Bangle House

Signs of Spring

We went up to Carpinteria last weekend just to get out of town and stopped by a farmers' market in Ventura along the way.  Other than citrus, which we have plenty of here in the yard, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from.  There were some root vegetables,

 

some artichokes--large and small (beautiful, but I have no idea wht to do with them other than steaming them and dipping the leaves in butter, which really isn't up my alley),

and my very favorite of all--asparagus.

I got a few bunches last Saturday, and they've already disappeared.  Looks like I'll be hitting the Hollywood Farmers' Market this weekend.  Asparagus marks the official beginning of farmers' market season for me--spring peas can't be far behind.

As far as knitting goes, I finished the Time-Out Socks.

And I began the first of March's socks, Yukon Leaves by Lela Conrad.  The pattern can be found here.  The only modification I'll be making will be continuing the pattern down the foot.

It's a well-written, simple pattern; and best of all, it's free.  With costs reaching upwards of $7 for newly released patterns, I'd have to say that my days of buying individual patterns are pretty much done.  Add that to the cost of some nice yarn, and I've got a rather expensive pair of socks once I'm done--especially since I don't often make the same pair of socks twice. . .well, not unless they're plain socks or those irresistible Oak-Ribbed Socks.  Looks like I'll be sticking to freebies and books, or else I'll finally start concocting some patterns myself.

Sperling Preserve

So after ambling around Solvang, we decided to head over to Goleta to check out a patch of the coast we'd not yet seen.  I'd recently read about the fairly new Sperling Preserve in Sunset Magazine, and it was on the way home; so we decided to check it out.

Now, August and September are not exactly the best months to appreciate the natural beauty of Southern California.  The days are long and hot; the vegetation dies back or goes dormant and becomes an ugly, crispy brown; and few interesting, migratory birds are around.

Even so, we headed on over, and this is what we saw.  If you want to see some pictures of Sperling Preserve and Ellwood Mesa at their best, then take a look over here.  I think we'll head back in March so that we can enjoy these same views.

After parking, we started down this path through a stand of eucalyptus trees. 

In the fall, these trees are covered with monarchs -- quite a sight, I'm sure.  We saw only one this time around.

We emerged from this mini-forest into a meadow, which I did not bother to photograph.  There was little to see other than dying wild mustard and flowerless ice plants.  Yuck. 

What we could see just about a hundred yards away was the marine layer, and that meant shade -- a very welcome sight when it's about 86 degrees outside.

We reached the edge of the bluff and looked west (note above-mentioned mustard plants in the foreground).

Then east.

Yes, this overcast scene was just a five-minute stroll from the sun-drenched location in the photo of the path.  We can thank the marine layer for about a half hour of relief from the sun.  If you look at the path photo, you can see the marine layer in the middle right area.

The problem was that it was burning off as we stood there, leaving us not only hot, but muggy.  We didn't bother to go down to the shore because we didn't want to get caught in the blazing heat; so we decided to head back to Malibu, where the weather would be much more pleasant.

Before we left, these guys flew by.

Later, we pulled over on a PCH turnout, grabbed the binoculars, and watched some dolphins close to shore flipping around in a feeding frenzy.  All in all, a pretty good day.

Pancakes!

We love pancakes in this house, especially thin, thin ones of the Scandinavian variety.  Craving a stack of them Monday morning, we decided to head out to Solvang, America's little Danish town.

With little to no traffic, we can leave the house at 7:45 and be greeted by these at 10:15.

The best place to go -- well, actually, the ONLY place we've tried -- is Paula's Pancake House.

I've read that the omelets and other breakfasts are good as well, but unless I move closer to Solvang and start dining at Paula's more often (hey, I'm up for it!), I'll never know. 

Here are more photos of Solvang's Danish-themed shopping area.  Either you love or hate this sort of thing.  I love it.

There are several bakeries in town.  Here's one I've not yet tried.  Danish pastry isn't really my thing (a bit dry); so I find the bakeries quite resistible.  I understand their pastries work well with coffee, but I don't drink coffee (yes, really, I don't -- never have); so that pitch doesn't work for me.

Windmills in Denmark?  Who knew?  Note the nesting stork statue on top of the building in the middle.  I've been told this is a symbol of good luck in Denmark. Several of the buildings in Solvang have them.

Also note the Vinhus.  Solvang is located in the Santa Ynez Valley, the wine producing region featured in the movie Sideways.  Over the past few years, several new wine tasting rooms have popped up in town.  Since I'm usually here in the morning for pancakes, I've yet to check any of them out. 

You can see some of the hills surrounding Solvang in this picture.

I'll bet that house on top of the hill has quite a view, but it's probably not much fun driving up there.  Driving on narrow roads barely clinging to hillsides is NOT my favorite thing to do.

It was quite a warm day, so after walking around town a bit we headed over to the coast.  I'll show you those pictures next post.

Where does it go?

Time, that is.  If someone can find where the hours have gone from the last time I posted until now, I'd appreciate your turning them over.  I can't seem to account for them, yet here I am at Friday afternoon.

Anyhow, a few vacation shots.  Upon arriving at Moonstone Beach in Cambria, I was greeted by this guy.

My camera's not built for speed; so here's another shot.

Vivid oranges, pinks, and greens all together.  I couldn't have picked a more pleasing color combination had I tried.

We saw plenty of monarchs fluttering about as the largest colony in the U.S. is located in Pismo Beach, which is about 45 minutes from Cambria.  We didn't make it to the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove this year, but we hope to soon.  Perhaps we'll make a quick trip of it this February when they're there in their greatest numbers.

We spent the rest of the day walking on the beach here

and sipping wine on our balcony while watching the sunset,

as I began this sock,

later finished at home.

All in all, a pretty good start to a vacation.

Quick note to my Monkey Pal, if you're checking in:  Don't worry about rushing to make the official deadline.  These things are supposed to be fun, not stressful.  As for me, I'm not worried at all.