Coffee and Three Bench Hike

After a busy weekend and busier than I like week, here we are on Valentine's Day and a Friday so I am posting my Friday Fave Fives. (follow the link to join others in posting our weekly blessings)  Here is Willow's Week:

1.  There is a new French(ish) cafe/coffee shop in town.  The owner's grandmother is a close friend of ours.  I met another friend there for afternoon coffee.  Lovely place and lovely time.

2.  Our Mom to Mom group had its monthly meeting this week.  The speaker was a friend from church and wow!  She hit the ball out of the park speaking on "How to Thrive in Your Parenting".

3, 4, 5.  Three Bench Hike.  Since it is Valentine's Day, we did something we enjoy doing together.  We hiked four miles.  First, it's a mile of mostly level trail in Hill Canyon.  This is the first time we have been able to hike in Hill Canyon since the fire (Hill Fire) more than a year ago since the trail has been closed for repair.

Then, we chose the Western Plateau fork and up the side of the mountain.  We called it the three bench hike because, well, we passed three benches at vista points.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike.

3.  First Bench

First Bench View

4.  Second Bench

You will notice that there is no view photo.  That second bench is situated right on the edge of a precipitous straight down drop on a cliff.  We sat on the bench, but I didn't venture anywhere near the edge to take a picture.

5.  Third Bench

You can see the water treatment plant in Hill Canyon and that shows how high up in the hills we were.

The trail in the bottom right corner of the photo is the one mile trail we hiked near the creek in Hill Canyon. 

We love to hike and it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon together.

Bonus:  The lupine is blooming!

Two Quick Hikes

It's not all books, knitting, and weaving around Willow's Cottage.  The Professor and I love to walk and hike.  After our rainy week last week, we have been taking advantage of the warmer sunny weather this week.

Hill Canyon.  Yes, that Hill Canyon.  Where the Hill Fire started in November.  The canyon trail is still closed only because the bridge across the creek isn't fixed yet.  But the trail up the east side of the canyon wall is open, so we hiked up there Monday afternoon.  The GREEN which is popping up everywhere is beautiful and healing to the land.  Yes, we can thank all that rain we've had for the past week.

Then on Tuesday after having lunch with some visiting family from up north, we hiked into the area where the Woolsey Fire swept through at the same time as the Hill Fire did.  Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is closed due to the federal government shut down, so the buildings are closed, but the grounds are open for hiking.  Specifically, we hiked around the King Gillette Ranch.  Yeah, that Gillette.  Basically, this ranch was purchased and built from the money King acquired from selling those little razor blades.  The ranch land didn't burn, but the areas around it and even across the road did.

Front entrance

You can see the effects of the lack of personnel caring for the property.

Leaves Every Where.

Back entrances

We hiked up to Inspiration Point, about 180 feet above the area where the house is.

(notice the cars and the white trailers in the picture above?  That is probably a movie photo shoot.)

I zoomed in and took this photo of the Gillette Ranch House from the top of Inspiration Point.

And a shot of Inspiration Point from the front lawn.

Both of these hikes weren't more than about two miles each, but they included some steep hills and so much beauty!

It's the End of January?

Wow, this week just flew by.  It's already Friday again.  Here is what I like to call Willow's Week when I join others in focusing on being grateful for FIVE FAVES on FRIDAY.

1.  We have been getting in a walk almost every day in our quest to return to our regular routine.  One day we hiked one of my favorite trails--Hill Canyon.  It's such a blessing to be able to be active AND to have beautiful places to enjoy nature.

(photo from archives)

2.  Our weather has been sunny and pleasant.  Perfect for being outside. [ And here's a funny thing:  randomly, my weather app on my phone started giving me update information in Turkish!  And then, the temperature started showing that it was 81F!  I suppose that somewhere in the world it was 81F--maybe Istanbul?]

3.  We have come to sad conclusion that my camera cannot be resurrected.  The fave?  Well, we'll be shopping for a new one.

4.  Thursday evening we attended the opening of a multi-media exhibit at the university:  Finland at 100.   Finland is beautiful!  And fascinating!  Did you know that Angry Birds (the video game) was created by a Finnish company?  And Marimekko the nature inspired clothing and accessory designer is also a Finnish company.  A bit of trivia:  the longest word in Finnish is:  

(photo from my phone)

5.  Tangerines!  I wish I had my camera so I could photograph All.The.Tangerines. on my tree.  We've had a bumper crop this winter (yes, there are December ripening citrus!) and now we're giving away fruit AND eating a bunch of them ourselves every day.  YUM!  I  LOVE tangerines!

And so there is Willow's Week in Five Faves.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Hellooo, March!

The sun is shining.  It's the month when Spring supposedly arrives.  What's not to love about March?  It's also Friday.  Here are my Fave Fives for this week.

1.  Beginning a Lent study with my art buds!  We will be reading and discussing The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb.

2.  The week's hostess for the group had orange marmalade which she was offering to us!  My inner Paddington is so happy!

3.  On the way home from the artist group meeting, I stopped in Hill Canyon to walk for a bit.  Oh how I love this hike.  It's easy and mostly on the level.  And it's stunningly beautiful, especially right now when everything is Ireland green.

4.  The California native spring flowers were blooming.  Year after year after year, it never gets old!

5.  And in my garden, the first rose bloomed!  It's an Iceberg Rose, but it is definitely favoring its pink mother or father.

Bonus quote:  I know I've written it here on Willow's Blog before, but it bears repeating often.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Mother Teresa

And, in keeping with my word of this year:

"Peace begins with a smile."