available today: raven feather print

i wanted you all to be the first to know!! my raven feather print, titled "raven" will (finally) be available in my etsy shop in the next few hours. details:

this is a hand drawn, hand carved linoleum block in the shape of a small raven feather. i then printed 2 very small runs for a total of 18. currently, you can purchase a print from the 2nd run of 12, all signed & numbered. feather measures slightly longer than 4.25 inches. paper measures 6 x 8 in. including deckle edges. paper is fancy off-white fabriano medioevalis. for more details come visit tworavens, here...

Day 3. Mendocino coast >> back to Albion

the sun was shining pretty brightly which over exposed everything. it made the iris photos brighter & encouraged more highlights overall.


the wild mendocino iris (just made that up). seriously thinking of using this photo as the baseline for another lino reduction...


pretty sure the tide was going out. only two big splashes from this spit hole.


while we were there, at least 10 people chose to walk & jog the trail on these cliffs as part of their afternoon routine. i can think of at least 5,000 more horrible ways/places to get exercise and/or spend an afternoon.


looking toward the town of mendocino from the coast & thinking about all the possibilities... the above 5 photos were taken as we passed through mendocino heading toward the albion river inn. perfect weather, perfect sun, perfect vantage point, perfect husband, perfect day!


this one flew super close any time i conveniently had the camera turned off. this was the best i could do this afternoon.


this huge stalk (looks suspiciously familiar to the skunky green stuff readily available in the area, but it wasn't) brought several brightly colored hummingbirds. i simply love how gorgeous this looks with the sun shining towards both of them.


a close up of the same scene, a few seconds later. ((click on the photo 2x to get a closer look. those little wings are precious.))


the last 4 photos were taken on our deck, partially seen here. the air was getting crisper, but we were prepared: beanies, long-john thermals under jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, heavy socks & sunglasses. we looked a little silly, but we couldn't miss this sunset and wanted to experience while sitting in our adirondack chairs. i'll post photos of said sunset later, because they deserve a space all their own...

Day 3. Albion >> Mendocino >> Ft. Bragg

this was thursday, literally the only day without any rain on our trip (seriously, i'm not complaining). and we were ready to take full advantage. this photo was taken on our way to breakfast. our room was only 50 feet from the albion river inn restaurant, but my golly, what a magnificent walk!


after breakfast, we spent a little time taking in the landscape & views. this is a photo of our room taken from in the inn's garden.


a little closer view of our room & deck. i know, amazing!!


turkey vultures were everywhere!!


this was the very first trip without our beloved geeg. i'll be honest, it was tough at times, but we tried to make the best of it by thinking about what she'd be doing during particular moments. for example, in life she was so afraid of heavy rain that we knew, without a doubt, she'd have crawled behind our heads and under our pillows to save herself, just like she always used to!! now i believe she's a beautiful bird. and i am always confirmed any time i see three of them at once...


after a late breakfast, we took hwy 1 for 7 miles to the tiny town of mendocino (i guess i didn't take any pictures on the way up). we walked all around downtown to explore very charming shops, a used bookstore, cute organic market & cemetery. ((next time we come through, we'll check out a few of the b&b's here.)) our ultimate plan was to head up hwy 1 for another 7 miles to the (slightly) bigger town of fort bragg. our only mission: North Coast Brewing Co. they are the purveyors of a few of our favorites: prankster, old rasputin, & old stock. i agreed to be the dd & with that i had a tough decision to make. i went with the 10 oz. prankster. nick's first choice was old stock 2010. after a proper lunch of salami & pesto on foccacia bread (nick), and mushroom-swiss-burger with garlic fries (me), nick decided to have another, this time the brother thelonious. we both marveled at how far this beer has come. it's sweet & complex, and (luckily) available at most local (LA) whole foods markets.

