A Pinnacles weekend.

Another wonderful weekend in the woods. I went to Pinnacles National Monument with some friends to get out of the city and spend the weekend out in nature. It is amazing to sleep under the stars, get away and clear out my mind while visiting some animals and doing some hiking.  We hiked about 8.5 miles straight up the mountain in the 90 degree heat. It was damned hot...We climbed through dark caves and over ridges. 

It was pretty good until my knees gave out and I tripped and got myself bloody. Yay, 39th birthday....Oh well. It was a good time. I'm ready to get back to work tomorrow and working on the sketches on the mini book. I'm happy to be back in my comfortable bed and get a little shut eye. Here are a few pics from my trip...

The bunny from the campground.

Stairs coming up from the caves.

A tree that grows anywhere.

No swimming alllowed!!!

Bluejay

Entrance to the caves.

Weird fluffy vines.
I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend too.

places to place my plants...

One of my favorite places to visit in my hood is the lovely and bizarre Paxton Gate. It is filled with taxidermy, animal sculls, strange and wonderful artwork and many, many plants. I started my little collection of Succulant plants there and every time I go I want to pick up a few more. I suppose there could be worse addictions...

One of the things I wish I had space for was a Wardian Case (a fancy version of the terranium). (Paxton Gate has some lovely ones BTW.) They are so lovely and Victorian. Just a bit of glass and decorative metal and you have an amazing little house for all of your little plants.

This is Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward he was the inventor of the Wardian Case. More info about him here. He seemed like a very "interesting" guy. Perhaps not the most fun person at a party...

Here are a few lovely Wardian Cases that I found in my search.

 A classic drawing from Victoriana.com

Steampunk version via popgive.

Modern Wardian Case via Eastlake Victorian

Over the top version via wavehill.org  
Check out the faces on the legs of this thing..."They're all gonna laugh at you."
Love the creepiness.

Another super crazy one via here. Could you imagine what the
house looks like to which this belongs?

If you can wait till you can find room for a giant Wardian Case, may I suggest a little DIY, this pretty and simple terrarium via sewtrashy.com

 Just a little pretty way to start my day. Hope you like them...and maybe you'll be inspired to get your hands a little dirty.

Here is a lesson on terrarium making from Apartment Therapy.

Feeling Green

I've been spending a good amount of time in the woods lately and have been really getting into the color green. I need to put more of it in my life.  I've gotta surround myself with GREEN... Here are a few greens that have inspired me this week.

 Green vines that hide

Amazing green vintage dress via chictopia

Always a favorite green, that Atonement dress.

If I could, I'd have this color kitchen....via 

I love these vintage green bottles. Find them here.

The ultimate green couch via EmilyStyle

A lovely photo via leaves of a feather blog

wouldn't you love to hang out here?

A salute to all that are lucky enough to live in the green...more cute owls here.

another wonderful weekend in the woods

I grew up on the East Coast where being in nature was very different than it is in California. My family has a little cottage on a pond in Massachusetts and we were able to go swimming whenever we wanted. I really miss that freedom.

This weekend I went camping at Henry Coe State Park with a few friends and I finally felt a bit of that freedom. We camped deep in the park and hiked down to a spot called china hole which was like a mini oasis after walking in the 100 degree heat. Such a beautiful place that I'd love to go again.

Here are a few of the moments:

the picnic table by our tent. Isn't this the best place for writing?

China Hole...so clean and clear

so pretty

a place to cool off.

 jumping in.

more pretty...with butterflies

 walk back to camp in all that heat and sun

Now it is time for me to get back to work after a few days of sunshine. I'll be posting what I have been working on in a few days.

A Dead Tree Painting




I found this beautiful dead tree on a road trip. There was just something about it that made me stop. It's branches curled and creaked and grew up from the ground. This tree would of scared be as a child. I love the haunting element of something that used to have so much life now it just stands so strong in it's death.