Snapshots of the Season - My L.A. in Bloom

"Oh where, oh where, has that darn blogger gone now?"  

You might wonder as my absences from this page sometimes prolong themselves........

Well it does have something to do with the season, to which a gardener must always be subject.

After a harsh endless summer and drought of 2016.....followed by five months of almost

constant rain.  My recent cool stretch of L.A. spring has been very precious and demanding.

For planting and maintenance.   It's meant

a lot of work to replant, restore and reinvigorate much of my garden.

And there has been a fair amount of happy (or not) weed pulling, bug spraying, and leaf corralling.   

Oh yes, and then there's been this one, who has required a great deal of supervision.  Because her time outdoors always involve plans.  That seem to involve exits!  I have titled this post "My L.A. in Bloom" but it might just as well have been called:  "Elvis Has Left the Room."

And that's just nature.  And the season.  For better or worse.   So you'll excuse me?  I can make no promises about the little furry one.  But me, so far, I'll keep coming back.  

HAVE A LOVELY LOVELY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY FIRST OF MAY WEEKEND!

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.

For the Moment, We Still Have the Beach - And It's Still Called Paradise Cove, Malibu

Despite the giant orange cloud looming over our Thanksgiving to come.....

And 2017.  We in California for now, at least, still have the beach.

The gulls and the pelicans, the long vistas....

the sun and mist and the hard bodies are all still here.

Foreign residents of Los Angeles, past and present, can still reunite with their families. 

And even in autumnal light

carefree relaxation may be indulged in by the masses.

(At least those masses who have cars, because Paradise Cove is a bit out of the way, shall we say, on Pacific Highway CA1)

 The restaurant is a cacophony of sounds, vintage photos, and piles of fishy American comfort food.

All the necessaries are provided for.

(Parking is free only if you spend about $25 at the restaurant, which will be very easy to do.  You can also park on the highway, above, and walk down.)

As you can imagine, in Mid-Summer, Paradise Cove is chock-a-block.

If you are a fan of 1970's TV shows, Paradise Cove will fulfill your celebrity trivia requirements.

It's riding a wave of feel-good California vibrations.  

(That didn't take long did it?  We just about managed to forget about Mr. Trump!  I guess we needed that!  I mean, I DID!)

How was your weekend?

 What are you cooking for 

Thanksgiving?

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Gjusta, Venice Beach - The New Place to Eat in Venice Beach

Gjusta is what all the buzz is about these days.

The younger sister of Gjelina, where all the beautiful people eat, on Abbott Kinney Blvd.,

Gjusta is the more protein intensive, wide-open spaces America, East-Coast deli mashup

artisan-industrial destination where EVERYTHING IS FRESH because it's made for you

sur place - whether it's smoked fish or meats, pastry, bread, kale-intensive salads

jams, drinks, rotisserie chickens

or

smoked marinated oysters.  The Paradis family have only visited in the afternoon when a summery

sort of lazy small town quiet has set in.  Brunch is the time when all the action takes place.  And some serious people watching one would have to expect.......before you spill yourself back out into the Venice sunshine where your bicycle will be waiting.  (Or your Uber driver!)

“Parking however is terrible so it's better off bike instead of drive if you could.” - Yelp

Food and Fruit on a Summer Garden Theme

I might have mentioned it before.....

With a long drought ongoing in the American West, and watering restrictions almost statewide

in California, it has been hard to garden.

I've learned (sometimes the hard way) what CAN grow with little water, and that has surprisingly, 

has included quite a few tropical things.  (Who would've thunk it? - I did not!)  

Loquat trees from my neighbor's garden were so full of fruit that the long branches sunk down over our fence and landed festoons of leaf and fruit into my yard for a couple of weeks until I picked them clean and cut them back.  Mr. P. then made a delicious jam with them (- we had to quick because they don't keep!)  It was perfumey and light, tasting half like apples, half like apricots.  We have many Middle Eastern, Chinese and Phillipino neighbors who've planted or enjoy loquat trees so they are quite common.  Many others don't know what to do with the large seeded fruit and just let the loquats fall and rot.  I am here to tell you officially: Jam is the answer!

It's been a summer of long anticipation for the passion fruit - which we planted almost two years ago.  Mr. P. was certain it would not bear for him.  He was happily wrong - though I felt I had to help the bees pollinate by fluffing the flower pistils and stamen with a long soft paintbrush every couple of days through most of May and June.

A terribly neglected pineapple plant in a pot (Second pic, above) seemed impervious to drought and sent up a perky little orb with lavender flowers bursting off of it in early August.  I watered and fed it last Thursday to keep its spirits up.  We'll see how big it gets - happy as it seems to be.

A non-garden discovery (top pic) that kept my spirits up through a sometimes difficult summer was my new favorite breakfast of:  shredded wheat'n'bran, blueberries (- frozen are prettier, no?) - toasted hazelnuts, chia, and sliced bananas (not shown here).  OH MAN!  So good.

(SERIOUSLY!)

And finally.......the pomegranates have arrived.  I can forgive the raccoons and skunks and possums for marauding about in my yard, when I contemplate all these lovely gifts of nature in my kitchen and on my dining table!  

So all in all, a successful season.  Can't wait to do it all again next year.  

And now the rest of you?  Any fruit bragging you'd like to do?  Before the winter weather arrives?

Good Bye Summer, 2016 - I'll Miss You

Even though you went by way too fast and there wasn't nearly enough

(via Handpicked - also fith picture down)

beach time with ponies taking place during your months.

You were generous with your sweet peas.

And somehow you gave me time to mostly finish painting this "ceanothus".

The most escaping I did was via Ben Pentreath's "Inspiration" blog.

It was so hot, I did feel always thirsty.

I ate alot of watermelon to combat the temperature.

(Royal Norfolk Show)

I made plans for NEXT summer.

L.A.'s only summer storms took place far away, on the water.  That's right.  We had NO RAIN.

I dreamed of a tidier, greener, summer garden.  Not a brown drought garden.

I discovered a new painter:  Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (gorgeous light!) 

(Junkaholique)

And I spent a lot of time thinking of cake.  And eating some every chance I got.

It was a summer of expensive encounters.  Raccoon and skunk removal doesn't come cheap.  (They were digging up all my plants - I mean digging a tunnel to China.  O.K., same thing!)  My friends advised me to just "GET A BIG DOG!"

I discovered this sweet little cottage in my neighborhood.  When the expenses and responsibilities just got too much, I was tempted to run away to it!  It looked so carefree. 

Now it's September.  And Labor Day.  How did that happen?!  Dear old Summer, where have you gone?  There are so many other things we could have done together.................

.........Yours was far too brief a stay!

Happy Labor Day to all of you savoring your last summery hours.