Feel-good Friday: Desert Bloom

Feeling really inspired, full of life, more nurtured and on my way to becoming more fit. You could say I’m beginning to blossom again (ha,ha). Well that’s how I feel right now. And right now is where I want to be…in the moment.

Could have something to do with being in the desert, the sunshine and noticing the desert flowers starting to bloom. Even since one week ago they’ve become so much more noticeable. If you look between the cracks you can find beauty.

And I’m enjoying hiking around Palm Springs. There are many varied hiking areas, however these photos were taken on two recent hikes in an area where I can walk to from my place. In that regard I feel very lucky. Another beautiful sight on my last hike was seeing for the first time a large family of big horn sheep. They sprinkle the mountain white.

It appears that everything is starting to flourish for Spring. It’s at least a positive force and a force of nature – not to be messed with.

Selfie – a few days ago with Ramona & Alex.

So on that note…I leave you with a few quotes to contemplate over the weekend:

There is only “one” you in the bunch. Photo: d. king

I like this quote but I’m staying on the trail. I don’t mind losing myself but I don’t want to get lost completely.

These guys certainly make their own way and their own rules. They’ve even disrupted some of the paths but they were here before us so that’s ok.

Photo: Tammy Preast – Josie Johnson Vista

**Tammy is an inspiration** – she even has a hiking guide book so you can say she goes by the book so to speak. Plus she’s super fit. Photo: d. king

Trying to keep on top of things. Photo: Ramona

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: February

What can we say about this month?

“February – the month of love..?!!
No wonder the shortest one in the calendar.” – Dinesh Kumar Biran

I prefer this quote:

February days are a marketing gimmick; love happens every day. Randeep Hooda

Always look for hidden treasures. I tend to find them in the least likely places. Like on a recent hike:

You know what they say…one persons rubbish is another persons treasure. But look at what became of this desert treasure:

A piece broke off so I placed it in a vase with fresh flowers around it… the old with the new.

My friend Leonard then created an outdoor mixed media ~~of sorts~~ using the larger piece and mushrooms that light up for a unique solar light installation placed in a terracotta planter with mixed gravel. From the desert floor to my floor…

FUN

Feel-good Friday: the Bees & the Blueberries

Have you ever…

put your hand on top of hundreds of honey bees right after digging your bare fingers into their work of art honeycomb to taste the deliciously sweet honey? Well I have!

Hand on left belongs to Tamara. Hand on right belongs to Bill. If you don’t freak out they won’t even bother you. *The bees I’m talking about.*

I had the pleasure of visiting a boutique blueberry farm yesterday on a beautiful piece of property with two girlfriends.

The farm belongs to Bill, a friend of Cassandra’s. I might add he was super friendly, very knowledgeable in many areas (not only bees & blueberries) and extremely generous. This is not your regular blueberry picking farm. It’s a private farm. Bill supplies his organic big super sweet blueberries to top restaurants in Vancouver and several lucky select markets. He also has an amazing garden with a variety of hot peppers I’ve never even heard the names of before. That alone is impressive (I mean that I don’t know the names), and lots of majestic sunflowers. I love sunflowers.

We left with big boxes each of the most delicious handpicked blueberries ever, a few jars of super sweet honey, and I got a huge spaghetti squash and a bottle of spiced honey liqueur. Oh; and the yummiest homemade blueberry (naturally) muffin made fresh that morning by Bill’s mother. They really are THE BEST I’ve ever tasted.

lucky women – Tamara, Cassandra & Debbie.

So far I’ve made blueberry pancakes, a blueberry crisp and bars. Just plain blueberries on their own are good enough this time of year.

Next up: Blackberries

Oh it’s that time of year again. The time where until the end of August I post sporadically and not as often. But you probably already know that.

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: Autumn Leaves

Life fails to be perfect, but never fails to be beautifulLife starts all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Images: d. king

Girl Who Would be King

Monday Mood Board #4

QUAINT – WINSOME – WILD

I always thought it would be great fun and somewhat adventurous to live on a houseboatafter knowing someone who did. Then I decided it might be even better to live on a tugboat in the forest across from a lake. Something like this would do.

Driving Above **Christina Lake, British Columbia**

Old fashioned fun

Really good borscht at **The Borscht Bowl** in Grand Forks, B.C.

Really good Thai at **Benja** in Keremeos, B.C. Good local fruit too.

Yes, we saw a big black bear close to the road. Too close for comfort actually.

Dogs just want to have FUN. And they know how to keep COOL on a HOT day.

Photos: d. king

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: SPRING has SPRUNG

Oh, Spring! I want to go out and feel you and get inspiration. My old things seem dead. I want fresh contacts, more vital searching. – Emily Carr

“The sun just touched the morning;
The morning, happy thing,
Supposed that he had come to dwell,
And life would be all spring.” – Emily Dickinson

The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently. Gary Zukav (best selling author, “Seat of the Soul”).

