i found a great little cafe here in highland park, kitchen mouse that serves plant-based food. it’s just down the street and i’ve been meaning to try it since it opened a few years ago.
i’ve been twice in the last week for breakfast tacos and a buffalo bowl.
really nice to have a healthy eating-out option so close.
highly recommended if you are local. bright flavors that are utterly delicious.
the dining room is also lovely and a perfect place to bring a journal or a book.
the fruit trees are continuing to bloom along with fragrant mounds of wisteria in the public gardens & parks i visit regularly.
bright bouquets of clivia resting in the dappled light.
i always stop at this bench to chat with the squirrels who gather here.
and to admire the clivia!
the victorian box trees (Pittosporum undulatum) have been filling the night air with perfume. i am lucky to have a large tree a few doors down which sends it’s flowery perfume in a cloud that wraps around moss cottage as soon as the sun sets.
heavenly.
made some hummus from scratch in my instapot. well not totally in the pot! i did have to transfer to the blender once the garbanzo beans were cooked.
still playing around with my rough watercolor paper. this isn’t finished…
one of you told me about queen victoria’s sketchbook. if you watch VICTORIA , i think her sketchbook will interest you!
wyatt went back into surgery this past week – some reconstruction on his eye. a couple of my students wrote him notes.
the new beatrix potter book is fantastic!
i had intended to include many more photos but alas there were only a few on my camera roll.
nothing terribly exciting to report. just ordinary days.
resting here in my green nest.
waiting for more rain to arrive this week.
hope you’re well. puttering away there in your world. keep me posted.
Hi Mary Ann Gorgeous photos of the food and flowers, and good luck to Wyatt from another friend. Hope it all goes well. x o Nanci
Wysteria! Wysteria! Wysteria…. Oh it takes me back to Spoletto and our beloved FRANCO!
P.S. Tell Wyatt I love him like a friend too. And like an Aunt.
franco and his eggs and wild asparagus!
http://dispatchfromla.com/2013/05/this-is-spoleto.html
http://dispatchfromla.com/2013/04/hello-from-spoleto.html
So enjoyed your post…the scrumptious food…discovery…beautiful blossoms and celebrating Beatrix Potter. A burst of spring for the soul. I actually sent an email to you, as I had a story to relate, that just had to be told, but a bit lengthy for your comments section. I loved this post and how it spawned a trip down memory lane for me. I can imagine your class having a wonderful sharing of Beatrix Potter, beyond Peter Rabbit.
smiles: sharon
sharon i loved your story so much that you emailed…i’m going to have to publish some of it here. it’s perfect for the comments! a story everyone would love to read i am sure. i will remove it at once if you want me to though..
“I smile as I write this, how spontaneous and dumb we were…this was before cell phones and other conveniences. One day we took a train to the Lake District…again not knowing protocol, like order your seat number. Being daylight, the drive was beautiful beautiful beautiful. We got off at the station, only to find that her home was to involve crossing a lake, and driving into her area. DUH ! The only thing we could do was cross the lake in a tiny boat and then hitch hike both ways to Hill Top Farm. We prevailed. We lived through it. Eventually returning to states with loads of post cards, books and bursting with stories. “
Hello! I’m the one who recommend “Queen Victoria’s Sketchbook.” 🙂 And yes, I love “Victoria” on PBS and am sad we have to wait for the next season (ditto for “The Crown.”
Oh, the wisteria…we won’t get ours for another two months…we had a massive snowstorm last week but it is melting!
Thanks for the tip on the Beatrix Potter book. Have you read “The Tale of Beatrix Potter” and “Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life”? “Tale” was made into a BBC program years ago. You might be able to find it on DVD. Another great book about gardens and art is “Grandmother’s Garden: The Old-Fashioned American Garden 1865-1915.”
Sebastian Bunny sends best wishes to Wyatt!
dear sebastian bunnee
i wanuh c yur piccher
sin seer lee
WYATT EARP
pee. es. mama is gunna find dat old fash gardin buk
Spent Saturday in the Anza-Borrego desert to witness the Super Bloom. You, my fellow nature lover, must go! Pics on my blog if you’re interested 🙂
Hmmm… apparently I did not “publish” the Borrego post with the wildflowers…ugh…it’s there now. http://www.dawnri.com.
and sorry, meant to say before, but it stayed in my head… Hoping Wyatt gets well soon!
dawn your new blog is beautiful! i added you to my links. i hope everyone goes to visit and sees where you’re living now. so pretty!
Hi MAM! Loved your flower photos. I thought of the flowers we saw at Monet’s Garden in Giverney, France. Have you been there on your adventures in Europe? You really should, given your love of art, flowers and color! We were there in mid-May 2015 and the flowers were stunning. We saw so many varieties, I couldn’t begin to estimate how many different blossoms we saw. The wisteria was in wild abundance, hanging in long, purple chains that draped over azaleas that were colors I’ve never seen. (And I live near Azalea central!) Even with tourists getting their eyes full, it was still easy to get lots of pictures of the flowers without being cluttered up with heads and shoulders of our fellow gawkers. LOL
Hoping Wyatt recovers quickly and without issues. Thanks for all of comments and recommendations that spark ideas in your followers/fans! Your kiddoes are a hoot and always bring a smile with their sweet, heartfelt sentiments.
Keep those posts coming. They’re like a visit with a friend! 😉
i can’t wait to go to there. i love to get these kinds of recommendations because it wouldn’t occur to me to go due to all the tourists. some places are just worth it. thanks for the reminder.
sweet messages for Wyatt and as always books to look for and lovely flower photos!
aw thanks janet 🙂
Kitchen Mouse looks amazing!
so glad i found it!
I have a copy of Beatrix P’s coded journal which no one had been able to decipher until after her death. And then by the remotest clue. It’s an exciting story, the actual de-coding, but the journal’s contents were (to some people) disappointingly dull. Poor thing lived in her nursery for at least 30 years.
Dear Mary Ann, I think of you in your colourful surroundings. Here, the first primroses and daffodils are showing their faces.
chrissy! carol & i were just talking about you during our sunday facetime session. how i wish you were blogging … miss hearing your unique writerly voice. xo
I do have a blog of sorts, about our little dog. Here it is: http://www.hughwest.com/posts/category/budleigh-s-blog
I should post more often and will when the weather improves and I take more photos. The adoration goes on!
Meant to say Hi little Wyatt, brave fellow that you are. xxx
No Clivia here, no Wisteria yet and the boxwoods smell like cat pee. Oh, well. My nose is all stopped up anyway and by the time good-smelling things bloom I will be all better! Like I hope that Wyatt is.
Love the photo of colors and sketchbook, etc. Classic and inspiring.
I hope that your week goes well.
sending you some scented breezes and warm sunshine…