My Village

My blog pal Sarah posted over at MoutainWave Tribe shared thoughts on her "village". And it made me think about how we feel about where we live. Never in my life would I have thought I would be glad to live in Ontario California. A relatively non-descript southern California location. But Ontario has become our village. We know people here, we do things here, we love our home here. Funny really.

The outside thermometer at about 4:30 this afternoon when it started to cool off. We spend a warm sunny afternoon working in the yard. And yes, that is in the shade.

A happy early season rose glad for the mild temperatures and sun we've enjoyed. February can be very wet, and who knows maybe rain will happen this year, maybe not.
Since it is the dead of winter I have been pruning and this is the huge Honeysuckle vine that has filled two large green waste cans. THIS year I'm getting the trellis situation handled.
In the foreground the peach tree just showing buds. In the background the neighbors palm trees that are our evening on the patio view.

I don't like cold weather, I prefer that it doesn't rain except on an occasional Sunday when I have no plans and can use it as an excuse to stay inside and sew all day. I cannot imagine living in the snow, but some of that is because I live where people can't even drive in the rain and so I shudder to think what snow driving would be like. Last friday I sat on the beach with Roxanna and got a little bit sunburned. I no longer own a real coat, so I suppose my Southern California village is right where I belong.

Roxys Birthday

Friday February 11th Roxanna and I celebrated her birthday on it's actual day. Not always easy to do, especially in adult-land. Sunny, warm, wonderful food
at the restaurant at Crystal Cove
(http://crystalcovestatepark.com/historic.htm)
Several hours of lounging on the sand in beach chairs.
Happy Birthday BFF, it was great! Oh, right, that's the "don't stick your camera in my face" pose.
View looking South.
The covered cabana is the outdoor patio where we had a wonderful lunch with some very creative 'Sangria' drinks, just one each for obvious reasons after that first taste.
On Superbowl Sunday I deliverd her gift. A quilt, finally. Asian print floral with a tone on tone coordinating fabric. This photo is the accurate view of the fabric colors.
Hand dyed batik fabric backing.
The quilt design is 'Day and Night' by Eleanor Burns from her book of the same name.
From Roxy's Quilt card (because I don't do labels);

Roxanna’s Quilt
To my friend: “A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”
The fabric for this quilt was purchased over three years ago specifically for you, but for a different quilt design. Soon afterwards I realized that the design I planned was too simple, too ordinary, to become Roxy’s quilt. And so I waited for the right quilt pattern to present itself to me, and it did, finally.
The quilt design is Day & Night, the three strip two fabric version, by the remarkable Eleanor Burns of Quilt In A Day. The top fabrics are from the Empress Flowers collection by Kona Bay and the backing is hand dyed batik floral. Quilting pattern and stitching by Tomi Guapo at her Meandering Needle Studio.
A quilt should have a good life, it is much like a pet and will happiest with its owner. It is not meant to be a showpiece but if it becomes a treasured keepsake that is the best outcome. Your quilt is completely washable and will pucker more with washing and drying and that is normal. To keep the colors of your quilt vivid add white vinegar to the wash, equal with the amount of liquid laundry detergent. Wash in cold water and dry on a setting that is not hot, for example delicate or knit setting.
Gayle, February 2011

As The Year Begins

How we rang in the New Year, filets on the grill, heart attack potatoes and a very nice cabernet.
Feel like sewing, don't feel like thinking and so it is the nine patch scrap quilt work in progress.

I am overly excited about how pristine the living room is since the holiday clean up.

What Mike's computer room looks like while he searches archives for negatives. He will hang a show at the Calumet store in Hollywood on April 1st.

Kiera's room with the icicle lights her mom sent her for Christmas. Very cheery and fun.

High temperature: 54, which is a cold winter day here. What that looks like; basically the same as a cloudy day anywhere else. But we had frost last week, FROST. And I know you can't really see it, but some of the foliage in that front planter looks like a flamethrower was used on it.

Spaghetti sauce, slow cooked, yum.

This is what we are up to at the moment. Enjoying the slow down after the holiday season. Puttering, relaxing, trying to clean up and put things away. Thinking we have winter. It's all good.

Christmas day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp...

Watched the Grinch movie last week, and I have to admit in all my Grinchness I'm a bit of a sucker for the song the Whos sing (which I just found out on Google/You Tube is The Who Song/Welcome Christmas) even tho the Grinch thinks that by stealing all the holiday "stuff" he has stolen Christmas.
We had an especially good Christmas holiday this year. It feels like we've been racing ahead since Thanksgiving. Last week was our time in Modesto at Shannon's while Jason, Kel, Naia and Gabriel were in California. As is typical of me, I took very few pictures, but I'll share the ones I have. I was too lazy to consider what order I was uploading and we will start with Christmas day and work our way back.

Kiera going through her gifts after the unwrapping was done.

Me opening the mysteriously large gift Shannon delivered a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it can be difficult to buy a gift that although you know is perfect, well the expensive kitchen trash can...really? YES!

Real UGG Boots!

A couple years ago Kiera bought some really fun fabrics at Road To California. Most of the blocks were constructed and she had the layout figured out and we stacked the blocks in order last time we put them away. I finished it for her and backed it with a fun cupcake print. She was completely surprised and impressed how sneaky I was.

Christmas Eve after returning from Catron's Kiera opened gifts sent by her mom.

Back at Shannon's earlier in the week. We attempted to get all four grandkids into a photo. Allyson, 3, Gabriel 2, Naia almost 4 and Jenna 6.

Gabriel and Jason playing with the ever popular train set.
Jenna and Kiera finger painting, or was that nose painting?
How that started.
Jenna and Naia having fun constructing the graham cracker (sort of like gingerbread) houses. Every bit as edible as the real thing.
Kiera giving Naia one of her famous hair styles.

This year's edition of my north pole village.
The Ward family comes to dinner a few days before our trip to Modesto.
And that's it, that's what I have to show for myself for Christmas 2010. I can't help but think that it just gets better and better.

The North Pole

My Dept 56 North Pole village, 2010 edition.

Must Have Been The Grinch!

Last Monday night our snowman was abducted by parties unknown. Unplugged and carried away! We live in a very ordinary neighborhood and don't have much in the way of this sort of problem.

I have created a Lost poster to display on the two community bulletin boards. Not that I expect Frosty to be returned, but maybe the little creep(s) who did this will at least see it and, I don't know, give them pause that they have done something despicable in stealing Christmas decorations.
They are absolutely on the Naughty List this year and I wish for them nothing less than lumps of coal in their stockings!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

There is a wonderful year-round Christmas store in San Diego called City Lights.
www.citylightscollectibles.com
We've shopped there in person and that is where we purchased a beautiful length of garland that decorates the mantle each year. I've shopped online with them many times. This year, as I was browsing the website, just out of curiosity I clicked on the link to the Tree Department. In store this time of year they have a large room devoted to (and this is the part I like) Permanent Trees.
Not artificial, not FAKE; Permanent.
Here is this year's edition of my beloved Permanent Tree.

The Permanent Tree stood undecorated for a full week. We were just too busy/tired/busy. It was my mission today to complete the tree for this year's season.

Last weekend Mike got the outside lights hung, the palm trees wrapped (gotta Xmas light the palm trees!) and the snowman set up.
Happy Holidays!