Whenever I’m come back from holiday I feel the need to ‘sort things’.  I have the urge of diving into cupboards and purge things, throw away the surplus… start afresh.  Now this could be a total denial of the amount of washing that five people produce in a week in a hot country I’ll be the first to admit… but I think that at the bottom of that is the feeling that holiday always bring on of a fresh start, of fully charged batteries, of a desire to put behind all the drudgery, to fix the broken and the wrongs and begin with renew enthusiasm.  Sometimes it lasts longer than other and as I get older this blasted jet lag really knocks me for 6… but still  the fire is there.

I made a list.  A long list.

I’ve already nordered a new chest of drawers for our bedroom because I’m fed up of cardboard drawers in the dressing room shelves (yes, I’m lucky to have a dressing room but it’s not how I would have designed it and certain features – lack of drawers) really annoy me.  So that’s one thing off the list.

And actually our bedroom got painted whilst we were away and I love it, so that is an item sort of out of a prequel list… if that makes even any sense.

Yesterday in between bouts of ironing (can’t stand having an ironing mountain, much rather doing it as it appears out of the dryer) I repotted a few of the plants that needed attention.

I’ve been a member of the Geo-Fleur plant club for a while now and all the little monthly plant the send are doing so well that they started to need a bigger home.  Every month you receive a new plant in a gorgeous little pot and a few other little goodies.  Great fun.

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My pilea has been making babies at rabbit pace and my dad has been hinting rather loudly he’d like one to so….

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… and this first born, which had moved into its first pad last year needed a bigger one too… ok… a prettier one… and I wanted my coffee cup back…

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Then there was this ‘thing’ that had appeared on its one in the pot of a totally different plant.  I have no idea what it is or how it ended up there, but it looks healthy and cute so it got its own pot too.

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Any idea? you plant expert?

Anyway, I made a right Royal mess in the kitchen doing all this but it was worth it although I then moved into completely re-doing the shelves above the kitchen because… don’t know, just because and the whole thing took much longer.

As usual.

So next on the list….

 

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Palm Springs (by J.V. Healy, 1939)

 

Here the white lizards scatter over the white sand;

The sun creates stillness, makes t knee-joints limp,

The sullen heat gives power to prolong

The furtive tenderness of a bronzed hand.

 

There the movie actress flats in the blue pool:

White is her suit, brown her skin, yellow her hair,

Red the rubber mattress on which she reclines

Languid and cruel.

 

Turning and gliding in the desert air

The eagle circles the mountain that shines like bronze.

Toward this day they came from the old lands:

Indians on panther fee, Spaniards with guns.

 

“There now!” an actor called: “follow your game!”

As he tossed a ball that hit a racket that banged,

And the author, running, drove the ball in the net

Then watched the actor give his famous site.

 

An Eastern lawyer, by himself on horseback,

Thinking of stock curves saw a downward move,

Thinking of her, his wife who had diverted him,

Compared her with the flaming desert flowers

Briefly in bloom.  Mile on during mile

He rode, seeking her profile, rode for hours.

This place is truly magical.  The  West entrance, and the town of Joshua Tree are only an hour’s drive from Palm Springs but it felt like travelling back in time a few centuries…

A day ticket for the park is $25 and you can buy it at the gate from the Rangers.

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The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree’s unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer.

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These days it is a world renown climbing place too… although we just did ‘scrambling’…

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and pretend climbing one foot off the ground…

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We didn’t have too much time so we only did one walk:  ‘Hidden Valley’ and it was quite spectacular.  A very easy 1 mile loop (it’s hot… take lots of water with you), well signposted and with interesting signs explaining about he flora and fauna of the area.

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We then drove across the park to the Cholla garden…

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They are also known as the Teddy bear cactus or the jumping cactus… but they’re neither… they might look soft and cuddly but the spines are totally vicious and will attached to anything that brushes past them even lightly and are really hard to remove.

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But they’re beautiful in the fading sunset light…

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truly magical.

