using only words to describe the happenings here in our very windy coastal community. Thank you to all who left me information about how to alleviate the photo block issue. I'm still evaluating my options.

1. I have the loveliest of neighbors! On Tuesday, my neighbor who is also a wonderful friend (Hi M!) dropped by in the middle of her busy day and gave me an hour of her time to measure and pin four (4!) pairs of cropped pants. I have a bad habit of purchasing cropped pants even though they are too long for me. It's not really that they are too long, it's that I am too short. Have other petite sized women noticed that cropped pants are still several inches too long, ending not at your calf but more like just above your ankle? Anyway, Marvelous M used her dressmaking skills to keep me from looking quite as dowdy as I usually do in the summer.

2. Spring planting in our garden is progressing. We've marked out some squares to attempt our version of a Square Foot Garden. So far, we have planted six heirloom tomatoes, kale, (more) lettuce, spinach, (more) basil and (more) parsley. In my opinion, you can't have too much parsley or basil in your garden.

3. I received a birthday book! My sister-in-law and I share, among the many many other enjoyments we have in common, a love of all words written by Madeleine L'Engle. The latest volume she sent me is Walking on Water, Reflections on Faith and Art. And tucked in to it was a bookmark painted with an original watercolor lavender spring violet which she created especially for me!

4. Isn't it FUN when to find a forgotten book on your bookshelf? As I was dusting a shelf last Saturday, I noticed little blue book titled The Church of the East; it is actually an edited and condensed version of the very large two volume tome titled Nestorian Missionary Enterprise by John Stewart (published 1928). I know when and where we purchased the book as it was part of a homeschool curriculum, but I had no memory that we still owned it. (Here is where I confess to having lately developed a deep and insatiable interest in Christian Church history.) Immediately I pulled it off the shelf and placed it lovingly and excitedly on the TOP of my stack of 'I am planning to read this really soon' books.

5. Last, and certainly not least, because anything chocolate ranks quite high on my list of loves, I have been indulging my cocoa cravings with Trader Joe's (Vegan) 72% Swiss Dark Chocolate bar. Do you shop at TJ's? It's the 3.5 oz bar wrapped in the bright green cardboard. On the back, it states, "Best before 03.03.2012". I don't think I need to worry about the expiration date because this chocolate will not be around that long.

There were many more little and large events that could have made my Fave Five list (like a major Craig's List sale and a quick stop at the local garden nursery for some pink petunias), but I think these five are certainly a week's worth of blessings. I'd love to hear about your week! You can link up at Susanne's blog Living To Tell The Story or just leave a comment here.

Editor's note: you may recall that I mentioned a book review I was planning to post. If you are interested in reading a review of LowCostHighImpact Photography by blogger Steve Johnson, scroll down to the next post which I published last Tuesday.

Low Cost High Impact Photography--a Review

2011-04-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Are you the photographer who uses a point and shoot camera and thinks that you need a fancy-shmancy professional camera to take really great photos? Do you want to learn how to maximize your skills with your current camera without spending any more money than the cost of a new e-book? Then Low Cost High Impact Photography by Steve Johnson is the book for you!

Low Cost High Impact Photography was self published in digital form. I appreciate that because I can sit anywhere I have my laptop computer, pull up the book and reread just the section I want to remind myself about such as how to maximize lighting to take a night photo. Because he was an artist before he became a photographer, Steve's way of looking through the camera lens is different from any other professional photographers I've encountered. He doesn't take himself or other professionals too seriously and that is refreshing. In addition, Steve is very approachable. When I didn't understand a term he used in the book, I emailed him and he responded very quickly with a simple and direct explanation. How many authors do you know who would do that? Please understand that the lack of understanding was not his fault but that I am a newbie to photography. Self published books better encourage relationships between author and reader.

The book is composed of three main sections besides the introduction and conclusion, Equipment, Technique and Aesthetics. In the Equipment section, Steve discusses not just cameras but also the very few other items a photographer might need to take stellar photos. The Technique chapters appealed to me less but I think that's because I just need to move my learning curve up a bit to appreciate what he's written. After reading the Aesthetics section, I gained a different perspective on what is 'beauty'.

