Sunday, January 11, 2009

Hot & Sunny in Southern California

Today it was hot and sunny so I headed out for Fashion Island in Newport Beach, hit the bookstore and did a quick impulse buy. I wandered outside and found a wonderfully shady spot under a large tree and began to read. The warm weather was so comforting, temps about 80 degrees, sitting in a sleeveless top and pedal pushers and innocently sipping a tropical ice tea. This book should come with a warning, CAUTION - COULD MAKE YOU SNORT YOUR ICE TEA as you collapse in laughter. It is so much fun to read, she really gets knitters and her take on things is outrageously funny!!! A fresh viewpoint sure to cheer up any reader (although I think especially knitters).
This is my latest WIP, I've tried for over a week to get a decent photo of this, red is so difficult to photograph. Yes it is slim, it is supposed to fit like a glove and my very tall Niece has long slender hands, so I believe they will fit her perfectly. I am supposed to have them done my next weekend. This is my first pair of mitts and I must admit, they won't be my last, they were very entertaining, This was a free pattern with great charts and clearly written instructions, I had no problems with any part of this and was quite surprised. Here is the link (I really need to learn how to create a better looking link, any helpful hints would be appreciated.) http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6695468479892351081 The yarn I used is by Cherry Tree Hill and it really is a pretty yarn that is lovely to knit with, the stitch definition is quite clear ( in person).

I promised to share more photos of the Huntington Library. This was the main residence of the Huntingtons, it is filled with the most beautiful art, painting by Remington and Gainsborough, beautiful bone china, exquisite French Furniture, so many more beautiful and priceless treasures. There are other buildings that include art and also an impressive library, a few items are on display, but most of the library is for scholars and their research.



The view from the rear of the Residence is stunning, so in addition to this amazing garden they had a clear view of the local mountains and it must of been really spectacular before modern air pollution dimmed the view a bit. It must have been a great place for afternoon teas or a place for breakfast on warm summer mornings.



While on my stroll thru the gardens, I came upon this butterfly precariously balanced atop the delicate Love in a Mist, the orange of its wings showed so strinkingly against the blue flower.



Pots of Amarlysis were displayed on the Logia, this place has a lyrical quality, even without the orchestras that play in the summer evenings. I can imagine all of the symphonies that were played here throught the decades. The music still seems to linger.





6 comments:

Aline said...

Hiya! Thank you for the butterfly and grass...needed that.
As for your links: look on your tool bar or in the menus for 'hyperlink'. Copy your link from the net (I open a second browser for this) than on your post message, highlight the word(s)the link refers to and click on 'hyperlink' then paste it and click OK. You will see the word that hold the link will be highlighted now. On my computer, the hyperlink button is on the NEW POST page as one of the tools. We both use BLOGGER, so it should be there for you too. Hyperlinks are in email and other places also.
Good luck.

Dave said...

Flowers, butterflies ... and wool mittens. Two are treats for the eyes and soul, the third a necessity in these northern climes.

As for links, yes, what Aline said.

Kathy... said...

Lovely photos! Enjoy your warmth and sunshine. I am sitting in the middle of a blizzard today - and the "high" later in the week is predicted to be 4 degrees! Soak up a little warmth in my name! I'll toss a snowball for you.....

smariek said...

Pretty mitt. I have a hard time photographing red too. I've heard that using a grey background helps, although I haven't had the opportunity to try this out yet. I don't know which mitt you're making, but I did some poking around and I think I found the same one? Is it this one? http://www.knotions.com/issues/winter_2008/patterns/magic_mirror/directions.aspx


To create a link in a new post, highlight the text you want to make into a link. Then click on the "link" button which looks like 2 chain links (it's between the Text Color button and Align Left button). Paste in the URL into the popup box.

This Blogger Help Page shows you how to create links.

It's been nearly 2 decades since I was at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I flew to NB to do some work at one of our office branches there. Nice area.

Val said...

Oh how lovely to see sunny spring weather, flowers and a butterfly, as we are still in the grips of winter!!! : )

Thanks for visiting my blog. Re:doggies - they have a downy undercoat beneath their sleek exterior. A real chore to comb out in the spring!

Gorgeous mittens, thanks for sharing the pattern source!

Anonymous said...

"CAUTION - COULD MAKE YOU SNORT YOUR ICE TEA" -- LOL!! That's hilarious!

I second the previous suggestion(s) about photographing reds against a charcoal-gray background. You could also try red's complementary color, green, as your background. And natural light vs flash. Especially natural light coming through a window so that it's more uni-directional [got this tip from brooklyntweed in a podcast interview].