Hawaiian Skies......

......are full of rain right now from two hurricanes hurtling through the Islands.

But let's think of Paradise this way instead?  

As you can see it's a gorgeous pic by Cameron Brooks which I found via the Huffington Post.

Happy Weekend!

No, Really, I AM Back......

But things are still a little topsy turvy.

Walls have come down.  Others have gone up.

I now have views that I've never even dreamed of.

In October,  (if we get rain) I may get a chance to plant.  Eeeks!  Too exciting.

The Slow Slide and Sidle

I'm easing back into blogging.

(via Junkaholique)

Here are a couple of things I found online over the weekend

(Photo:  Justin Tallis - Getty/AFP)

that made me smile.

(sorry, not sure where I found this one)

How was your weekend?

(Photo: Tilo Driessen on Flickr)

We had rain in L.A.!  WE NEEDED IT!

July Has Been the Longest Month.

I have wanted my summer to look like this.

(via Ben Pentreath Inspiration)

Apparently it has been gorgeous in England.  I'm very nostalgic for it.

(via the NYTimes)

Less nostalgic for Battery Park City, NYC which used to yield blissful summer days.  Now overbuilt and a little glammed up for my tastes.

Newfoundland (via the NYTimes)

Had a summer holiday here once, making l-o-o-o-n-g walks.  I could do it again.

But this is what July has looked like, starting 7:30 every morning at my house.  I'm not really complaining.  (I just want it to be over.)

(via Augustin et Augustine)

Some have had a gilded summer.

(via Junkaholique)

I would have been happy with tide pools.

I did not post the pictures, though I felt an intense obligation to, of babies wrapped in blood-soaked shrouds in Gaza. Carolyn Cole has borne witness here via the LA Times.

We should not turn away.  (From Syria, Nigeria, Afghanistan, the Ukraine, Iraq, too.  It goes on and on.  Why?)  But we do.  We do.  We do.  Over and over again.  How can we make it stop?  Why can't we make it stop?  I have been hearing about the conflict in the Gaza Strip since I was a very young child.  You too?

Good bye July.  August, could you promise something better?  

Hope your July was.

It All Came Too Fast

Wha'?????!!!!!

It's mid-summer already and for some people, vacation time!  Oh you're so lucky - I'll be thinking of you!  Have a wonderful holiday!

I'm going to be pushing through a painting commission that I have due for September and my (studio-shed etc.) home improvement project.  In between I'll be visiting with you all where you are, and hoping to grab a few moments to smell some roses ......

What I'm trying to say is, I won't post for most of July.

Again have a wonderful summer holiday and I look forward to seeing you soon!  xoxo

Ridin' and Ropin' Way Down in L.A.

O.K. we knew it was there.  The sign on the freeways says: Equestrian Center

It's about 15 minutes from our house, adjacent to Griffith Park

  (famous for the observatory in Rebel Without a Cause).

On the other side of it is Burbank. 

 (Where a lot of TV shows and movies that you have known and loved, have been and still are, shot.)

For $25 an hour, you can rent yourself a ride.

Or learn how to rope a poor sweet little white baby mule.

I have many family members who have loved, ridden and owned horses.

But me?  More of a cat and dog person so far.

  (Frankly, those big horses scare the c#$% out of me.)

But since I've discovered this slice of Hollywood cowboy history right at my back doorstep, I'm more open to being befriended and persuaded........

By someone who has soft eyelashes and a blonde mane.  I'd feed him carrots (and call him "Lance", or "Trigger", or maybe "Stoney") - he'd like that.....

and we'd  ride off together into the sunset - the breeze in our hair and the smell of sun and hay in our nostrils.   Yippee Ti Yi Ohhhhh.......  Don't you think I should try it?

Think Good Thoughts - It's the Weekend!

(Pic: Alamy for The Guardian UK)

(pic:  Dottie Angel)

(Pic: via Bohemian Wornest)

(a tumblr find)

(via Quill and Fox tumblr)

(via Posie Gets Cosy)

(via Tahitian Vanilla)


Have a bee-YOU-TI-full weekend!