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(although, between you and me… they’re kind of spooky too… you can totally imagine them moving about and attacking campers as soon as the sun goes down!  Very Stephen King, if you know what i mean)

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Another couple of things ticked off my list of things to do in Palm Springs:

first up the obligatory drive by Frank Sinatra’s house (he’s buried in PS… that trip will have to wait till next time)

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the gate was open and I was going to have a little peak inside (the pool you can glance behind the ajar door is shaped like a piano top… )

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and second, a quick photo or two to the iconic Town Hall Building designed by Frey.

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oh that’s me… hi!

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Of course you can take the boys away from football, but you can’t take football away from the boys… apparently there was a very important game that necessitated watching at all costs.

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Sigh.

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A day of 2 halves.

Early morning walk in the neighbourhood and short hike.  By myself, because my children are lazy and the husband is still not a walking model.

It was a glorious morning.

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On the top of that little hill, in full sun, the Coachella valley spread in front of me I took a quick five minutes ‘Headspace’ break and it was pure bliss.  No other people, just me and a few lizards (although I was totally paranoid about rattle snakes, justified or unjustified I’ll never know…).

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We then had lunch at the ‘Farm‘.  Totes delish.  I would definitively recommend it if you’re in the area.  Great fresh food (the iced coffee too was fantastic) and it’s really really pretty, inside and out.

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Then, No 2 boy and I ‘popped’ to the Palm Spring Art Museum to check out the Andy Warhol exhibition.  Oh my.  So so good.

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Gorgeous day, if you don’t count the part where I almost put diesel instead of gasoline/petrol in the rental car… shhh, Mr M doesn’t know, let’s keep it between us.

Oh and we met Elvis…

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Day 2.

Palm Spring Vintage market takes place on the first Sunday of every month.

How lucky was that!

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I bought this incredible quilt top from a lady who gave me a discount because I was able to tell her that it was a postage stamp quilt set in a trip around the world pattern.

So sweet.

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It’s hand sewn and roughly 70″ square.  The question is, what do you do with vintage quilt tops?  Is it sacrilege to finish it into complete quilt? Should I?  Or should I leave it as is?

Mmmhhhh….

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Hello!!

We arrived in Palm Springs last night after a long comfortable flight and a smooth drive (LA traffic though… urgh…).  I managed to watch two movies (‘The shape of water’, which I found a tad slow and I’m sure lost a lot by being watched on a tiny screen, and ‘Call me by my name’ which I thought was very good.  I also watched the first three episodes of ‘This is us’, so so lovely…).

First of all a warning:  I love this place… and because I love this place I will be taking a stupid amount of photos… and because I’m going to take a stupid amount of photos you’ll be bombarded with a stupid amount of photos on a regular basis.  Forewarned is forearmed, right?  Feel free to come back here in a week when regular posting will resume.

I’m not going to show you  the house we’re renting just yet… I’ll have more pictures in a few days… let’s just say I never want to leave.  EVER.  I’m going to spend the rest of my days wearing brightly coloured kaftans by the pool and drinking gin & tonics floating on flamingos cup holders.   Goodbye, y’all.

Aaaaaanyway,  in the morning we went for a massive breakfast at Elmer’s, where the German pancakes are huge, the eggs Benedict delicious and the buttermilk pancakes so fluffy they basically float on your plate..

…then back home for a little a bit of this – the boys, not me, not after those eggs – …

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and this… again… eggs… not me…

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Then as Mr M’s back is still playing up (the long journey yesterday has taken its toll), he rested by the pool whilst the boys and I popped into Moorten Botanical Garden and ohhhhed and ahhhhhed at all the amazing cacti and succulents.  I meant to go last time I was in Palm Springs (did mention I love this place?) but we ran out of time so this time round I made sure it was on ‘the list’.

What a cute place… it’s not big but so enjoyable…

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(the lesser spotted No 2 up there, a rare treat…)

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Aren’t they all amazing?

 

I’m bored, what are my chances of peeling a teenager off the sofa and convince him to go for a walk with me?

 

 

 

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a bit of a classic today…

A Psalm Of Life (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait