Friday Fave Five, Last Week of July

I am a bit late to the party this week because we are OOT again kitty sitting. But all week long, I was thinking about Fave Fives. When there were bumps in my road of life, I just focused on what I could post today!

So, here are five great things that happened to me this last week of July,2009.

1. Mention on David McMahon's blog. My post about LaJolla Beach was a top contender for Post Of The Day (POTD). David is a journalist, author, professional photographer from Melbourne, Australia. Getting kuddoes from him always makes my week!

2. Helping at the County Fair. Judging the knitting submissions. That was fun. I got to touch, examine and rate some really lovely knitted items and interact with other women who love knitting as much as I do.

3. Going to the beach during the Weekend of the High Waves. I love to watch the waves crashing and the spray blowing in the breeze! We parked our car at Pt. Mugu Rock where we could see the waves pushing up the 30 foot cliff and sending clouds of spray even higher.

4. Morning Fog and Afternoon Breezes. While the Pacific Northwest is sizzling, we're just plugging along with pleasant 80s temperatures. While Southern California does have really hot temperatures just a few miles inland from Willow's Cottage, we have not been overly warm, and for that I am truly thankful.

5. Figuring out a spinning problem that was keeping me awake at night. I am doing some spinning for someone and I thought my yardage wasn't coming out correctly. After a phone conversation, I realized I had just misunderstood the instructions. What a relief!

There you have it- my week in review. How about your week? What rates as a fave in your life? You can share here in my comments or post your link over at Susanne's blog Living To Tell The Story.

Another Day, Another Beach

Ocean Beach is also in San Diego County. The ambience is quite different from La Jolla. Home of Hodad's, best hamburgers, fries and milkshakes in the San Diego area! Bead shop, cigar store, tattoo parlor.

A great place to surf,

watch the waves,

walk the really really long pier

out where the boats pass by.

This pelican was hoping for a fishy tidbit handout from one of the pier fishermen.

Even the neighorhood cat is laid back and relaxed.

A Day at the Beach, LaJolla Style

The beaches of Southern California each have their unique traits. For example, Manhattan Beach has The Strand, Malibu has movie stars, Santa Monica is famous for its ferris wheel on the pier, and Huntington Beach is well known as a surfers' beach.

LaJolla is well known for its pricey neighborhood, not for its wide expanses of sandy beaches. LaJolla beaches have ledges with a little bit of sand.

The trail above the coastline is a great place to walk and watch what is going on down in the water.

Children swimming

Kayakers kayaking

Adults swimming

Pelicans flying

Seals splashing and playing

Pelicans watching snorkelers snorkeling

Just another wonderful Southern California beach.

Friday Fave Five

How is it that Friday has come around again in just three days instead of seven? At least, it feels like our seven day week went by in just three days. Every Friday Susanne hosts a great opportunity for anyone who wishes to participate to look back over the week (or three days) and choose and share the five best things that happened in your week.
My Five Faves for this past week:

1. A week at home. Even The Professor has been gone this week and so I've been alone at Willow's Cottage. A lot of reading has gone on.

2. My car needed some work done and our mechanic came and got it and drove it over to the shop and had it finished in 45 minutes! Every time we take our cars in for service or repair, he is pleasant and efficient and he always does a little something extra. I think his business model is based on the statement "Above all, be kind and generous."

3. Lavender. I have six lavender plants and they are outdoing themselves in blooming this summer. I have bouquets of lavender drying all around the cottage. Soon it will be time to fill up the sachets I knitted.

4. I discovered that my neighbor's husband was out of town this week too, so I invited her to our church's summertime Wednesday night dinner. We had so much fun! Good food, good conversation, lots of laughter, and, the best part, we didn't have to cook!

5. A clean kitchen. Once a year, I deep clean my kitchen, pulling everything from the shelves, cupboards and drawers. At the same time I'm cleaning, I declutter and reorganize everything on the shelves. I decided that the best time to do it was while The Professor was gone so he wouldn't have to wade through the piles of pots and pans to find the espresso machine. When he gets home this afternoon, he'll walk in to a clean kitchen.