The Low Cost part of this book is what impressed me most. Steve has given me the confidence that I don't have to spend bundles of cash to take really great photos. There are many money saving ideas scattered throughout the book. Reading Low Cost High Impact Photography made me want to grab my camera and practice everything all at once and take pictures of everything immediately which of course was not possible or a good idea. But having been exposed to these ideas and new ways of looking at objects has given me months of learning and experimentation to look forward to. Scattered among the more than 100 pages are tidbits of everyday wisdom, Steve-style. My favorite was "Good photography is about removing the nonessential clutter". Maybe that's obvious to most people, but it really resonated with me. What is the most important part of good composition? I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to read the book to find out. But I'm going to begin thinking about it every time I point my camera at a subject and click that button. It's exciting to realize that I have so much more to learn about photography, and it's not going to cost me any more cash than I've already spent on my camera and a few basic companion pieces.

At the end of Low Cost High Impact Photography, Steve includes what he calls Photo Essays, some real life examples of his own work, and tells the stories of how, where and when he took the photos. In simple story telling fashion, he explains the photographic and creative processes. Is every photo museum quality? No. Are they all really good photos of images that he enjoyed photographing? Yes! And that's what I love. Low Cost High Impact Photography is a book written by a real guy named Steve Johnson about taking real photos for real people who also take real pictures.

You can purchase Low Cost High Impact Photography on Steve's website/blog MinimalistPhotography101.com.

I want to let you know that I am not making any income from writing this review other than happily receiving my copy of the book without cost. Just tell him that Willow sent you.

Knitting the Week Away

2011-03-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

I had intended to focus my Fave Fives on some knitting projects I have been working on this week. This afternoon, I photographed them and planned my post. Imagine my dismay when I uploaded my first photo and received this message: "Whoops. It looks like you are out of photo storage." Hmmmm, after five and a half years of blogging, I am unable to post a picture. Evidently, I have hit the dreaded 'you gotta pay for it' limit. Now I will have to decide what I intend to do. In the meantime, you will have to use your imagination when I describe my five favorite knitting projects of the week.

1. A friend is expecting a little girl next month. I've been busy. Taking a simple kimono pattern and changing it to my preferences, I knitted a 6 month size white baby sweater which has straight sleeves; the front pieces cross and taper to a point at the waist. I knitted in a little button hole and sewed on a blingy button at the left side. Since I always use a washable fiber for anything baby, this is made from white Red Heart Soft yarn and trimmed with a deep raspberry crocheted edging.

2. Then because I had plenty of left over raspberry yarn, I cast on for a neck down raglan sweater in size two. This little cardi is knitted in dark plum and raspberry stripes. I must have a thing about crocheted edges right now. Since I don't know much about crocheting, I am guessing that I made what would be called a picot edging around all the edges. It's--oh sooo sweet. Three little buttons near the neck line will hold the sweater closed.

3. The knitting blog Pickles has a darling vest pattern which is a free download for size 1. I used a dusty pink acrylic yarn and added two bright pink, purple and blue buttons. You can see the pattern here.

4. In February, I had made myself a little beanie in a bulky navy yarn. It was a simple garter stitch knit but it fit just perfectly. I added a cute crocheted flower at the edge and wore the hat last month when I was visiting my daugther in San Diego. Since I like to use up my left over stash, I made a second hat and decided to gift it to the little sister of one of my tutoring students. She's 7 this year and has strawberry blonde hair. That hat was just begging to go home with her.

5. I've had this Shauna cowl on my needles for a few weeks. Knitted in seed stitch on size 10.5 needles, it should have worked up a lot faster than it did. But I finally finished it. I love it in the turquoise Spa yarn I used!

How did you do? Did you 'see' my knitting? It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I did not write anywhere near 1,000 words, let alone 5,000 to 'show' you my five knitting projects but I hope you have brilliant imagination skills to compensate.

Have you run in to the 'can't post any more photos' problem on your blog? Any insights here? Comments, commiserations, recommendations, and ideas gladly received!

Obviously, not being able to post photos is not going to make my Fave Five list this week. But I decided that a lack of pictures would not prevent me from writing about what pleased me and gave me joy. Thank you, Susanne, for hosting Friday Fave Five every week!

Lessons from Nature

2011-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

My thoughts have been drawn to springtime this week like a young man's thoughts which are turned lightly to love. What has nature's example taught me? These five lessons are this week's Fave Five from Willow's Cottage.

1. Beauty often lies in the details.

2. Never under estimate the power of a storm. Southern California has been slammed with back to back rain and wind storms this week. While we are used to the occasional three day rain storm blowing in off the Pacific Ocean, the storm on Sunday was unusually violent. Trees were toppled on the nearby golf course, in local neighborhoods, and along the freeways. Rain turned to snow in the coastal mountains closing the main freeway route from the San Joaquin Valley into the Los Angeles basin. At least two of our neighbors sustained damage to their homes, and we all lost our electricity for a while on Sunday evening. While our little inconveniences are NOTHING compared to what the brave people of Japan are suffering, this storm was a timely reminder of the power of wind and rain. It was not your typical little spring rain storm.

