Mid-March

In mid-March my sister and I went to the Wisteria Festival.

It was my second time.  

The first was in the early 2000's with my mama.

I mentioned it in this old post from 2.5 years ago.

Looking back at this old post, it is a comfort to read the comments 

and remember those who used to come here 

and be reminded of those who still do.

We've shared many years together and I am grateful.

Walking into the festival, a door with a quote:
" We must not assume a door is closed, but must push on it.  We must not assume if it was closed yesterday that it is closed today."
~Marian Wright Edelman

You can learn more about the Wisteria history here.

*As always click on photos to enlarge
 

Sisters

My mama's photo is being held up at the corner of the porch, where the original Wisteria was planted in 1894  Almost all of the other places it touches the ground, are runners off of the original plant.  It covers an acre of land and is in the Guinness Book of World Records!

The Wisteria against the mountains was pretty dramatic 

on such a bright and beautiful day!

Beautiful succulent in town

The festival was filled with food, art and music.
We treated ourselves to t-shirts that make a statement from Just Buddha.
I chose "Be Compassion"...because it seemed like the world, my world could use more of that and I figured I could start with me.

Old postcard from my first visit.
Time is not linear in my world sometimes,
as I travel back in memory or live in the moment or consider the future!
Haha, hey why not!

 May you enjoy your own travels!
~Nancy
Photos  by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2017

First the Pot, then a Feather

First he brought in the pot (see last post)

...then he brought in this gift of a unique feather, 

which was found in the same hills.

feather

He knows me so well!

We are unsure what bird left this behind.

One might think crow or raven at first.

But, it feels thinner and has the iridescent green aspect 

that causes some pondering.

I went 'walk-about' in the 'back 40' to try and capture its essence.

Ended up having some fun with light and shadow!

Enjoy!

IN THE LIGHT

feather in the sky

feather in the sunflower house

feather & the sun

feather holds green

SHADOW-PLAY

taller than a feather

feather power

in my heart

see-through-layers

REMEMBERING

Last Tuesday was my mama's birthday.

She would have been 85 years old.

I've been missing her a lot.

This is the picture I posted over at FB on Tuesday.

It's from many years ago (early 2000's) at the Sierra Madre Wisteria Festival.

You can learn more about that  here or here or google-around for more.

It was a wonderful day.

That happiness shows.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2013

Ojai Day & Ojai Night

 This weekend was Ojai Day and Ojai Night.  An annual street fair celebrating the rich artistic, agricultural and cultural heritage of the Ojai Valley.

Beautiful weather, a wonderful location and great sights...it doesn't get any better than this!

Oh wait, it does get better...it was free!

 While there were probably more people in attendance at the Ojai street fair, it did not feel anywhere as crowded as the Avocado Festival!  

Let me share some of the sites (both physical sites, captured with my camera and websites, I discovered while roaming about!)

 

Driving into town we see this thought provoking sculpture at The Amestoy House, which is a former cooking school, now facility for rent for retreats or... ?

 Once in town, there are courtyard sculptures:

In a courtyard between stores, "It's Been a Hard Day's Night"

Mosaic chair in the "Secret Reading Room" a quiet courtyard at the local library

"Woman- A Work in Progress" by Oatley Kidder

 (lignum vitae)

Sculpture at the local museum.

 There was so much to see!  Lots of arts...so much variety at this fair.

 These are the arts/artists that caught my eye:

Martha Moran and her cairns - rock sculptures of beauty and balance

 Dan Shattuck where I purchased one handmade gift,

 but I won't tell what...Shhh...it's a secret!

Julie Lovejoy's little houses filled with fairy stories.

 You can purchase them here.

Aya Papaya's feather earings and 'warrior headbands' reminded me of my online friends!

Then, there was the BoriDolls table filled with needle felted treasures!

One was more precious than the next!  I can safely say if my daughter was still in her girlhood days or I had a grandaughter...I'd have been in self-control trouble!  She's on FaceBook and be sure to follow the link to her shop.

 There were gourd artists, celebrating this traditional fall decoration in unique ways!

Can you find the magic gourd?!  Ha! There were many booths that  supported our natural environment...drought tolerant plants...bicycles, there were California Condors, owls hawks, and others... the Turtle Conservancy Behler Chelonian Center ...all on display for educational purposes.  There was information shared about the Chumash Indians as well as a variety of spiritual and wellness experiences.  Massage anyone?

Along with all of the shopping and learning one could do, there was music to listen to and food to gobble up!

Isn't this charming?

If that is not enough, there was a huge variety of activities for children, including tie-dyeing, getting tattoos (fake of course!!) and art experiences. 

There were slot cars and camel rides, a bucking bull machine, a skateboard park, and a ride that could only be described as a big hamster ball...with a child inside!!!! 

                   

This went really slow while the little kids sat astride, waving one arm!

 The kids rolled and kicked and tried to stand up and run!  They fell and laughed hysterically!  The helper in the water gave 'em a push if they got stuck and helped guide them to their fellow helper outside of the pool when a turn had ended.  Up, up and over the edge...down the ramp and out you go little hamster-child!  Oh how I wished my grandson was with us to enjoy a rolling good time!

In my opinion, much better than those bounce-house things!

A skate park welcome!

Lots of rust!

Car show

Hay rides in the back of an old truck

Lion caught in a tree!

Goodbye Ojai...Thanks for a great afternoon!

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

Avocado Festival

Welcome to the Avocado Festival!

There were lots and lots of avocados!!!

There were so many people, we could barely walk!  Not my favorite kind of event.  Lots of vendors, lots of food booths, a few stages with live music, a big area with kids activities, a big tent with many displays, tractors and avocado themed dioramas made by local children!
Some of the food choices included avocado pie and ice cream!  

We did not taste either of those!

There was the guy with his wooden bike! 

Interesting flowers for sale

The overstimulating atmosphere of the festival was countered 

by the sights on the walk to the car.

There was no way to get the whole tree in a photo today!

This tree is amazing in it's hugeness!  Maybe on a less crowded day I could get a better picture, but today there were too many cars and people.  The ground below the tree is covered in the most wonderful, long pine needles and long slender ?  I don't know what these are!!  You can read more about the tree here.

A way cool tree eye!

Old house in town

The beautiful Pacific Ocean in the afternoon sun

 UPDATE:

I went to check on the window-box when I got home and what did I find?  Well, I did not find the little bug, but instead I found this guy sitting on the little bug's sunflower!  

Where is the little bug?

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011