Weekend in Berkeley

Some photos of our trip up to No. California. First stop in Big Sur on Hwy 1 was at Nepenthe and the Phoenix gift shop. After a nice breakfast we stopped in the shop and I got permission to take a few photos.

Our favorite ice cream place in Berkeley is Icee. The line was incredibly long even at 2:30 in the afternoon..... but worth the long wait. I got one scoop of strawberry balsamic carmel swirl and it was sooo good! 

One of the happy customers ahead of us.

I only got a look at the charming window of Tale of the Yak as we headed out to dinner on College Ave.

Here's where my son is living this year. He has some nice redwood trees in the backyard, lots of housemates and a 2 block walk to Cal.

We were lucky to get seated outside at Bette's Oceanview Diner right away. Dennis and Jason enjoying brunch  while I took a peek next door at Castle in the Air.

Jason and I in front of the redwoods and a little creek in the background.

Front window of  Castle in the Air is always fun and seasonal..

Another fun window on Fourth St.

A quick look inside the Berkeley Anthropologie...

And just had to take a photo of these fun applique pants on a nice girl at the Berkeley Bowl, my son's favorite market.

And some beautiful flowers in his neighborhood..not sure of the name of these, but loved them!

I think I spoke to soon about getting the hang of the Mac! I am having a difficult time getting things to work smoothly for me. Tried blogging several times this week and had to give up. But for some reason it is now working and for that I am grateful!

A few new things...

The little mushroom house is finished up and I took it out into the front yard for a photo. Couldn't resist setting it near our driveway gnome.

 

A funny little painting that I am working on.

Got a little painting done on the owls today and that felt good. Need to get those wire legs done.

A fun read from my friend Penny. Makes me want to knit again. Rachael has a fun blog called 'Yarn a gogo'...

I hooked up another Milagro heart using some hand dyed wool for the background. I dyed several pieces of different weights and textures and chose the one I liked best. My plan is to make six hearts for upcoming shows and display them all in a row. Two down, four to go!

I left the wool in the dye pot overnight and it came out nice and richly colored.

Of course Henry had to come take  look to see what I was up to.

My wool drying on the honeysuckle vines. 

I think I am starting to get the hang of the Mac...yay!

Magic feather

I embroidered a little feather for Jude Hill's Magic Feather project and sent it off this week. I used some of Glennis' hand dyed indigo linen for the background. It was a nice weight and texture for some hand stitching. I almost didn't send it because it looked a bit funky when I finished it...but off it went anyway!

This is my first attempt at blogging with my new Mac Pro that my son picked out for me. I am trying to ease into it and get used to the different devices and iphoto.  I still need some lessons....I have photos of our trip to Berkeley that I wanted to share but when I went back to upload there were only numbers and no images. I'll be back when I get a few more lessons!

Cats and flowers

Cat no.2 just got finished up today. I found the little chair at a thrift store yesterday on the way home from working at our store. Thought it might make a good display for future craft shows. The cats seem to like it.

A close up of cat no.2.

Some of the beautiful flowers in the local nursery that I stopped in to buy some herbs and chili peppers for our garden. 

We are off to the Bay area for the weekend to see our son Jason who has a little time off before the new school year starts again. He sent me a list of things to bring up including my crock pot. Guess I will just have to get myself a new one. I am hoping we will go up Hwy 1 and stop in Big Sur for lunch and visit Nepenthe and the Phoenix gift store, a magical place next to redwoods and incredible ocean vistas. Also hoping to get a few stops in at some of my favorite spots in Berkeley too. Hope you have a great weekend!

New Cat

I spent Saturday working at our Hardware store, stopped for a CPK artichoke spinach pizza to bring home, and got started on this new hooked cat. A funny new face appeared. Hope to finish up the body tonight.

Having a non-driving teenager keeps me busy. He informed me last night that he wants to play beach volleyball at noon today. So off to the ocean we go. The garden will have to wait. Just planted more tomatoes and chilis. Lettuce is doing well and the eggplants are blooming...

I think I hooked this little mushroom house 2 nights ago. Still need to sew, stuff and sew again.Maybe a little mushroom village would be fun!

Santa Barbara Arts

Completed the hooked kitty the other day. Haven't made one for a while so it was fun. I have another one drawn up and ready to hook. Hoping to have plenty of things to sell for Fall and Winter shows.

Local artist Syd McCutcheon is the featured artist at Santa Barbara Arts, a gallery owned by one of my neighbors. I drove down the mountain for a visit and had a great time seeing the show and meeting up with artists and friends from long ago.

Some of Syd's paintings inside the gallery. Loved her new work, many sold already.

Syd sitting with Ben Franklin and sombrero. It's Fiesta time in Santa Barbara and we have over 100,000 visitors for the 5 day celebration-parades, music, lots of food and crafts. Sometimes a bit overwhelming for the locals.

Pam Garrison made a surprise visit with her sweet and patient daughter and we headed off for some good Mexican food after the gallery opening. Pam always manages to make us laugh lke no one else, and keep us informed on all the great art workshops available. A fun evening for all!

And here is Maddie, the little mermaid on our beach day this week. She braved our 64 degree water with us and floated on the boogie board while pelicans flew over our heads.

 Enjoying summer...except for my cleaning and sorting extravaganza, which I need to get back to!

New kitty

Started hooking this kitty the other night and still sorting wool and fabric, a bigger job than I realized! 

Did get in a fun beach day with Syd, Maddie, and Joe yesterday and played in the garden today.