It's all in the details

More pictures from Descanso. I told you I took a ton. I can't believe no one else in my group brought a camera. I am the type who takes my camera everywhere. OK. Here we go...

Potheads. Loved those. They were selling them in the gift shop. Of course I didn't buy one. I just took a picture.














The sundial was not actually doing anything in the way of telling time since it was a bit overcast that day. But I like how copper gets that verdi gris effect over time.






























This next set is my favorite. I am not that big on the whole statue when it comes to statuary photos. I take a full on shot for reference, but I dig the details of something like this. I like the hands, the folds of her dress, the vine she is holding. Those are much more beautiful than the piece as a whole, at least for me.
























OK. I am off to get ready for work. It is a beautiful, clear and windy day here and yesterday's torrential rains. I would love to be out in this today, but alas it is only my Friday.

Everyone else will just have to get out and enjoy the day for me.

I got a red Japanese tea pot...

I've been wanting to go to tea at the Japanese tea house at Descanso Gardens for a while.

So I did on Sunday. My mom, sister, aunt, uncle and my uncle's new wife all went, too.

It was a beautiful, clear day. An L.A. fall day. It was not too cold, not too hot. Just sunny and clear with a light breeze.

We had our tea, then walked around the gardens.

I love places like the Huntington and the Arboretum.

But what I really liked about Descanso was that while it was cultivated, there was still a wildness about it.

Our tea started with them bringing out cups of the dried tea. We had descriptions of each tea and could smell the dried teas and decide.

They all smelled great. I ended up with Jasmine Pearle tea.

Then we had soup, a small plate of sushi, shrimp, salad and chicken sandwich.

Finally we had a trio of little sweets.

It was all very good and a nice light lunch before our walk.

Anyway, I will quit now with the commentary and just post the photos. I took a lot of pictures, so I am going to parcel them out over the next few days.

Today is just tea.

A gem in Torrance

I am a bit ashamed to say that it was not until my uncle and his bride decided to get married that I learned there is a Japanese garden in Torrance.

I have lived in the South Bay for 18-plus years and never knew this.

I really need to get out more. Especially to see all the things in my own back yard.

Anyway...

The wedding was Saturday at the Pine Wind Garden at the Torrance Civic Center. I took a few pictures before the wedding started.

This is by no means the biggest or most elaborate of the Japanese gardens in the L.A. area.

The garden at the Huntington in San Marino is far larger, with a tea house and the red lacquer bridge.

In La Canada-Flintridge, the Descanso Gardens offering has a tea house where you can actually get tea service.

But the small garden here in Torrance was a beautiful place for a small wedding.

The garden is manicured, yet with a natural, rambling feel in its small space.

A series of steps leads down to a small areas in front of a rock waterfall. There are tiered benches around that and space for more chairs. This is where the arbor was set up for the ceremony.

To the side of that area, a stone path winds its way around the small garden passing a fountain on its way to a koi pond.

Even though there were classes, a martial arts event and an arts event taking place in the surrounding rooms and auditoriums, the garden was still a peaceful place.

Since it is November, I think I was lucky to see a lone lily blooming on the pond.

Now that I know it is there, I want to go back in spring to see what flowers might bloom there.

And I really do need to get out of my little rut and get to more of the places the South Bay has to offer.

a blog break

OK. So I have been a slacker the past few days about posting here.
But that is because I have been consumed by my kitchen plans and astounded by how many design type people have told me that $30,000 is way too little to spend on my project.
Um, I don't want to spend $50,000 on my kitchen. It's really not that large a kitchen.
So I think I found a way to do it on my budget or damn close to it.
I found a designer that I was not immediately put off by yesterday.
She is coming to the house Monday to take some measurements and then draw up the design and start bidding out the different cabinets and countertops.
That place doesn't do the tile work or sell the appliances.
Which is fine by me.
I know someone who does the tile and I trust him to do it well and not rip me off in the process.
As far as the appliances go, great. then I get what I want, not the brands they want to sell me.
Usually in those design places the brands are the really high-end ones. Which is great if I want my kitchen to be valued the same as the whole rest of the house.
The tile guy also knows a good person to do any finish work, so I think I am set.
I just need to find out some prices on the cabinets and counters and I can start choosing materials and getting this show on the road.
_____________________________________

Other than kitchen stuff, I have been pretty lazy. I have been sleeping in every day. It feels so good.
I went out to lunch two days in a row, just me and a book. Of course, when I have a big lunch like that, I eat small dinners. So that is actually better.
Last night I went to see my cousin graduate from high school. It made me feel a little old. I remember pushing him in his stroller and changing his diapers.
I have work today (the one day this week I have to go in) and then I am off again until Tuesday.
The rest of my time off should consist of making some cards for an online swap (I will post those here when I get them done. I got some new Papertrey stamps I may play with for that); making some side dishes for a barbecue Sunday to follow my nephew's baptism; going to the baptism (I am the godmother!); and cleaning house.
Like I said, I have been a slacker so far this week and I really need to change that.
The weather has been so nice, if I get all my other stuff done, it might be fun to do some gardening one day and freshen up my flower beds a little.