HAPPY 2014

 

Happy New Year one and all !

May 2014 be blessed with World Peace and Brotherly Love.

May you all enjoy good health, much happiness and may you savor prosperity.

Joyful Wishes from Anna Maria - A Beader's Blog



Santa Barbara Mission...Santa Barbara, California

Photo above...Scenic mountains of Santa Barbara, California. Just above the Santa Barbara Mission.

The one draw back with traveling is that it can be difficult to find Internet connections, especially while one is confined inside a moving vehicle. My little cannon camera has clicked away at a number of photographic sites but they remain on its memory card until I have sufficient time to label and post them. Guess what this all boils down to is that I am now in Bend, Oregon and still have pictures from California yet to blog about. Always a day late and a dollar short!

Photo below...Many of the homes in Southern California feature Spanish architecture. Here, in the area near the Mission, stands a cloister of mission style homes which seem to adapt well to the California landscape.

Photo below...The front of the historic Santa Barbara Mission with its interesting architectural details.

Photo below show close up of the detailing on mission pediment and the cross. The mission entrance is flanked by twin bell towers.

Photo below...another perspective of the front of the mission, this time sans tourist. Unfortunately we were not able to view the interior of the mission church as there was a wedding in process...lucky couple to have such a gorgeous place to have their wedding.

Photo below...Mission plaque stating some of the chronological history of the mission.

Photo below...Panoramic view of mission or as panoramic as my tiny camera can get.

Photo below...Santa Barbara hillside dotted with mission style homes and gardens, and an amazingly clear blue sky.

Photo below...One of the bed of roses in the mission park rose garden.

Photo below...Me and my hubby in front of the roses. Was surprised that I didn't break the camera, LOL.

Photos below...more of the rugged but beautiful California mountains.

I will have to post more later, but at this time we are about to leave to go to the cemetery and take care of John's mother's remains. Bye for now.

California Mission...San BuenaVentura

MISSION SAN BUENAVENTURA

Below are photos taken while vacationing in California. These are of the Historic Mission in Ventura, California.

Photo above...the front of the Mission San Buenaventura. The street in front of the mission was closed off to traffic a few years ago and fountains, benches and even a park have been added. When I lived and worked in this pretty city (back about 45 years ago) this street was just an ordinary street and open to traffic...the park was a block of businesses such as a Pep Boys Auto parts store and varied shops. Things sure change, this time it is for the better!

Photo above...An historic store stands on the corner of this street. I can remember shopping here back in the early 60's...it was an old building even back then.

Photos above...View of one of the street fountains and mural on wall depicting Ventura's historic past.

Photo above...full view of fountain, notice that flags are at half mast as this was taken 9/11. The Pacific Ocean is only a couple of blocks away.

Photo above...The small park that now adorns the area across the street from the Mission San BuenaVentura.

Photo above...Mission Bell Tower with the foothills of Ventura in background.

Sarasota-BradentonAirport...Leaving On A Jet Plane

Above and Below photos...Water feature at our local Sarasota/Bradenton airport, from 2nd floor.

Photo below...water feature with manatee sculpture from different perspective.

Photo below...Tumbling waterfall and fountain jets make for interesting photo.
 

Two photos below...Close up of bronze sculpture of Manatee (aka sea cow) at top of waterfall water feature.

 

Photo below...And then there's the area's art scene. Airport poster hyping the upcoming Ringling Art Festival.

John Ringling is known for his Ringling Bros. Circus, and also his contribution to the art culture in the Sarasota and Manatee counties, with the Ringling School of Arts, the Ringling Museum of Art, and the Ringling Circus Museum.
 

Photos taken Thursday, Sept. 10th, 2009...We were awaiting our plane at our local Sarasota-Bradenton airport when a couple of items caught my eye, the lovely water feature with its bronze sculpture of a Manatee and the poster advertising the up coming Arts Festival.

Last Minute Preparations...

