Filoli - revisited/ Filoli - die Zweite

As I promised you here,  I went back to Villa Filoli. It was a spring dream come true. Tulips, blooming trees, cascading blue and white wisterias... breathtaking! I cannot post here all 123 pictures I took this morning. If you want to see more, please check out my Flickr site.

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Wie hier versprochen, bin ich nochmal zur Villa Filoli gefahren. Es war ein einziger Fruehlingstraum. Tulpen, bluehende Baeume, wasserfallartige weisse und blaue Glyzinien... atemberaubend! Leider kann ich nicht alle 123 Bilder hier einstellen. Wenn Ihr noch nicht genug gesehen habt, schaut Euch doch bitte meine Flickr Seite an.

If you enter the green door to the Ladies room, you'll find this beautiful old pedestal sink and a vintage make-up table. What a pleasant surprise.

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Wenn man durch die gruene Tuer in das Damen-WC geht, findet man dieses schoene alte Waschbecken und einen antiken Schminktisch. Was fuer eine nette Ueberraschung.

Today I didn't miss out on the garden gift shop since I was on my own (no husband no children that could stop me). They had of course everything Easter. I love the grey cabinet with the white china and ceramics. Would love to have that for our dining room... sigh. The price tag told me: It's not going to happen anytime soon.

I bought three little things.  Will show you soon, when I have found a nice spot for it.

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Da ich heute ohne Mann und Kinder unterwegs war, habe ich diesmal auch den Garden Gift Shop nicht ausgelassen. Alles war dort natuerlich auf Ostern getrimmt. Ich habe diesen schoenen Schrank dort gesehen. Haette ich so gerne fuer unser Esszimmer... seufz. Das Preisschild hat mir aber klar gemacht, dass das erstmal nix wird.

Habe drei Kleinigkeiten gekauft. Zeige ich bald, wenn ich ein schoenes Plaetzchen dafuer gefunden habe.

Have a great month of April!

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Einen schoenen Monat April wuensche ich!

mariasimoneidejhs

A visit at Villa Filoli

When I wrote about my favorite gardens last year, I mentioned the garden of Villa Filoli as one of them. Filoli has just opened its doors this week after the winter break. This morning  we went to see how far along nature is at this beautiful estate. 

It's still a little too early, the Daffodils are just starting to stick out their yellow heads, the pear and apple alleys are not blooming yet and the roses don't have any leaves. But the sleeping beauty of the different garden rooms is apparent. In a few weeks this will be spring paradise. I will go back and take more pictures. Promise!

The gardeners have worked hard to make the garden rooms look beautiful. They placed containers with bulbs in every nook of the garden. Too bad that I cannot post the scent of the Paperwhites here. Stunning!

Do you remember Krystl and Blake Carrington walking down these stairs in Dynasty? 

The estate where the filming of the 80's TV show took place is not in Denver but in Woodside, California, 25 miles South of San Francisco and 30 miles North of where I live.

The beautiful Garden House.

And the pretty kitchen

mariasimoneidejhs

Some of many faces of Northern California

We just came home from a skiing trip to Kirkwood, California - a little South of Lake Tahoe. We had so much snow, it was incredible. I think, I have never had so good skiing conditions.

Mia built her first snowman ever, ate her first snow and went on her first sleigh ride. It was so cold and the snow so powdery, that we had to built the snowman like a pyramid. The snow just wouldn't stick.

The view from the top of the Kirkwood lift No. 5 "the Cornice".

After a beautiful drive back through Gold Country via Jackson and Stockton we came back home and found the Silicon Valley in full spring swing. The canola field on the end of our street is blooming bright yellow and the fruit trees are buzzing with busy bees. While it was snowing heavily in the mountains we finally got some rain here and nature is now plump and juicy. We are expecting more rain this coming weekend, so I will have to come up with some crafty rainy day projects for my girls. Suggestions?

Luzie picking a small flower bouquet for the kitchen table

If you are longing for some sun and fresh spring blooms, I hope my pictures will get you a little closer. Only a few more weeks ...  Hang in there!

mariasimoneidejhs

california dreamin'

Today I spent the afternoon strolling along the cliff walk in Santa Cruz, California. As always I imagined how nice it would be to have a small beach cottage there.

My favorite one is this one:

It's one of few sitting directly on the cliff. It seems to be the guest cottage of the bigger house you can see behind it.

And this is the view:

And when I grow up I could very well picture myself living in this house.

On my walk I came across a yard sale and I scored a pretty bentwood rocking chair for $10. It needs some TLC and maybe a fresh coat of paint but doesn't it have beautiful lines?

It almost looks like an original Thonet chair.

photo: Briggs House Antiques

mariasimoneidejhs