Memories of my recent trip to California keep popping up in my head. I was thinking about blogging this morning and I decided that my prevailing memory is wood, houses, paintwork, floors, textures and succulents as big as dinner plates
Living in Europe you don’t see many houses made totally of wood.
I remember a friends wooden kit house as a teenager and being very curious about it – wooden window frames and doors have to be constantly protected from the weather, how long would it last? (That was in the 1970’s it’s still there)
In San Francisco ,Monterey and Sacramento there are lots of wooden structures – maybe because the weather is so clement – without our European extremes – the wood doesn’t need as much protection?
My Dad and I commented whilst in SF on the quality of the paint work – we thought it would be a lucrative job being an external painter and decorator . 
I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the houses in SF . They are alien to my Edinburgh and Oxford raised eyes.
The last weekend of our stay ,in Sacremento the weather was hot and sunny – you can tell by the clothing Jon and my Dad are wearing and the light , that it was not always so in SF lol.
Visiting 3 locations in 2 weeks , my eyes were constantly looking at different textures and decor- The SF house was quite dark , full of books and art
One of the things I love about Airbnb is living in other people’s houses and looking at how they decorate and the stuff that they leave in situ when people visit .
Monterey was the least looked after location that we stayed in – but it was decorated with fab stuff and had a charm of it’s own -looking back it was a haven from the bustle of SF and the overwhelming business of the wedding 
Below a Monterey wooden house
Sacremento – the house was near Fair Oaks a suburb about 10 mins drive from my daughters law’s home. This was light and airy with a jacuzzi and a pool
Succulents – I have always liked what Megan’s mum calls ‘Hens and chicks’ my Dad always says that a ‘good big piece of art is much better than small piece’, I have found the same with the succulents after my visit to California 
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And when I visited Scotland, Tessa I marveled at all the homes and building made of stone!! http://www.creativelenna.com/blog/2014/10/peebles-in-scottish-borders.html?rq=Scotland 🙂
Love your pictures from San Francisco! I have many succulents down here in San Diego to. It’s actually much warmer down here since were so much further south and close to the border with Mexico. I love the geometric designs of the succulents have.