Halloween Treats & Sweets!

We were invited to join in all the SPOOKTACULAR fun by our sons and their families so we dusted off our traditional Halloween costumes and strolled the neighborhood.

We began our ghoulishly good day with a pumpkin carving. This was the first time any of us had ever seen sprouted seeds within.
Our oldest granddaughter instantly saw the sprouts as witch's hair turning her jack-o-lantern into something extraordinary.
While the parents went errand running, the girls and I created this tasty Haunted Cookie House. What fun.
We arachnids received several compliments from other trick-or-treaters which was fun. Plus we had enough hands to hold those of all four grandchildren as we crossed the street.



I was surprised we stayed out so late and that the kiddos did so great. There's nothing quite like being with little ones on Halloween to remind you of yesteryear.

"There is a child in every one of us
who is still a trick-or-treater looking for
a brightly-lit front porch."
~Robert Brault

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Nature Art Time...

When this guy landed in my son's yard, my daughter-in-law looked at it as a teaching and art opportunity. What fun that I was there to be a part of it all.

In some cultures, a praying mantis can be a sign of good luck or fortune. Native Americans believe the insect came before the creation of man and Earth. Paintings, inscriptions, revered symbols and carvings have the insect depicted as a symbol. The bugs represent wealth, success, large families and the cycle of life.
For us, it was a chance to sketch and watercolor paint what we were observing. My DIL is very artistic.
My granddaughter takes after her mom.

My mantis was my first attempt at watercolor artistry. I was pretty pleased with myself. I'm now motivated to do more. Creativity is found in the most interesting of places.

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Back to the BINS

 For those who know me, I LOVE thrift storing. It's just my thing!

Combine a great deal with the company of my delightful daughters-in-law and I'm a very happy ME.
Santa Rosa's Goodwill Outlet just recently reopened, after an extended closure due to COVID and an employee dearth. Now a bit pricier, it is still a place that makes us all giddy.
I have been on the hunt, for years, for a vintage bowling shirt. SCORE. It is just one of the many treasures I came home with. I can't wait to go bowling and model it for you!
Dame Helen Mirren said it best, "The whole thing of clothes is insane. You can spend a dollar on a jacket in a thrift store. And you can spend a thousand dollars on a jacket in a shop. And if you saw those two jackets walking down the street, you probably wouldn't know which was which."

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Back in Tahoe for the Last Bit of Fall

We returned to Tahoe on Sunday. Yesterday was spent doing the required chores (unpacking, pine needle raking, and pinching ourselves to make certain we weren't dreaming).

Today, we headed to Fallen Leaf Lake with hopes of at least a glimpse of the gorgeous Fall colors everyone had been sharing. We were not disappointed. Wow.





Interesting, in the middle of all this natural wonderment we stumbled upon this Taylor Creek Stream Gauge and were intrigued. The corrugated culvert pipe was installed to measure the amount of water flowing through one of our favorite watersheds.
Based on some research, we figure it was installed sometime in the 1930s. The door was unlocked and looking inside, we found paperwork indicating that the last time a streamflow geological survey was conducted, by the US Department of the Interior, was in 1987. Intriguing, right? Why was it unlocked with all the equipment still inside. Hmmm.

Cool mushrooms and a massive paper wasp nest (below) were some of the other interesting sights along our path.

Fall colors, blue skies, warm temperatures, and kokanee still spawning... what an ideal Welcome Home.

It was a quiet and very peaceful outing. We crossed paths with only four other nature lovers. Two happened to be our friend, Chris, and his son, Steve. What a very, very small world.

“The magic thing about home
is that it feels good to leave,
and it feels even better to come back.”
― Wendy Wunder

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Fall Modernism Week...

I met up with Julie as we gleefully returned to Palm Springs for Modernism Week – October.

While smaller in scope than the 11-day festival held annually each February (which we will be attending), the Fall happening offers more than 50 events during 4-days, including several free and low-cost programs. After the Friends of the Library Architecture Book Sale, we grabbed coffees at Koffi, had a delicious lunch at Taqueria Tlaquepaque, and then headed to the Palm Springs Art Museum.
I have admired Gerald Clarke's Continuum Basket: Pivat (Tobacco) before. What is truly amazing is that it is constructed of aluminum beer and soda cans mounted on a satellite dish. WOW. "Drawing inspiration from his Cahuilla heritage and the desert and mountain environment of his homeland, Mr. Clarke combines common objects and materials to express traditional ideas in surprising forms. In this work, he has arranged 1,884 crushed aluminum cans on a satellite dish to create symbols representing tobacco flowers and bats, inspired by the traditional motifs featured on two historic Cahuilla baskets in the museum's permanent collection."
According to the accompanying text, "Continuum Basket addresses the disengagement with and destruction of our native habitat-from littering to the construction of track housing-while the selection of beer and soda cans symbolically confronts the disproportionately high rates of alcoholism and diabetes in Native communities." Interesting.
Rat Catcher of Hamelin IV was a tad disturbing when I read more about it. Artist Mark Bradford finds inspiration in places where he lives and works. This collage is derived from a series of billboards gathered in Leimert Park, where Bradford maintains his studio.
"In 2010, a serial killer was apprehended in his neighborhood. After the arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department found photographs of African American women and posted them on billboards with the stated purpose of discovering additional victims. Bradford was astonished that the privacy of the women in his neighborhood could be violated and set about to collect the images. His layered canvas simultaneously obscures and reveals the narrative that led to the political and personal assault that the billboards represent."



