Summoning.......

It's been a hectic fall for this blogger.

 (My favorite dim sum spot in London - Jia)

I've had builders doing some small improvements around my house and garden.  I've been in need of small comforts.........amidst the occasional chaos.

There has been a momentous election.  Which I have distracted myself from with fashion.  (Whatever works, huh?)

I had a big birthday - and this girl, who was last year's birthday gift is finally settling in with us vs., fighting, biting, swiping and not being able to share a room with our other girl.

 (Matt Mattus' amazing chrysanth'- see more here)

Since fall is planting season in L.A. I am still putting things in and tending to them.

(Camilla Engman link here)

This painting seems to sum up what many are feeling about the U.S.'s new President.

And many are pondering what we can do about it.  I thought seriously of buying this little boat and just......sailing away.  But it's terribly little, isn't it?  I couldn't go far and - Mr. Paradis doesn't swim.  But it does seem a metaphor for a present moment?

It's hard to be lighthearted somedays.

We returned to Crystal Cove for Thanksgiving and found this offering.

 (pic: Christopher Lane for the Guardian)

In case you didn't know already, these are two guys I really like.

Despite all this, life goes one.  Particularly in the burgeoning, busting out and booming L.A. arts district.  Which has provided me a message to you for our new December weekend.  With 2017 barely a month a way now.

I've been absent from this space lately but one thing never changes.  Love is love.  And you guys are part of it.  Hugs and kisses from L.A.

Sorry For the Radio-Silence These Last Two Weeks

I managed to smash my screen and had to send the computer

for a bit of a rest cure.

I must say, I was happy to be reunited with my pics.

Nice to be back with you all too.  Hope you are enjoying lazy, sweet, final summer days.  More soon.

UNTIL THEN - have a very  HAPPY WEEKEND!

Break for Summer - On Abbott Kinney Boulevard, Venice, CA

Once one of those arty backwaters, Abbott Kinney Boulevard is now approaching peak glam

with (tear down) homes in the neighborhood starting at a million dollars, and a boho chic atmosphere

where bicycles, flip flops, bespoke coffees and

pizzas reign......

Where flowers are sold from the backs of camper vans.

And modest little gates lead to secret hideaway retail destinations......

Of course the flip flops are not your dime store variety.  They have to have a little attitude

  and atmosphere and BRANDING - a Brazilian flag doesn't hurt in that regard.

The plantings on Abbott Kinney Boulevard are more elegant and more tidy and more

d-e-s-i-g-n-e-d  than anywhere else in L.A.

And the exotic cement tile rage has taken hold big-time.

Abbott Kinney is only about a half a mile from Venice Beach so it's never not the season for bikinis.  Especially if they're in bleu-blanc-rouge for Francophiles and all those other Frenchies who flock to this seaside neighborhood.  (And open lovely little Francophone schools for preschoolers.)

Some are trying harder than others to evoke the atmosphere of summer holidays.

This location was in transition - shall we put it nicely?

Making a stand commercially, on Abbott Kinney can be very expensive and if you don't get the formula quite right....it might be ruinous.

Making a stand horticulturally

or artistically - not so much!  (That's the good news.)

You will find lots of lanky and handsome shoppers on Abbott Kinney Boulevard.

Abbott Kinney is as much now a destination for tourists-from-abroad as for lucky locals.

 (Thanks to Suzanne at SakuraSnow who reminded me of this artist's name)

It can also be a showcase for artists and makers such as Makoto Kagoshima, a Japanese ceramicist.

 - I also loved how he did the walls with scraps of blackboard paint.

Could you - or I - do this at home?  Yes we could!  I would like that!

You will be tempted by both the luxe and the

laid-back.....

The glistery - AND always the green

The new

and the notable.

On Abbott Kinney Boulevard you will be inclined to feel that

LIFE IS A BEACH and that a visit there is like a summer holiday.  Wherever you're coming from.

Yes.  I'm talking about: Happy Faces All Around.  

Abbott Kinney is worth the detour on your next visit to L.A.  Be prepared for great visuals and bring a generous credit limit!  It's a nice complement to seafront wanderings (Previous Venice posts here).

I hope your summer is going well.  Wherever you are!

It's Almost Summer, They Say

Yes, I'm still here.  With a little share for you.

 (Basil and mint/vinegar and oil/tomatoes and ricotta bruschetta)

Of Spring highlights at Passage Paradis.

before the season slips away.

Pictures here of the Paradis family's (apparently) annual walk down Sunset Boulevard.

With all its prickly and peculiar

L.A. personality.

Alpine strawberries from the garden.

A ("usual" now, I guess) visit to Sonoma Valley and an out of the way beer stop in a metal shed in the middle of farmland.  Loved that!  (More on it later.)

Flowers from the garden.  

Yes.  Cymbidium orchids from a four year old supermarket plant.  Miracles can happen!

Que Pasa my peeples?!