Daryl and Kevin’s excellent California adventure, Part 2…

We changed course a bit, my husband realized how many fun things there were to do in the Long Beach area, so we postponed our journey up the coast by one day.  On Thursday after a mad dash through the vendor hall at Convergence, we hopped a ferry over to Catalina Island for the day, and on recommendation from Harriet, who sat behind us at the fashion show, we rented a golf cart…

…and drove all over Avalon.  The views were breathtaking…

While we were there, we hiked up the Wrigley Memorial. (For those who don’t know the history here, Wrigley as in chewing gum, Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs, William Wrigley Jr. was an industrialist who owned most of Catalina Island and left all of it to a Conservancy to keep it protected.) Mrs. Wrigley apparently was quite the botanist; she had gardens that preserved the native species and ones that brought in species from all over the world.

There were cacti that looked like baskets…

And ones that looked like lawn sculptures… (Yes I know they also look like certain body parts but I’m trying to keep this clean here, work with me…)

There were flowering trees that were the most glorious color of peaches…

And there were succulents that made me want to pull out the dye pots…

And on the return home to the mainland, there was this…

Of course…

On Friday we headed up to Arroyo Grande, in the Central Coast where we stayed two glorious nights with Marlene who set up the workshop on Saturday with the Central Coast Chapter of the American Sewing Guild.  Her home was spectacular, and there was some discussion later in talking about the room she used as her studio.  I of course noticed all the colorful fabrics she had across the “cutting table” where she was building landscape quilts, and my husband noticed that the “cutting table” was a board with stuff on it across a gorgeous pool table.  Whatever it takes…

The Central Coast ASG Chapter was a delight to work with, these 25 or so ladies spent six hours listening to me talk about all aspects of garment construction, from fit, to seam and edge treatments to closures and they hung in there and asked questions and seem to really want to return to garment making.  Many many women in my demographic once sewed garments for themselves or their families and have gotten away from it for reasons that are varied, but mostly because sewing garments and getting them to fit bodies that aren’t what they were when we were all in our 20’s is frustrating and demoralizing.  Especially when the fit model from the major pattern companies has nothing to do with real women’s bodies.  (Think 1960 airline stewardess…)  And there are those who are still in therapy from that eighth grade apron experience.  The stories I’ve heard…

It is a happy day for me when a student comes up and says that I’ve rekindled their desire to sew clothing for themselves again, especially when they make or manipulate really cool cloth.

Two of the other workshop attendees were also staying at Marlene’s house, and Friday and Saturday nights were like a fiber junkie pajama party, my husband was such a good sport, and left us to our fiber talk while discreetly sitting in the background doing his computer thing.  Thanks Marlene for a great weekend!

On Sunday morning we headed up to Morro Bay, home of “the rock” and met up with Nancy and Jeff, more fiber friends.  When last I stayed with Nancy and Jerry, they had just moved in three days before and Nancy’s studio was still in boxes.  I was thrilled to see the fibers unpacked and the looms set up.

Jerry took us down for a glorious view of “the rock” and a stroll on the beach…

Sunday night we ate at the Dockside, fried clams, shrimp and fish.  The wine flowed and we ate al fresco again, this time right on the wharf, watching the seagulls and seals play in the ocean. I ate the biggest oysters I’ve ever seen…

Monday Nancy packed a picnic lunch and took us on a little known trail hike to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant called Point Buchon Trail.  It is owned by the power company and is a marine conservation area and state marine reserve.  It is gorgeous.  We walked about 7K, from one end to the other and back, on some pretty rugged and spectacular coast line.

We ate lunch at Windy Point before heading back to the beginning of the trail…

We saw all sorts of flora and fauna including California poppies…

And a breed of sheep I knew nothing about…

Turns out these are Dorper Sheep, a South African meat producing breed with a highly desirable skin, a crossing between a Dorset Horn and a Blackhead Persian…  Who knew?

And so we headed out Tuesday morning on yet another grand adventure, stay tuned for the next installment of Kevin and Daryl’s excellent California adventure…