bits of cheer from our central coast trip

I don't have much to post from our trip to Ventura/Santa Barbara but the few things I do have are very cute and fun. We weren't in the area for more than one full day so we really didn't take many photos. I will say, that Ventura is a great little beach town and I found lots of fun clothes there. Also, we liked Santa Barbara once the sun came out and we'd consumed enough coffee.


Little Cupcakes- these were served with the bill for breakfast at Cafe Nouveau in Ventura. Really great Breakfast and astonishingly tasty cupcakes.


Beautiful little red cups at a cafe in Santa Barbara. I had tea and Matthew had coffee. And of course, I couldn't resist buying the wee bar of locally made chocolate. I'm such a sucker for pretty labels.


A little bag of taffy to cheer us up while waiting for the sun to come out in Santa Barbara.

Visiting Friends

Matthew and I took a short little trip to Las Vegas this weekend and, I have to say, it's kind of funny that when ever I tell people "I'm going to Las Vegas this weekend," they get that little gleam in their eyes and say "oh, wow, have fun!" Of course, the closest we got to partying was eating giant bowls of Chocolate Mousse with friends and hanging out with some of the cutest kids I've ever met.


Lynnea on the hike at Red Rock.


We thought it was the children's discovery trail but it turned out to be quite a strenuous hike. The Kids did amazingly on a much longer than expected hike.

We had such an easy, relaxing time; my friend Clare cooked amazing meals and her husband, Ray, was so kind to drive us up to Red Rock for a beautiful hike. They just took such great care of us during our stay.


It was like a cozy little hotel. Clare had a whole selection of toiletries for us. So cute!

Appreciating rural-life

When Matthew and I traveled home for the teensiest, tinsiest visit(only four full days) I spent the entire time just soaking in all the joys of rural life with plants and pets and delicious, home grown treats: Home grown strawberries, lettuce, herbs, zucchini and snow peas. The back yard chickens laying eggs. A little organic dairy farm that produces gorgeous, cream laden milk. A lavender farm grown in full view of Mt. Shasta.



I just took a few photos of it all to remind myself of why I can hardly wait to move back to Oregon.


Onions blossoming



Snow peas in blossom and fully grown. They were delicious.





Peeping through the lattice - my mother-in-law's garden is really thriving.






And though I was extremely disappointed with the photos I took of the hops, I've included a couple for the annual hop update - they are certainly bigger than they were last year and have significantly more hop flowers on them. Maybe there will be enough to do something with next year.

Images from an autumnal Birthday weekend

For the first time in four years, I spent my Birthday at home in Oregon amongst my family and the fall colors that I always expect to see around my Birthday. It still surprises me every year when November rolls around the San Diegan trees are still green or simply shriveled and brown, no bright color at all. This year I enjoyed having a true fall birthday at home.


My birthday cake- one of the best I've ever eaten


A stroll through the park after birthday shopping and lunch


A birthday Mother on the bridge


A sampling of the lovely trees in Ashland

Images from Pat's Autumn garden


Pretty little flowers



The Hawthorne berries before they darken for winter and lose their leaves


The Hops-still pretty, despite no longer being green



A strange little Orange berry tree that I've never noticed before


Not a garden picture, but still, very pretty little utensils. I should have posted it with my muffin recipe post.

Weekend Trip...

...to the ever exciting Banning, CA.



We made the hour and a half drive up to Banning to see Matthew's friend Tim(who was in the area from the east coast). Since Banning has very little to do or see, we drove a couple miles down highway 10 to Cabazon where we visited the Dinosaurs and the local casino.



We played a couple slots, Matthew won 15 dollars and I lost a dollar. It's pretty amazingly desolate out there on the edge of the dessert. But we had a great visit and enjoyed every minute that we spent with Tim.

Day in Sacremento

On our way back to San Diego, we spent the night with Matthew's sister in Sacramento.


The capitol's Christmas tree

We had all of Monday to hang out there and, although it was raining the whole day, we had a good time putzing around the capitol city.

We took the public transportation into downtown and walked to Old Sacramento to see the Train museum.



I really like this museum and wish we'd had a little more time to spend there. But, we did get pictures with, what looked like, the largest Train Wheel in the museum.


Lynnea vs. Train Wheel Matthew vs. Train Wheel - Matthew Wins

oh, what wee apples!

Last Sunday, Matthew and I took a day trip out to Julian, CA with two friends. It was fun and charming, if a bit cheesy. Julian is an old fashioned mountain town that was originally established as a mining town and now focuses primarily on local tourism.



We enjoyed the usual activities: apple picking, apple pie eating, wine tasting and buying nick nacks. It was a beautiful day and perfect for playing tourist.



The apples cost far more than they would at Whole Foods, and they were much smaller than anything I could buy in the store. Still, it was fun picking them.



Apple collage




Another apple collage(just because they are cute)




An apple towel adds to the autumn cuteness



Three little apples



Five apples, in order of largest to smallest