Cruisin' in Southern California.

Last week I flew down to visit an old friend of mine who lives in Irvine. She picked me up from the airport and we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to Seal Beach for high tea. McKenna's Tea Cottage a is lovely place to sit and chat and enjoy a pot or two of tea.


The sun was out the next morning, the pool looked inviting.


Love the colour of her orchid plant.


We went off to explore, first stop was tpt home in Costa Mesa.


They were all decked out for Halloween. Love this guy free wheeling over the displays,


Hmmm... Which one to pick, my vote was the guy looking over his shoulder, that's the one Carol bought.


If only I lived closer one of these may have come home with me but too difficult to ship home.


Like the crows on top of the spools.


Cute owls and bats.


Great expression on this guy, like the bow tie.


She was bewitching with her feathers.


Fun book, great illustrations.


Great idea to display your pumpkin.


Another great idea, polka dot pumpkins and a bit of black ribbon.


Love hens and roosters.


A morning walk in the green space amongst the eucalyptus trees.


A trip over to Antique Mall of Treasures in Orange to check out one of Carols booths.


She adapted the idea of the pumpkin on a large pillar candle stick holder to the left of the white chair.


Lovely door entry on the circle.


Lovely old building that the Assistance League bought in the 1960's and still maintains.


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Halloween Colours

Happy Halloween to you all, today I went for a drive to check out the colours of Halloween.  This Japanese Maple tree is just up the hill from where I live, what a great contrast to the yellow leaves behind and the blue sky.

 The red the maple leaves are just gorgeous on this tree down by the Fraser River.

 Hints of yellow amongst the red and orange.

 There were two of this bush, great contrast against the green.

 Mountain Ash leaves turning from green to orange.

 The yellow was just beautiful on this tree.

 The Japanese Maple tree at a local garden centre was just spectacular! 

 Back closer to home the leaves turning on this Elm tree.

Some of the leaves along the walkway. 

 Some more spectacular colour with a Victorian house all decked out for the Trick or Treat children coming soon.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone.

This afternoon I went for a walk to enjoy the last rays of October and Hallowe'en. I've got my favourite quilt hanging and decorations celebrating the season. I designed this block from my friend Debbie's 50th birthday a few years ago, she adores Hallowe'en.

This Japanese maple tree is just outside of one of our doors, it is so small and delicate.

I like how the sun is catching this small tree, making it glow in the afternoon autumn sun.

This is the yellow witch hazel tree that I love to photograph, its leaves are almost a lemon yellow right now.

This leaf has such a pretty shape and the shadow it makes on itself makes it so interesting.

This set of condos have some lovely trees by their front doors.

Still hanging on for a few more days of autumn.

This beauty berry bush has such a lush colour of purple.

I adore the colours of red you see the leaves turn this time of year.

This oak leaf hydrangea is turning even more red than last week.

Another group of the same oak leaf hydrangea.

This is the red witch hazel tree.

The view along the river just outside my condo.

The ornamental cherry trees in our courtyard are changing colours every day, soon they will be bare for the winter.

Halloween is fast approaching. This wonderful witch was designed by my friend Karen Berry. She did a workshop with us at the beginning of October sharing some of her design techniques. You can see where some of her inspiration comes from colours in nature.This oak leaf hydrangea changes into such lovely colours of red, rust and brown.

We have several varieties of coleus along the gardens, their colours are quite spectacular in the fall sun.

Here is a slightly different colour way in the coleus.

The papyrus looks delicate against the blue sky.

These daisies always look so lovely. the colours so rich in the autumn sun.

This magenta grass is a favourite of mine.

The leaves of the witch hazel have wonderful veins and texture to them.

Another picture of the oak leaf hydrangea.