3. This little ground squirrel exemplified an interesting quality-the refusal to be deterred from his goal. While we were taking a break in our twelve mile bike ride along the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, we propped our bikes up near a picnic table, sat down and ate our bag lunches. Mr. Squirrel wanted to share. He was hungry. He was determined. Whenever we shooed him away, Squirrel Boy returned and crept ever close, even climbing up my bike tire to reach the table's bench and hopefully snatch a crumb from my peanut butter sandwich. He was persistent!

4. The white heron taught me a lesson, too. He was perched on a truck cab in the lot where we parked our car while we were biking. Although cars drove in and out past the grey truck, the heron never moved. He turned his head back and forth a few times but he stayed right there on the truck looking decidedly bewildered and out of place since we were several hundred feet away from the river bed and even farther from the beach. He seemed to be thinking, "Uhh, this doesn't look much like the beach. But the pelican told me to fly south." I was reminded of the truth that even if you are sincere and adamant in your belief, if you're wrong, you're still sincerely wrong.

5. Finally, the sagest advice I took away from this week came from the humble seagull. Always make sure they photograph your good side.

Have you learned anything this week from feathered friends or wacky weather? Share it! And if you want, join Susanne's Friday Fave Five at her blog Living To Tell The Story.

Lessons Learned

2011-03-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I know not to brag about an 'easy and quiet week'. I should have known better. What was I thinking? After writing about my quiet and simple week, I ended up with two whirlwind weeks. It wasn't anything in particular. No, I wasn't ill. Yes, all was well. It was just busier than I expected. We knew that the crazy last week of play rehearsals for The Professor would be followed by the insane performance week, and we had mentally prepared for it. I had even prepared some easy fix and carry meals ahead of time. What we did not expect was a car situation. Sadly, his little green commuter Ford Focus car had an engine owie which necessitated a prolonged stay at the mechanic hospital. It's still there. That one little change in the schedule meant that we were sharing a car during The Professor's busiest two weeks of the semester. As you can imagine, the result was not an easy and quiet week (or two of them-in a row).

Happily, this week has been quite special in spite of the busyness. It's my birthday! Yes, I really was a St. Patrick's Day baby. Often, I'm asked why my parents did not name me Patricia. They thought about it. In fact, I had an Uncle Patrick, born on March 17th, who was quite incensed that I wasn't named after him. But in the end, another name was chosen and even my middle name doesn't reflect any of my (small amount of) Irish ancestry. Even so, I love having been born on St. Partick's Day. Wonderful legacy. Green beer. Shamrocks.

Before The Professor and I embark on a quest to try the green beer in the new Irish pub in town*, I want to share my Fave Five which obviously will center around my birthday. *Update on that-- already at 4pm there was a dastardly long line of people waiting to gain entrance. It was loud. It was chilly. We didn't feel like waiting, so we opted for a very quiet (oh, I think I needed that) and delicious meal at our favorite Thai restaurant. Sadly, there was no green beer, but the Thai iced tea was totally tasty as was the pad thai.

1. My birthday week began on Saturday with a day long hang out time with a special friend who drove up from one of LA's beach cities. After a yummy lunch at a locally famous fish and chips place, we strolled around the Ventura Harbor from one end to the other and back again. I love that place. Boats. Water. Seagulls. Pelicans. Herons.

2. Celebrations continued on Tuesday at a lunch in Culver City with my beautiful and wonderful daughter-in-law. She, her sister, their friend, and I met at Royal T Cafe, a very hip sort of tea cafe. Culver City is home to Sony Pictures Studios and other buildings belonging to various film and TV studios, and the shops and clientele reflect that. My usual route to and from the main city in LaLaLand is Highway 1, or Pacific Coast Highway, which I mention often as you know. On Tuesday, the tide was low, the pelicans were abundantly flying and diving for fish, the movie sets were camped in the beaches' parking lots, and the sun was peeking in and out between the rolling fog banks.  It was a perfect cruisin' day.

3. Birthday greetings make me so happy! I've received phone calls from sons in far away places and daughters, too, and a certain precious grandson. Real cards have arrived in my real mail box, delivered by real postmen. Oh joy!  I love receiving real mail! Emails and facebook posts have brightened my day! Starbuck's even sent me a coupon for a free drink. Presents are fun, but personal messages remind me that I'm loved and appreciated.

