Merry Christmas! ! !

Getting ready for Christmas

Hello, everyone!  I am still here!  I've had lots to post about, I just didn't manage to sit down to do the actual posts!  :(  There has been so much I needed to get done, I just seemed to run out of steam!  So, I'm going to throw it all in here now!  Out of date and all!  :)

 

I did manage to sneak away to the OC Fair this summer.  I wish I had seen these guys coming in time to get my camera out instead of trying to play catch up.  There was a parade of these characters drumming up interest for their act.  I missed it, too!   I'll bet it was good!

 

I always hit the arts and crafts to see what everyone has created . . .

 

 

the fine arts (no photography here :( - except of the lights above!), the products area, 

the animal barns and garden areas . . . oh, and maybe a quick run by the wine tasting area . . . just for . . . uh . . . research purposes.

And, I did get my garden in . . .

Moon and Stars Watermelon

My Moon and Stars watermelon . . . here is one of the babies in the early stages. I only got a couple and neither one of them turned out well.  All over the garden I had problems this year.  I guess I need to be a better gardener and make sure I water as needed . . . . . and not just on the weekends!  :(

Charentais Melons

My Charentais cantaloupes fared a bit better, but still . . .

Black Pear Tomatoes

My Black Pear tomatoes did do pretty well.  My first year with them. They were very tasty!  I made sure to save some seed for next year!

Bird House Gourds

My first attempt at the bird's nest gourds didn't do so well either.  They all rotted or molded.  *sigh*

My strawberries did ok, though!  Still, not a big crop, but they have escaped and are growing up all around the patio, so maybe next year!

Pineapples

I was so excited the pineapple tops took off and I had 4 plants growing off this top and 2 off the other one.  They were looking really, really good . . . and then . . they died.  I do not know what I did wrong on this one.

Teddy Bear Sunflower babies

Star Gazer Lillies

Dragon Fruit

On the plus side . . . my flowers did fairly well!  The teddy bear sunflowers needed more room, so less in a pot, but they were really cute anyway!  And I ended up with 2 dragon fruits this year as opposed to the 1 I got the previous 2 years!  I doubled my crop!  ;)  

Next year I have to get more serious with my poor garden and feed and water it better!

I also tried to do some carpenter duty.  I should have known better.  Trust me.  I won't get hired to do any carpentry work any time soon.  (Another career path down the drain for me!  ;)  It seemed like it should have been so easy.  Just two little boards with a couple of supports and something across the front to keep pictures from sliding off.  I have a small drill, a small jig saw, some chisels left over from my print-making class years ago, a hammer, screwdrivers, sand paper, screws and nails.  That is the extent of equipment at my disposal.  Sadly, I am not expert with any of them.  Perhaps I should be taking classes!  LOL!

But, then there were the strips up the wall to cover the paneling joins to take into consideration.  I had to get creative with how to scrape out spots on the planks to go over them and still lay flat against the wall.  It's not pretty, but they do go over those spots on the wall.  And, you don't really notice that part, so I guess it's ok!

I also knew I would be wanting to put up lights and possibly other small electrical types of things there.  So, extension cords would have to be able to feed up through them as well.  Cut-outs would be needed.  I always worry there won't be enough room for the ends to feed through so, believe me, there are very large cut-outs.  But, the extension cords do fit!  ;)  Note to self . . . never, never, never ever again weave the strings of light in and out of the trim.  Never.  Hours. Simply, hours! I'm a little slow . . . you think I would have figured that out while putting them up.  I should have stopped as soon as it got a bit tedious! :) Hee hee hee!

Please do not look toooooo closely at my lame attempt to make these shelves for my living room.  Ok, you will actually have to keep one eye closed and squint real hard with the other one to try to miss the wonky supports.  And even then, they stand out pretty blatantly.  But, the shelves are at least level on the wall, even if the supports are not exactly as vertical as they should be!  They may not look it in these pics . . . but, they are level!  That's one thing going for them!

The fact that the supports are not straight is driving me crazy, but I am doing my best to just ignore them.  I do not want to have to try to pull it all down and try to get them straight.  But, they may drive me to do that at some point in the future, cuz' I really can't stand it.

I also do not have them quite finished.  There is still a lot of touching up that needs to be done and I have some decorative scroll elements to glue on the flats against the wall.  Not to mention needing to cover up the screws on them as well!  They are just basically two 1X4's; one flat against the wall, the other, the "shelf", is supported by square decorative architectural elements and a decorative railing across the front.

But, I am going to like them, I think.  The wall studs are not positioned in places I want to hang things, so I thought if I put up shelves that go across the entire wall I can slide pictures around as needed on them and wouldn't have to put any other holes in the walls.  And, so far, they have looked nice with seasonal decorations on them.  Later, I will put up other pictures.

I definitely had fun with the decorations and can't wait until it is more finished.  But, I will also have to get better lighting so these pictures come out a little better.  Even on a sunny day, this is a wall that, for photos, is light-challenged even though the room is relatively bright!

I did make a nice T-Day dinner for myself and a couple of pies.  Here are some photos of the apple pie prep and final output.  I was having a bit of trouble with the crust, so ended up just using some tiny cutters at a feeble attempt to say Happy Thanksgiving!  I ended up with just a Happy T Day!  Though in truth, it looks more like Happy T OAY  ;)  

I also managed to get away to the Getty to catch the Cyrus Cylinder before it left.  Barely.  I got there the very last day it was there along with many, many, many other people with the same idea!  Who knew there would be a line to get in to see it!  It was very difficult to get pictures without all of the other people in there as well!  Also, it was dark and no flash photography or tripods allowed.  So, please excuse the quality of these photos.  My poor little camera did the best it could!  I am hoping one of these days next year Santa brings me a new, fancy-schmancy camera.  ;)

I am not sure why, but ancient glass just completely fascinates me. I don't know if I am more amazed they knew how to make it so very long ago and that they created such beautiful objects or that such fragile things survived so long or both.

I am working to get a lot done around here.  Why are our "to do" lists so very long?  ;)  It has all taken quite a bit of my time, but I am definitely making progress and am hopeful I am getting things more under control and will be able to get back to posting on a bit more regular basis and get back to doing more artwork!  No promises!

I appreciate everyone who has stopped by this past year to visit and say hi.  There have been a few people who have disappeared from their blogs also and I'm hoping you are all still there and I hear from you again!   I have missed your posts!  I may not have been able to keep up with doing posts, but I have been visiting the rest of you and enjoying all the lovely things everyone has been posting this past year!

I hope you have had a good year and are looking forward to a great 2014.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! ! !

My Keys Creek Lavender Farm and Urban Barn Trip!

So . . . a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Keys Creek Lavender Farm in Valley Center, California.  I had been searching online for lavender farms in the area because I thought the fields would make for lovely photo ops for this little blog and found them.  Then the wait was on for bloom season.  I was happy when my trusty ol' iCal popped up the reminder it was time to check bloom status.

While perusing their site, I noticed in addition to demonstrations of distilling essential oils and walking tours of their farm, they offered High Teas.  Since I had never been to one, I decided to make a reservation.  

The day of my visit was perfect.  I treated myself to a nice coffee and croissant for breakfast.  I had a ticket to get my car washed by a local high school wrestling team trying to raise funds for their team, so I headed over there while sipping my morning coffee.  One of my colleague's son was one of the washers.  It was a hoot to watch them clowning around.  They even managed to do a pretty good job of it also!  Then I was on the road on my way to the Urban Barn down in Escondido.  I had stumbled across their site at some point and was also looking forward to seeing what treasures I might find there!

I saw a set of 4 garden/patio chairs that I would have loved to have had, they were so pretty and sooooo comfy, but they wouldn't have fit in my poor little vehicle.  And, even if I had magically been able to spirit them home . . . I have no idea where I could have put them!  So, I had to bid a sad farewell to them.  But, I did pick up a pretty little tea cup display cupboard and a couple of pitchers.  And then it was time to get going to make it to Keys Creek Lavender Farm for my High Tea experience.

