Horse and Home: Sonoma Valley Break, Part One

Some of you may know, or remember, that the Paradis family has one or two attachments

 in San Francisco Bay area, which prompt us from time, to time to make a break

for the North.  Last weekend we were lucky to share our time with this little guy, named Eeyore (of course) at his home in Sonoma Valley.  A hop, skip and dawdle from lovely Petaluma.

What a difference four months of rain make, the hills were green(er) again.

And from the little house in which we stayed, known as "the Saddle House", 

at Cerro Pampa Cottages and Polo Field, there were views of them.

And views.

It is a rugged and rustic place.  So wear sturdy shoes.  Your car will get dusty.  Though inside,

very, very nicely appointed, with a perfectly blissful bed, utter silence at night, and stars.....

and in the morning, those views....views...views.

 (the above is not the Saddle House but another rental - link here)

There is a clay tennis court on the property, play-able - but at the time of our visit, suffering from a soupcon of benign neglect.  Cerro Pampa is not quite a 5-star resort, if that is your expectation....

But an other sort of haven.  For hares, ground squirrels, wild turkeys and other fascinating fauna.

A place to ride horses at the Polo field across the way (see Part Two to come).  Or to visit the coast and the wine country all around.

(To work on your marriage, in utter privacy and seclusion - judging by the book supply in the house.  There were also many cookbooks AND a Henry James reader at the time of our visit.  Sorry - had to introduce just a hint of dramatic tension to my happy history - wink wink.)

Or just a place to pass a sweet and pleasant moment if you are in the vicinity. 

Highly recommended.  IT WILL DO YOU GOOD.

Happy Second Weekend in September!

 We're still chillin' and thrillin'

in L.A.

Hope you are too.  Wherever you are.

Late June Lagniappe

Little lovelies piling up in my photo files........

(Ben Pentreath Inspiration)

that I hope will put

(new Amsterdam map from Famille Summerbelle)

as big a smile on your faces as they put

(this and the following two pics via Tahitian Vanilla or Bohemian Wornest)

on mine.

It's hard to overstate the blood-pressure lowering effects

of furry things

(the Chelsea Flower Show source unknown)

and flowery things

(Bungalow Classic)

and furry things.

Including our "new" girl - still impossibly cute.



Hope it was a good weekend!
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A Gardener Must Be An Optimist, a Believer in Miracles, and Always Looking to Tomorrow

Hello.  It's been a long time.

It's been hard to come back here and see my last posts about the little guy.  It hurt.

I finally decided that I needed to take the last one down.  I also didn't really know if I wanted to continue with the blog.

The world moves on.  It changes in so many ways.  Not just in the ways that my own little family is.

It's been hard to know for sure whether this is still the thing I should be doing right now.

For today, and for the rest of this month I think, I won't worry about that.

I'll just enjoy the little blog world that exists here.  And share a little of my world with you.  Again.

All these pictures are from the beginning of the month.   We've had hotter drier days and a new set of jobs is upon me.

As always, we've had many visitors to the garden.

We've had a thousand avocadoes, it seems, and the leaves have all fallen, but no more flowers this spring.  The tree must be exhausted.  We've had extremes of weather these last months which aren't quite "normal" for L.A.  That means now, MULCH MULCH MULCH!

I've had many more red flowers than I'd expected to. 

I'm now the proud Mommy of a house

full of girls.

The new one is settling in pretty nicely.  

That said......

the Young Prince may will still be the one that all future personalities at our house will be judged by.  

Thank you so much for all your sweet thoughts and words of encouragement.  Some which I did not find until just today but which felt warm and kind and consoling nevertheless.  I've "met" some lovely people here in the blog world. You all are a wonderful gift.

HAPPY MAY!!!!!  

SUMMER VACATION IS NEXT - will you be READY? 

************************

Objects of Obsession - and - Sonoran "Desert Dreams"

I can't believe these photos date from January of this no longer very new year.

Not much has changed since then in our life.  You might remember that I've had a very sick cat.  (The one on the right.)  This was his very first encounter with his intended replacement.  (The one on the left.)  But my sick boy is hanging IN!  Thanks to lots of meds and a new doctor.  We had thought we were going to lose him.

NOW.........I'm the proud Mom of three cats.  (Not something I had ever envisioned.)  It's a veritable herd of cats, it seems to me, and to Mr. Paradis especially.  I am spending all my "free" time trying to keep them comfortable and healthy.  So much so that I haven't had time for all those adaptation shenanigans that professionals suggest for acclimating the existing cat(s) to a new  interloping, foreign, transgressing, weird-smelling Mommy-stealing new cat.  (A little fear-and loathing going on - yes?  My other girl-cat is the worst about this - any tips are welcome.)

So the new Miss (to the left, above) still spends most of her life upstairs alone -  (I know, very sad) and Mom is ferrying new and existing cats (above) and the Princess (way below) to the new Doctor who has put the fear of God in us about CLEAN TEETH!  So everybody is getting their teeth cleaned.  Because most illnesses - of which Mr. Him-on-the-Right has quite a few - are not remotely helped by multiple system infections and bacteria loads caused by rotten teeth.  If I didn't know before, now I really know.  Anybody brush their animals' teeth out there?

But meanwhile, while this guy was still on Prednisone (a very scary drug to me - but which produces seemingly miraculous physical effects - like turning a skinny, barfing, dehydrated, anorexic cat into a super-critter)..........he had an excellent afternoon one January day watching this gorgeous movie:

Desert Dreams (click for trailer).

  He has never been interested in TV before but this totally hooked him.

Have I mentioned that it is Spring in L.A.?

So yes,

I have an other obsession.  More on the garden soon I hope.  Things are busting out all over.

I wish you a HAPPY WEEKEND until then.

UP LIFT - via Bungalow Classic

And here for you.......

some anti-doldrums pics lifted

by moi-meme last November

from Bungalow Classic a blog(ger)

with a delicious talent for lifting

some of the best visuals from around the internet.  (I have never wanted a Barbie physique but I must say - legs that look like this in ankle laces make me very desirous - of a Cinderella evening in skimpy slippers and a very full skirt)

Even with sun and 80+ degrees here in L.A. this past week

instead of being out and charging about I still favor using this time of year for resting, re-charging,

and dreaming.

When I used to live in cold places, chilly nights would often be spent with plant catalogs and sewing.

With a warm animal close by.

Now I just dream too much about shopping and summer dresses.  Because Spring is still sometimes a surprise too soon here.  And I never feel properly dressed for the new season.

And I think I SHOULD be painting.

It's a funny twix and tween thing.

All that oppositionality (is that a word?) still lives in me.

Between cold and light.  Hello!  How are you?  What are you doing?