Down Home Antique Emporium Holds Fall Open House

Our favorite antique store in Old Towne Orange had a fall open house today! There were all things autumn...beautiful colored leaves, pumpkin pie and cookies, owls and things that go bump in the night! See some of the gorgeous pumpkins above. (I did not however see any hens in fall attire...dressed poultry...right!) I went with my friends Marva Hitchcock, and her daughters Amy and Janet and we ran into our friend Nancy Drew. Yes, that's right, Nancy Drew...no...not the teen sleuth, but a wonderful quilter and Orange resident.
Amy is pumpkin shopping! There were all sizes and shapes of pumpkins to be had, but the pumpkin farm address is a Halloween Secret! There were rats and bats and cats, oh my!
Is this a witch in disguise?
One of the antiquers did a wonderful job on this witch, and please note the for- real hornets nest and Lizzy Borden axes in the background...this is a VERY SCARY place!
Red wagons with pumpkins ready to be taken home and carved into jack-o-lanterns. I found my initial but opted to take home a Halloween Witch with a patchwork skirt instead!

Cow Chip Bingo???

Ok, at the Street Fair last weekend I bought 4 tickets for Cow Chip Bingo, a creative way for the El Modena High School Band to raise money. What, you don't know what Cow Chip Bingo is? Well....let me explain. Take one reasonably green field, this one on the south side of El Modena's campus. No, not the football field, that one is artificial turf....but the one just east of the stadium, mark it off in squares....LOTS of squares, 3,000 to be exact and, I assume, using a computer, number the squares....then sell lots of tickets! On September 19th, sometime around noon, three cows will start wandering around the field and as is usually the case, the cows will eventually do what cows (and other creatures) do after eating...and I do not mean Moo! At the first unloading of....weeeeell.....cow dung, the humans in charge will figure out who "bought" the square in which the cow pattie landed and that LUCKY person will win $250, the second time this organic cleansing occurs the square owner will win $500 and the third time, the lucky square owner will win $750. If band members sell all of the tickets, the take will be $15,000! Wow! The band splits the remainder (after expenses I assume, how much do cows rent for and how mcuh do they eat?) with the ASB and everybody goes home happy...right? What about the cows? Whose cows are they anyway?

Cow watching begins at noon at EMHS...I will be there, because this is too silly to miss! Besides, by chance two of the tickets I bought contain the number 68 (my graduation year) and 70 ( my brother's graduation year!) I, of course, will win with that lucky start. Come on cows!

Lost at the beach?

Have you ever had one of those years? When you wake up in the morning and are just not sure where you are going? When you wish that life came with a

user's guide and you could actually get an idea of what is ahead? I do understand the concept of moving in faith, I just wish it were easier....

I am not a contol freak, really, I am just a planner and a dreamer and seem to have lost my way a bit....it has happened before, I have wandered a bit, but always, eventually find my way to MY WAY, it just seems a bit painful right now.

Thank goodness for friends, for those lovely people who call or email that they are thinking of me and/or praying for me. I am just a bit undone...my brother tells my father, "Don't worry, she always lands on her feet" and I am grateful for the worry and the trust in my abilities, but OH MY do I wonder where Richard gets the confidence in me when I am lacking it myself today.....I know I will get back to MY WAY, MY PATH, but I am wandering today....

Perhaps I need to get lost at the beach....found photo from the other coast I am sure...a reminder of a visit to Cape Cod years ago.

OCQG Potluck

Every year in August the Orange County Quilters Guild hosts a potluck prior to it's regular meeting. Quilters, being creative types, decorate their tables and awards are given. There is always an award for the best recipe, the most original table decorations etc. This year, Juanita Swarts (shown above) and I decorated a table with the theme from our upcoming quilt show, "Quilts-Our Global Language". We had a lot of fun doing this and even won a prize..fabric of course!

Have you ever seen a batiked globe? Juanita created this one. Gorgeous, yes? The fabric postcard "Peace" was made by Joanell Connelly.
I provided lots of little Oaxacan animals including the lacksidasical frog above.
The only thing I did not understand was that the prize we won was for the "Most Eccentric!" Hmmmmm...what other kind of globe would quilters have but a fabric one! What is so eccentric about that?

Mountain Man Music Jam (Mountain Women Too!)

On the last Friday evening of the month you drive out Santiago Canyon Road to Black Star Canyon Road, go all the way to the gate and then park. You never know quite what and who you will find there, but it is always fun! Joel Robinson, seen above playing some wacky rhythm instrument, brings his fiddle, mandolin, and assorted other instuments, invites all who are coming to bring any instruments they play and then whoever shows up spends about 1 1/2 hours, depending on when darkness falls, playing and singing! On this particular night there were only three of us and a gorgeous sunset.

Joel is the brains and heart behind http://www.naturalist-for-you.org/ Please check it out. He is a dedicated, knowlegeable naturalist who cares about the planet and the community he serves. He leads hikes, wildflower explorations, outdoor adventures of all sorts. The website above has all kinds of great programming listed. Note! The next Mountain Man Music Jam is Friday, September 25, 6pm to 8pm - Drive up Black Star Canyon Road, Orange County, CA

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, CA is a breath of heaven. I visited on a sunny Saturday, wandered the easiest pathways and interviewed for the position of Director of Public Programs today! This beautiful garden features and promotes native California plants in horticultural and more natural settings, depending on where you are in the garden. Interesting miniature treasures, including these "exploded"seed pods can be found at every turn of the path. This sculpture, Mythical Bird, by Gene Montez Flores, resides in a pond that is home to beautiful and large water lilies or at least water plants, botanic name unknown to me, but gorgeous! There are critters here too! I saw California Grey squirrels,
nibbling on an acorn I assume, Western Fence Lizards and evidence (scat) of coyotes. I missed the birds because they get up much earlier on Saturdays than I do. The best part of the garden is the delicate fragrance of the plants...sort of a sage/floral baking-in-the-sun smell. The peaceful, quiet benches make it a restful and nurturing place.I believe this is rue, but may be wrong...not labeled. I love the million shades of green I found and can only share a few here.

Getting the remainder of the purple blossoms tilted the horizon, but the purple/blue is worth it! A type of salvia I believe. Lots to learn of a garden visit.Don't you just love the grey behind the oval green? I hope to be spending lots of time here, introducing children, seniors, and interested others to the benefits and beauty of native California plants!

Five Stories Up

Why is a level of a building called a story? Well, there are stories and then there are stories...

Every day, since coming to the Santa Ana Senior Center to work temporarily, I park in a five story parking structure. The view is different from up on the open air/top story.

The building with the American flag is the Spurgeon Building, named after a founding father. I love the various levels and shapes and colors.

This is the view north and down. Old bricks and new railings, I believe these are apartments above retail, but I can only guess because it all looks different from up here.

It is interesting being at or above tree tops, even if it is only Birch Park at Third and Birch. This is the park that my mother came to when she attended Santa Ana High School. The botony class came for leaves to press for their class project,(1947) to learn Latin names. Now the park is home to street people. (2009)

Just what lurks and lives on rooftops here in Santa Ana?

Interesting ducts and dishes, shapes repeated and satellites for entertainment.

And then I looked down.

Yipes, stripes!

Stripes and shadows.This way, out!