We came to town today, ultimately, to tour Frey House II, a home recognized as an outstanding example of modernist architecture. Architects, scholars, and students from around the world come to Palm Springs to study and appreciate Albert Frey’s work. His unique understanding of function, form, practicality, and love for the desert landscape combine to provide us this extraordinary legacy.
Albert Frey is one of the main architects that helped shape the overall design of Palm Springs we have come to love today. He was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1903. He personified the same qualities found in his buildings: elegant, simple, streamlined, and clever. Even his wardrobe demonstrated a sensual notion of esthetic frugality. He wore shirts, trousers, and socks in a strictly limited palette of white, powder blue, salmon, pale yellow, and beige. For Frey, Modernism was not merely a stylistic issue, but a philosophical way of life.


Reportedly, he was somewhat of a desert eccentric: a vegetarian and yoga enthusiast who liked to sunbathe in the nude, necessitating that this bell, down by the carport, to be rung when visitors were approaching. I love that!
The architect’s 800-square-foot personal home — his second in the desert, where he lived until he died — is recognized for numerous design feats. Arguably, the most visually striking is the massive boulder jutting through the glass wall at the rear of the house; it serves as a divider between the shared living and sleeping areas. The most awe-inspiring, though, is the intentionality of Frey’s site selection and the subsequent sun study that he conducted prior to breaking ground.
Frey began his search for a lot in 1958 and took five years to find it. He chose this site at the base of Mount San Jacinto, 220 feet above Palm Springs, largely because of the natural outcrop that he incorporated into the design. Once he’d settled on the location, Frey took another 12 months to track the movement of the sun using a 10-foot pole; this helped him determine the best sightline for each window and position for each gathering space.
The build finally began in 1963 with the construction of a retaining wall. Made of poured concrete and concrete block, it extends from the house to create a front patio that cradles one of the most picturesque pools in Palm Springs. To address the natural slope of the lot, the single-story home splits into two levels separated by a few stairs. The lower level houses the galley kitchen and combined living and sleeping areas; the upper level includes the bathroom and a multipurpose dining/drafting table. Built-in furnishings make the most of modest quarters — there is plenty of added storage, including a safe concealed behind his bed, and unique personal touches like a pencil sharpener below the drafting board and a built-in turntable by the sofa. In 1967, he added a 300-square-foot addition off the kitchen to serve as a guest room (where you see me reclining below).
Franklin Jones was our incredible, and informative host. He brought Albert Frey to life. So dang cool.



Frey observed the valley from this perch for 34 years. In March 1995, at age 91, he sat down at his home with Jennifer Golub, co-author of the monograph Albert Frey House 1 + 2. Golub was taken with how little had changed in the home since its fabrication in the ’60s. It had the same brittlebush-yellow curtains, the same built-in furniture, and the same Swiss cowbell hanging at the entrance. “You haven’t even acquired anything,” Golub told Frey. “Would you do anything differently if you were to make the house today?”

“I really haven’t thought about it,” the architect replied. “It’s pretty much the way I like it.” And decades later, Frey would be pleased to know that it still is, now under the care of the Palm Springs Art Museum.



This has to be my most favorite spot in all of Palm Springs. I can just picture Albert admiring all that was laid out before him.

Our final stop was at The Shag Store for some souvenir shopping. Unbeknownst to us (but not to the 100+ people waiting in line), there was a book launch happening.

Nancy Sinatra arrived as we stood with our faces pressed against the store's window front. Her book, Nancy Sinatra: One For Your Dreams is described as "the ultimate pictorial retrospective is a visual journey through Nancy’s life and career, highlighting her international hits; her collaborations with Lee Hazlewood, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra; her movies and TV appearances; her family life; and her work as an activist on behalf of Vietnam veterans."
Even ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons was there as he has covered Nancy's most famous hit, These Boots Were Made For Walking. Though we didn't make it into the party, hanging about in the fringes wasn't too bad either.

I am always happy in Palm Springs and my expectations are always exceeded each time I go. Oh by the way, it was 100°! What a Saturday.

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