The Cabin With The Hearts

ENJOYING WHERE I LIVE

In Southern California, we are having the weather that make the many visions of beauty, beach sunsets, pure blue sky, and enjoyed by people ranging from CA natives, to the visitors and tourists who fall in love with this beauty, and vow to return; next time to stay.

With the desert, the beach, the mountains all within an hour away from Los Angeles, and a lot in between, we have so much available to us, places to enjoy this unbelievably beautiful weather.  Clear and crisp in the early mornings, flowering trees and shrubs beginning their spring blooms and leafed up for summer shade...a bit warm in the daytime, and evening is, well, (yes I am going to say it,) PERFECT!!

The smell of BBQ's around the neighborhood fill the warm evening air, voices drift along the slight breeze.  I have beautiful light purple flowers on vines growing all along my fence, I'm still not sure what it is, and all that does to me is grind in how far away from gardening I have gotten due to my pain.  I vow on a few sweet pea seeds though, my favorite flower and one I grow every year, in every house I live in, save for surgery years and the last really bad pain years.  I will attempt it before it gets too hot, and will plant an Autumn batch to give me December and January flowers.  They do adore cool weather, after all.  The more Sweet Peas are cut, the more they give me, and nothing beats a fresh cut bunch of them in the house. 

This is the kind of day that many people head up to the local mountains.  From Mt. Wilson near L.A., to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear, not to forget Wrightwood, are all favorites of both locals and visitors alike.  During this time of year, to be able to go up the windy roads to a cabin and spend a few days up in the forest, is one of the most relaxing ways to enjoy this weather. 

There is a cabin up near Big Bear that I absolutely adore.  When we pulled up and I saw hearts carved into the darling wood fence and bench that ran along it; I fell in love immediately.  When one has a cabin up in the mountains, it is truly hard to find a 'bad' one.  But then there are the really, really great cabins--and this is one of them.

After marveling at the outside cut-out-hearts fence, once I entered, it was pure quaintness and beauty.  Warm colored wood floors, wood plank walls, a darling tiny cabin kitchen, with a huge heavily lacquered table nearby.  I ended up loving the table so much, we went to Mexico to get a wood table as close to that one as possible.  Still haven't lacquered it yet....

Of course the center of the home was the wood stove fireplace.  With a fire constantly burning day and night, giving the already warm-feeling cabin a soft glow, I was struck by the, "I must get a cabin up here" wish-bug.  Time for a walk out onto the heart deck.  

A small bit straight out the deck, down a few stairs, and there was a babbling brook.  (Could this get any better?)  Well, maybe an old swing out in the middle of the forest by the water.....  

Nah.  Hold everything.  It couldn't be.  Yes.  There was an old wood swing in the middle of the forest.  By the water.  I looked back to the little cabin so busy with smoke chugging out the top, dinner simmering; swinging slowly, I thought the beauty of this area has to be experienced by everyone who visits Southern CA.  All this beauty, set in perfect areas, with perfect weather to accompany.  This is just too nice to keep hidden.

Everyone who comes to L. A. must go up the hill and see Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear, with the darling little towns in-between.  There are tons of spots to easily pull off the road and take a leisurely picnic lunch in the forest.  Within minutes, you can be back down the hill into city life again.  There are little cabins that can be rented in both these towns.  Book early for heavy vacation months.  It is truly gorgeous up in the San Bernardino mountains!

Nothing beats the idea of a heart-carved fence....and a swing in the forest, to relax...even in pain.       

Gentle Hugs...