An Afternoon in Morro Bay

In between all the rain and wind of the past few storms there have been a few days here and there where the clouds have parted and allowed us to enjoy a day in the sunshine.  We took advantage of one of those days to spend an afternoon in Morro Bay. This has always been one of my favorite places to visit on the Central Coast. 

We set off with our friends to walk out all the way around the bay to Morro Rock and then to the beach on the other side.

Of course I had to stop and say hello to the seagulls.

 Following our walk, we found ourselves in a cute, not so little, gift shop and nursery filled with a wonderful array of visual treats.  There were lovely indoor and outdoor spaces filled with displays of different ways to showcase plants,

 Themed spaces, each filled with decorating ideas and pictures,

 and delightful culinary books of all kinds.

 I could have spent an entire afternoon and not seen everything, but after an hour the boys said it was time to move on.

We finished our day back in the bay enjoying the sunshine before having an early dinner by the water.

It was the perfect ending to one of those wonderful days that make you smile when you look back on them.  God willing, we will be making many more of them in the weeks ahead.  Blessings to you.

Misadventures of a Pack Rat - Day 4

Life has had a little more stress than usual as the Investigator was in the hospital for surgery.  That's one of those difficult changes I alluded to in an earlier post. Now that he is home and recovering I have been back on task as I continue my purging efforts in addition to acting as caregiver for my sweet better half. I am happy to say he is getting better every day.  You will also see that I have not been idle.

With just snatches of time here and there everything looks a bit disorganized, but I know that with each item that ends up in a bag or box progress is being made.  Unfortunately, letting go of some things takes a little more time than just putting them into a bag and sending them out the door.

Books for the church library need to be cataloged before I can put them on the shelves.  The top box is finished and ready to go.  The bottom box still needs to be done. Hopefully, I will complete both of them before the week is out.  After that, I will still need to take them up to the church.

Sometimes it feels like everything I own has a story attached to it.

Three years ago I  crocheted two baby blankets for my niece's twins, one boy, one girl.  They both turned out very cute so I made another pink one for a close friend's first granddaughter.  Next, I started to make this blue one for another niece, but it seemed no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn't come out right.  I pulled it out and started over 4 times before I finally gave up in frustration and threw everything into the back of my closet where it has been for well over a year.  I have felt guilty about not finishing it ever since and every time I stumble over it in my closet it mocks me!  I have finally decided I really don't want to ever finish it.   I also know there must someone out there who loves to crochet and who will enjoy using all this yarn .  So out it's going.

Aren't these stacking boxes cute?  I bought them in a lovely little gift shop some 22 or so years ago. I can still see the shop in my mind's eye filled with pretty dishes, silk flowers and assorted candles as well some antiques. I was wandering through with family visiting from out of town when I spotted them and decided to bring them home with me.  My husband was thrilled! LOL!  My house had more of a cottage theme back in those days so I had them sitting around on shelves or under the tree at Christmas.  However, much as I always liked them I never really used them for anything useful.  They are just empty boxes after all.  If someone has a suggestion for what to do with them, I'm open.  Otherwise, I need to just make myself give them away.

 These woven afghans are also from my cottage theme years.  I have already given several like them away.  These take up a lot of space in the linen closet but I almost never use them.  However, these last two do have some emotions attached to them.  The one on the right was the last Christmas gift I ever received from my oldest brother before he passed away two months later.  The one on the left was a gift from a very old and dear family friend who has also passed away in the last couple of years.  I am still trying to decide if these are going back into the closet, even if I don't use them or if a photograph of them is enough.  We will see.

Before you completely despair of my ever being able to let go of anything, I would also like to say I have been working on my bedroom closet for the last two days.   Between my hubby's naps I have collected several bags of clothes, shoes and purses as well as a few more books and tons of hangers, so all is not lost.  Purging is happening.  In fact, I have another trunk load of stuff that just needs to be loaded up and sent on it way.  Hurray!

Retirement

Not all changes are bad, but as I mentioned in my previous post, they can be unsettling, even when we have chosen them ourselves.  After much back and forth my husband and I both came to the conclusion that it was time for me to hang up my hat and retire at the end of this school year.  It was not an easy decision as I was not only blessed to be able to stay home with my children for 17 years. but I was able to follow that with 20 years of doing a job that I truly loved. I helped to open this school 17 years ago and have been there ever since.

Every fall I pulled into this parking lot, excited for a new year to start.  That excitement would continue through the seasons all the way to the end of each school year.

School Parking lot in the fall.

The flowering cherry trees in the spring in front of the school.

Early summer on the playground the last weeks of school.. 

Last week of school.

This was my little teaching area where I helped immigrant children learn to read, write and speak English.  Over the years I met children from Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, China, West Africa and the Philippines, just to name a few.  It was always so rewarding to watch them grow in confidence and reach the point where they didn't need me anymore.  I helped with special needs children as well.

Our school mascot was a hornet.  On the last day of school we had a going away party with a cake and I was given this lovely sterling silver necklace especially designed with the honeycomb and a little bee.  I am so glad to know that I will always be "a part of the hive."    This was a heart wrenching change but I am hoping it is not "adieu" but rather "au revoir" as I am planning to come back and do some volunteering and possibly substituting as well in the future.  

 

 And so as I said in my Thank You, I will wear this with gratitude and joy because of what it represents, that I was part of a remarkable team of dedicated and talented people whom I admired and respected and who taught me everything I know about teaching. 

Standing next to my Principal in the green shirt.

For those of you who are wondering what we are going to do next, we are sticking around home for the summer as we have a number of health related things to take care of in the next few weeks. Besides this is the best time to be in the Northwest as the weather is perfect.  We may take a few days in the fall.  Then we will be home through the holidays and to be here for the birth of our first grandchild.  Yes, we have another big change coming as we are going to be grandparents this winter.

I am excited to see what the future brings but I will never forget the wonderful experiences or the people who have gone before.

Mother's Day by the River

 As a child growing up one of the things my family liked to do was take long camping trips.  We would pack up the tents and the sleeping bags in the station wagon and head off on road trips that would last for several weeks as we visited the various national forests and campgrounds across the country.  Today, I don't have to drive across the country to get to the forest.  It's right in my own backyard just a 20 minute drive away.

My mother loved our camping trips and so for Mother's Day last weekend we took her for a drive out to the woods for an afternoon by the river.  At 83, she isn't as spry as she once was but with a little help she was able to make it down to the riverbank.

There is a bit of pioneer history back here.  Homesteaders once mined this area for silver and logged the old growth timber.  In fact, the town I live in originally sprang up around a lumber mill.

 Today it's a nature preserve filled with hiking trails and campgrounds. I love wandering through the moss covered trees and along paths lined with ferns.

By late summer these wild huckleberry bushes will be covered with small red berries.  It takes a long time to gather enough but if you have the patience to do it, they make wonderful pie.

It was peaceful just watching the river flowing by.  The water splashed quickly over the rocks in some places before opening up into calmer waters.

We spent a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine, skipping rocks across the water, and walking along the riverbank.    
     

  

Our beautiful daughter

Skipping Rocks

Doesn't this rock look like a giant turtle heading into the water?

 We ended our day by going home to a picnic dinner from the deli followed by marshmallows roasted over a fire in the courtyard. 

So, even though we weren't really camping, it was the perfect ending to a lovely day.  To all you moms out there I wish you a belated Happy Mother's Day.