4.  Pressies from my students are always so precious. One young boy brought me a small bouquet of jasmine blooms which he picked himself, placed in a little plastic juice bottle, and decorated with a green ribbon. How sweet is that? My assistant presented me with a lovely personalized card and a real shamrock plant. I had been considering purchasing one at Trader Joe's the other day. Don't you think that a St. Paddy's Day girl should always own a shamrock plant?

5. I've spent some time between lesson prep, chauffeuring, and paper correcting, sitting on my sofa and reading (and knitting of course) because I've decided this year that it's OK to do some things I want to do, just because. I devoured a short volume titled Becoming Orthodox in just two days. Also on my reading pile are four books by Madeleine L'Engle, her Crosswicks Journal quadrilogy. I've begun reading the first in the series. Another book I'm reading is Low Cost High Impact Photography which is an e-book by Steve Johnson. In a couple of days, I'll be posting a review of the e-book, but I'll just say here that this book is completely revolutionizing how I think about and do photography! For me, a day with even a few minutes spent taking pictures, reading, or knitting is a happy day indeed.

So there it is, a recap of two hyper-weeks. Writing it down makes it seem so mundane, but really it wasn't. It was perfectly incredible. Perfect and incredible.

How about you? I'd love to hear how your time has been while I was holed up here in Willow's Cottage not communicating much with the world at large. I've linked this up with the Fave Fives at Susanne's blog. Thanks, as always, Susanne, for hosting Friday Fave Five.

March Begins With Small Things

2011-03-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

You know how some weeks are just quieter than others? On the positive side, I probably needed a quiet week after my very exciting week in San Diego. Quiet weeks can be good.

When your week is not so busy,

1. you can attend a cast party with your husband. The Professor is moonlighting as the Technical Director of the university's performing arts department's spring production. I've met most of the upper classmen/women who have acted in plays other years so it was fun to hang out with them for a few hours.

2. you can relax and read in the evenings while your husband is attending rehearsals. Gallons of Trader Joe's Bedtime Tea have been consumed.

3. you can knit and knit and knit.

4. you can begin to dream about this year's garden. Kale. Heirloom lettuces. More tomatoes. More onions. Lots more parsley.

5. you can vacuum the house and clean the bedroom closets without disturbing anyone else because no one else is in the house.

These were small things, most likely insignificant in the greater scheme of life's dramas, but they gave pleasure and joy to me.

What small things brought a smile to you this week?

You can share them here or post at Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.

Gaslamp Quarter

2011-03-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

After several rainy, cloudy days, the sun shined on San Diego.

Downtown is not too small, not too large; it's just right.

Especially the Gaslamp Quarter.

This Greely storefront was built at the end of the population boom and beginning of the bust. In 1888, the population of San Diego plummeted from 40,000 to 16,000. Read more about San Diego's time line here.

Every American city had a Woolworth Building.

New buildings are being constructed in Downtown San Diego.

Older structures are being renovated. Some like this lovely hotel have elegant 'legendary style'.

I have always been fascinated by the juxtaposition of old and new buildings.

I wonder what is being built here.

If you ever visit San Diego, I hope you will enjoy a wander around San Diego's Downtown Gaslamp Quarter as much as I did.

The End of the Second Month

2011-02-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

The second month of the year is nearly over. Here at Willow's Cottage, I am anticipating the arrival of March. Even so, each day and each week is a wonderful gift and I choose to appreciate every opportunity to be thankful for the little things in life as well as the big things. Susanne hosts Friday Fave Five as a way to focus on being thankful every week. Check in on her blog to join FFF.

Here's what happened around Willow's Cottage this week.

1. The plum tree is blooming! Spring is coming!

2. I spent five days in San Diego this week visiting my daughter and son-in-law (and the puppies and kitties), and during most of those days, it rained. So all my plans to hike with the puppies and walk the beaches did not materialize. On Monday the sun finally shone on San Diego. I strolled the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter and wandered down past the courthouse toward the bay while my daughter was at work. The view from her fifth floor office is amazing! I hope to post more downtown/GasLamp Quarter photos this weekend.

3. Downtown San Diego is thriving and bustling. There are restaurants on every corner and in every block of the Gaslamp District. The Mission Restaurant on J Street is a place you won't want to miss for breakfast or lunch if you ever visit San Diego.

4. Amtrak's Surfliner train is a great way to travel. I scored an ocean side window seat and enjoyed the views as we chugged through San Diego, Solana Beach, Oceanside, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, Los Angeles County and on into my little Ventura County. Come back later to see more photos of the Pacific Coastline.

