FOUR SEASONS IN ONE DAY.........

Winter in Southern California is mostly a mild , nondescript placid season with not really a lot going on......We have grey skies, sunny warm days, or days with no weather at all... you don't really notice it.....yeah, another nice day........but yesterday was different..... We were all over the map!!!! Torrential rain, hail, rainbows, sun and for good measure a Tsunami added to the mix.....But it was beautiful.... The sky glorious blue..... The air clean and fresh... and when the rain did stop briefly, I ran out there with my brand new best friend and took some photographs of the brave and bold gardeners on my block...the landscaping pioneers of Wrigley... MAUNA & LEE.... BILL.... MIKE & LYNETTE..... My wonderful neighbors...as colorful and generous as their gardens......Free Spirits who went against the grain to make the hood one heck of a cooler place to be.....

JUST IN...this afternoon during the storm.......

HERE COME THE PICTURES(.. OR MAYBE NOT....)

I had requests for pictures of the garden...I am taking day to day pictures of THE WISTERIA ...It is going to be stellar this year.. THE FIRST CALIFORNIA POPPIES.... THE BRUGMANSIA.... A QUIET LITTLE SPOT NEAR ENGLISH HUSBANDS SCULPTURE.. Now to get the words to get somewhere near the pics!!! WHEW!!! These pics are of the back garden(I know what your saying "I see grass!!" well its actually weeds that are green because of all the rain... They are history come this summer.... We plan on digging all that out as well and putting in decomposed granite......THE POPPY is from the famed front garden... It started to rain and I didn't get any more photos ..... OK...I'm going to push the dreaded PUBLISH POST BUTTON...IF I NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN... Thank you so much for your encouragement.........Beatnheart will not be beaten down..

THE DAY I DUG OUT MY FRONT LAWN...

When we first bought our little Spanish style house in September of 1999, one of the first things that I did (after pulling out the carpet at midnight to see if I had hardwood floors) was dig out all the grass in my front lawn..Now here in Southern California, we are living in a desert... Most people do not realise this...They think we are in England or the Midwest or other areas where there is alot of rain...we do not get a lot of rain...therefore we do not have the water to keep up a green lawn or any lawn for that matter.. .Go to the desert.. .look around... do you see any grass growing??.... The natural landscape is a decomposed granite type of floor with various sages and other shrubs that are indigenous to this area... grass is not one of those things.. So I tore out my lawn.... passersby would ask "when are you putting in the grass?" "I'm not putting in a lawn.." I replied... They snorted and sniffed and walked away... I proceeded to plant various rosemarys ,sages, succulents... any type of plant that didn't require alot of water...I put in rocks and gravel and bird baths and bird feeders.. Someone reported me to the city...I received a citation in the mail to remove the "weeds" I had growing.. I ignored that and carried on my evil plan... As the years went by, I began to notice, that one by one other people started to dig out their front lawns as well... In their place went Mexican sages, Pride of Madeira,Gazanias, Verbenas....Our little neighborhood became a kaleidoscope of color...Hummingbirds, butterflys, birds...the place is exploding with them...People come in their cars to look at our pretty little street...they take pictures..they wished they lived here...

OH WHERE,OH WHERE DID YESTERDAY GO.....

Title of a new song? Lament from a jilted Lover? No, a question I've been asking myself since last night when somehow, in some crazy wild moment, I lost yesterday's posting!!! I rather liked it too!! I have been trying to find it since about 6pm last night when in a split second it was gone...."I know you are in there somewhere," I cried!!! but received no answer back.. I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking "ah ha, I think I remember where I put it"...but of course I don't have a clue....All the work, all seven of those beautiful comments,gone, gone, gone... Now in my younger days, this kind of thing would have discouraged me to no end...I would chuck this whole plan in..." I can't do this!!! Who do you think you're kidding!!! You're a total loser!!!!" You know what? I'm going to soldier on!! You won't win....You're in there somewhere and dammit I'm going to find you...

GOING THROUGH LIFE ONE DOWNWARD FACING DOG AT A TIME...

Today I celebrate one year since I began to practice yoga...I have dabbled with it throughout the years (who couldn't make it through the 60's without doing yoga!) But now I practice at a studio 4-5 times a week... A year ago, my health was failing..I had chronic sinus problems, uncontrollable allergies,body aches and a general feeling of unhappiness,unfullfillment and a host of other problems both physical and mental..

I KNEW SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE...So I signed up for 3 months of unlimited yoga and dragged my weary body and blocked up nose to start my practice... the effects came slow but they did come.. and now a year later..I breathe much more clearly, allergies almost non existent... the benefits have been remarkable in so many ways..

One thing leads to another.......One unlocked door opens another............. om shanti....namaste

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT....

but if you try sometime, you get what you need...

