Water sources

Killer migraine day 3 so just posting pics.

Pale blue & white

So many lovely blues in the LA light.

The Golden State

California! Well done to Deedeen and Janet for guessing the correct State. Isn't my brother amazing to pay for this trip... Thanks Bro!

But where in California? Not San Francisco, though I was really wishing we'd had an extra week so I could have gone to visit Lisa and all the other amazing bloggers who live in the Bay area. We were based in one place and were always back there to sleep, so never more than half a day from the images I've been showing recently. Of course, they are images that drew my attention, not necessarily the ones that would catch the eye of other visitors. I reckon it'll take most of you 3 seconds to guess :)

Faded yellows and blues (tiny clue)

I forgot to say, some of you are getting close with the guesses as to where I was. I'll start doing more obvious clues soon. These photo's show a popular colour combination in the place I visited.
Think of the kind of places that so often have these colours, it's another clue.

People have been busy

Heather Smith Jones: Work in her New Etsy Shop

I'm only just beginning to catch up on what my blogging friends have been up to while I was away... needless to say many of you have been very busy. It'll take me ages to visit you all, I'm still having minimal computer time but so far it's become clear that Lisa was installing, Vanessa was writing words of wisdom, Gracia was, Heather was opening a NEW shop, Bibbi was experiencing winter but expressing spring, Camilla and Karin have been bearing the fruits of their collaboration...


Camilla Engman and Karin Eriksson collaboration 2008

There has been lots more happening but the computer is being seriously weird just now so I'm shutting it down for the day, I'm hoping it just needs a break after all the photo's I made it deal with.

Perfection & Imperfection

I love the imperfection of hand painted signage. The detail was lost in scaling down the dog sign, there are steamy squiggles coming off the dog poo, classic touch, I love it.

I equally love the initial impression of perfection in the bottom photo, all the clean crisp lines, yet close up the beautiful imperfection of the different bricks beneath the blue paint, the different heights of the flowers.

It crazy how much I love these kinds of blues with a touch of red, honestly, my mouth waters when I catch glimpses of this combination anywhere, but particularly if it features weathered paint as it so often did on holiday. Sun bleached reds, weathered blues and fresh whites were in abundance.

Vivid blues

There were many vivid blues on the holiday. The kind I associate with summer. I spent a lot of time deleting photo's because the bright sun made such strong reflections in the car window. I was often not allowed to open the window because my brother loved the rental car air con. Little Miss Eco prefers an open window, but I must admit, a closed window makes for rare 'good' hair as seen above in a sharp reflection (which I treasure on account my hair usually looks like it's been dragged through a hedge).

More of the local plant life

All stages of growth and change from this tree...

Paving

Various types of paving in the Japanese Garden.

My trip - clue No. 5b

Day-glo plant life at the lunch spot. The orange stuff is amazing, I've seen something similar on cacti but this was growing like candy floss on a small plant that looked a bit like rosemary and sometimes like a mat close to the ground.

My trip - clue No. 5

This is where I ate lunch this time last week! As an additional clue I will mention that someone very obsessed with science fiction would have a better chance at guessing this spot. The lunch was so tasty, a selection of tofu and salad things I picked up before we drove out there. I had a really nice rice and veg thing too, and some stuffed grape leaves but my stomach had shrunk so much from being so sick the first few days (I was horribly unwell and couldn't face food at all) that I only ate a few of these tasty treats on day 6...





Tofu and tomato in a wheat free wrap with one cube of watermelon to follow, and that was me full up.

Orange and grey

Foliage and a fish

Blossom and mesh

Still snowing a bit here in Scotland but not lying on the ground. In fact, it is the strange polystyrene ball kind of snow we got once a year ago, which blows around like dust because it's so dry. Not the snowball making moist kind of snow we usually have in this country.

It was so lovely to be around lots of snow on the trip, but also lots and lots of sunshine. I took about 4000 photo's so my blog should be quite image filled for some time, even if I don't have the energy to get out now I'm back. I'm so grateful to my brother for taking me on this trip, I could never have afforded it myself, and I certainly couldn't have done what I did if I'd had to rely on public transport. I'm not big on cars but for special occasions I'm very happy to indulge. He's a self confessed gadget nerd and had a GPS thingy everywhere we went. He even brought blu tack to stick it to the window of the plane so he could see our height and speed at all times. The other day he sent me a link to a google map that shows where we went each day based on the GPS info. Geeky, but very nifty!

I'm finally passed the worst of the jet lag. I've yet to walk Lucy, L and Mr P have got that covered and I don't need to take her until Wednesday. My bones conked out on me a bit during the trip home so they've been getting full bed rest (well, sofa rest) over the long weekend, apart from a parental visit on Sunday. To ease them back to life I had my first walk out the house today since arriving home, they took a while to get working, Mr P laughed because they weren't bending at the knee so I was walking like a 1950's robot. The arms weren't so good, but I don't need them to walk on my own and with Lucy I can loop the leash over my shoulder until they are less sore.

All things considered I'm pretty pleased with how I've been, I had expected a bigger crash on my return, but I think all the clear skies, healthful drinks (all green in colour and content) and the outrageously huge megadoses of supplements really helped. I have enough to last another couple of weeks. Hopefully by then Spring will have made a more permanent appearance here and that will make things easier on the muscles as the supplements run out... or maybe Mr P will win the lottery (he is trying) in which case he'd buy me a huge supply. Lets hope for both, Spring and supplements.

My trip - clue No. 4

Clue No.4, these plants are growing in a public place, but not a garden. Keep guessing where I might have been.

I've always loved sculptural plants, which is how I see these, though I know architectural is the current description for them. I had a little cactus as a kid, but I had now idea they could get so big until I saw them in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Years later, when I was at college nearby, I used to go there often at lunchtime or after classes and hang out in the cactus house or the hot houses with my sketchbook and camera. If you are further north in Scotland they have some lovely large specimens in the succulent house of St Andrew's Botanic Gardens.

Greys & greens

strong & subtle shadows through the day

High ground

The remains of seeds and snow hide in the spaces between huge boulders.