A Gift for You - A Flower and A Poem

 

In the Dark of the Moon

In the dark of the moon,

Beware! Have a care! 

Of the ring at the door

And nobody there.

Of the soap hieroglyphics

On a clean pane;

Of hushed, ghostly giggles;

Of steps down a lane.

Beware! Have a care!

Of the small shape in white 

With a pumpkin lantern,

Its features alight.

No use to be looking

Stern, staid and sober--

Better turn goblin

This night in October.

~Kitchen Sonnets by Ethel Romig Fuller 

 

Top picture is taken in my back yard. Definitely fall/autumn has arrived!

My front porch is decorated with pumpkins and chrysanthemums. Just the things that to me say fall/autumn and Halloween. Do you see the tiny pumpkin? It is the only pumpkin that came from my "live-in gardener's" garden.

Enjoy a few giggles today and tonight and celebrate the season of ghosts and goblins.

Whimsy of Florence Avenue

 I was born in Sebastopol, California quite awhile ago. Sebastopol is about 50 miles north of San Francisco. It still feels like my hometown, eventhough we moved from there the summer before I started 6th grade. My grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins still lived there; so we would visit often. Florence Avenue always delighted me with it's old houses and gardens. I loved riding my bicycle down this street.

Several years ago when I was visiting I drove down Florence Avenue. It just made me smile to see the creativity in whimsical art in almost every yard.

Some were mailboxes, but others were just there to delight.

Well really even the mailboxes delighted.

I tried to pick a favorite, but it was just about impossible.

I think this waitress juggling so many orders is probably my favorite. I just love her expression and those huge glasses on her nose.

But even this little blue bird with the striped hat made me smile.

I fully intended to post more than my two posts for the week, but as usual time runs away.

I hope they made you smile a bit today.

Go out and find things that make you smile and delight in the day.

If you ever find yourself in Sebastopol travel down Florence Avenue as there are more pieces of art than I am sharing here.

Happy Weekend, dear friends!

A Gift for You - A Flower and A Poem

 On the adventure to San Francisco, my "live-in gardener" and I visited the San Francisco Botanical Gardens. The pictures today are from that garden stroll. Enjoy!

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

~David Wagoner

More than one flower and plenty of trees as we strolled through this peaceful place. At times we felt "Lost", but the trees knew we were there. Each plant shared their beauty with me and I can only share a touch in my pictures. It was a lovely way to end an adventure. When we travel we search out tea experiences and gardens. They always delight.

 

Have a terrific week, dear friends!

 

 

Chinatown

 Recently I had read a series of fiction by Roselle Lim that included San Francisco's Chinatown. I thoroughly enjoyed the light fiction and it brought back memories of having dinner in Chinatown for my 13th birthday. My grandmother lived in San Francisco at the time and had invited me to bring one friend and celebrate my 13th by having dinner there. I was so excited. Then living in San Francisco as a young adult I remembered attending Chinese New Years in Chinatown. Thus, I have fond memories of this place and was really looking forward to visiting.

But first there was a stop at the Ferry Building. When I lived there it was just that, a ferry building. It still has a ferry dock, but now it also has trendy shops and food places. Oh how life changes and moves on.

 

A glimpse of the city from the Ferry Building.

 

The Bay Bridge is almost by the Ferry Building door.

 

The ferry came into dock while we had a crepe lunch.

On a side note: The San Francisco Tea Festival is held at the Ferry Building each year. I believe it is coming the first weekend in November.

 

And then it was off to Chinatown. I was excited. We were driving and first of all we could not find parking. Really we should have taken public transportation.

I felt like this picture was iconic of what Chinatown was all about. There was the church, lanterns above the street, and a cable car and people.

Each shop felt more cluttered than the next one. It felt a bit claustrophobic and the streets were not particularly clean. I think it burst a bit of my fond memory bubble. Really it hadn't improved any since I was a little girl, but looking at it as an old lady it just didn't have the same delight. If you asked me if I was glad I went there I would say "yes"; but I have no need to return.

In this shop we did find a few sweet figures for my "live-in gardener" to add to his bonsai.

This is the main gate to Chinatown. I sent it a fond farewell. My memories will be cherished still, but I won't be returning.

This was probably my least favorite day, but it did remind me of what it was like to live in San Francisco. I love the city, but the center of the city where Chinatown resides reminded me why I love where I live. Maybe, afterall, that was a good thing.

 

Happy weekend, dear friends!

The Next Day

   Another picture heavy post.

Well I was going to post more this week to get caught up, but life happens and here it is Friday.

I think this was my favorite day of the trip because things happened unexpectedly and I loved each and every thing. 

My "live-in gardener" and I definitely planned to have tea this day at Crown and Crumpet. We had tea at Crown and Crumpet quite a few years ago in Ghiardelli Square and I had tea at their tearoom in Japantown -both in San Francisco. But this time we decided to have tea at their tearoom in Ross, California. So driving south on Highway 101, headed to San Francisco, we stopped in Ross. Now we had never been to Ross before and we were enchanted to walk around the small community a bit and enjoy. Then off to a beautiful tea time in the patio of Crown and Crumpet.

You must have guessed by now that when we travel we search out tearooms. This one did not disappoint.

After tea we made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge to find our motel for three nights just to be tourists for awhile in San Francisco. We lived in San Francisco during the height of the "flower children" era and we wanted to do some more reminiscing. Follow along.

You might think showing you the first picture of wildlife would not be in San Francisco; but our first tourist stop was at the Palace of Fine Art. We had visited there many times before, but not realized the little island in the small lake was a nature preserve. We were amazed at all the variety of birds and turtles there were. How many turtles do you see?

 

A gorgeous bird just sitting there for us to be enchanted.

We do love nature.

OK, here is a glimpse of the Palace. I remember my mother telling me when she was a young woman going here for an exhibition. The Pan American Exhibition took place here in the early 1900's.

It's a great place to walk and admire. There were many doing just that.

 

Actually I am surprised I snapped so many pictures without people in them.

After we left the Palace of Fine Arts we still had time to explore. I wanted to drive through the city and see the views from the far western tip. In exploring we came to the Legion of Honor Museum and had to stop I don't know if it was a free day or late in the day they let people in for free, but we hit the jackpot and entered to enjoy for awhile.

In all the time we live in San Francisco we had not gone inside. Ugh! Not sure why, but we were glad we entered this time.

Before we entered the museum, we enjoyed a few views of the bridge we had crossed earlier in the day. I love this bridge.

Just enjoy some pictures I snapped. They have amazing artists represented and we thoroughly enjoyed. There were also a special exhibit of Asian fashion, which I will share another day.

I love sculptures and they had some good ones. The art was amazing, but even the frames on the art was spectacular. Even one of Monet's waterlily's is represented there on the wall.

Definitely a museum worth visiting.

And the location is stunning too.

Now it was time to rest for the night, as we had two more days to explore.

I am not sure I would want to live there again, but it was so special to be able to remember and see new things along the way. Pure delight!

 

Go out and find "Pure delight" this weekend.

The adventure is so worth it.