Color in Carmel

My suite at the Inn was complete with a darling kitchen - I loved the old tile and the colorful red & white wallpaper. I do feel a little guilty that I did not make full use of it, but we discovered a great place for seafood that was so reasonable - I tried my first raw oysters and was quite surprised how much I liked them (petite little ones that were sweet and easy to swallow). They also had an incredible seafood sandwich that had fresh crab and shrimp in it that we ended up sharing - so yummy!

The place had its quirks, like the TV's on/off button was broken, the remote did not work, the VCR decided to break (yes I said VCR) and the spring on the coffee maker did not go down all the way so it flooded the counter with coffee - did I mind these little oddities - frankly no, it just seems to go along with an older Inn, the room was clean and the bed was comfy, but my favorite part was that the heat for the room was provided by the fireplace - you turned up the thermostat and on it came!

There was a nice little courtyard with a fireplace that our rooms opened onto and there was also a dining room where you could serve yourself breakfast. In the afternoon there was fresh baked cookies (chocolate chip with REAL BUTTER), wine and a nice variety of cheeses.

My favorite part of the grounds were the beautiful flowers. I like the color combinations, for instance the petite white flowers against the Burgundy.

The Pinks, Blues and Lavenders, gazing at this photo during this post made me think of how pleased Fairies would be dancing among these petals on a morning when they would be bejeweled by dew.

The yellows mixed with the various shades of purple are so peaceful, the sweet scent of the Allysum filling the air. Carmel's colors are softened by its weather, its the perfect backdrop for them. In my opinion Flowers are very photogenic - don't you think?

FABRIC

While on my trip I came across fabric stores! San Luis Obispo has a great fabric and craft store where I purchased the above fabric to create headbands for one of my friends. Lila seems to approve the my choices (she wasn't even in sight when I laid down the towel - 30 seconds later - there she is!!!)

On my trip to Solvang I discovered a quilt store and purchased a few fabrics - I'm not sure that I have all the fabric yet, but plan on starting a quilt for my Darling little Niece. I had the darnedest time trying to lay them down, Lila kept batting at each fabric square, so I quickly shot the photo (you can see her little paw taking another swat at them, but at least my fingers are out of the way this time). I do so hope it turns out as I let the cat out of the bag (I am a bit nervous about this - my first quilt).