Today will probably be the last day that I'll post on my blog before going on my trip. Tomorrow will be spent packing, doing those last minute shopping trips, a quick tidying up of the house with a promise to give it a good cleaning when I return (yeah, right ! LOL). This evening I'll put my Etsy shop and Artfire shop on vacation mode. Though with all the traffic my shops receive I wonder if it's really necessary, but guess better safe than sorry, would hate to have someone place an order and end up having to wait 2 weeks before hearing back from me. No, that would be a very bad thing ! Martha Stewart would surely give me demerits for that and, heaven knows, I've chalked up far too many Martha demerits already for my cluttered workroom and untidy home...let's not even talk about the weeds in the flowerbeds.

I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to take photos and post them as I proceed on my excursion. I am thinking that when I return I would love to have a blog giveaway, have never attempted one so really am not sure what is involved or how to go about it. The item I am contemplating as a prize is a brooch (or broach, if you prefer). It is one that I made not too long ago and is handcrafted from fine 28 gauge, craftwire, tri-cut #9 Czech glass seed beads, Czech firepolished glass beads and a lovely 6mm Swarovski crystal bead. It took me 10 hours to fabricate. Please let me know if you think it is prize worthy.

A Journey Awaits

Above photo...This summer we haven't seen too many days like this one, had to take a photo of it. Some rainless days and sunshine will certainly help dry out our mud puddles.

Just 6 days left until we leave the state of Florida and fly out to the western shores of California. In my mind southern California will always be my home and in particular the area around Ventura County. This area is blessed with Pacific beaches and views of mountain ranges. However it is 20 miles inland from the coastal city of Ventura that my heart truly rests. A picturesque mountain valley town called Ojai (pronounced; Oh Hi ), a name taken from a once indigenous Indian tribe meaning "Birds Nest" because of the way the area is nested and sheltered within rolling hills and low mountain ranges.
There is something spiritual about the Ojai Valley, so much so that it became the home of a religious cult called the "Moonies", or Harri Krishna. Ojai has also been likened to Santa Fe, New Mexico for its spiritual and magnetic energies. Perhaps this is why I am always drawn to this past childhood haunt of mine and no matter how long I am away, my return makes me feel like I am once again back home.

A change of scenery should be most welcome, but this trip is not one I'm relishing to take. This trip, unfortunately, is not solely for pleasure. Yes there will be those visits with family that I'm looking forward to, such as the time we'll be spending in Ojai, with my sister Camille. Camille owns a 9 acre organic farm and though this is extremely interesting I will not dwell on that.

Next we will head north to the San Francisco area and have a short stay with my baby sister, Norma. From north California we'll drive up through beautiful mountainous terrain into Oregon and witness marvelous forest of firs, massive sequoias and ponderosa pines. Some of you may recall the old TV show "Bonanza", the Cartwright clan lived on the Ponderosa Ranch...named for these magnificant pines that grow in the southwestern states. As we approach the high dessert area of interior Oregon, the ponderosa pine forest gives way to drier vistas and juniper trees.

It is here, in Bend, that our true mission awaits. There, in a small cemetery, rests a pewter colored urn, a burial urn which contains the remains of dear sweet Vada, my husband's mother. John and I always felt badly that Vada was alone and so far away, our visits to her resting place were few and there was no one else who came to pay their respect or to bring her flowers. So about 4 years ago we made the decision that we would relocate her ashes to Kansas and lay her to rest alongside her dearly beloved first husband. Yes 4 years ago, it was a vow we made and intended to keep and are at last following through on our promise.

One might wonder why she is being placed by her first and not her second mate ? Believe me there is a deep and very sordid tale as to why we would choose to do this. Perhaps if I get enough bravado, or have a glass or two (or three) of wine, I'll write about it in my blog...someday...but not now. Back when I wrote about "Lost Causes" there were comments about how forgiving I was and what a good person I am, how nice it was of me to not be bitter and to put the past behind me. It is said that time heals all wounds, but this is one episode in my life that I doubt there will ever be enough time to heal and my bitterness runs far too deep. The hurt is like an ugly scar that will never go away and the pain too intense for me to ever forget, let alone forgive. Even now as I write this the memories flood my thoughts, there's a tightening through my chest and my eyes well up with tears. No, definitely not today !

