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December 10-12
I spent a lovely couple nights with Michi. Remember Michi, the woman I met in Mexico?
Michi is housesitting one of those 1920s Montecito estates, Montecito being a really Really upscale town just south of Santa Barbara. Every day we get the NY Times, delivered. We are SO going to miss it when all the newspapers are gone!
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A view out the dining room window.
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You can see these birdfeeders just beyond the potted plants above. The owner of this home, much like my mother used to, sits a lot of the day...
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...delighting in her birds.
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On the patio.
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This is uncontestably the most most wonderful cat alive today. During the day he was out being a cat. In the evening where I sat, he sat there too, purr-bombing, and exuding essential catness. Each night he slept curled into my arm pit.
In the morning he licked my nose.
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One of the side yards...
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...and this is the backyard. There's a big garden there, beyond the pool.
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I took a short stroll to the beach crossing over the 101. Here's the thing. You have to convince yourself that the 101 is an ancient river, making travel possible and bringing family, friends, and wealth to your life. Otherwise it's just a noisy, annoying highway that you can hear from all around town, and it never shuts up.
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From a neighborhood All Saints by the Sea Episcopal church. Over the entrance to the church it says 'Bide a Wee and Pray'. Exactly that.
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More.
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Merry Christmas! Marija and all y'all, you know who you are, this one's for YOU!
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The sea. Ahh.
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One of the many magnificos on the beach.
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AmTrak, right along the coast.
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Notice those high hedges grown surrounding every property throughout Montecito.
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This is the brother of the perfect cat. He has been banished to the outside because of beating up on the very old cat. That's three cats if you're counting, and then the two dogs, making five animals to care for. Which is slightly less trouble than previously when seven animals lived here.
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I should tell you Michi had a catering company, has taught cooking classes, and makes food that tastes like you are in a dream of Good Food. She has really got the touch. The YUM touch.
So while I was there I was treated to a dish after dish dinner party...
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...and I got to meet two of her lively and entertaining friends!
Cathy, Michi, Teddy
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That's me in the holiday mirror. Happy Holidays!
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