Dispatch From LA

chinatown

I'm home now.

But yesterday I was here.  Right here.

Surrounded by my favorite confectionary color palette.

I zipped here and there soaking in the storied atmosphere.   Brilliant.  My heart turned a deeper shade of red.

Intoxicating.

It's good to be back at Moss Cottage.  I missed the smallness of her walls.  And the comfort of my bed.  And a big pile of paws to smoosh my face into.

There is at least 1 more Chinatown post coming tomorrow.

Thanks for coming along.  I love reading your comments when I travel.  Knowing that the pictures in my head are being seen by more than my two eyes.  It's a nice feeling.

dog tricks

my last day of adventure brought me to alamo square and the lovely painted ladies.

they're sweet, but i like these girls even better on the other side of the park.  who doesn't want to live in a candy colored house?!

delicious. 

and such deep pine & eucalyptus trees.  small pockets of wildness to get lost inside in the middle of the city.

i sat and watched this canine version of buck moss for awhile.

different park.  different doggies.  

i sat on a bench and laughed out loud at their clown-like chasing games.

lafayette park in pacific heights has views that leave you breathless.

you can see alcatraz from here!

i sat on a bench under a stand of fragrant trees and stared out at all that BLUE.

read a book.  did more staring &  thinking - deep & shallow thoughts.

i decided that in 10 years i'm going to move to san francisco.

become a dog walker.  open a pink launderette.

move into a corner apartment with sweeping views of the bay.  across the street from a park of course.

my heart's kind of set on this one.

but this one has it's own set of charms.

maybe i'll get a bike.  san francisco has a surprising number of bike riders!

or at least get really good at motoring up hills.  my arse will become like a couple of steel love buns from noe valley bakery.

i'll join a crochet circle that meets in a different park every week.

take chinese lessons.

get a dog.

find a friend with a sailboat.

stuff like that.

last wash 10 pm

this morning i headed off for a walk around land's end

mmmmm...

i am head over heels in love with all the launderettes!  they're everywhere.  this one has a bench out front which is nice after you walk up the hill.  i've collapsed onto it several times already.

discovered this place while wandering 

more zines than you can shake a stick at!

THIS little bakery has v.v. good love buns.

i went to FLAX today also.  holy mother of art stores!  thanks rhonda for telling me about it.  can i send you my bill?

please?

round 3

i'm high on PRETTY.

san francisco is buzzing with candy colored possibility.  maybe i have stars in my eyes, i don't know, but everything has a soft glimmer.

yesterday i tramped around  here and there & everywhere.

my calves are sore.

by the time you read this i'll be out for round 3.

the weather has been glorious!  not a wisp of fog to be found.  the air has a chill to it that is so refreshing.

perfect exploring or rock crocheting weather.  {don't inspect my stitches too closely!}

that's the buck paperdoll.  he comes with me on all of my travels.  

 i spotted him yesterday.  giant buck i mean. his face in profile... peeking at me from behind coit tower.  he likes to follow me around.  and spy.  silly rabbit.

good morning world. it's sunday!

i'd heard of SCRAP before, but when Paula - a reader {of this here blog}... emailed yesterday and told me to hightail it over here, I listened.

It's in a warehouse/industrial part of SF.

And it is FILLED to bursting with aisles of every sort of scrap imaginable!

There are really cool assemblage pieces scattered on top of shelves that were put together with all manner of found loot.

I skipped up and down the aisles with reckless abandon.  Just me and my trader joe's bag.

But in the end I only walked away with this little stash.  Oh.  And an old 60's or 70's  sign:  MORRISON for mayor.  I liked the letters!

I already crocheted a rock with my new cotton string.  Now I'm going to try one with the thin white thread...

but first I think I'll finish my coffeecake muffin and giant cup of coffee.

time travel

lashing rain and wind.  i went from window to window sliding along the wood floors on my socks.  i made coffee and breakfast and read maps and plotted and planned and read some more.

then more wind and sun and blustery air.  grey turned to blue.

one of you told me to go somewhere so i did.

i always do what i'm told.

more on THAT later!

for now i am off to make something with something i got at the place i went.

promise me that next time you go on a little vacation you'll rent a house instead of a hotel because it's like stepping out of your old life and rambling around inside a new one for awhile.   i don't know why.  but it is.  and no matter how much you enjoy your old life being born again into a different time and place is like time travel.  all those unlived lives waiting in the wings.

makes me feel a little breathless.  a little bright eyed and bushy tailed.

like that.

city by the bay

i landed this afternoon.

right here.

at this house on a hill.

walked through this doorway...

and sat out back in this blooming spring garden with my face tilted up to the sky.

there's a room with a view.

and i like that very much.

i scampered about only long enough to gather provisions.

i was expecting clouds and rain, but the air was clear as glass with sun beaming down on every surface.

tomorrow big storm coming!

here in the city by the bay.

but i brought my bag of yarn and rocks.  and i just spied something that will go into my sketchbook.  and i'm almost falling asleep, but that's going to have to wait because there are nooks and crannies of this house to explore.  and a big fat architectural guidebook to study.  and walkabouts to plan.  and buses to ride.  and streetcars to chase after.

i ♥ san francisco.