I am finally, truly believing that when you want something,when

you dream about something happening to you, this dream can become

a reality...This has been happening to me more frequently ...I have been

hooked up with people, events and circumstances that have helped move

me along my path.. I find the right teacher, article in a magazine or newspaper

that leads me in a new direction or opens me up to a different way of

looking at something...

As one gets older, your time and how it is spent becomes more important..

more urgent..

SAVING THE WORLD ONE CHIHUAHUA AT A TIME

Today "The Ukettes" will be playing a benefit Chihuahua Fashion Show to help

adopt out unwanted Chihuahuas...These poor dogs have been the latest

trendy must haves by so called celebrities who use them as fashion accessories...

Young girls see photos of their idols carrying these dogs in their $5000 purses

and then insist on getting one for themselves knowing little about the care and responsibility of owning one of these dogs....California is so overpopulated with them that I understand

they are shipping them to other states...The animal shelters are inundated with them..

Unscrupulous breeders are making big bucks and the poor helpless dogs are

suffering the consequences...

Don't even get me started on the way some people treat animals...

Spay your pets...adopt a sweetie from the animal shelter...Don't think it's cute for

your pet to have "just one litter" and come on down to The GasLamp on Pacific Coast Highway

and adopt a Chihuahua...

SPRING IS HERE....

The first California poppies are in bloom in my front garden...also my daffodils, the very fragrant jasmine vine and the brugmansia bush..

Southern California is happening right now!!! The rains we have been getting is making everything bust out early...it is at its most beautiful here right now...mountains to the east

covered and I mean covered in snow...air quality not too bad...my neighbors avocados are ripe

and ready to eat...oranges are everywhere as are lemons...its prime time baby..

Once I figure out how to properly put in pictures(see Thursday post!)I will....this newbie is

having a hard time with working all of this out, but I'm posting away anyhow warts and all...

Many thanks to all those who have responded to me...it has been wonderful..

Estate sale friday...

Got up at the crack of dawn to hit todays estate sales. These are always a hit or miss kind of thing and after waiting in line for two hours one hopes to find something, anything...The ad showed promise.. "Nothing thrown away for 50 years" "Four generations worth of stuff" "Quality items from England and France"

I was stoked!!

The clock was ticking down....Almost 8 o'clock..Door is opening...

What the....!!! Is this the same house they described so gloriously

in the ad??? Excitement turned to oh that sinking feeling...

faded chintz was brown polyester...blue and white transferware last years Target,

old tarnised silverware nowhere in sight....delicate laces,silk crepe nightgowns,

old jewelry bits and bobs...nothing...nada...zilch..

Empty handed and defeated I got in my car to drive to the nearest bathroom...

( I needed that for two hours now )

Stopping at the nearest It's a Grind for my first cup of coffee(ahh..)

Back to the classifieds to plan out tommorrows ...100 years of stuff..

GROWING PAINS!!!!!

where the heck did all those photos come from and how the heck do I get rid of them...Yikes!

the west coast is awake...

Well...it's going to take a little discipline to wake up, drink a quick cup of coffee and start writing!!

This is after years of leisurely sipping my cappuccino, looking out the window at the bird feeder,stroking the cats and taking my time getting it together(or not!)...

I have always said I wanted to be a writer, and this is what writers do(well at least

that is what they do in books and in the movies...so bear with me as I stumble

and fumble along...My actual work is on my own time..when I am at home,I can take my time.

When I go to England to shop, the antique fairs are always a long drive away... usually it is raining or worse...You are jarred awake by a horrid sounding hotel alarm clock, you fall out of bed,tired from tossing and turning all night(in fear that the alarm won't go off) fall out of bed , pull on the same dirty jeans you wore for the last week, all for the chance at the prize...a thrill like no other, running through wet damp fields to get to the gate and when they open up,charging in like a herd of crazed animals , all for the promising possibility to get at that box first, to see that faded Liberty print curtain panel just as it is pulled out of the back of the dealers truck...or not...

Stumbling along, alone...

Stumbling Along,Alone...

Well I finally found my way back here!! I couldn' find my own blog.. What a start! ..This is a journey of a

beginning computer owner (this is where the late bloomer aspect comes in) trying

to catch up with what everyone was doing 15 years ago...We resisted for a long

time( our insecurities I guess) but when you want to move along in this world

you must change with it and sometimes the old fashion ways no longer work...

So watch as I move forward..My goal is an up and running blog that features my

work as a jeweler ,buying trips, pretty pictures and the ups and downs of a woman

way past the edge of seventeen,as she navigates her way,living her life and trying to grow and

posper(and learning to spell)...With loving thanks to Tongue in Cheek...

entering uncharted territory can always be a daunting task...

I wonder to myself can I do it, could I and if I can what is it

that I want to say...Perhaps when its written down it becomes

more real and gives one a better opportunity to ponder what

is going on in ones head...the journey begins