Sassy is stylin'...

...in her post-surgical T-shirt. Actually, "surgical" is a bit strong a word. We took her into the vet's office on Wednesday assuming that she'd be anesthetized and we wouldn't get to bring her home until Thursday. But, the skin tag that she'd begun to chew and scratch, causing it to bleed and crust over, was able to be removed with a local. She came home early Wednesday evening ready to eat, romp a bit with her sister and then curl up on the couch for a long night's rest. So far she's ignoring her three stitches, located in the middle of her right rib cage area. We hope that continues to be true!

Gardens of the World...

Many of our "Day-trippin" adventures have happened because of a recommendation from Westways Magazine, put out by the Auto Club. Yesterday's drive up to Thousand Oaks, about an hour and a half away, to see the Gardens of the World was one of those. According to the article, we learned this four and a half acre property is owned and operated by the Hogan Family Foundation, and as the plaque says, was dedicated to the citizens of the Conejo Valley on December 9, 2001. The park is open six days a week and admission is free. Ed and Lynn Hogan, the couple who founded Pleasant Holidays, a hugely successful tour company, designed the gardens to commemorate the various cultures of the world.

We were pleased to spend time in this immaculately kept park that was well staffed with friendly, knowledgeable volunteer docents. It was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for an adventure!

The French Garden...

Having missed the (very poorly marked!) entrance into Gardens of the World, we finally parked our car on the street just steps from the front gate. Having now started our tour where we did, we feel sorry for those who don't see the French Garden first, just inside the gate, as we did! The fountain that is the garden's centerpiece is beautiful, and even more beautiful are the highly manicured areas below which are designed and planted with images of a butterfly and the sun. It's an exquisite introduction to all that's to follow.

The English Perenial & Rose Garden...

...is probably magnificent in the spring and summer! The trellis that covers the walkway into this garden area is covered with jasmine. According to the guide book, there are over four hundred rose bushes in this part of the garden! One can only image how glorious and heavenly scented this area must be when they are in their full glory!

The Italian Garden...

...proved that no expense was spared when it came to creating beautiful water features on these grounds! At the base of the hill is an harbor covered seating area with a great view of the terraced plantings, the "chain" fountain, the perfectly aligned rows of Italian Cypress flanking the garden, and the sculpture at the top.

The Bandstand...

In the center of the grounds is The
Bandstand, in which concerts are played and special events held. This lovely expanse of grass and a shaded pic-nic area are the two places where visitors are allowed to eat and drink within the Gardens.

The Resource Center...

...is home to a small gallery where local artists can exhibit their botanical works. We loved the vine covered front wall and, of course, the wonderful outdoor chess board.

The Japanese Garden...

...surrounds a traditional Tea House. Water spilling down a hillside travels under a bridge and into a pond filled with enormous koi. Benches inside the Tea House make it a perfect place to sit and watch the fish, as well as to drink in the simplistic, but beautiful landscaping. According to the guidebook, the rock formations in the pond represent a turtle and a crane (pictured), symbols of longevity.

The Mission Courtyard...

...is an homage to the California Missions. On the interior walls of the courtyard were murals of all of the twenty-one missions in the system, in addition to the pictured state map with their locations. From the tour booklet we learned something we'd never heard in all our many mission tours - the traditional fountains most often had three levels so that chickens could drink from the bottom tier, horses from the middle, and people from the top! (Gratefully, the water would be purest there. Wouldn't it?)

One of the best parts of "day-trippin"...

...is checking out different restaurants! We had seen Harold's House of Omelettes in a nondiscript strip mall off to our left on Thousand Oaks Blvd. just a few blocks before we reached the Gardens. Since neither of us had eaten a real breakfast and it was just about noon, an omelette sounded good to both of us after of walk through the gardens. Needless to say, we didn't expect them to be quite this big! Larry ordered a Chili Verde Omelette (odd, yes?), and said that it was made with the best Chili Verdi he'd ever eaten. Margaret went for one of her favorite combinations - chili cheese, of course! We checked with our waitress to see if the restaurant's patio is dog friendly, and it is. That's good to know because Harold's made such an impression on us that we're planning on stopping there for lunch on our way up to the Central Coast in a few weeks.