5. The best part of traveling, even for a long weekend, is coming home. As I disembarked from the train, there was The Professor waiting right in front of the station in our little blue car. I ought to have been wearing my red shoes so I could have clicked them three times and exclaimed, "There's no place like home!"

That was Willow's Week! How was yours?

On the Run

2011-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

Instead of sitting quietly in Willow's Cottage on Thursday evening, I was rocking my way to San Diego on the Amtrak Surfliner. Visiting my daughter this weekend, I knew I'd be late posting on Friday Fave Five. But as the saying goes, "Better Late Than Never". It is never ever too late to express gratitude for the week's blessings.

1. A week ago, our weekend included a fun evening with friends that began with a yummy dinner of black beans and rice, fresh asparagus from the farmers market and gluten free chocolate brownies, all prepared by my green thumb friend who grows the most incredible square foot garden. My contribution to the dinner was these strawberries which I had purchased that morning at the same farmers market. They had been picked from the local fields earlier in the morning.

2. There was knitting. While the others played bridge, I knitted. Then, during the week's evenings, I knitted. Finally, I photographed two of the finished projects. The fingerless mitts are made from a pattern that MinimalistKnitter asked me to test knit. The result was a very comfortable pair of mittens. You can get the free pattern from Robyn's blog here.

The photo on the right is a hoodie/scarf I knitted for my soap-making friend Laurie. She investigated all the yarn options at Joann's and chose this Angel Hair yarn. Then she said, "I want a hat that has the scarf attached to it." I remembered seeing the perfect thing in Homemade Handknit years ago and went searching. Basically, all you do is knit a very long scarf about 9 inches wide, fold it in half and stitch down one side from the center fold for 8 or 9 inches. That's it. Because the yarn was so very fluffy and beautifully variegated, I chose a moss stitch pattern to show it off to best advantage.

3. Obviously, a phone call from my far away military son will always make my fave five list.

4. After a week of hot high winds blowing in from the desert to the east of us, the gentle rains coming from the ocean to the west of us have been a welcome weather respite. We don't have to water the plants, and I had a great excuse to not wash the car.

5. Saving the best until the last, I am spending my long weekend in San Diego with my daughter, son-in-law, the two puppies and two kitties. If the weather cooperates, we'll be taking a couple of hikes with those doggies, walking along one of San Diego's marvelous beaches, and maybe finding a great restaurant meal. The only downside to this little weekend visit is that The Professor can't join me since for some obscure reason his university does not take Presidents Day off.

Remember to stop for a few minutes every day to reflect on the good things (and ignore the difficult moments). As usual, Susanne will have her link for Friday Fave Five posted on her blog for anyone who wants to join FFF.

Sweet Thoughts

2011-02-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week but one filled with great gratitude. I like to pause quietly at the end of the week and remind myself what made the days better. Thanks to Susanne for hosting Friday Fave Five where I link up and share the best of Willow's Week.

On Friday and Saturday - yes, all day, both days - I attended a seminar/training led by Precept Upon Precept Ministries. Based on the completion of the training -20 hours of pre training homework (!) and 15 hours of class time -, I am now qualified to lead discussions of the Precept Studies. That was a long but beneficial weekend.

While I was studying and learning, The Professor kept the home fires burning, did the laundry, cooked our dinners, purchased our fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market. We make a great team, don't we?

The mother of one of my students is very observant. She noticed that I tend to wear blues and purples and that I love anything fiber-related. So she created this felted heart pin especially for me, and her daughter gifted it to me this week for Valentine's Day.

My own little white and yellow flowers continue to bloom. In December, a friend who lives in Santa Barbara offered me a cardboard box full of discarded bulbs from her garden. I popped them in the ground and waited to see if any of them would grow. They did. Aren't they so sweet?

We are very selective (picky) about soaps that we use. Because of sensitivities to fragrances and chemicals, here at Willow's Cottage we only use the handmade old fashioned soap that my friend Laurie makes and sells. We were running out of soap, so I emailed her an SOS for soap and just like that! she sent off a box of unscented goatsmilk soap for us. What a great friend!

That was Willow's Week! How about you? Anything special in your week?

Observations

2011-02-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

On my journey to and from Manhattan Beach today, I drove the Pacific Coast Highway.

I saw two film locations. Going in both directions, I also spotted police cars and trucks mounted with large cameras. I'm wondering what movies were being filmed.