More, hopefully, to follow...

Rainy, Wet, Soggy, Summer...

Photo above...The ditches are full and the rain keeps falling. Noticed that I managed to capture a couple of falling raindrops, sort of neat...like fairy orbs, or soap bubbles.
 This has not been a normal summer for us in South Florida and, in all truthfulness, it has been so long since I can recall a "normal" summer that I’ve quite forgotten what one is. Back in the early eighties normal was sunshine everyday with a guaranteed daily down pour which usually broke some time between noon and three in the afternoon...you know, that time of day when you're trying to leave the office for a quick bite of lunch or to run a lunch break errand?

For several years we’ve experience drought conditions and well below average rainfall and it seems that this summer has made a valiant attempt to rectify this discrepancy. So many dark, cloudy wet days that I find myself checking my feet to make sure they're not morphing into ones that match Donald Duck's.

This past week we had a real cloud burst, what we used to call in southern California; "A gully washer". Accumulated close to 6 inches in an hour. Half-way through the deluge our local weather station issued flood warnings. Well I guess better late than never.

Photo below...Just another ditch filled with rain water. Too bad there wasn't a duck floating around in it, would have made a cute photo.

Photo below...Our neighbor's pond has reached maximum capacity and is now coming under the fence into our property. Hey, now we can say we have waterfront property, at least until it all dries out.

 

Photo below...Remember how our neighbor across the street from us worked to clear the brush from some of his property ? Looks like he's got a nice mud hole right now...or lake. Don't think he's going to be running that bulldozer today !

 Photo below...It's a bit hard to see, but the water is actually running off our neighbor's land, filling their ditch and flowing across the road into the ditch on our side of the street. Amazing how water seeks it's own level. 

 



photo below...another view of the rain water run off. Notice the small rapids in the middle of the street ? They show up in the bottom right corner of photo below.

Photo below...What ? They've said that flooding could occur ?

 Photo below...Hmmm, don't think we'll have to water for a couple of days.

 Photo below...taken just outside our garage back door.

 

 

 

As I took these photos it was so dark outside that my camera insisted upon using its flash. Not sure that tiny flash helped to lighten the whole outdoors, but if it made my camera happy then why not?

Opening Up Our Perspectives ????

above photo...our neighbor's property looked dense and lush with native vegetation. But this is soon about to change.

At the time we moved into our finally finished, but not totally completed home, the real estate bubble had burst and almost every neighborhood had its share of lingering for sale signs. It would take a truly die hard optimist to believe there was going to be an immediate return to those halcyon days of overly inflate property values.

The people who own the lot directly across the street from us had pinned their hopes upon that old escalating market and had made plans to subdivide their parcel of land into 8 individual home sites. I'm sure they were rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation of all the money they would be making. Forever pragmatic, they ignored the grim real estate indicators around them and continued to work on their future subdivision. Time passed, first one year then another but the market showed little signs of rebound. Undaunted our neighbor would sporadically crank up his old bulldozer and clear a few patches of brush and saplings, or give his backhoe a work out filling in low lying areas.

photos above and below...Clearing begins

Just last week he spent several days clearing out a thick swatch of vegetation at the far back of his property, the end that abuts our neighbor, Linda's property. Linda, being the good-natured person that she is, cheerfully asked him if he was getting ready to start selling his parcels, to which she got the news that his 8 lot development was no longer going to happen. Perhaps the bank's construction loan expired or perhaps their expectations met the stone hard wall of reality...the real estate market was not the market it had been and it would be a long time before any of us would see the buying frenzy of those super charged days.

 

above photo...Was that always there ?