Day 2. Petaluma >>--> Albion

the inn keeper recommended breakfast at the Tea Room. excellent food (veggie pesto scramble, smoked salmon-house made herbed cream cheese-tomato-onion-cucumber-on wheat toast, chorizo omelet), excellent coffee, excellent music selection (david bowie).


after a delicious meal, we headed toward the coast. sights included sprawling, rolling hills, cows, horses, goats, a creamery, at least 50 turkey vultures & playful ravens. once we hit hwy 1 it was nothing but rain, incredible coastline, craggy rock formations, trees, trees & more trees! there is nothing like the crisp cold rain filled air of the northern california coast.


we made several stops to admire the view & foliage. plus, after hour 2 i was starting to feel a little queasy.


destination: albion (when we began planning our trip, we knew we wanted to stay somewhere a little off the beaten track & extra special. having no prior experience with albion what so ever, we took a chance...) we booked a room for 2 nights at the Albion River Inn. we were met with so many surprises. i am not kidding you, we were able to see this, the albion river bridge, from our private deck (those photos to come). the bridge has a rich history of its own: it was built in 1944 when steel and concrete were in short supply & remains as the last wooden bridge still in use on hwy 1.


we decided to eat dinner at the Albion River Inn Restaurant. i took this photo while we sipped wine & waited for our food: ny steak w/ gorgonzola sauce, mashed potatoes & veg for nick & cioppino for me. after dinner, we continued to enjoy the view while we sipped apple brandy from oregon & 35 yr old sherry from spain.

Day 1. Metro Hotel

the view from our room window. hello, redwood, oh how we missed you so!!


one of the nooks in the cafe. nick & i drank coffee, read the paper & made plans in this cozy area.


i noticed this vintage cash register behind the counter top.


these beautiful vintage bikes made me want to take a ride. what? they're one-speed bikes.


there was the option to stay in one of these airstreams. 6411's licence plate reads: where dreams come true. too much!!

we stumbled upon the Metro Hotel in petaluma. after speaking to the very friendly, german exchange student/inn keeper & taking a short tour, we were sold. the hotel is located in a building that was erected in 1870. major renovations occurred in 2004, but the charm of the old building is still very much present. the inn is filled with vintage european (mostly french) ephemera: metal orangina signs, milk & wine bottles, maps, chairs, postcards, etc. it's situated several blocks away from the main downtown area (it was so peaceful & quiet), but still close enough to walk to restaurants, bars, a fab grocery store & park. we loved it! we felt so lucky to be staying in such a perfect little gem of an inn.

Day 1. Petaluma

amazingly, this photo was taken along Hwy 5. it's been a while since i've traveled any portion of the 5 outside of burbank, but, i'm pretty sure the yellow & purple flowers are not a typical part of the landscape.


huge, old oak trees seemed to be everywhere the closer we got to the east bay.


we spent the early afternoon driving through san rafael & other little towns. we were looking forward to camping and reached a small camp site near bodega to take a look. it was beautiful but very cold and with more rain in the forecast we decided to make another plan. we had a genius moment where we both realized the Lagunitas brewery was in petaluma, and being some 50 miles away, we decided to take the beautiful back roads to get there. we had no idea where we'd be staying, and drove around until we say a cute little hotel. as we walked toward the hotel to get a better look, this rainbow was there, too, greeting us, and letting us know that we'd be in good hands.

we're back!!

we returned to LA last night, fully rejuvenated from our 4 day excursion to (and through) our beautiful northern california coastline. we experienced it all: heavy rain, sun, beaches where trees and grass meet the sand, the fresh scent of wet redwood trees, amazing food, beer on tap at two of our favorite breweries, many, many birds, quaint inns, happy dogs... i could ramble on for a long while. instead, beginning tomorrow, i will post photos & commentary from our adventures so you can see some of what i am talking about. but now, i've got to go. i've got a fine cold beer from Lagunitas waiting for me. after all, i'm still, technically, on vacation. cheers!

i hope your week was wonderful!! happy sunday/easter. what have you been up to?