Thursday, April 06, 2017

April Means Spring

I think Spring is my favorite season in Southern California.  The weather is wonderful.  The flowers are fantastic.  Here are Friday Fave Fives about Spring (mostly) that I love and look forward to each year.

1.  On Saturday I took my spinning wheel and some llama fiber to California Lutheran University's campus to join a couple of other spinners from the weavers and spinners guild and demonstrate spinning at the Scandinavian Festival.  (A historical note here:  many Scandinavian people settled in the area where I live between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.  The street names are an interesting mix of Scandinavian and Spanish words.  There's even a road up the hill to the next town called Norwegian Grade.)  Every spring there is a big festival to celebrate everything Scandinavian.  I enjoy participating and showing people how fibers were and are used in creating yarn for knitted and woven fabrics.  I didn't have time to take any photos.  But if I had a nickel for every photo taken of me that day, I'd be rich.

2.  Spring means the monarch butterflies are back!  We have planted milkweed in our garden to entice the butterflies to return each year during their migration up and down the Pacific coast.


3.  Those two toned poppies I saw at the beach and mentioned last week?  Well, they popped up in my garden this week.


4.  Spring here in coastal Southern California means morning fog.  Around here, we talk about May Gray and June Gloom and joke that our monthly forecast is "early morning coastal fog and low clouds, giving way later in the day to sunshine."  Every, Day.  This week we've had April Haze on the mountains above our neighborhood.  It's beautiful!


5.  Finally, I decided to listen to my optometrist and my husband.  I bought a pair of sunglasses and picked them up this week.  I wore them out of the office into the sunshine, and my first thought was, "Hey!  I'm not squinting!"


I hope you are enjoying Spring!

9 comments:

Tracy said...

Hi, Willow! VERY fun with the Scandinavian Festival! I didn't realize there was such Scandinavian heritage there on the west coast. Lovely to see a bit of spring there. And, yes, sunglasses are a GOOD thing! I have prescription sunglasses, and I couldn't do without them! Happy Spring Days ((HUGS))

Faith said...

how awesome that you live where scandinavian people settled....we have an area here in NY too where they settled.....i was just reading an article about how the scandinavian countries are the too 10 countires where people are the most content and happy. od course the USA is NOT on that list...no surprise there, hih??!

love your photos as usual and thanks for the sunglasses reminder..mine have ti be prescription ones and ive been putting off new ones due to the price but you have inspired me!!

happy weekend

Jocelyn said...

I love spring, too! We keep seeking a word that means marine layer that rhymes with April (to no avail as yet). I am particularly enjoying the fact that it is warm enough to bask in the sunshine yet cool enough not to get too hot while doing it. Happy Friday!

Wendy said...

Those poppies are pretty and yes, sunglasses are a must! Enjoy the sunshine.

nikkipolani said...

Congrats on your ownership of sunglasses -- can't believe you've lived here this long and never owned a pair ;-) My brother recently gave me a prototype from his company and I'm so pleased they fit so well.

I didn't know about Scandinavians settling in your neck o' the woods. Yes, I hear you about those predictable weather reports!

ellen b said...

Wait...you just got some sunglasses? I'm glad you caved. Spring must be so lovely in Cali this year. I've seen the poppy fields in pics close to Santa Clarita and they are amazing! Happy weekend to you!

Barbara H. said...

I don't like to wear sunglasses generally, but sometimes I just can't function without them. If I go left out of our neighborhood early to mid-morning, the sun is just blinding (on non-cloudy days, of course.) I'm surprised you have gotten along without them thus far - glad you have a pair now. Lovely poppies, and how fun to watch for the butterflies coming back.

Karen said...

Lovely photos of Spring! You live in such a beautiful area. I couldn't do without sunglasses. I have several pairs and keep them in my purse, car, house. I sure like the color and style of yours!

snoopydogknits said...

Such beauty as always. Those Monarch butterflies are just so wonderful, although I have never seen one in real life. Ros