Thursday, October 03, 2013

October's First Friday Fave Five



It's Friday Fave Five time.  First Friday in October.  It was a good week.  Of course, there's always knitting.  And reading.  But I can only choose FIVE.  So here they are:

1.  One day on an errand of love and concern, I drove to Santa Barbara to visit an ailing friend who was a colleague and neighbor when we were living in Papua, Indonesia.   Her steadfast spirit and cheerful attitude encouraged me. I hope I was able to encourage her.

2.  My destination was less than a mile from Mission Santa Barbara and I was a bit early, so I detoured to the mission to have a peek at it.  I've toured the mission in the past so I didn't go in.  Simply standing outside and gazing at the wonderful architecture of the mission was delightful.  I love California Mission style and Santa Barbara Mission is one of my favorites.  One of these days, I'll visit the gardens as I remember being enchanted with them.


3.  The residential area surrounding the mission is filled with beautiful homes, almost all of them built in the same California Mission style.





I can't decide which one I'd want to live in!

4.  There is a memorial rose garden in the small park in front of the mission.  Of course, I had to take a couple of photos since all of my roses at Willow's Cottage have been pulled off and eaten by the local deer.



I didn't realize until I uploaded the photo and looked at it on my computer that there is a ladybug crawling up the stem on the right.

5.  Our Dear Girl is seven!  Happy Birthday!  Yes, she's a total whirlwind of energy.


photo stolen from her mommy's facebook page

Bonus:  Plates.  License plates.  On my drive to Santa Barbara, I noticed Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, New York and Colorado.  Also, I saw license plate holders from various colleges and universities:  Westmont College (in Santa Barbara), UC Santa Barbara, San Francisco State, THE Ohio State University, and Cal State Channel Islands (where The Professor professes).  And then there were the team plates:  Lakers, Texas Longhorns, Green Bay Packers.  Well, I have to do something to keep myself alert and paying attention to traffic...If I don't have my eyes on the road and the cars around me, I would be staring at the beach and surf where I'd really rather be.

Extra Bonus:  Useless Trivia.  Carpenteria, a beach town between my city and Santa Barbara, has a lower elevation than Malibu.  Malibu: 12 feet.  Carpenteria: 7 feet. (according to the population signs on the highway)

8 comments:

Tracy said...

California Mission style...I like it! Hoping your friend will be well... And happiest wishes to your Dear Girl--isn't she sweet! :o) Happy Days

ellen b. said...

Well I sure haven't been that observant even as a passenger in a car headed to Santa Barbara. Those elevation figures are interesting. I really enjoy Mission style, too. Have a great weekend...

Faith said...

Well, I know some trivia now about places in California!! Thanks!! I LOVE the mission style houses you depicted...the first home is my fave....and how wonderful that you got to minister to your friend and former neighbor. How cool that you were both in Indonesia!! I'm assuming that the little girl who had the birthday is a granddaughter? Happy weekend!!

nikkipolani said...

I was up near the Santa Barbara Mission not that long ago -- may have to make it a destination for the next visit!

I'm sorry about your roses, but deer pruning is bound to happen when they've mowed down your vegetable garden.... I'm afraid I don't know of any roses deer DON'T eat.

Barbara H. said...

It's wonderful you got to visit with your ailing friend.

I know of two missionaries who live or lived in or near Papua. Any chance you know Margaret Stringer or Mike and Jan Berbin?

I'm glad you got to see some nice roses! We do see deer all around the area (scary when they cross the highway right in front of us!) but so far none in our neighborhood.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

A very interesting post. How on earth did you manage to remember all those license plates and covers while you were driving? I'd have forgotten half of them by the time I was writing the post.

Gracie Saylor said...

I love the mission style, too. We once rented a house built in that style, but a modern version and not nearly as charming as the buildings you showed us :) I'm glad you enjoyed a visit with your former neighbor, and that you had fun gathering interesting info on the way home. Thanks for sharing the great photo of Dear Girl.
Gracie :)

Bethany said...

I knew you were going to see an Ohio State plate! They are everywhere. I love when you post photos of architecture in the West because its so different from out here. I'm glad you had a good time!