Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

abalone shells are one of my favorite shells to find, but it’s rare to find a whole shell. lots of people collect them because you just can’t walk by one and not pick it up. people collect them to sell also, just look at Amazon. I’ve only found a couple in tact so far, and lots of bits and pieces. I’ve bought a few at thrift stores, and one in hawaii.
I have a lot buttons in my collection made from the mother of pearl. They make jewelry out of it also. Some of you may have them on your clothes or in your jewelry box.

abalone can live over 30 years, if a sea otter doesn’t get them first. it’s a staple in their diet. it’s pretty much a delicacy all over the world. I’ve never eaten it and don’t really want to even try it. have any of you tried it and liked it? it doesn’t look very appealing here.

I removed the abalone shells from my ‘stuff shelves’ to find another place to put them. I’d like to have them outside, but afraid they might disappear out front on our beach, like they do on the real beach’s. they are all so similar – yet so different.
my collection ~~

as you probably noticed, you can’t talk about abalone shells without mentioning sea otters. we’ve seen many in Monterey bay pounding the shell on a rock – they’ve put on their chest – to open it. abalone is a staple in their diet, and they keep the sea urchin population in check, which improves the kelp forest and gives abalone more to eat.
the sea otters on the California coast, from point conception in Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, have increased for the first time since they were so heavily hunted in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Since 1985, this has been one of our favorite places to watch the otters, the dining room of the Green Gables Inn. It’s in Pacific Grove near Monterey and within walking distance to the aquarium. The breakfasts are fabulous and wine hour is so enjoyable. We made countless trips there over the years and were fortunate to have a 6 day vacation for our 25th anniversary.

I never got a good closeup picture of the otters from the Inn. I wish we had those binoculars that took pictures back then. This is a google photo. Aren’t they cute?

We loved the otters so much we bought this painting in one of the galleries in town on that anniversary trip. We even met the artist there.

we’ll, thanks for staying until the end – and I’ve only scratched the surface, I sometimes get carried away on subjects that interest me

but you’re on your own to find out more

I hope you stay tuned

💗jilly

Read Full Post »

This is one of our favorite places to eat, in Buellton, and this is one of my favorite pictures to take. You’ve seen this picture more than once on this blog. we always request the table, to get this view, watching our food cook, by these chefs, who have been our friends for awhile now. They cook the best steak you will ever taste. The restaurant has the notoriety of being in the movie Sideways, with Paul Giamatte and Thomas Haden Church. There’s a picture in the bar with the stars, and the top picture is of the owner, Frank, that gave Jerry his hat. It was too dark for a good picture.

If you’re ever up that way, pass Split Pea Andersen’s, for a ways, and then pull into the Hitching Post parking lot. If you get to the ostrich farm, you’ve went too far.
I departed from steak this visit getting the Ahi Tuna. All I can say is ‘delicious’! On the second night, yes we ate there twice, I got the best Santa Maria style baby back spareribs you’ll ever find. Jerry stuck to the filet and then tried the rack of lamb. Both delicious. My pictures aren’t blog worthy, again too dark. But look at the size of the tuna, and I had already eaten half. I had my first Long Island Iced tea since surgery. Yumm.

they now have a wine tasting room right next door to the restaurant.

We had the nicest server. I did the tasting and had the best time. Bought 4 bottle’s.

for all you cat lover’s, she showed me her cat, and I showed her Midas.I forgot how much it weighs, but it was a lot.

they always let us spend the night in their parking lot. We were the last ones in the restaurant at closing, and we were a little tipsy, didn’t have to drive, so the manager walked us to the coach. 🤭🤗it was a fun evening

Since we were staying another night we drove into Solvang Friday. we wanted to get aebleskivers, a round ball shaped danish pancake, but the cafe that made them is gone. It’s a lost art. So we went to the last thrift store in town, and then drove to los olivos, only 5 1/2 miles north. They have a nursery that is my cup of tea.

We spent a lot of time looking at everything. Jerry is so patient with me, and he likes that stuff too. and there are plenty of places to sit. I took a lot of pictures that are probably of interest only to me, but it’s my blog and I’ll post what I want to – and hope you enjoy them too. The creative items they have are offering an outlet for artists to show and sell their creations.

but that’s a post for another day.

I finished the puzzle that Tracy got me for my birthday. Here it is Tracy, loads of fun putting together. I’m working on the one from Martha now.

This is a new one from a thrift store. I failed to look closely at the poster before I started it, just looking at the box. Long story short, I discovered the puzzle was true to the poster but not the box. The puzzle actually has three more doors on the right and they are duplicates of three others. Do you see that? I discovered it when pieces wouldn’t fit.😵but I loved doing it.

Here’s a couple other’s I’ve completed. I liked this one because of the cherry trees.

This is a picture of my female cousins, not sure of the year. You know them from comments on the blog. Sharon – Celia – me – Martha – and Teddie, who unfortunately is no longer with us.

I liked this puzzle because it could possibly portray us cousins in old age. I want to be the lady in front of the window. How about you guys? That’s Teddie on the left, still young and watching over us. I’m not sure about the baby, but I have an idea?

it was nice to get away for a couple of days. We had fun and only had one traffic jam. Right after passing lax for about a half hour and that was it. I thought we would hit beach traffic for sure on a Saturday afternoon on highway 1, but it looked like everyone was still on the beach. It was smooth sailing all the way.

Stay tuned for more

💗jilly

Read Full Post »