Passing the military base, I glanced over to see men in military camis shooting weapons at targets.

Traffic slowed as we passed the three rock/mud slides that closed PCH for several days in January. There were bicyclists in the bike lanes.

Pepperdine University still has a humungous green lawn stretching from the highway up the hill to the main campus buildings.

Unfortunately, Malibu Beach Shack at Trancas Canyon Road appears to be closed. The building is for sale.

The sea--ahhh, the surf was relaxed and moderately calm. The atmosphere was hazy which blurred the horizon between sea and sky.

Altogether, it was a lovely day for a drive along the Pacific Ocean. Not bad for a Tuesday.

If Panda Says It, It Must Be True

2011-02-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

1. A Panda Express/Panda Inn fortune cookie informed us of something we already know:

SIMPLICITY IN YOUR LIFESTYLE

WILL ENSURE YOU A HAPPY LIFE

2. Neither Panda Inn nor Panda Express needed to remind me that life is returning to the trees and bushes in my community. The trees are furiously blossoming although with all the wild wind we've had, it's a wonder that there are any petals left on the branches.

3. One important component of a happy, simple life for me is finding time in my schedule to play with fiber. I took Saturday as a fiber play day and volunteered to demonstrate spinning at a local Waldorf School's Winter Faire. It felted wonderful to hold the wool and silk roving and allow it to slip through my fingers, twist tightly and be drawn onto the spindle. It had been too long since I had pulled my wheel from the closet and spun some yarn.

4. Here at Willow's Cottage, we love music. Specifically, we love choral music. On Sunday evening, we were privileged to listen to the magnificent Men's Chorale from Azusa Pacific University. All I can say is, "WOW!"

5. Another simple pleasure was having a little coffee date with The Professor, that most excellent of husbands, on Tuesday morning, after we made a quick visit to the lab for a routine blood test. Morning coffee and oatmeal at Starbucks was my reward for being stabbed and jabbed by a needle.

Thank you to Susanne for hosting Friday Fave Five. If you want to join, go over to Living To Tell the Story, sign in and post your Faves.

So that was Willow's Simple Week. How about you? Did you have a simple week?

Flower Love

2011-02-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

A tiny narcissus

and an even tinier sedum

are blooming in my front garden.

Another camellia.

Ending the Month on a High Note

2011-01-27T23:34:00.000-08:00

These four weeks in January have sailed by so quickly. During this week of classes, day trips and wind storms, I continually took note of what was happening to me and around me, paying attention to everything I am thankful for. Participating in Friday Fave Five is a great training exercise in gratitude, and if I post nothing else here at Willow's Cottage blog, I make sure I write about my five faves every Friday. Thank you, Susanne for hosting this at Living to Tell the Story.

1. I know that it's January when the early camellias begin to bloom. Both the flowers and I are soaking up the warm sun. I learned years ago that cold weather and I are not compatible companions. Even Southern California winter rain storms cause me to shiver and be miserable. (I know, I know. I sound like a wimpy wus, but I really do not do well in freezing temperatures) When the sun shines and the temperatures hover in the 70s, I'm just a happier person. I can identify with the camellias.

2. Recently, we received a communication from long time, long ago friends telling us that they would be in the San Diego area the end of January and asking if we could get together. He was our fixed wing and helicopter pilot during the first two years we lived in Papua, Indonesia. We saw them on Saturday afternoon and evening and enjoyed reminiscing with them about those days when we were all a lot younger, living in the jungle, flying around in the three seater Hiller helicopter, and being stranded in crazy places by crazy weather.

3. Spending Saturday night and Sunday morning with our daugther Mia and her husband (and the two puppies and two kitties) in San Diego before we drove back home through the four SoCal counties was another highlight of the weekend.

4. This week there has been simple knitting. Knit one, purl one. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Five inches wide. Five feet long. Soon, it will be a scarf. Sometimes I appreciate the relaxing and repetitive hand motions of a simple knit.

5. I am continuing my relaxation reading. This week, I finished The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes which won the Newbery Medal in 1924. Hawes published only two books in the early 1920s before his untimely death from a sudden illness. The Dark Frigate tells the compelling story of a young man who is boatswain on a British ship that is commandeered by pirates, and from the first page, I was enthralled by both Hawes' writing style and the very true to life tale of danger on the high seas. I know I mentioned the Newbery Medal books last week--I'm wondering if this will be a recurring theme--the best children's literature of the Twentieth Century.

Willow's Week was sunny and quiet. How was yours? Snow? Rain? Sun? Loud? Busy? Relaxed?