I saw some areas of the state I had never seen before on my way there.  It was a very pretty drive through a rural area.  A bit of a treat from the non-stop city/pavement I usually see.  And, then . . . on to dirt roads.  Whaaaat? ? ? ?  I didn't even realize there were any dirt roads anywhere near this area! ! !  Heck, they even put the rivers in concrete out here!  (I have been out here many, many years now and that still bothers me!  I know why they do it, but it just seems . . . . well, wrong!)  Who'd have thought they would allow dirt roads? ? ?  :)  Remember my second stop of the day  . . .  getting my car washed?  *sigh*  Oh well . . . it's only dirt, right?  ;)

It was worth it!  I finally got there and wandered up the road from the parking lot.  One of the owners, Chris Kurisu (that's him up there), met everyone on the porch to the little store they have there.  I was busy snapping pics of all the little vignettes they had set up . . . and the lavender, of course.  I finally realized he was talking about the essential oil distilling process, which was one of the things I was really interested in finding out more about.  They had a little distillation machine all set up and he described how it worked.  I would like to try my hand at it, but it would be a little too pricey to buy one of the machines they have for sale for just a casual interest in trying my hand at it!

Then it was time for our walking tour.  I was surprised that the part we saw seemed so small.  I am assuming there are a lot more fields on the backside of the hill that we didn't see.  If not, it is a very small farm!  :)  Cute, but small!  The lavender smelled lovely and there were thousands of bees busily tending all those blossoms.

Once we got to the top of the little hill, just outside the residence area, Chris bid those of us with High Tea reservations adieu and took the others on the rest of the tour back down to the shop.

There was a nice sized patio area that was set up with tables, nice tablecloths, and mis-matched tea cups and saucers.  There were lavender centerpieces and lovely little plates of sugar cubes and little ceramic creamers.  Once everyone was seated, they began bringing out plates of sweets, little sandwiches and assortments of fruits.  And the tea.  They offered a few different types from which to choose.  I started with a peach tea that was oh, so very yummy, I couldn't resist it.  I should have at least tried a bit of the others, but I was already hooked on the peach!  I think I must have drank about a gallon of it!

There were so many little delicious nibbles I just couldn't resist!

I must say I really enjoyed it!  The cucumber mint sandwiches looked like they had been cut with little cookie cutters.  They were quite sweet looking, like little flowers or something!  They also had little triangles of egg salad sandwiches and tuna salad as well.  The sweets were soooooo very tempting, I'm afraid I made a little pig of myself!  Scones with devonshire cream, madelines, little chocolate yummy cookie-ish type things, strawberries, blueberries and oh goodness, everything was just delish!  It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!  Grab some friends and get your reservations made!  But, remember, they are not offered all year long . . . it gets blazing hot out there in the summers!

         

See, didn't I tell you there were some super yummy looking desserts?  ;)

My most pleasant surprise of the day was the Rose Geraniums.  Ohhhhhh, mmmmmmmmmm, I really like the scent!  They distill the essential oils from those plants as well, but apparently, it takes soooooo much plant material to make the oil it is quite expensive to produce, so they don't sell just the Rose Geranium essential oil.  They mix it with the lavender essential oils.  I couldn't resist picking up some room sprays and some hand lotion.  (And a baby, fledgling Rose Geranium and a couple of lavender plants.)

Oh, I mustn't forget to show you some little piccies of the lavender fields . . . afterall, that was what started me on this little hunt!  ;)

They have several different varieties of lavender, some of which are in bloom at a little different times.

Isn't it pretty? ? ?  I wonder how many lavender wands you could make?  :)

Another surprise of the day . . . I apparently do have some allergies!  While shopping in their little store, I began sneezing.  And sneezing.  And sneezing.  And Sneezing.  I couldn't stop.  I was getting pretty uncomfortable.  Once I got outside, it subsided.  It was a small shop.  It was very warm.  There was a LOT of scent in there.  Wow!

There were so many little corners to explore, and a tiny little meditation maze walk tucked behind the bougainvillea covered arch. You can see a little peek of it in one of the photos above. 

It was such a pleasant day, I think it would be a really nice treat to go back again!  Perhaps you'll join me there!

Well, sit back and relax . . . until next time!  See ya' around! ! !  Later, gators!