Postcards from the Sunshine

I'd like to dream my troubles all away, on a bed of California stars. —Wilco

If you've been a visitor to this blog for a few years, you might have noticed that we often vacation in California, and most of the time in Los Angeles. The events of the past couple of years put a stop to those for a while, but I was very glad to be able to return a couple of weeks ago. 

After a few months of cold and grey skies, there is nothing like a bit of sunshine to perk you up:

We have our favourite spots in L.A., which include some of the more ubiquitous sights, like Santa Monica Pier:

But really, if you drive a few minutes up or down the coast, you'll find a beautiful. beach with far fewer people and much cheaper parking and with just as much sunshine:

We try to go to new places each time we visit, and this time we opted to drive a little further south to visit Pointe Vicente. It's always nice to see how the coastline changes. I enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves and the site of several groups of pelicans soaring past. I tried in vain to get photos of them, but big flying birds wait for no photographer, it seems. You'll just have to take my word for it:

Wherever I go, my eyes always seek out the plants, like this California poppy:

And I'm always mystified by the plants I've never seen before. I'll be obsessing about this one until I figure out what it is:

The hubby is used to standing around waiting while I crouch down and peer at plants. He waited patiently on a bench while I creeped around on the ground trying to take photos of this one. Apparently, this one is called Kangaroo Paw:

But really, I could fill a whole album with all the of the plant photos I took:

One thing I never noticed before this trip was how many murals there were painted on buildings in each community. I'm not sure if they were painted recently or not, but they were certainly an interesting sight. I admire anyone who can paint at such scale:

This one was on the wall in the parking lot of an art store we visited:

I had been on the look out for a particular type of pencil (who isn't) and I thought it would be fun to see if I could get it while in L.A. And I mean, I love visiting any kind of art store whenever I get the chance:

And, as usual, one pencil ended up being four pencils plus a pen. I mean, heck, I was on vacation after all:

And then the next question is: did Adriene visit a yarn store?

Is the Pope Catholic?

I found this lovely little yarn store close to where we were staying. It's called the Knitting Tree, and it was everything a yarn shop should be: friendly, colourful, and relaxing:

And I was very happy to bring home a couple of local goodies, which were dyed in-house by people in the shop. This one looks so exotic. It'll be fun to play with:

And I could not walk away from these pretties, which are a silk/merino blend interspersed with sequins! I nearly walked away with just two of them, but then when I reached the till, I ran back to take the last skein because I knew I'd forever be haunted by the one I left behind:

I am imagining those three skeins on my weaving loom someday. I started pulling skeins of yarn to go with them as soon as I got home, and I wasn't sure which ones I would use until I found these skeins all snuggled up together on my couch the next day. Sometimes, friends just find each other:

Anyway, I was very glad to get away for a little while as I was really ready for a bit of a break, even if it was just for a few days. Upon returning to Vancouver Island, the weather has turned and the sun is shining. It has motivated me to do lots of knitting and spinning, which I am eager to share with you. It's amazing what a change of scenery can do for you.

I'm off to walk the pup in the sunshine. Have a great week!