I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees, and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way. But the arrival of spring can’t be done in one picture. David Hockney

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” – Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Spring in the Desert brings more Spring in his Step

Sundog Jack – “the grass is always greener in Spring”

Fresh Photos: d. king

Art, Architecture, Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Art/Nature: DesertX

Well the thing is, art can be found everywhere, even in the desert. And it makes perfect sense; beauty with beauty. whitewater3

whitewater1

I realized that while taking a nature walk with the dogs right after a picnic. The location being Whitewater Preserve about 20 minutes northwest of Palm Springs. An absolutely stunning setting of over 2,000 acres of pristine desert with hiking trails and wildlife. From a distance I came across what looked like a birding roost, and on closer inspection found out it was made from sand bags. It’s actually an art piece. built to replicate how pigeons in Israel are put to roost. But it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s going on around town especially now, so I had to find out *more.
whitewater5 whitewater6

*From Feb. 25 through April 30, 2017, the Coachella Valley and its desert landscape will become the canvas for a curated exhibition of site-specific work by established and emerging artists, whose projects will amplify and articulate global and local issues that may range from climate change to starry skies, from tribal culture and immigration to tourism, gaming, and golf. The artworks, in various indoor and outdoor locations will be available for free and will offer visitors a way to see the valley and reflect on serious and playful issues through the lens of the participating artists’ creativity and work.

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple walk

CHECK out this short VIDEO:

https://www.desertx.org/about-us/

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple drive

On the drive to the nature preserve you will come across hundreds on windmills 20170224_140637 The windmills are there for power generation with renewable energy. However I hate them for the fact that the valley is infamous for the number of birds that are killed because of them.

Photos: d. king

DESTINATIONS, Girl Who Would be King

Travel: Tourist in my own Town

Have you ever been a tourist in your own city?

Like take a tour bus or be the tour guide? It can be lots of fun. I had the pleasure of re-discovering some fabulous places when a friend visited who I have not seen in over 20 years.

I first met Masako in the early 80’s when we both lived and worked in Tokyo. We became fast friends. I knew she was someone I wanted to keep track of because she’s really smart, funny, hard working (international investments), well traveled, a nature lover, caring and curious. In other words, the perfect friend.

The tourist photo on Canada Day (July 1st, 2016)

When I moved to Vancouver and Masako moved to London, England we continued to stay in touch. Since that time she came to Vancouver once to visit me and I visited her once while I went to take in London theatre with a girlfriend from New York. I was in London more recently but unfortunately we were not able to meet up. She’s a single mom of a very bright 14 year old boy who speaks fluent French and is also an avid tennis and golf player. She dropped him off at Stanford University in S.F. for a 3 week math tutorial and spent time there before visiting me. She never stops. But we managed to pick up where we last left off as if no time had passed. That’s when you discover time is a moving and so much has happened but you’re still the same person. Almost as if time has stood still. When we first met I was calling my mom in Montreal every day to check in and get her advice on everything from cooking to the men I was dating.

Sunrise on Piers Island — **Sunrise on Piers from the house**

So during her stay I too felt like I was on holiday. Vancouver and its environs has an abundance of picturesque places to see but we had to narrow it down. Two nights we visited Whistler with a stay at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Masako went peak to peak on the lookout for wildlife (specifically bears) while I took in the Audain Art Museum and wildlife at the Scandinave Spa. All amazing by the way. There was a cute Canada Day parade in the village and the VSO gave a free outdoor concert in the evening. We ate well too.

View from our room — View from our hotel room

Lunch at the hotel — Lunch at Fairmont Chateau Whistler

The day after we got back we took the ferry to Victoria. The first time she was here we went directly to Butchart Gardens. This time from Victoria we were picked up and boated to one of the charming little gulf islands. A car-free little gem of an island called Piers where a friend has a stunning ocean front home where little Jack (the J.R. terrier) resides when I’m not looking after him. We met several interesting locals in the evening at a barbeque. What I’ve noticed is that island people are artists, musicians, writers, photographers, actors and zoologists. I was talking to a man who takes people on treks to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas (a guest had just come back and said they were so close that one gorilla brushed right by him) and also to Churchill, Manitoba to see the Polar Bears (who are now starting to mate with grizzlies should you want to know this fascinating piece of information). He met Jane Goodall, the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees – a person I’m in awe of and would love to meet. Future trips to consider. Sidenote: Lowland gorillas and polar bears are sadly on the endangered list.

