Butterflies & More

 The South Beach Botanic Garden is located not far from my son's family. They love it, so I gift them with a family membership each year.

They had a butterfly exhibit there while I was visiting. Most places now have areas designed for photos. We should all be butterflies!

Not many people were lucky enough to be the landing spot for a butterfly.

This was as close as I got, but it was still fine by me.

They have lovely flowers, an entire bleeding heart garden, and a stunning rose garden, but I find myself attracted to the Cactus garden.

They were in flower, which was really cool to see.

We had some terrific food. Here my DGG is taking a picture of my son and DIL.

While there I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories **** to my DGD. I really didn't need to. She is able to read very well. Once I stopped to take a drink of water, and when I tried to find my place to resume reading, she pointed it right out to me! It's a fun book, and when we got to the end of one chapter and she said, "Do we have to stop? Can you please keep reading?" I knew she liked the book as much as I do.

It's always fun to see quilts I made a long time ago. This is the Petals quilt I made in 2015. I slept under the Dinosaur quilt!

Before I left, I set up my DGD's iPad so she could FaceTime with me with just the push of a button. As you can see she is getting tall. She'll be nine next week, and I'm pretty sure that the next time I see her she'll be taller than me.

I had a grand time.

**** this from Amazon about the book: 

Immediately forget any preconceptions you may have about Salman Rushdie and the controversy that has swirled around his million-dollar head. You should instead know that he is one of the best contemporary writers of fables and parables, from any culture. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a delightful tale about a storyteller who loses his skill and a struggle against mysterious forces attempting to block the seas of inspiration from which all stories are derived.

“This is, simply put, a book for anyone who loves a good story. It’s also a work of literary genius.” —Stephen King

Not in Kansas

So I am not in Kansas.  Don’t think I’ve ever been to Kansas.

No, that’s the Pacific Ocean.

And that’s my granddaughter with me, having brunch  I had ham and eggs and avocado and I don’t know what else on a croissant.  It was fabulous, and I can’t believe I ate the whole thing. I’ve since had soba noodles at a Korean place and Tunisian food. At Barsha. And I had brunch at Martha’s, which is fabulous.

I’ve been a Penzey’s customer for years but I’ve never been in one of their stores so it was great to visit one. 

It’s kind of a PITA to post on my iPad so that’s it for now. 

A Perfect Day

Bye bye New England, and Atlantic Ocean! I always get a seat near the window so I can look outside. This was taken right after takeoff from Logan International Airport in Boston.

I am always amazed how densely packed the LA area is. That's downtown LA in the distance.

It's easy to say I went to California to see my granddaughter, but of course I was eager to see my son.  I arrived in sunny (dry and not too hot) California at lunchtime, so we went out to have some lunch together.

This was the view from my seat. Can you see the Pacific Ocean? Yeah, how tough is that?

OF COURSE we had to get ice cream! I had Strawberry with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper! It was so good. And YES, I bought a new pair of glasses frames. More on those later. This was in Manhattan Beach. After our ice cream we walked down to the pier.

I have long learned to believe that everything I have ever heard about California is true. After all, where else would you see a guy lounging in an inflatable pool AT THE BEACH? No, we don't know how the portable pool got filled with water.

My son kept getting compliments on his shirt (he got it at Old Navy).

There is a small aquarium in the Manhattan Beach pier. My DGD and I got to touch live starfish and sea anemones.

Later I started reading Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to my DGD. (Yes, it is by THAT Ian Fleming, and it is wonderful. NOTHING like the stupid movie of the same name. This is an excerpt from the Vogue book review at the time: "The car is divine. So is the book.") I am happy to say she got more excited the more I read and we were able to finish the book before I left.

(That is my Digital Pinwheels quilt on the couch behind us.

Later, my DGD and I donned aprons and we made lemon curd. I was showing her how to separate the eggs in the photo above. After we put the eggs in the pan, I had her measure the sugar and add that to the pan too.

"SUGAR? Memere," she asked curiously. "SUGAR? In Eggs??" She wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure?"

I smiled, "Yes honey, you'll see."

Next we grated the rind of a few lemons (DGD and I both LOVE lemon!), added lemon juice, butter a bit of salt, and then started cooking it on the stove. DGD was bored by then, until I put a spoon in the custard and offered her a taste. Her whole face lit up! "THIS IS GOOD!"

I laughed.

I got to sleep in DGD's. bed when I was there. Can you see the dinosaur quilt I made for her? The the pink quilt in the foreground is one of mine too. My son's house has what I call the greatest concentration of Lynne Tyler quilts anywhere in the world aside from my house. It's fun to get to know my own quilts after some time apart.