The Tall Ship Festival Parade...

A three day festival takes place in Dana Point this time of year in celebration of the Tall Ships, starting out on Friday night with a parade of these beautiful vessels from Laguna Beach into Dana Point Harbor. As the pictures show, the weather could have been a bit more cooperative. After several days of intense heat earlier in the week, the coastal clouds had returned. Still the ships are beautiful under full sail. Where we choose to watch them come in, just inside the break water meant that our views of them under sail were slightly obscured, and once inside the breakers, they've dropped sail. Still it was a wonderful way to spend a late afternoon/early evening. We had packed a pic-nic of sandwiches, chips and a bottle of wine, and enjoyed the comradery of a number of the folks there to watch the show.

The Mystery Rock Stacker...

...had struck again just before the crowds arrived to watch the parade. The reason we know about the mystery rock stacker is that a tour boat came by and the guide was telling the folks on board all about it! What was most interesting, according to the locals, is that this was the first time the rocks had been stacked out in the water. Normally these stacks appear on land. Anyway, they staid up for quite some time, before one at a time, the stacks began to crumble.

Stirring up the sea gulls...

...was the Orange County Fire boat as it led the parade of the Tall Ships into the harbor. Not only was it pumping water, but it also had it's siren running. The crowd around us all agreed we were glad when he was past and out of earshot!

Lots of puppy friends...

We saw lots and lots of dogs; they were every bit as entertaining as the parade of ships. We were especially taken by the little "dog boarder". It was just before we left that Skyler, the Wheaten rescue came to say hello. He managed to crawl into both our laps and our hearts in a very short time!

Beating the heat on Wednesday...

As I write this, it is before noon on Thursday, and there's a sliver of a window of time left before it'll be too hot to be upstairs on this computer! (The good news is that this heat wave should subside after today, with temps twenty degrees lower over the weekend.)

We spent an hour or so in the oppressive heat at the barn yesterday morning, long enough to let Miss Belle know we love her, and to see her do just as little work as possible with John on her. (She hates the heat, too!) Then we headed back to the water in Dana Point in search of cooler air. Had lunch at a neighborhood bar and restaurant near the marina that we've become fond of - Turk's, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with great views of the water. After lunch we took a short walk above the docks. It's hard to make out, but there is a big banner on the historic schooner, Curlew, that says "Charter Me". Would love to do just that! The Curlew, by the way, is one of several ships that will be involved in a three day Tall Ship Festival in Dana Point over the weekend. We are hoping to find a place to see all of them sail into Dana Point Harbor tomorrow evening at sunset. If that happens, there WILL be more pictures!

Beating the heat on Tuesday...

We hadn't been down to Newport Pier for months - possibly since before school got out last June! With temps heading into the nineties, even in our neighborhood, getting down near the water for a bite to eat and some relief sounded great. That it was the day that most of the kids were headed back to school and the beach was peaceful again? That was gravy!

We had never really studied this monument at the head of the Pier before. Took some time and followed the footsteps as they lead us on to a number of cement tiles inscribed with interesting Newport Beach historical facts and dates. The quotation at the entrance reads "Begin Here, Your Journey Through Time."

New Meters Make Parking Easier...

We usually carry plenty of quarters when we head for Newport. To our surprise, we discovered that if we don't have all the coin we need, the city's new Credit Card equipped parking meters still make parking possible!

Heather celebrates her birthday...

Heather and the whole family celebrated her special day last Friday at the beach in Newport Dunes. Here she is with her two oldest as they enjoyed a day of sun and sand!

A sad day at Longwood...

As a member of the landscape committee in our condo community off and on for many years, Margaret has been keeping her eye on an enormous, beautiful eucalyptus on the edge of the property that, over time, has leaned further and further towards one of our buildings. Despite bi-annual side trimming of it, keeping the side facing our community property as light as possible, we could no longer deny that it was time to bring this majestic giant down. We did keep a couple of two foot high pieces of the trunk, which once they are dry, will make unique seats inside the pool yard!

And Joshua turned three...

Our big boy, Joshua, celebrated being three on August 16. Here he is enjoying his birthday dinner at Rubys!