Jack eyes the homegrown strawberries after he ate a cherry (he spit out the pit) — Jack eyes freshly picked homegrown strawberries *after eating a cherry* (he spit out the pit)

The next day we boated to Saltspring island (separate post to come) while seeing many seals (not bears, but still...)

In Vancouver we stayed mostly local biking around a couple of times, eating out and also cooking at home. Next

time the Okanagan and Tofino is high on the list of places to take Masako.

His spot waiting, waiting — Jacks waiting location

Too much excitement for one day — Off to bed – too much excitement for one day

Overview of the Spa. No photos allowed inside. — View of the Scandinave Spa, Whistler from the inside. No photos allowed outside.

I’m not sure when the polar bear trip will fit into schedule; certainly not in the summertime.

By the way, you are guaranteed to see these gorgeous giants in close proximity.

And my friend just left but I already miss her

Photos: (moments in time) d. king Photos: (airport, kits beach, boat) kind stranger

Art, Architecture, Culture, Girl Who Would be King

ART – Natures Greatest Artist

He’s a small fish in a big sea with one thing on his mind (not unlike other male species) – what can I do to attract a mate? Ahhh….think I’ll create a masterpiece like all the greats before me.

That’ll grab her attention!

Unfortunately the small Japanese Puffer Fish is apparently dull almost to the point of invisibility, but to compensate he’s probably nature’s greatest Artist. To get a female’s attention he creates something in the ocean floor which almost defies belief…with his only tool – his fins in order to attract her. How charming is that?

In his head a pound of mathematical perfection. He plows the sand, breaking it up into the finest of particles. He uses shells to decorate the bridges of his construction.

He can’t rest for more than a moment. He’s a total work~~horse~~ fish. He must work for 24 hours a day for one week or the current will destroy his creation.

A final tidy up and his masterpiece is complete! Because…

I would definitely go out with him..if I were a little fish. Looks aren’t everything!

Source: Blue Planet Wildlife

WATCH this amazing short video clip:

So….know any man who can top this??

Girl Who Would be King, Health + LifeStyle

An Inspiring morning of Fun, Fitness, Flowers & Friends.

You can’t ask for much more than raising awareness for a good cause while getting exercise in fresh air in an unbelievably elegant, artful environment.

L-R Kasseda, Cher, Wendy, Me (with candy in both pockets), Hannah, Colleen, Stacy — L-R Casseda, Cher, Wendy, Debbie (both pockets full of candy), Hannah, Colleen, Stacey

That’s what happened yesterday morning when I met up with friends at Vancouver’s magnificent VanDusen Botanical Gardens to support our mutual good friend Colleen Kohse. Colleen is the oldest living person (with the youngest spirit) with CF in all of Canada to have received a transplant.

Colleen is a miracle and a true inspiration to everyone because she doesn’t take life for granted. She’s lost too many friends and two young siblings to this fatal genetic disease which primarily affects the lungs and digestive system in mostly young adults and children of which there is no cure.

Come this October it will be 28 years that I first met Colleen, just before she left for London, England to receive a heart/lung transplant. But we didn’t get to really know each other until after that. We’ve been friends for years and have travelled together to places like Jamaica, Havana, Florida, Savannah, Ga, Charleston, S.C., New Orleans, California and even a short Caribbean cruise out of Miami. Always fun. Colleen is lucky to have the most wonderful, supportive family.

The morning started with a breakfast of pancakes & sausages, then dancing to warm up the crowd followed by a very pleasant walk through the most exquisite park to raise money to help find a cure for CF. There were also fun great silent auction items. I ended up with 2 out of the 3 items that I placed bids on.

VanDusen Botanical Garden

You will be inspired by 22 hectares of well-designed landscapes with plant species representing ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas to the Mediterranean, from Louisiana swamps to the Pacific Northwest.

Vancouver’s mild climate makes it possible for plants to bloom year-round – so there is always something wonderful to see. Our climate creates a unique environment where plants from varying climates thrive. At VanDusen you will see plants from the southern hemisphere, tropical areas and the high Arctic tundra alongside native species. Seasonal highlights include: Spring — bulbs, cherry trees, azaleas and rhododendrons; Late Spring — Laburnum Walk and roses; Summer — annuals, perennials and water lilies; Late Summer – wild flower meadow and the Heirloom Vegetable Garden; Autumn – brilliant autumn colour, heathers, perennials; Winter — witchhazels, viburnums and hellebores. The Elizabethan Maze is one of only six in North America. In addition to the plant collections, VanDusen’s eco-sphere is home to numerous fauna – small mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects. During the course of the year 65 species of birds make the Garden their home, either permanently or as a respite on their annual migrations.

It’s a must-see if you plan to visit Vancouver.

To find out more about CF please visit: www.cysticfibrosis.ca

VanDusen website: http://vandusen.org/

Plant Info: Tourism Vancouver