2011-01-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

Some weeks are busy; some are quiet. Fortunately, after last week's busyness, this week has been slower paced. However, every week has moments of joy and gratitude and I want to focus my thoughts on those. Friday Fave Five helps me do that. (Follow the link to join FFF at Susanne's blog.)

Birthday Buddies. My friend Dorothy rode the train up from LA to visit me for the day on Friday. After I picked her up at the train station Friday morning, she joined me at my Bible study group, and then we shared a birthday lunch. Whenever we get together, we decided whose birthday we're celebrating-hers or mine. This week it was her turn.

Birthday Boy. My younger son, The Grad Student, celebrated his birthday this week. I realize I am his mother and people might accuse me of being a little biased, but I think he's pretty wonderful!

Books. Recently, I decided that I needed to allow myself some downtime to sit and read. So I pulled out my Newbery Award books and read two this week-- The Midwife's Apprentice and Shiloh. Do you enjoy reading well written and thoughtful books? Consider reading the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books!

To Do Lists. Coupled with choosing a decluttering 'mini mission' every day, my to do list of five 'mini jobs' is actually getting completed. I've been super productive this week in accomplishing many projects including writing notes and letters and cleaning out the trunk and glove box in my car.

Better weather. Sunshine and warmer temperatures have continually called me outside this week. Weeding and pruning in the garden are great excuses to soak up some sun.

Did you have sun, snow or rain? Busy days, quiet evenings? Did you read books or celebrate with friends?

ABCs of Tall Ships

2011-01-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

Bells

Cannon

Compass

Ropes

Wheel

Busy Again

2011-01-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week at Willow's Cottage. There has been work, a little bit of play and a whole lot of driving. As I walked and worked through my week, I tried to focus on what was the best part of each day, what I enjoyed, what I learned. That's what makes up my Friday Fave Fives, those memories of goodness and thankfulness. I truly appreciate the opportunity to share FFF every Friday. Even if my week has been busy and I haven't been online much to post here or to read other blogs, I try to pull everything together to share my best moments for Fave Five. Thanks goes to Susanne who hosts this every week at Living to Tell the Story.

1. The Tall Ships sailed in to Ventura Harbor last week. Although we have seen them before in other harbors, we decided to head over to Ventura to tour the two tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Adventure. Can you imagine learning how to identify all those ropes to furl and unfurl the sails and keep them from tangling up?

2. On Saturday, we drove to the southern part of Los Angeles County to meet a very special person-- the little girl who recently arrived from China to join our friends' family. The dedication and welcoming of this sweet baby was a long anticipated event. Out of respect for the privacy of the family, I won't post photos, but we were thrilled to meet this little one and celebrate with her new family.

3. We took a second trip to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon to meet up at Farmers Market and The Grove with our daughter Mia, her husband and their friends. Dinner at the Singaporan/Indonesian restaurant in the Farmers Market was oh so wonderful. There's nothing like gado-gado with peanut sauce, mie goreng and es cendol! Oops~no photos! In my excitement to see my kids, I left my camera in the car. Here's a little history of Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax in West LA--it was first opened in 1934 as a weekly farmers market in the fields of a local farm where fresh vegetables and fruits were sold to area housewives. As the market grew in size and popularity, it moved into a permanent building which is where the market still thrives, attracting celebrities, local students, and foreign visitors from all over the world.

4. Did I mention work? Yes, classes started again this week. I loved greeting each group of students as they arrived--the smiles and excitement were contagious. While I do greatly enjoy my vacation times, I also love to teach. I have no interest in 'quitting my day job'.

5. I have really missed having walking buddies to keep me accountable for my exercise. This week, a local group has formed to challenge each other to walk 10,000 steps every day for the next two months. I have walked my 10,000 steps only one day this week, although the other days I've exceeded 6,000 or 7,000 steps. But that's OK with me because I'm back on task with others to encourage me. It's amazing how many steps you can accumulate walking around a grocery store while you are gathering your bananas, cereal and frozen peas. Who knew shopping for food could be exercise? Some days, I acquire unusual walking buddies like this deer which kept pace with me as I walked along the street that winds up the hill in my neighborhood and she pranced to meet her buddies who were waiting for her behind the bushes.

That was Willow's Week! What wonderful things happened to you?

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

2011-01-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: Yes, I'm aware that the blog looks different. I'll be working over the weekend to figure out what happened and to rectify the changes.

