Seagulls, Pelicans & Sandpipers

wave break, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

sandpiper

sandpiper, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

cliff succulants

cliff succulants, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

What a beautiful Saturday! I decided to start the day early with a yoga class in Laguna Beach. When I left the house at 8am it was 72 deg. The sky was a beautiful blue already so I was optimistic that it would be clear at the beach. The Yoga class about killed me but the beach was calling me to take a walk on its shore. I crossed PCH to the Montage Resort and then down to the water. It was a bit overcast but burning off so I took my camera. This time of the year the tides start to shift the shoreline. In the summer the beach is flat but in October the water relocates the sand....first by berms and then steep verticals. The wave breaks were powerful and loud leaving rough deposits of sand much different than the soft sand of summer. Very few people this early. My friends were the seagulls, pelicans and sandpipers.. After my walk on the beach I went home to a temperature of over 90deg and it wasn't even noon. More birds at home: the hummingbirds were feeding off of my lavender, nasturtiums and salvia. A pair of yellow throated warblers hopped up onto my front porch to look for food. What a great way to start my day

Suzani quilt

Suzani quilt, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

"Suzani" means needlework in Central Asia. This design is from one of Kaffe Fassett's quilt books. The colors are rich and earthy like the natural dyes in that part of the world. For a little more detail I hand quilted the inside of the circles with a #6 perle cotton thread. I have fond memories of this quilt. I made it in a week during a trip to my friends, Marjorie and Harvey in Maine in the summer of 2006. Marjorie picked me up from the airport in Portland and we quickly drove to the sweet little town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Portsmouth Quilt Shop where I picked out almost all of the fabrics...at least all of the gold background fabrics and most of the solid shot cottons. During my visit Marjorie and I spent a lot of the time at our machines sewing and just catching up and doing what friends do. When she returned me to the airport the following week we made a second stop into to quilt shop because of course we might have needed more fabric. I pulled out the finished quilt top and they sales associates could not believe that only a week had passed. This may be the definition of obsessive but I would just call it good clean fun. This quilt now keeps me warm at night. It is by far one of my favorite. And I have great memories of that week with my friends in Maine. Oh by the way....The gold backing of the quilt top was completed before the circles were added to the top. The extra bulk was then cut out....and I just had to use the cut out circles for placemats. What can I say? I grew up in the 60s with parents who grew up during the Depression. I just can't waste anything.

Suzani detail

Suzani detail, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

yummy French treasures

yummy French treasures, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

French roses, French parfum and Gilles. France does produce an abundance of yummy things. As I was showering I looked across to my countertop and noticed I had clustered some treasures from France. I thought it would be my next subject for watercolor that have been pushed aside for a few weeks. Merde! But I do love all things French. I lived in Paris for a month while attending the Cordon Bleu School of cooking; I love my Apilco white French porcelain dinnerware. I love French perfume....although I do have a Bobbi Brown on the counter, n'est pas? and I love all roses. These just happen to be French Paul Bocuse. I also love the blog Paris Breakfasts and I am happy to see Gilles Marini take a role on Brothers and Sisters. Now he is yummy!

Denver Botanical Gardens

Denver Botanical Gardens, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Sunday morning we took a trip to the Denver Botanical Gardens. The leaves on the grape arbor were just beginning to turn color. The grapes were no doubt harvested last month. The view is to the herb garden. I was delighted that there were so many plants that grew here and were thriving. Even my favorite roses were hardy. One of the sad thoughts of moving to Denver has been the limitation of garden varieties but after visiting....even in October I am now excited to garden in Denver. The Botanical Gardens are the most beautiful I have ever visited. It rivals the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino, California but the design, architectural elements and the variety if gardens is unbelievable. Whitney purchased a family membership (luckily for me the fam includes Grandmothers) so I am excited to return with my sketch and watercolor books....and maybe a down parka and gloves.