To the Ocean

Sometimes one needs to take in the vastness of the ocean air and feel sand between their freshly thawed winter toes. Hubby and I did just that over the weekend (although Lucy dog was the only one who felt the sand between her toes).

Bundled up for a spring day at the coast, we walked the beach, hiked along the coastline, took in the scenery and ate. We always eat.

A Turning Point

Today I put up my bird transfer ware. It's a significant day as it marks a vision I had during our long remodel. Amidst dust, storage boxes, and utter chaos, I dreamt that one day, one beautiful calm day, I would put these up as a marker of spring.

My collection of transfer ware started fairly recently after I inherited my Grandmother's red transfer ware. I had these up at Christmas. She just loved her patterned plates and now I love them too as they remind me of her and our memories together around her dining room table.

My Grandmother would have loved this bird and floral pattern. Nestled up in the hills of Los Angeles, she fostered somewhat of a bird sanctuary with a large iron bird feeder that her mother had given her. She loved to watch the birds from her window and one of my favorite things to do as a young girl, was to fill the bird feeder up with bird seed and feel the swoosh of birds flying in all around me.



I hemmed and hawed about buying these plates. They no doubt made my heart go pitter pat when I saw them, but we were in the midst of our remodel and I knew we couldn't really afford them. So despite the fact that they were already marked down from $375. to $275, I made an offer for $200 (for a 21 piece set). and got them. I had oodles of kisses for hubby when I got home as he was the one I called when I was hemming and hawing. Thank you hubby for supporting my love of transfer ware.

A Beautiful Walk

We set off at dusk for an evening walk through rolling hills.

Usually, we walk down into the valley where the horse stables are. But this night we decided to take our walk up to the quiet fields, secretly hoping to finally get a glimpse of the infamous Gilhouley Elk Herd that have been migrating through these parts for many years.

Last week we heard an elk bugling close by. So close that you couldn't help but watch the fields in hopes that you'd get a glimpse of the creature making so much noise. There are hundreds of elk footprints along our road, on our property and in the fields. But still, we had yet to actually see one face to face.

Until last night.

At first we spotted three along the horizon of the hill. As we got closer, we saw fourteen, and closer still, we saw twenty.

Twenty gorgeous elk grazing under the setting sun. Twenty gorgeous elk gazing at us and us back at them. It took our breath away, to see so many. What a blessing it is to share this mountain with such beautiful, majestic creatures.

It was one of the most beautiful nights of my life.