All Good Things

Over the past several years I have enjoyed posting on this blog but today I am going to bring it to an end. There are several reasons but the main one is time.  

Thank you for joining me on my adventures to the beach and elsewhere in southern California. Join me, if you'd like to at my other blog, Jacqueline Price Art which is more art-related in nature.

Sandy Lawn

Every spring there is a covering of green on the beach at Doheny State Beach.

This plant looks innocent enough but has some spikes on it. Beware if in bare feet.

Golden Bowers

A few weeks ago, hubby and I took our first visit to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. It has one of the prettiest entryways, built in the Spanish style, I've seen for a museum.

This is a large mural which is mostly obscured by a tree.

I'm not sure what to make of this pruning work. Perhaps they were trying to create a pom-pom tree.

This is in a small garden off of a large hall.

This is a museum that covers a variety of subjects. We saw exhibitions on Beethoven's late works, art of the Pacific (specifically headhunters in New Guinea), early California settlers' artifacts, and 19th Century European paintings. 

I'm sure we will be returning there again in the near future.

Flowering Work

I've been painting again and here are the results.

'Solitude Awaits Below' 8"x10" Oil on Board.

'Gerbera Trio' 5"x5" Acrylic on Canvas.

Sea For Yourself

As I think I have said before, no matter how often I go to the beach (which is not as often as I would right now), there is always something interesting to see.

I love to look at the whole scene and see the various colours in the sky and ocean according to the weather and time of day.

This is one of my favourite spots to go to as there is always a wealth of bird life (during the non-tourist times of year)

There were the usual egrets and herons as well as curlews and sandpipers (not pictured) which I can look at time and time again.

I don't forget to look down as I walk (particularly since there are many rocks, pebbles, and seaweed at the shoreline which could trip me up). However, on this particular day I spotted some seaweed I've never seen before. It looked like it had escaped from a kingdom of snow and ice (such as that found near the start of 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe')

Once I noticed it, I realised that there were several different types.

Then I decided to focus on all the various colours and textures along the stretch of beach I was walking on.

I don't have a large expensive camera so I was really happy with the degree of sand texture I was able to capture.

From a distance the seaweed doesn't look particularly attractive but get up close and there is a world of beauty to see.

Seeds of Change

It has been a long time (a very long time) since I have posted about my garden. That is because I haven't been able to work in it after my accident. It is looking a little neglected because of that, plus some of the plants were resting over the winter (despite the fact that we had a very mild winter).

But recently hubby and I went out in the garden to get it ready for spring. Actually I mostly stood around while hubby did all the work. 
Firstly, he dug over the vegetable patch ready for planting. Normally we plant tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and peas. This year we made some very small changes.

We love fresh tomatoes so we planted two plants as normal.

We planted peas and beans along the back wall. Except for the tomatoes, we always sow seeds as it is less expensive and is fun to see them grow and develop.

We decided against carrots this year as we don't feel that the amount of crop we get is worth the time it takes for them to develop. We decided to grow kale in its place.

Lettuce is another must.

I also decided to plant some lettuce in the herb area to replace some of the strawberries I had planted there last year which did not work out.

Meanwhile, we also put in some California poppies in my flower garden area. Last summer I had some bare patches in the front. The year before the whole area was covered in flowers so I'm not sure why I got bare areas. I'm hoping that adding the poppies will fill in any gaps in future years. Plus they come up earlier than the black-eyed susans and coneflowers. Plus they are so pretty.

When we were visiting a nearby nursery a year ago, we met a lady outside who said she had some excess orchid plants that she wanted to give away. Those plants looked really tatty so I didn't want any of them but hubby said we'd take three or four of them. For a year they really didn't do anything (except stay alive) and still looked tatty.

Then...

I'm not a lover of orchids but these really add to the garden.

The calla lilies are coming out.

We still have two poinsettias left over from Christmas. I loved the look of the rain drops on the leaves.