Six White Horses

or, how I spent my summer....

First of all, I saw my heroes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings perform this song in person this weekend at the Bluegrass Festival and it was may-jor.


But anyway, this summer was momentous for me on many levels, chief among them due to the fact that I strapped on my Justin roper boots and started horseback riding again after a 20 (!) year hiatus.

Meet my new besties, Reno and Z. (Dirtier than I've ever seen them thanks to the rain yesterday and their favorite past time...)



Reno is a red dun Quarter Horse and I adore him. Total sweetsie. He is my main guy. I'm just riding for the sheer pleasure of it, starting basically from zero in a western saddle and bitless bridle and hoping to be mainly a trail rider once I am back in tip top shape. So much has changed in the horse world since I was a kid riding, and now there's something wonderful called Natural Horsemanship that I am a rapturous student of.

Life in the saddle is something I hope to never give up again! It's the perfect combination of so many things I love and it's also an unparalleled opportunity to build a relationship with a gorgeous, strong willed creature. Being able to feel to your bones the fact that an animal is giving its all and that you are communicating and moving together is incredible, exhilarating, and simply everything.

Laughing

by Crosby















I give my parents a lot of credit -- they got my brother and I out and into the wilderness, even in cold and foggy weather, almost every weekend growing up, even when we were teeny tiny. They are huge hikers, and even spent their honeymoon partially in Yosemite (other part in Carmel Valley), the site of some of their first times spent together in high school, camping and backpacking, naturally.

















Anyway, we were always at play in West Marin, whether it was at one of many beaches collecting shells and driftwood or in the woods collecting pinecones and feathers. My family is intricately involved in the nature that surrounds our particular part of the world and there is nowhere that feels more like home to me than out in Inverness, Bolinas, Lagunitas, Woodacre, Pt. Reyes, Bear Valley, etc.











As a result of those by-gone days, I have a serious soft spot for the 70s-era hiking gear my parents gleefully sported, and it's coming back into vogue lately it seems, at ridiculous prices. But it's fun to look, isn't it?


































































These items all from the most beautiful menswear store 'round the corner from me, Unionmade.

Blues Run the Game

by Jackson C. Frank














Omg, speaking of shoes, these boots are aaaaamazing! Oh, the places they'd go!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Just ordered these cute booties from Ruche. Perfect fall footwear.

Also, wanna say that my song choices from here on out may or may not have anything to do with what I am posting about...sometimes you just wanna have fun!

Drifting Along With the Tumbling Tumbleweeds

My burgeoning cacti/succulent obsession continues!

Dreamy succulent pillow!

To die for vintage cacti dress!

Can I pleeease shrink my feet to fit in these? I promise I'll be good if you'll just let me.

El nopal loteria tin nicho.

Btw, this kind of fascination must be out there in the ether, because someone done read my mind and had a succulent/desert themed wedding. Check it out right here.

Bohemian Raphsody

This blog is a what you see is what you get kind of place. Kinda like its writer herself. Although I must admit, I am in more of a dreamy state than anything else when I come here, so it might behoove you to do the same.

This is a place to gather and gaze at things that will be mine, oh yes, they will be mine (of course from Wayne's World)...someday when I'm loaded, anyway...For now, oh so bohemian poverty is the shoe that fits, though I admit it pinches more than a little. Who would have thought that one clinging so tightly to her dilettante-ish lifestyle is actually drooling over objects that basically mean nothing with regard to our greater lives...??



Let's see now, what eye candy can hope to improve upon this relatively lowly state?

First and foremost, I would like to insist upon a soft, squeaky Muppet faced cat:

Then the following items might just do:


















Horse necklace from the Candy Store.














Boots from ebay.

















Bunny vase from etsy.

Then there's this ridonkidonkly priced Virgin de Guadalupe wall hanging:
































Sure, you're nice and all, but $50?! M'lady doth protest.