Friday Fave Five is hosted weekly by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. The goal of FFF is to look back at your week and find the good stuff, the five favorite happenings, events or thoughts that encouraged you. Join us by clicking on the link above and signing in on mr. linky. And, Susanne, THANKS for faithfully hosting FFF every week!

Because it is the beginning of the New Year 2011, many people, including bloggers, including me, have made resolutions and goals to simplify, declutter and minimalize their lives, their possessions and their activity calenders. Simplicity has been a long time interest of mine. For many years, I have sought to simplify my life, have read innumerable books and blogs on the topic, and have even taught classes and led discussion groups on voluntary simplicity. If you are one of the people who have stated that this year you are going to 'simplify your life', you may be interested in looking at these five fave websites or blogs. Some are focused on decluttering your home and give excellent advice and guidance for doing just that. I have learned so much from these people and want to share their wisdom to help you on your journey to simplify your life.

1. Messies Anonymous

2. Flylady

You can gain inspiration and great ideas from reading these three blogs written by people just wanting to simplify their surroundings and lives.

3. Colleen at 365lessthings.com

4. Rethinkingthedream

5. becomingminimalist

I just have to add one bonus website. Project 333 is the brainchild of Courtney Carver who since October of 2010 has been challenging people via her blog, twitter and facebook to simplify their basic wardrobes to 33 items.

Is simplicity your goal this year? What is your first project?

Hopes and Goals

2011-01-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

Having a cold/flu during New Year's celebrations certainly puts a damper on attending parties and being merry. The fuzzy brain which results from such a cold also definitely affects cognitive ability and focus on New Year's resolutions. I tend to be reluctant to make New Year's resolutions anyway because it sounds so definite and almost negative. The past few years, I've changed my focus. Now I make a list of "hopes and goals". Because I've been muddle brained, I have only now begun to think about my 2011 Hopes and Goals.

This year I hope to accomplish the following goals:

1. Begin teaching an internet-based writing class. As soon as I write the first lesson, I'll be sending it off to two willing ~~guinea pigs~~ students.

2. Print note cards using my own photographs.

3. Be more consistent in posting on this blog.

4. Finish (once and for all) the digitalizing of the hundred plus years of family photographs that are in my keeping.

5. Use up the rest of my yarn stash. I've been toying with the thought that if I do not use the yarn THIS YEAR, I will donate it somewhere.

6. Knit more items to sell or donate to help Generate Hope and Forever Found, two groups of amazing and courageous people who are focusing on stopping human slavery and trafficking in California and other places in the world.

7. Regain my optimum health by focusing on food choices and exercise.

Other things I would like to do this year:

1. Travel (where? I haven't decided yet).

2. Plant a square foot garden (again).

3. Become more familiar and adept with the new(ish) camera.

4. Continue in some form the exercise of creativity in limiting my wardrobe via Project 333.

5. Create time and space in my life and surroundings so I can focus on what is truly important to me--my faith, my husband, my family.

Have you made any resolutions, hopes or goals lists?

What Did You Get for Christmas?

2010-12-30T23:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas did come and go, and it was wonderful! All the children were here except one who is deployed as an Army Chaplain outside the US right now. (We did have the privilege of talking with him on Christmas Day.) And of course the New Boy charmed us all with his infectious laughter and funny speeches.

Since it is Friday, it's Fave Five time. The last FFF of 2010. Susanne is hosting, as usual, at her blog.

1. Airport Runs.The anticipation of meeting loved ones in front of the Burbank Airport made the drives back and forth worth it! Sometimes we drove in the sunshine

and sometimes in the rain.

(If you are an Anamaniacs fan, you might recognize the Warner Bros. tower in the background of this photo. There really is a real tower.)

2. The New Boy is currently obsessed with cars, busses, trucks and trains. Nothing is better in his opinion than a Thomas the Tank Engine book, shirt, or dvd. His Bapa and Meema gave him this train book

3. and the promise of a real live train ride, which he received on Tuesday.

4. Reading books with The New Boy. Ginger. Where the Wild Things Are. Ookie-Spooky. In the Forest. Tikki Tikki Tembo. The Mitten.

5. Lunch with my daughter, a friend and her daughter. so. much. fun.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. I think we're staying home and recovering quietly from a very busy and happy Christmas Week. What are you doing?

Let There Be Sunshine

2010-12-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

After nine days of constant rain, Southern California is finally seeing the sun again.

Sunshine and clouds.

Reflecting life.

Today I am cooking and baking and waiting.

Waiting for packages and people to arrive.

Waiting for phone calls that state, "We're almost here!"

Waiting for the festivies to begin.