a sparkling farewell to this calendar page

Hard to believe that I've been in California for a month.

Sea sparkles~always good!

A random set of tea sitting out with a sign to help yourself.

street scenes

Whimsical embellishments.

Photos never do justice to the brilliancy of July flowers.

Back to see if Tucker's on Park Street was as good as I remembered.

And with a Chocolate Deluxe scoop, the answer is yes!

Finding super shiny pennies lately.

"I enjoy being a girl"

The sheer utter cuteness of the four cousins upon their first meeting just...yeah.

Wish I were there.

Always mindful of the 'gather ye rosebuds while ye may'.

Bright shiny penny and free perfume sample at the fabled StoneRidge Mall this week.

Fun make-up purse and many, many lipsticks from a friend to remind me that beauty is always an option.

the old threads are truly unraveling

"The old threads are unraveling,
Get your needles ready.
We are stitching a new quilt
of Humanity.

Bring your old t-shirts,
worn out jeans, scarves,
antique gowns, aprons,
old pockets of plenty
who have held Earth's treasures,
stones, feathers, leaves,
love notes on paper.

Each stitch
A mindful meditation.
Each piece of material
A story.

The more colour the better,
so call in the Tribes.
Threads of browns, whites,
reds, oranges
Women from all nations
start stitching.

Let's recycle the hate, the abuse,
the fear, the judgment.
Turn it over, wash it clean,
ring it out to dry.
It's a revolution
of recycled wears.

Threads of greens, blues, purples
Colourful threads
of peace, kindness,
respect, compassion
are being stitched
from one continent to the next
over forests, oceans, mountains.

The work is hard
Your fingers may bleed.
But each cloth stitched together
Brings together a community.
A world, our future world
Under one colourful quilt.
The new quilt of humanity."

—Julia Myers

common things

Fun spontaneous gift, and of course~more coinage

"The act of being happy lies in the powers of extracting happiness from common things."

Henry Ward Beecher

It's been a pleasant week of sunny walks, slicing/dicing in the kitchen, and dining al fresco. Storing up all this lovely, lazy summerness.

you know it's going to be a good day

When your baking project makes a bug face and smiles at you.

quiet moment

Am very much enjoying taking care of a garden again.

in which we learn that puppy likes French toast

Maybe twice a year, I feel the need for a sweet/traditional breakfast and with nectarines fully ripe~this morning seemed to call for French toast.

Dining al fresco is one of the nicest perks to summer living. 

And little Ms. GinGin decided that the toast smelled so good, she needed her own piece.

Lip-licking excellence.

timing

I know that I posted a poem yesterday, but this one is too funny to keep to myself.  Happy weekend!!

Summer mornings in the garden

the horoscope this morning
really put me on my guard,
sent the adrenalin coursing
through my veins,
as it predicted a crucial confrontation
that would require all the will and
ingenuity that i could muster …

until i remembered i was looking at
a week-old student newspaper.

"timing is everything" by Gerald Locklin from Poets and Pleasure Seekers. © Spout Hill Press, 2015.

brown penny

Heard this read at a garden party, but hadn't really ever read the words.  Figured it was a fitting poem for me and my penny findings.

I whispered, ‘I am too young,’

And then, ‘I am old enough’;
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
‘Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.’
Aye, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

"Brown Penny" by William Butler Yeats. Public domain

just some pretty

Some interesting plant in the parents' backyard~my friend dubbed it:  gardenus seussical.

ahhhhhh

While I added more travel adventures and created some happy memories, SoCal is just not my milieu.   So grateful to be back in the Bay.

Dime sized blossom at the shore.

Beautiful scarf gifted to me and another lucky penny!

Mosaic fountain just outside Trader's doors.  Bliss.

scenic route

More verbiage to come~had an interesting trip.

Feet propped up is always a good way to travel. 

Santa Barbara

Pasa Robles

Gotta be a good story here~abandon key at train station. 

San Luis Obispo 

Edge of Monterey. 

Where are George and Lennie?

More Salinas Valley.

There's just something about California summer twilights.