Retreat at Shell Beach

I had the privilege to spend the weekend with some wonderful women of God this past weekend at Shell Beach. There were thirteen of us, along with a DVD series from Women of Faith, in a beautiful house just a two minute walk from the ocean. The house had a giant, open room on the second level with a kitchen and living room area that opened up onto the deck. It was perfect for crafting . . . cooking . . . and hanging out.Mom & Daughter MomentWe had lots of free time between sessions to walk on the shore, nap, shop, read . . . whatever!We were excited to miss the first 100+ degree weekend in Bakersfield. The weather on the coast was LOVELY. On Sunday it was foggy and cool in the early morning giving the shoreline a completely different look. Pelicans--those silent, beautiful fliersHeronI was too far away to get a good picture, but there were seals all over a group of rocks. This particular one must have fallen asleep on the shore and when she woke up she had to traverse the area no longer covered by water. Her coloring and mottling is almost exactly like that of the rocks.

Summer Fun!

I just got back from a wonderful Womens' Retreat with some lovely ladies from church; I'll write more about it and post pictures soon!

Tonight I thought I'd share some fun pictures quick from today. Erik and I took the dogs to the park and found a SPRINKLER on our way back from walking . . . it was hot and icky and they were more than a leetle excited about it. ;-D Pippin has played with them before, and Sophi used to love to pounce on them and try to take a drink. I figured that Thomas would do the same . . . but he was really mostly more interested in just Getting Wet. At one point he was just dashing in circles, apparently making sure that every bit of him was equally soaked. They had such fun and of course we all got soaked. When we finally decided it was time to go, Thomas was determined to stay. He braced his feet and pulled on his leash and cried like crazy!

What a couple of goofballs--just thought I'd share the joy. :-)

WITO

I got to attend a Women in the Outdoors event this past weekend! Laura, a friend I met through Erik, has been attending this weekend event for several years and told me about it this past winter. We ranked class choices when registering and got to take three over the course of two days down at Tejon Ranch.

My first session on Saturday was Hiking, and the leader talked about things to pack for day and overnight hikes and about some trips in the area, and then we took a hike! Tejon is huge and we only saw a small part of it during the weekend, but our 3-mile loop was certainly very pretty.I went Kayaking in the afternoon with three of the ladies I'd met through Laura. We had fun in the little harbor we started in, but once we got out onto the lake itself the wind was a bit much. Back at camp, showin' off the camo Lucky Laura won the grand prize raffle!! Fire pit complete with rack, dutch oven and cookbook--fun!I got up Sunday morning and took a little walk in the quiet . . . After all the wind and sun and activity on Saturday, Pine Needle Weaving was the perfect Sunday session for me. It was lots of fun, and they sent me home with some supplies to start another project too! It's time consuming, but very fun and fulfilling. I thought of you, Sally!! Here's my class creation (it's a trivet): Lots of fun to go, and nice to come back home too. :-)
Can't wait til next year!