We had dinner, and then went to bed. I slept like a rock.

It's taken me a week to recover. OH! I had the best time.  

More later.

A Preview

 

I'm BAAAA-ACK!

The very clever of you will notice I was gone for my birthday. Well, I spent it in the best way possible, in my bathing suit at the beach with my darling GD. This photo was taken at Paradise Cove in Malibu California.

And lemme tell ya, NOTHING surprises a person like a six layer leaning tower of CAKE! I laughed the whole time they were bringing it over and singing. We did NOT eat all of it, but it was quite delicious. I ended up getting THREE cakes, but more on those later. I have been up since "O-dark thirty" and I am one tired Memere.

One more:

Here is my darling son with his daughter and his favorite quilt that I made. It is Magic Carpet and it is (believe it or not) a scrap quilt (but only in the broadest definition of the word.)

Okay!

More later, a gal of my advanced years needs a lot of sleep to catch up from all the excitement!

A Side Trip

My son’s family decided to take me on a little side trip. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going.

Except it was a lot like this. Lots of traffic. 

We stopped in Redlands and it was 96F at 6 PM. Sure it was dry heat but still. Checking the weather for this are a told me that on Sunday it is supposed to be 105F.  By then I knew we were headed toward the mountains.

 

We had dinner at Noodle21, then headed up the mountains. We are here:

 

where, paradoxically, it will be hotter than if we had stayed in MB, but the lake is down the road and I’m pretty sure swimming is on tap for tomorrow. 

PS, I’ve had a cold so I’ve been sleeping and reading and binge-watching Downton Abbey. I still think the best line in the entire series came at the end of series two when Richard Carlisle said they’d never see him again and Violet piped up, “Do you promise?”

The House is Clean

I cleaned the house today.

And I mean CLEANED. I picked up and got rid of the clutter. I dusted. I cleaned all surfaces. I washed the kitty quilts that protect the furniture from Millie's fur (you can see one on the red chair above.) I cleared off all counters and have a big stack of paperwork to shred. I even cleaned out the refrigerator. The remote vacuum cleaners have been put through their paces. The laundry has been done and is now folded and put away. The sheets have been changed. The dishes are done. The litter box is clean. The groceries have been done. The car has been gassed up. The kitchen floor has been washed. I even replaced the shower curtain liner. (Yes, the bathrooms are sparkling also.) I cleaned all the mirrors. Oh yes, the bills are paid.

And why?

I am on vacation, and shall be enjoying myself.

with these guys.

So that means I won't be doing much sewing over the next few days, but I WILL be delivering this quilt..

Maybe I'll get some California beauty shots.

I shall also be taking inspiration photographs to interpret into birds. (If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here.)

I'm teaching a letters class at Quilted Threads at the end of September. (My liberated letters tutorial is available here.)

See you on the flip side!

Pacific Ocean

This is me with my son at the Pacific Ocean.  After he picked me up at the airport he drove me here so I could dunk my toesies in the ocean.

Later we all went out to dinner. As you can see my granddaughter enjoyed herself immensely. 

Color Inspiration & California So Far

As my family and I were walking along the beachfront houses I saw these fabulous flowers, and thought the colors were amazing. Who would have thought the almost black succulent would have such a brilliant yellow green flower? It's even more amazing next to the hot pink flowers and the warm blue of the house behind.

We'd seen the same plant at the Arboretum a day before, and its colors had excited me then too.

The cacti are pretty amazing. This one was easily eighteen feet tall.

It rained yesterday. Very. Big. Deal. So unlike the California of my memory, this one is green. There is green everywhere. The grass is green, the flowers are blooming and there are actually weeds growing!

I've been eating some wonderful food too. I always try to eat things I could never get at home. The Carne Asada breakfast burrito at Phanny's was a revelation,

as was the cornflake crusted French Toast and Coconut curd at Manhattan House in Manhattan Beach. When the waiter came by to ask how the food was, I told him the Chef should be kissed it was so good!

And I just loved the Tortilla Scramble at the Ocean Diner. I took a picture of the description in the menu, because even though I knew I'd never be able to duplicate it exactly, it was something I want to try when I am back home.

I met a fellow Patriots fan while we were in Long Beach the other day, and was introduced to his two Airdales, one of whom was named.... Tom Brady, so the T-shirt has been a hit.

I've also had lunch with another California friend and quilter and spent a lot of time playing with the baby.

Funniest thing so far... was talking to somebody and somehow it came out that I was not a native Californian and would be going back to chilly New Hampshire soon.  This person's reply:

"Well, why would you want to do that?"

Why indeed.