Believe in Yourself

This blue mantra painting was created for my friend, Laura, as a birthday gift.  She has gone back to school and was feeling a little apprehensive about quitting her job.

She is studying Chemistry so I wanted to include some things related to that and also to remind Laura that she really is amazing, marvelous, smart and funny. Especially funny. I love spending time with her because we usually find something to laugh about.

I’m also continuing to love crafting these pieces. There are layers that don’t show in the finished painting but are still part of the process and the piece. I really enjoy getting my fingers into the paint and gel medium, smoothing pieces of paper, layering them over each other; scraps from a textbook pages, bits torn from inside of an envelope, and seeing what they will become.  It’s messy and I have to stop every so often to rub the dried goo off my fingers, but I love every minute of it.

Believe in yourself. It’s a good mantra for me as I continue to play, explore and learn this combination of collage and painting. It’s a good mantra for Laura too.

Thank you for your visit.

 

 

Our Little Vacation, Part 2

We drove in and out of fog going up the coast from Cambria. By the time we got to Nepenthe in Big Sur, it was warm and sunny. We ate on the deck at Cafe Kevah. What a beautiful place! I have nice memories from a stop made years ago on a road trip with my friend Lisa.

If you don’t want to stop for a meal or a snack, the Phoenix Shop is a nice place to stretch your legs on a road trip. Even the restrooms are beautiful – I snapped this picture in the ladies room!

Next stop, Monterey. We’ve visited here on a previous trip and this time just took a stroll on Old Fisherman’s Wharf.

Nearby Marina and the English Ales Brewery was where we had dinner that night.

The next morning at The Breakfast Club in Seaside, I was delighted with the beautiful fruit salad I got with my poached egg and chicken sausage. Rem had chicken fried steak with scrambled eggs and an English muffin.

We meandered up Highway 1, stopping at several produce stands, included this one where Stella and her sisters posed for another picture.

Another stop offered “U-Pick” strawberries (we didn’t) and jam tasting (we did).  Inside was self-serve with an honor system to pay for berries, jam, baked treats and soup. After tasting a few jams, we had our own picnic snack outside.

Lunch at the Highway 1 Brewing Company was forgettable except for one beer that Rem thought was great, the McKees Chocolate Milk Stout. Their address has them in Pescadero but they’re before the turnoff of Hwy. 1 to the little town. We enjoyed strolling through a few cute shops and I bought some paper ephemera.

Pescadero is a nice destination for a day trip from the Bay Area. We’ve visited other times and enjoyed the artichoke bread for sale in one of the little gourmet grocery shops. Something new for us was Harley Farms Goat Dairy, a short drive from the tiny downtown. We tasted cheese, saw sweet little kids (of the caprine variety), a pretty flower garden and an upstairs dining room in the renovated barn where they hold farm dinners and other special events.

Our last stop for the day was Barbara’s Fish Trap in Half Moon Bay where we shared this gorgeous platter of goodies: calamari, cod, prawns, scallops and zucchini.

We had plenty of time on our final day to stop and have a Stella reunion.

Then home relaxed and rested after a nice getaway.

Thanks for stopping by. And remember: spread love, spread joy, spread peace, and spread jam.

 

Central Coast Vacation

Here are pictures from our recent road trip. As it included Rem’s birthday, we visited a few breweries so he could sample some beer. We drove south on Highway 101 and our first stop was at El Toro Brewing Company.  Rem tried their Ghost Chili Golden Ale, a hot, spicy beer after enjoying one on our last birthday beer road trip.

They claim it is the hottest beer in the world. Rem said it was “insane” but I think he was glad to have tried it.

Speaking of insane, with Rem at Big 5 picking up new sneakers since he left his at home, I wandered through the BIGGEST craft store I’ve ever seen: Hobby Lobby.  There were aisles and aisles of different kinds of letters: metal, cardboard, acrylic, paper, etc.

 

A huge selection of cabinet knobs.

This cool dresser:

And this cute pillow and poster, not to mention a LOT more stuff. It was staggering to just try and get an idea of all the crafting supplies they carried.

I’ve since learned that I don’t see eye-to-eye with this company and some of their practices, so it’s just as well there’s not a store near home.

Next stop: Monterey Coast Brewing in Salinas. This is where Rem met up with a cute blonde at the bar.

Well, to be honest, we brought her with us. This is Stella, my sister Kathleen’s long-haired dachshund. We couldn’t really bring her, so we did the next best thing and brought some cut-out photos of her, and had a great time finding new places for her to visit.

At Paso Robles, which was a toasty 103 degrees, we headed to the cool, foggy coast and our destination for the next three nights: Cambria and the lovely Olallieberry Inn, recommended by friends. The inn had a birthday special for a three-night stay: Stay over your birthday and pay the regular rate for the first two nights, and the rate for the third night is the year you were born, which in Rem’s case meant we paid $19.67.

We arrived just in time for the late afternoon wine and snacks on the deck.  An abundance of flowers in the back garden added to the charm of the inn.

After dinner out, we fell asleep in our “Room at the Top,” with a chorus of frogs outside for a lullaby.

Rem’s birthday started with decadent French Toast Brûlée, olallieberry yogurt, homemade granola and bran muffins. I left the French toast for him to enjoy and was very happy with the rest of it. It’s a good thing, because on our drive into the hills above Cambria, we stopped at Linn’s Fruit Bin and shared a mini-ollalieberry pie. We didn’t see any olallieberries and the blackberries weren’t ripe but it was still a pretty place to visit.

Stella enjoyed the scenery.

We hung out in Harmony.

It’s a tiny town, really just a few shops, a glass blowing studio and shop, and a small chapel.

Back to the Inn for our evening snacks than a change of clothes before going out to dinner.  Robin’s Restaurant had been recommended by the same friends that suggested the inn, and we had a special meal, befitting the occasion. Rem chose a curried lamb dish and I had short ribs. Even though it was his birthday, he let me choose dessert and it was not difficult to decide on the Sweet Trio: strawberry sorbet, dark, dense chocolate mousse and excellent creme brûlée. We were both surprised when they brought a chocolate sundae for Rem gratis. A sweet finish for a nice birthday.

The next day we drove back to Paso Robles for lunch at Firestone Walker Brewing Company in their Taproom Restaurant. It is a huge complex, much bigger than other breweries we’ve visited and they’re expanding.

We did a little meandering on our way back to Cambria, stopping at a few wineries, but it was pretty hot and I was looking forward to the foggy coast.

This is the ceiling in a winery that looks like a castle; Tooth & Nail.  I was able to get a few of their wine bottle labels to use in collage projects.

Back in Cambria, a full 44 degrees cooler than Paso Robles, we went to Moonstone Beach, pictured here at the top of the post. This photo is looking south and the other one is looking north.

After some geocaching and window shopping in town, we had our last evening wine (Rem) and snacks (me) at the Ollalieberry Inn before a low-key dinner out.  Each evening and over breakfast we enjoyed conversation with the owners, staff, and other guests at the inn. I was also delighted to be able to spend some time crafting in the dining room and finished a collage-painting.

The last morning at Cambria had arrived but we still had a few more days of vacation, which I will share in a future post.

Thanks for sharing our trip and thanks for your visit.