 

No, he had given up on his get rich quick scheme and was...darn, I have no idea what he was doing. Rearranging the dirt piles ? Just keeping the old bulldozer lubricated ? Wanted a better view of Linda's farm ? Whatever his intent he did manage to clear out a lot of growth and opened up our view to his amazing technicolored rusted shed and his small fleet of well used, earth moving equipment.

 

photo above...Yep. Cleared out and opened up the view. Wonder how long it will take for it to all grow back ?

 

above photo...If you squint real hard could you call it rustic ? Nope, just plain rusty !

 

photo above...maybe a closer look ? No,no, it definitely looks better the farther away you get ! The palms are nice though.

above photo...Well it certainly "opens up" our view.
 

Oh what the heck ! This is Florida and everything grows like weeds here. In a month or two the wax myrtle bushes, shrubs, vines and saplings will have grown up to hide everything and we won't even know it's there.

Lost Causes...conclusion

above photo...we begin work on one of many planters or flowerbeds. Have the stepping stones down and some of the larger shrubs planted. Each pink flag marks where we have yet to place a small plant. So many holes to dig...oh my aching back !

LOST CAUSES...conclusion

In conclusion, Brad was left without a business partner, though in reality BP had not been that beneficial to him. Most of his construction workers and subcontractors had left him, as they were all owed money; and he still had about 2 or 3 homes that were close to completion, but not close enough to be given that coveted CO ... certificate of occupancy.
Ultimately this led to his working every spare moment in a valiant but vane attempt to accomplish everything that needed to be done, doing whatever was necessary to get a home completed, approved and the CO issued. What's the big deal about a CO ? Well without it one can not close on a house but it is also to protect the homeowner. The house is inspected and the inspector makes sure that everything is in order, like there is a roof overhead, running water and that the bathrooms are all functioning... an out house in the back yard isn't good enough. Only with the CO can the homeowner go through closing and receive ownership of the house(though truthfully it’s the mortgage they receive). It is only with this certificate of occupancy that Brad could feel the house was legally finished. Sadly, landscaping is not required to receive that all important certificate !

A short amount of time, less than a year, and Brad’s business had bombed. Within 6 months he appeared to have aged 20 years. Tired, thin, worn to a nub, haggard and barely clinging on by his fingernails, it was hard not to feel some sympathy for the fellow.
The 1st Christmas in our new home I decided to send Brad a card. Knowing the ordeal he had been through, I didn’t have it in my heart to reprimand him, to be facetious or unkind. The card simply wished him a happy holiday, with our sincerest wishes that the new year would be a good and prosperous one for him.

above photo...Hours of labor and the last plant is firmly in place. Mulch has been spread and a once ugly patch of dirt and weeds now looks tidy and pretty.

Photo below...Same planter, different view. The large Ligustrum japonicum bush can eventually grow to be 20 feet tall, it was another one of our fortuitous acquirements. The plant nursery had two of these large shrubs and they were in dire need of being repotted. They offered them to us for half their regularly marked price, which was $120. Basically we got 2 for the price of 1. I'm grateful for any and all little favors that come my way.

Occasionally my hubby, John, would swing by Brad’s house, stop and check to see if anyone’s home. More often than not, no one responds to his rap at the door, but there are those rare moments when Brad would venture to see who had come by. On those rare occasions the two would talk, but not about money. John never asks for our money, that matter is a lost cause, it’s gone and best forgotten. However he does inquire about how Brad is doing. For a time the news was bleak; Brad was fighting to keep his home, it was on the verge of foreclosure, he and his wife were separated, he owed everybody money and couldn’t pay anyone. Then, the last time John stopped by and chatted, Brad was looking more cheerful, he told John how he had finally completed the last house and officially his construction business was out-of-business. He was now back doing what he had always enjoyed, working as a carpenter for a construction company. No hassles with permits and inspections, no longer hampered with a crew of slackers. He gets his paycheck and somebody else contends with all the headaches.

Perhaps, in the future, his wife will return and his life will be back on track again. I doubt that he will ever decided to return to the hellfire of owning his own construction business...or at least I pray that he doesn’t !