Laguna is in full summer bloom

All of our major travel is scheduled for this fall, but that doesn't mean that we aren't having fun this summer. So on the occasion of Major League Baseball's All-Star Break, I also pause to reflect on the start of summer here in SoCal.

Here we are with our hippie neighbors at the summer concerts in Bluebird Park.

Shawn Jones band: old guys but good musicians

Hannah visited for a few days, and she joined us at another concert: 

Jason Feddy playing 70s hits at Festival of Arts

We were "VIPs" with Ava at the band's table. 

Hannah and I cooked an Italian feast for the family. It was delicious, and plates looked great on new placemats she brought back from the south of France.

I directed Ava and Ben in a reading pf Bakersfield Mist at the local community center. After the performance, we went to dinner at Lumberyard with Jason, Susan, Jeff and Marrie.

Here, I took Gloria and her friend Cynthia from Morelia on the Laguna Trolley after a wine/food tasting at Gloria's new restaurant Amorelia, opening this summer.

GM Joaquin discussing wine with a new bartender.

Get ready for a new look inside and out.

Randy and Patrick came for a day visit to us in Idyllwild.
Another group of friends, another delicious Italian meal at Ferro.

And, another food pic from the day I made salmon poke bowls.

Linda and Yossi joined us for a Juneteenth gospel concert at Chapman...

And we enjoyed even more music at Fete de la Musique in downtown Laguna.

Summer school for me means more art classes and learning basic Italian for our fall trip to Italy and France. I'm also continuing daily walks and regular Pilates and lots of warm weather self-care. Plus, nurturing squirrels in the plum tree and monarch caterpillars in the milkweed.

Happy summer to everyone!

Idy in springtime

Spent an immensely satisfying week with John at the cabin. Happy to share some pix for our 3 or 4 friends who read this blog.

Pondering spring growth on our favorite trail (Ernie Maxwell)

Manzanita blooms in front of blue sky

Budding evergreen 

Silver lupines

Strawberry Creek

Sunny wildflowers

Memorial Day in Idy also means yard sales on every street -- literally hundreds of them. We found some real treasures to add to the cabin.

Lithograph by Maurice Jacques from the Barbizon School in France.

Can't see the new travel posters, but we created a wall featuring a variety of Western-themed art, including a pastel from Steffi (top right), travel posters, a Remington print and and two ink drawings of Idyllwild by Dave Schenbaum's mom. Dave gave them to John for his birthday last year.

A yard sale mirror, some green paint and a new rug transformed this old bathroom into a pretty place to pee. 

Plus we enjoyed afternoon tea and strawberry-rhubarb crisp at Shala Tea Company. Nice addition to downtown.

Not East, but fun anyway

So much of this blog is about our travels, but we also have fun at home, too! Since returning from New Mexico, we've been busy hosting dinners for friends and family, celebrating Dave Shenbaum's retirement, making art, and walking on the beach. On May 11, we celebrated Mother's Day at Alta Laguna Park with the Osmani family and some friends of theirs from Afghanistan.

John and Taha both look rather serious about making soap bubbles.

The boys are really growing up! Yusuf is 9, and Sina is 6.

Playground smiles.

Celebrating mothers and grandmothers with Sayed and Steffi.

Sina and Avina are the cutest!

Wait, who's that big kid?

Happy Mothers' Day with lots of mothers!

Seriously adorable.

The newest Osmanis: At two months old, Subhan and Iman.

May 20th: Dinner with Bill Koenig at Newport Harbor.

Good friends = good life.

R and R

Spent our last few days of vacation enjoying each other’s company in our beautiful rental and at Ojo Caliente mineral springs. We will miss it here, but oh, the memories we made all together! I will savor them forever. 

Beautiful and inspiring homes

On a trip with so many highlights, it’s hard to designate Georgia OKeefe’s Abiquiu home and studio a highlight, but the tour we took with docent and artist Frank Shelton was super informational and inspiring. He explained how O’Keefe came to build her home here after her husband Alfred Stieglitz died. With the help of a friend, she spent three years renovating a ramshackle adobe on top of a mesa overlooking the Rio Chama valley. She lived there from 1949 until she moved briefly to Santa Fe at the end of her life.

The view from her property.

An interior courtyard. No color enhancement necessary.

The living room, where the artist and her two Chows listened to music every evening. 

The door that inspired many paintings including this one

All of us also have been inspired by the beautiful home in which we’re staying for our days in Espanola. Sharing some morning images below.

Doesn’t get much better than this: beauty, sunshine, peaceful days, quiet nights, blue skies, family and, oh yeah, lots of great food. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️