There were a lot of other faves for me this week--it's always hard to choose just five, isn't it? You can visit Susanne's blog Living To Tell The Story and share what others have to fave about this week.

How was your week?

We Went To A Baseball Game

Take me out to the ball game!

Take me out to the crowd!

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks,

(umm, ice cream and cotton candy for me, please)

I don't care if I never get back!

Root, root, root for the home team,

(well, actually, I'm a Dodgers fan...)

If they don't win, it's a shame.

(Sadly, the Padres lost)

For it's ONE, TWO...

THREE strikes! You're OUT!

At the OLD BALL GAME!

Friday Fave Five

It's Friday! Time for FFF! Welcome!

My Friday Fave Five Wedding Anniversary Edition

1. Bastille Day marks The Professor's and my wedding anniversary. Thirty six years. Good years. I am the most fortunate of women. The Professor is handsome, funny, faithful, loyal, cute, wonderful, amusing- you get the picture...

2. Monday afternoon drive down Highway 1 through Malibu to South Bay Beach Cities. The drive is one of my favorites. So close to the Pacific Ocean I feel like I can reach out and touch the waves.

3. An overnight stay with friends. In the morning, we had breakfast at Scotty's on The Strand in Hermosa Beach and then meandered south to San Diego. We lunched in San Clemente and drove down to see the pier.

4. We are staying with MamaMia and The Marine and had the extra joy of seeing Chaplain Dan and The Princess for two days because they were in San Diego on business. Being with family is the absolute best part of any week!

5. Last, and certainly least, I got a new hat. Wide brim, UV treated, for maximum sun protection. I plan to wear it to the beach tomorrow.

I hope you have had a great week, too! You can pop over to Susanne's blog Living To Tell The Story to join in or find out what good things other people have focused on this week.

Summer Knitting

Small.

Light weight.

Lace Sachet.

In Honour Of

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Eleanor Elizabeth Goes To Hogwarts

For all of you who plan to see HBP on opening night.

Maybe you'll see Eleanor Elizabeth-

on Platform 9 3/4.

Friday Fave Five

Coming up on Friday again! I have spent some time again this week, thinking about what good things have happened since last Friday, and have chosen my Fave Five. If you want to join in or read more Fave Fives, go to Living To Tell The Story.

1. I am loving summer! Quiet mornings with no rushing to jump in the car and get to work on time. A sense of slow rhythm in my days-knitting, reading, gardening, sharing quality time with friends. In fact, it has been such a laid back week, the only photos I've taken are the ones of the fiber and yarn in the previous post. That's laid back, for sure!

2. July 4th. Dinner with friends. Eating holiday food on their patio. Thankful for the safety and stability of our country.

3. Sunday morning coffee with Blueberry Lady and her Blueberry Farmer.

4. A pleasant morning spent with a relatively new friend, spinning at her house.

5. Son #2 came for Sunday night dinner-barbequed salmon and corn on the cob (fresh from the Saturday Farmers Market).

6. I have to add one more! Getting our phone service and internet back after a day without. A technology free day was good, but I'm glad it didn't last longer than that.

A truly wonderful low key week! How was yours?

Out of Fiber

Fiber optics, that is. Yesterday morning, road construction workers about 2 miles from Willow's Cottage cut through 1,000 feet of main fiber optic cable, causing a loss of phone, internet and cell phone service in a large part of our county. Instead of cruising around on the net, I painted patio furniture (wow, that's a long slow job) and spun up some more of the superwash wool I purchased at the Knit and Crochet Show in Portland in May. Sometimes, it's not so bad to be deprived of instant access to the universe.

Independence

Happy Independence Day!

July 4th, 2009

When they put their signatures on 'the line', the signers of the American Declaration of Independence did not know whether they were actually signing their death notices or an historic document that would change the course of Old and New World history. We know, and we thank them today for their courage, their audacity, their determination.

Celebrate thoughtfully.