My first coffee shop visit in a year, beautiful gardens there

 I visited a coffee shop for the first time in a year, and picked a new shop run by volunteers, which is surrounded by gardens and located right along the Pacific Ocean. This was my first time here, and I think it will be my go to coffee shop. 

Note the large patio and the wisteria on the left side of the building. The coffee shop opened a year ago, during the pandemic. That is a hopeful act indeed.

The fountain on the patio. There are only four tables on the huge patio so people are widely spaced.

Above are two different sculptures of Joseph; his face in this sculpture is very kind and thoughtful.

This area is dedicated to Joseph as he holds a tiny baby. I understand from reading the plaques that families who lost a baby through miscarriage or abortion visit here for comfort.

I walked and walked and got my steps in, after I enjoyed a large latte at the coffee shop. This is a healthy and beautiful environment, and the outdoor patio offers an ocean breeze and no people squeezed together. I am glad I discovered this shop. I almost went to a national chain store downtown with a tiny patio. In these pandemic days I chose this coffee shop, staffed by volunteers. Anyone else have a favorite coffee shop?

Journals and Magnolia

 I have been writing a daily journal starting when my hubby, Will, died in 2016. Here is the cover of my new journal with a gardening theme.

 The above is a closeup of a portion of it. Below is the entire front cover, and the back cover is just as pretty.

This is my seventh journal, each one has a different cover, and all from the same publisher, and each has a magnetic clasp which holds it closed.  Each journal says "This is a Flame Tree Notebook" from Flametreepublishing.com My journaling is simple, I use stickers to brighten the pages. This is the first page of my new journal ready for me to write in.

 Below is another photo of my black tulip magnolia, taken on Feb. 17 2021. You can compare how the buds are more opened vs. the Feb. 1 photo in my previous post. The flowers are about three inches across now and when fully open about six inches across. I had this tree planted two years ago. I live in California, thus no snow at my house and I have a flowering magnolia. There are quite a few magnolias in my town, most of them white and some of them pale pink, so mine stands out with its bright color. All the magnolias are pretty, in my opinion.

I hope today finds all of you blog friends around the world warm and safe and healthy. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I got my second Covid vaccination on Feb. 19. I am happy and feel a bit more safe. Experts say even after we get the second shot we should avoid eating in restaurants and seeing movies in theaters. This is a LONG haul of isolating. In a few days I am going to a friend's house for coffee on her patio staying six feet part, since we both are vaccinated. My dog, Bounce, is invited, and we will take a walk wearing masks after coffee. My friend loves Mr. B and he loves her.

Today, Feb. 25, I added the above photo of my last year's journal. It has a metallic sheen to it and a Japanese temple and waterlilies and an egret. I tried to put the photo right after the other journal cover photos but of course, blogger did what blogger does, and here it is at the end of my post. I wanted to show you how varied the covers are by that publisher.