Local seaside Pride of Madeira

local seaside Pride of Madeira, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Pride of Madeira in many shades, on the grounds of the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. I am so lucky that my Yoga studio is across the Pacific Coast Highway from this gorgeous spot and after a session of practice I can top it off with a walk through the grounds and down to the beach.

Mustard landscape, 3rd stage

I have added the shadow of the sycamore tree with felt.  Now I have to finds some birds

Cook's Pantry

I love to cook! Every cook needs her essentials to create the tastes that are perfect for each dish.  These are a few of mine: herbs de provence, poivre (aka pepper) and a fresh vanilla bean (en Francais, vanille).  The containers themselves are unique.

Boulder Bookstore

This past weekend Whitney and I went to Denver "to check it out".  It snowed our first day while looking around town but on Monday it was sunny and beautiful.  My sister-in-law, Barbara, and I headed for Boulder to walk the outdoor Pearl St. mall.  The tulips were ready to bloom, the sky was gorgeous blue and the company was great.  We wandered in to the Boulder bookstore in search of local gardening books.  I had to stop and sketch before I left so this chair was the subject.  When I returned home I added my new books to my bookshelf and had a cup of tea browsing through them.

Bamboo forest

Bamboo forest, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Part of the Japanese garden at the Huntington is the bamboo forest. You can stroll through acres of this lovely bamboo and never see any other part of the gardens. The colors are beautiful: so many blues and greens.

Beet red, Hyacinth blue, Kaminski purple

Color mixing is no less fun at 61 than at 5 or 6.  Subtle additions of one color to another or adding brown, black or gray can make just the right shade.  This was fun and challenging.  The fun part was actually painting the beet with beet juice.

Duck and ducklings quilt

Duck and ducklings quilt, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Happy April.....spring is here and Easter is around the corner. This quilt is called duck and ducklings, apropos for April. There are not very many pieces in this quilt but I Think it is charming. and yes I made 2 of them...the fabrics are slightly different but they read the same. This was made 3 years ago for the Easter holiday.