The Colors of Fall

The weather has been cooling down a bit here in the mid-south. I can never wait patiently for autumn to arrive; It can never come fast enough for me. To bide my time, I've been working on some papier mache pine cones that I picked up way back when we were in Berkeley. 

I was finally satisfied with a few of them after six or seven layers (I kid you not) of various mediums. I'm driving myself crazy--must be the ENS kicking in (Empty Nest Syndrome). Ugh.

C'mon autumn.

C'mon autumn.

C'mon autumn.

Labels:  Autumn, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

New Year's Eve, we decided on a trip up to wine country, Napa and Sonoma. But on our way, I was hell bent on having breakfast at Bette's Diner in Berkeley.

Any recommendation coming from Val has my attention!

There was quite a wait, always worth it, but coming in from frigid Alberta, we were quite happy with sitting outside in the "balmy" weather.

My eyes went right to the Banana Souffle Pancake. Yours?

The hub ordered his fave, corned beef hash.

The kid, his regular, pancakes with a side of sausage.

And then mine arrived. Ok, wipe your mouth.

Again.

And a side of grilled potatoes. Wipe again.

Of course, I had to have the recipe, so I bought the Handbook, but you can find the recipe HERE.

As if Bette's wasn't heavenly enough, just about next door was Castle in the Air. I have always wanted to go into this shop since discovering Ulla's blog many years ago.

Unfortunately, Ulla wasn't there, but the store was amazing just the same. I could have spent hours in this little space if the men hadn't been with me. (smile--kinda like the time I took the kid into Liberty of London and he wouldn't let me shop! Grrrrr.)

Yes, I found some goodies and brought them home.

There were other shops on the block and it was a lot of fun looking through them. So creative. I need to live here!

xo
ro