After my meeting was over and lunch was had, we headed up the the Botanical Garden for a walk through. They day was nice and sunny and there were flowers all about.
Of course there were some obligatory people shots, including me. Here's the best one I could find. Shirt is from here.
Peek-a-boo!
That would be a mélangeur hard at work making one of my favorite things, chocolate.
The mums and Ted when to the tour at Scharffen Berger in Berkeley while I was at a meeting. I've been on the tour a couple of times myself and I do enjoy the free samples. If you are ever in the area, I do recommend going on the tour. It's free and you get samples and it's chocolate, really yummy chocolate I might add.
And you get to look like this on the tour!
Ted's mum, Sally, and Ted.
Saturday morning we started off with a visit to the beach in Pacific Grove.
Some coral and other life from the ocean, washed onto shore.
Hermit Crabs! Lots and Lots of them too!
After the beach was a quick drive to Carmel by the Sea, otherwise known as a really expensive place to live and home of Clint Eastwood. It's also home to a mission. This is a mission that is still operating and even has a school connected to it.
A gated window
An aging statue
An unfamiliar flower. The contrasting red and yellow is very neat. The buds remind me of paper lanterns.
An entryway
Mary on tile. Her expression seems so serene
Pretty wisteria...something you don't find in Minnesota.
Bell tower
Cemetery
Front of the mission
We explored the Mission and its gift shot for a good chunk of time. It was then time for us to head back home. On the way, we went through the Santa Cruz mountains and stopeed in Boulder Creek for lunch and a looksy at Boulder Creek Yarn. I found some dark romeny roving there that had to be mine. Sorry no pictures! We had some time to spare after our curvy drive so a visit to a mall was made.
Once we got home, we joined Ted and his mum (yes she came for a visit too) and had dinner at Fellini. This place has become one of my favorites in Berkeley.
One of the reasons I was quite for a while as that my mummy came for a visit and we were too busy having fun. :)
She arrived on a Thursday afternoon and we head to the Monterrey Bay area on Friday. We ended up at the Fisherman's Wharf for lunch and we were entertained by the Sea Lion Synchronized Dance Team:
Okay, so they're not that synchronized, but it was still fun to watch them warm themselves and try not to run in to each other too much.
After lunch was a stop to at an Artichoke farm:
My mummy
Me
We were a bit grubby looking because next on the list to do was an hour long horseback ride on the beach. My horse was huge and named Moose, very fitting. Unfortunately, we have no pictures because we were both afraid of breaking our cameras. Some day, I will get myself a more pocket friendly one.
After the ride, we stopped at Monarch Kintting and Quilts. I found myself a 1/2 pound bag of recycled sari silk there so that made me happy. Once the purchase was made and a quick stop at the pet store was done, we checked into our hotel in Pacific Grove...then it started to rain, which makes is hard to explor and keep warm. A drive through Canery Row and a little exploring found us a mall and dinner at Pizza My Heart. Not a bad place to get a slice o' pizza and and a huge salad. The rest of the evening was spent wandering the mall and trying to stay dry. Then it was back to the hotel for a little sleep.
The Berkeley Botanical Garden hosted a fiber and dye exhibit last month. It was a self lead tour of the gardens pointing put plants that are used in dyeing, weaving, and clothing. Nothing hight tech about it, but education all the same.
One Sunday they had a natural dye class that I attended with Kathleen called Garden Garments. It was taught by Sasha Duerr the founder of Permacouture Institute. Sasha lectured/answered questions and then we got to play with some dye pots with pieces of silk fabric and wool yarn.
Turmeric in a cold bath, as you can see, it's not very light fast. I had my pieces drying in my kitchen window and this is what it looked like after a week. The left was facing indoors, the right facing outdoors.
Pretty Alkanet.
I really liked how the wool yarn turned out.
Purple cabbage!
What a great color, though the wool did not take it.
Madder
My sad attempt at Shibori, the clip marks are kind of fun. :)
One of our Sunday morning activities is breakfast in bed when time permits. Ted will get himself out of bed and make a lovely meal for us to enjoy. A couple of weekends ago, Ted made some Irish oatmeal from scratch (I bought the wrong kind of mix, but it came in a pretty metal can). Add a little fresh fruit and candies nuts and this is what you get:
mmmmmmm....
I hearts the blueberries and walnuts....
Last night, we went to bed around midnight per our normal weekend routine. Our windows are wide open because the weather/temperatures are fantastic in the bay area right now. Boy, do I regret that now.
Sometime around 3 or 330 am, Ted and I were woken by a POP, POP, POP noise. Since I was facing the windows, I saw some bright flashes as well. My little mind was thinking "I wonder if those are fire..." Before I could finish my thought, I had Ted pulling me off the bed telling me to get on the floor and we are trying to get Ruby down and me down at the same time. In the confusion, I found Ted's bag and decided I would just sleep on the wood floor with the bag of hard books as my pillow. A few moments latter, Ted came creeping back to me giving me the all clear to get into bed, it wasn't gunshots after all, just some fireworks.
I got into bed, and then laid there, unable to sleep with the adrenaline rushing through my sleep muddled mind. I did fall asleep again, just don't know when....and now I feel funny.
That's what I get for marrying a former Marine.
Color: A Fiber Festival
Saturday April 26, 2008
10 am to 6 pm
You are cordially invited to an all day spinning and knitting extravaganza! Come join in on the fun of outdoor spinning/knitting with great views of the bay. Local indie dyers and crafters will be showing and selling their wares. We are also presenting how-to drop spindle and fiber tasting sessions. Entry is free, sessions are material costs only. Please see our website (colorfiberfestival.com) for more details and to register for sessions.
Indie dyers and crafters:
A Verb For Keeping Warm
Pigeon Roof Studios
Tactile A Fiber Arts Studio
Girl On the Rocks
Fiber Tastings:
Learn to spin new fibers!
Exotics - 11:30 am
Rare Wool Breeds - 1:30 pm
Cellulose and Blends – 3:30 pm
Free How-To Drop Spindle Sessions:
Sessions at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm
Learn to Knit Session
Learn to knit and purl! Session at 1 PM. See our website for more information
Lean to Weave
Learn to weave on a mini hand loom
Sessions at Noon and 3 pm
Located at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley at 1798 Scenic Ave.
Free parking available on campus
A short walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART station
See colorfiberfestival.com for more details
