I see signs of spring...

Our new neighbors in the rain gutter inspired some spun cotton birds. I will make a few more

over the days. Think I will hang them in the kitchen window.

  

Todays outing:  Elizabeth Gamble garden . I have never been there before. 

My friend took me there, what a great place. 

There were small signs of spring everywhere. 

These blossoms made me happy.

Maybe it is still winter, but blooming trees makes me

feel that we move towards warmer times.

Birds nest in the rain gutter, rain on it's way..

Not sure how this will end.. 

Mama bird is blocking the outlet of the gutter, by Wednesday she will be swimming poor thing.

We have a few days of rain ahead of us.

Last year the Doves built their nest in the same exact spot. A nasty Bluebird came along, feathers

flew.. The doves never came back.

The nest was removed to make sure it did not happen again but I guess the Doves really like

this spot. Yesterday we noticed they are back again.

Who needs a gutter? I guess we do not. Jut don't think mama bird would like go get her

nest wet.

Trip to Costanoa

Back to normal! My guys had ski break/ winter vacation this last week.  

Since this winter has been exceptionally dry and at times very mild 

there is no snow to speak off. So instead of going to the mountains like we usually do for 'skiweek' we decided to do a last minute trip down the coast. 

Packed the car full of games, books and knitting. Loaded the bikes on 

the bike rack. And off we went to Costanoa.

We stayed in a cabin and loved it.

The view from our balcony the first morning.

We woke up to beautiful weather and set out on 

a looooong bike ride. It was not supposed to be 

that long but the lady in the lobby must have misunderstood us

when we asked for her to recommend a not so hilly and an easy

trail for kids! Hm, it was uphill on steep uneven terrain just

about half of the way 1 1/2 miles. Had to push our

bikes until we were halfway then... all down hill.

 An awesome down hill!!

We made it back, it was quite an adventure! 

Later in the evening after roasting marshmallows at one of the outdoors fireplaces

we popped down to the beach to the tide pools. The sunset was amazing.

Next two days were windy!!

The little guys wants to come back and try the tent cabins, but that would have

to be in the summer time. They have no heaters and it was cold!

Heading home, view through the sunroof.

It was about 10 degrees warmer inland and no wind! As soon as we had unloaded the car we took our pooch for a walk to buy ice cream. 

We were happy to have been on our adventure and

also happy to be back home in San Carlos.

Traveling

Ready for departure

This fun little group traveled down to Shelby's Garden to find new homes

Little Blue Bird

Peter 

Jump Rope Girl

Pink Bunny Girl

Spring Bunny

And to look after them all - Mama Bunny

I knit you my heart..

Buttons were on my list of things to buy at JoAnn's today, not yarn. But, one can simply

not just hit that shop without exiting with something completely different than what you came

in for. For some reason that shop has that effect on me.

So I wandered around and all of a sudden found my self carrying two skeins of Alpine Wool from Lion Brand Yarn to the register... or something like that.

I usually do not buy yarn there but this was supposed to be good for felting so I got the great Idea that I would knit and felt an octopus for the kids. By the time I was home the octopus idea had changed a few times and ended on a heart with arms, legs and eyes. 

Off to Friday Morning Crafting group I went and came home with the beginning of a heart. As the kids played in the afternoon the legs and arms came to life. Voila I had a little friend.

Felted it a little bit but I had a hard time getting it to felt. Hm.. not sure if it is the yarn or if I just did not work on it long engough. Decided that it did not need to be felted at all and threw it on the heater to dry.

It is now adopted by a little girl in my house.

fun little monster knit

My 11 year old little guy never asks for me to knit anything for him

but when he saw this little monster chunk from Rebecca Danger 

he had to have one right away!

I had some left over yarn, felt and glass eyes so I got started right away. 

Pattern was easy to follow. My little guy loved his new friend!

Now I have several orders from my little girl and oh, the little guy wants

some more...

Spun Cotton Valentines Bunny

 sweet little bunny valentine

standing 6" tall on a red glitter heart

crepe paper dress

silk ribbon belt

xox

glitter and hearts

A whole lot of glitter and hearts at the moment. February is fun, lots of love and sparkle. Until..  a whole container of glitter ended up 

on the floor... not fun anymore. What a waste of glitter!

My favorite coffee mug, thank you Charlotte! You know me pretty well :)

Love it!

Valentine knit

Tonights project : a small valentine bunny made from scrap yarn and a couple of buttons that were floating around in one of my kitchen drawers. I need to find a better place for random buttons.

Bunny was inspired by Rebecca Danger 's bunny nuggets.

A day of exploring outdoor art installations in Palo Alto

On our way home from Palo Alto, my little guy Oliver and I were driving past Palo Alto Art Center. We stopped to see the installation of Lawn Bowls - Lawn bowling balls made from 10 000 recycled plastic bags. Assembled by close to 100 people. The balls were scattered on the lawn in front of Palo Alto Lawn Bowls Club.  We took the time to walk through the exhibit. What a great way to 

make something not interesting turn into something very interesting.

We got back in the car and drove two more blocks only to see an amazing structure in the park outside Palo Alto Art Club! Again we stopped the car and walked over to investigate.

The installation looked like a dream like village or  from Dr Seuss and Moomin

Turns our it was one of  Patrick Dougherty's incredible sculptures. Made from tons of Willow vines.

Oliver investigates

Willow branches weaves in an out of the walls in a beautiful flow. You can walk inside the entire structure. You can touch the walls. Look up at the flow of branches above your head.

I felt as if I was inside a tree, a very special tree.

An amazing piece of art, I really like that it is set up to be walked through, touched  and enjoyed by everyone. One day it will deteriorate, then it will be made into wood chips and spread out in the parks.

What a nice use of our nature.

This picture reminds me of a crazy birdhouse village

 Peeking through a window

As a stark contrast to the flowing lines of Drocherty's sculpture you will find Jerome Kirk's "Homage to Silence"

Oliver spent 30 minutes trying to climb to the top. He absolutely loved the sculpture. The circles swivel and move so he finally

had to give up and decided instead to create his own art 

We will be back to explore some more. I asked my little guy if it made sense to make bowling balls out of plastic bags and placing them on the law and there was no doubt in his mind that it made totally sense.

Love how kids accept and understands things that adults sometimes questions. Love their way of thinking.

lovely day in San Francisco

Lovely are friends that treasure the little details in our world, the wonderful 

little things that makes you feel so blessed to be alive.

A  window display, a beautifully tiled floor

a paper dress on a mannequin,

a cup of coffee made

with care.

 I had an amazing day in my favorite city with great friends, what a treat.

First stop Ritual Coffee on Hayes st. The coffee shop is in a container that will be there for a few years until the city decides what will be built in the spot.

A beautiful red meat truck stands parked next to the coffee shop. It was closed, oh well we did not have a cooler anyway. Maybe next time on the way out of town we will stop by to shop for dinner.

Loved the lights that were strung across the yard!

Sidewalk garden/patio placed through out the city create outdoor seating and it is only taking up two/three parking spots. What a fine idea!

Made our way down to Union St. We had breakfast at Roses Cafe, my favorite for years! 

My breakfast pizza was smiling to me

Fillmore st. 

Had to try a salad at Roostertail on Sutter St, before running down to Japan Town 

and back up to the car.

Hm, the car had a parking ticket but we agreed we had such a wonderful day so

we managed to not let that pop our bubble :)

Happy, lucky and grateful!