there's no place like home ~ part one

following wildflower hotline tips we've traveled many miles by car and by foot in search of this seasons bloom. so it was truly a great surprise to us when we found an amazing show right here in our own backyard. sunday morning Chuck had planned a trail run and i was going to hike one of our favorite front country trails, Romero Canyon (clicking this link will take you on a trail run we did up romero). Chuck went first (he's up before the sun) getting back just in time to tell me to bring my cameras, was i in for a surprise!
here is just a little of what i found:

we couldn't even identify everything i photographed, there were so many we'd not seen before. chuck had to work the lifeguard tower so his turn would have to wait, but not long. he was back up the canyon this morning. i have one more post of a local spot we found (owen got to come along on this one!), and tomorrow we are off to Carrizo Plain (clicking the link will take you to a previous post i wrote on the carrizo) for two days of camping and more flowers. i am hoping this is not entirely too much wildflower posting and still interesting. i wish i could take you all with me, it is a beautiful thing to see.

♥ lori

grass mountain

bright and early friday morning my husband said to me, "get out of work, let's go look for wildflowers". so i did :) we headed towards figueroa mountain...

~ for lindsey ~

we hiked up grass hill, which even though it was a six mile round trip, i'm sure it was five miles up and only one down, it was steep! i have to remind myself that even though beauty is all around us, sometimes you have to work really hard for it.

while many other wildflower searchers drove up the more common figueroa mountain road, we hiked up the hill to the left, grass mountain . we saw, fairy forests and bubbling creeks, velvet green meadows dotted with ancient oaks. and we saw flowers. gorgeous wildflowers with names like owls clover and shooting stars, chocolate lilies and indian paintbrush, shiny yellow buttercups, fiddleneck and fillaree and the truly gorgeous combination of purple sky lupine and the california poppy.

when we stopped i took some photos and then just sat on this steep windy hillside, in a field of waving poppies, while the scent of purple lupines wafted all around me, carried on the sunny breeze. and it was so quiet. and i was so happy.

i hope you've enjoyed.

♥ lori

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a special note: happy 19th birthday monday lindsey! the last photo of the blooming pear blossom tree is for you. i hope you have a wonderful day in provo, i'll be thinking of you, with love,

lori

more

it rained here last night, mother nature is doing her own spring cleaning! thank you for all the kind comments on my last post, i loved hearing all your ways of handling (or not) the accumulations in your lives.

i should have made that last post part one, because i've got more to share!

the very first picture is part of my international garden. australia and south africa seem to like coastal california, don't those plants look happy? and the oranges and geraniums are too, everything is so colorful already.

and the rest of the photos are part of my collection of sand from beaches around the world. i guess you can see i have a thing about labeling also, (thank you for the circle label love). i'm behind on labeling the sand bottles, but the idea was to use a bit of shell and rock or sometimes even feathers from a place and add them to the label. i love the vintage bottles and i just realized i collect those too. oh dear.

the sea glass has been collected for many years. mostly on the beach in mexico. when i look at it i think of the hours and hours i spent in quiet solitude. looking for mermaids tears (beach glass) really have been some the best times in my life.

thank you for enjoying these things that bring so much joy to me!

♥ lori

like a magpie

lately it seems like spring fever has taken over every part of my life, most noticeably, spring cleaning. in trying to simplify my life and our home i've tried to give away the things not needed. these photos show just a few of the collections i have in my home. i've noticed i might have a problem. i can't seem to stop bringing things home. and what's worse is i can't seem to let anything go. i have collections of photos, everybit of art work my children have ever done, letters, books (everyone on africa ever written i think), sewing and knitting supplies, seaglass, things in this certain color blue, seashells, feathers, rocks, travel journals, giraffes, buttons, i have a collection of paint brushes and aprons, i even collect cookbooks when i don't really have that much time to cook. i'm pretty sure i've left something (or two) off this list. oh dear.

spring cleaning has turned into more of spring sighing than organising. this stuff, these treasures (to me) are not going anywhere anytime soon. is it a curse to like so many things? i am definitely two people in one body, since i love zen spaces, peaceful and uncluttered, yet i love all these things around me too. are you a magpie too? and if you are, i'd love to know what you collect and how you handle so many things?

♥ lori

p.s. i hope you are all well, i'll be by for a visit soon!