An Unexplainable, Meticulously Charted Course

IMG_0197, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

"Life is not a path of coincidence, happenstance and luck, but rather an unexplainable, meticulously charted course for one to touch the lives of others and make a difference in the world" Barbara Dillinham

Thank you, Julia and Scott for the glorious sunflowers and your friendship!

Islay Hill can you see it?

IMG_0179, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

it is an extraordinary evening in SLO! We never, well,hardly ever have moisture in the air in September.
Moisture brings amazing lights and colors..
In the distance - there - is the first of the Nine Sisters, Islay Hill
(as in the blog)
Beautiful, huh?

Chelsea

I

Love

Petit Soleil!

Really!

I mean

you can't

not

love

working

in a place

that

has

wonderful guests,

the perfect staff,

happy

and colorful

rooms,

delectable food,

stellar wines,

and

I

get to do all

the things

that

I love to do!

.....

We just had

the

most charming

guests.

Meet Chelsea!

(she is sitting on Mama Mimi's lap)

Chelsea

is a nine year old

Miniature Pomeranian.

Really,

though,

I think

she

is a

child

in

a

puppy suit!

Chelsea

loves

Petit Soleil,

so

her parents

decided

to stay.

In fact,

they

all three

stayed

two days!

...

Chelsea

had her suitcase

with

a few of

her outfits

with her,

so

she

was prepared

to vacation

in

STYLE!

Really,

though,

Chelsea

is quite famous

and

has

a page

in a beautiful book

Faces of Sunset Boulevard

A Portrait of Los Angeles

Chelsea

presented

me

YES,

ME!

a copy

of this

beautiful

book

(which is,

by the way,

REALLY

BEAUTIFUL!)

Chelsea's page talks

about her

Spa days,

and her outfits

and her nanny

and her

Mama Mimi

who

along with

Papa Sam,

are

just

three

M O R E

reasons

I

Love

Petit

Soleil!

Meet Granny Gummy

IMG_0167, originally uploaded by TTT with Toulouse.

Stephanie and I decided that her 1967 bug,
whom she calls " Gummy",
is really Toulouse's long lost Granny.

She has been lovingly restored and "purrs like a kitten" or was it "runs like a top".

Happy Sunday!

Ruby Rose

is a

Diamond

in the

Rough.

It is

a

fun place to

explore,

or

get lost in,

or shop

or

to just spend

an hour

or two

chatting with

Stephanie.

Stephanie

is the

proprietress,

the owner,

the stylist

and junker extraordinaire,

She

finds

"stuff"

Very, very cool

and beautiful

stuff that she

displays it

in such a way

that you know

you have to have it!

Personally,

I

am a

sucker

for

old,

worn

luggage

pieces...

ones that you know

had

a story

or

an adventure

behind them.

We use

suitcases

all over our house

for storage

and display

Stephanie's

luggage

finds

are the best!

Steph

also

has an amazing

eye

for linens

-

beautiful

vintage

linens,

soft

and worn

All around

Ruby Rose

are

hidden treasures

Originally,

Stephanie

was

a

clothing

merchandizer

...

she

loves

clothes

-

beautiful clothes,

designer clothes

with

little

price tags.

Stephanie

is

starting

a

designer line

of

vintage couture

for Ruby Rose

She has

Betsy Johnson

and Ralph Lauren,

perfectly

worn

Levis 501's

and

gorgeous

Italian

leather boots,

and

handbags

Ruby Rose

is a feast

for

your eyes

and

so easy

on

your

wallet

sometimes

I pop

by

Ruby Rose

with no

wallet

at all

and just

chit-chat

with

Steph,

or Helen,

or Ruby

or Kathy

or one of the

other

fun gals

that

is

hanging out

....

open

Thursdays

and

Saturdays

and

sometimes other days

....

you can

call

and

make

an appointment

for a visit.

FUN!

I thought there were Seven Sisters..

Darn!

All twenty- one years

that I have lived in

San Luis Obispo,

I thought

that

there were

seven sisters,

(aka seven volcanos)

that stretched

between

SLO

and Morro Bay.

Today,

I come to find out that

there are actually

NINE SISTERS...

Who knew?

I thought these

musings with

Toulouse

would be a fun

platform

to share

fun stuff to do

and

to explore

around

San Luis Obispo County

and beyond

....

hiking the

Seven,

uh,

NINE Sisters

was one of the activities.

Toulouse, Annie and I parked

in the neighborhood below the first sister,

Islay Hill..

and we,

(Annie and I)

went a wanderin'

We walked by the

old Adobe House

in

The Arbors neighborhood.

I tried to find out this Adobe's significance,

to no avail..

The entrance to the hike is at the end of Sweet Bay Drive...

great name

SWEET BAY DRIVE

Warnings for poisen oak

and

mountain lions

and

such

were posted

but we

weren't

scared!

The views

of the Edna Valley

and it's

vineyards

are magnificent.

We are looking towards

Tolosa Winery

Edna Valley Winery

and

Baileyana

heading up Islay

facing west

you see

two more

"sisters"

San Luis Mountain

and

Bishop's Peak.

(a clearer view of those sista's)

you get some

good cardio

heading up the hill,

but it won't

really

kill

you

The

views

from the top

are

really

pretty

(especially of the Edna Valley)

hi, Annie!

Hi Everybody!

Wear

shoes

with

good treads

of them

...

the

path

down

can be dusty

and

slippery.

Next Sister, San Luis Mountain.....

Two Days off - continued.....

Carmel

is

my favorite

place

in the world!

Yup!

it surpasses

my fave cities in

France,

Germany,

Switzerland,

Belgium.

It surpasses

San Francisco

and

New York!

I love Carmel!

We arrived on a

perfect

summer day-

no fog.

The

sun

was heading

down

towards

the horizon

We looked at our watches..

and

noticed

that it was

"Yappy Hour"

..

time for

a cocktail

at

The Cypress Inn.

We love

the interaction

of

people,

their dogs and

cocktails..

always a fun

combo...

plus,

the setting

of the

Inn

is warm,

friendly

and charming

inside and

out.

Back home

Huckleberry was waiting for us...

(Nottie and Phinn were asleep)

Nights in Carmel are almost always cool...

aaaahhhhhh such a good night's sleep..

next day

Huckleberry

and Phinn

are seven months old...

Nottie's job

was to show them

the beach.

Carmel's beach

is

very

VERY

dog friendly

(plus, good dog

owners know the

importance

of picking up

their dog's pootie).

Off the leash

Nottie

took off

after

a seagull...

..

followed by Huck

Poor Phinn, he ran through a big sea puddle, got a snout full of salt water and

then, hoping for relief, ran his nose though the sand.

need

I

say

more?

TRAUMA

That little voice that

says

"flee"

screamed loudly

in Phinny's

ear

and they ran

and ran

and

ran

..

.

Tired

and

happy

we headed

back

home

and

rested by the

fire

(can't get rid of the underline)

It was a relaxing

and fun

two days off.

Thanks, John, for the GREAT Huck, Phinn and Nottie pictures!