Tonight is the fundraiser for Toronto Botanical Gardens at Grano. Some tickets are left if you can come. Shinan Govani did a really adorable mention of it in the National Post on Sat:
Really looking forward to this event. And will get back with pix for the blog.

The garden and the beach have a lot in common: they present a new face each day depending on weather and light and all the other exigencies nature throws in their way.
They never fail to amaze, amuse and baffle. Which is why we like to beachcomb and to garden: we want to be swept away on some sort of Zenish wave that removes us from Self. And the ocean itself is like a giant heartbeat, comforting and rocking the walker by the sea.

During one of the daily excursions,  I found a huge orphan shell stranded on the part of the beach I travel most often. I was thrilled because it is perfect, the inside nacre is untrammel by what’s, no doubt been, a rocky ride. A lady passing said “Oh I have nine of those.” I was stunned. I had made up all sort of symbolic preciousness about this one shell which found me.

An old guy with a metal detector said “If you want hundreds more of those you just have to walk the other way,”

So I did and came across a cache of shells all of them just lying there like a bunch of flotsam. Suddenly my own shell lost some of its enormous luster.

I went back the next day to look at the shell pile but not one was to be seen. “Depends on the tides.” Said a passerby who offered me a small shell in compensation. My shells became valuable again.

So this reminds me of how we love to have rare plants, how when we see the same plant piled up in big box stores it becomes less interesting. But of course this is as foolish as me with the shells. Whatever nature presents us is a miracle of design, of craftsmanship and should be treasured for its individuality.

These shells I like are sea snails, great big slugs one person said. Make sure you get it out or it will stink. But why would I want the home of a living animal? I put a lot of them back because they were still inhabited. Life’s tough enough for a sea snail without some dope dumping them into the sink.

I’ve learned a lot about the beach in these weeks in Carpinteria. And the beach here as every shore is at risk. We were startled by the size of the waves that hit here when the tsunamis fanned out from the horrors of the Chilean earthquake. We got only a small blip by comparison. But the waves were big enough to breach the very large (two storey high)  berm outside our building. Now that’s wave action.

Two of my favourite places are The Toronto Botanical Garden and Grano, Roberto Danatelli’s great restaurant. We’re bringing both of them together on:
Monday, March 8 – 6 p.m.
Thriftiest event of the season!
Marjorie Harris at Grano
2035 Yonge Street, Toronto
Tickets: $100 includes book, dinner, wine, a talk from Marjorie, and a receipted donation of $35 to the Toronto Botanical Garden .
Tickets available at Ben McNally Books, 416-361-0032.

Below is the sunset shot of the day. I seem never to tire of taking them. But the other day a gigant earthmoving machine spent hours pushing  the shore into the large berms that keep the ocean from whizzing right through the building along its perimeter.

Raising the berm at Carp Beach

This could be idyllic but what’s also happening is that the ecological structure of the beach is being changed. The next morning shore birds were pecking away in the tracks of this machine.  But today they have found their rightful place along the shoreline.

Horrifically it looks like nothing has changed except that the berms are higher and rains are expected.  Those little condos you see on the right are for sale or at least several of them are (we’re taking two bedrooms here). The average price is 2.4 MILLION dollars.

So keeping the sea under control is to their advantage. No one has asked the birds and the animals that live in the sand their opinion.

We had a great tootle about with friends Karin and Neil who love looking at nurseries as much as I do. We found one not far from The Carp called Island View (see www.islandviewnursery.com) and found a treasure trove of marvelous plants.

Masses of glorious succulents with aeoniums as the stars for me

Here is our beach looking north toward Santa Barbara.  It has a wild look to it and in the winter,  though the beaches are never empty but they have few people walking along the shore.

The storms passing through this area have mean huge mud slides further south and more predicted.  This was taken on Monday which was a glittering sunny day with air  so intoxicating it made me feel giddy with joy.

I couldn’t get out and walk enough times. Beyond this beach is a wildlife sanctuary and I was lucky enough to run into a knowledgeable volunteer named Andrea who walked me through the native plants they are trying to restore in this fragile coastal wetland.

Here’s our  building on the ocean. The berms that hold back the rising waters are HUGE. Nothing I’d want to jump off since they come up to the 2nd storey of the building.  Storms have wracked the shores and changed the look which we are just beginning to explore.

Today:  it’s pissing down rain again and we’re out of food. Astonishing since all we seem to do is going out to shop for more. But indeed sparse pickings so we’re off to Zookers resto once again in a rain storm.

Well we have moved on from the heady days of doing interviews to our time in California. Carpinteria Ca to be specific: a great little beach town south of Santa Barbara.
No pictures yet since we’ve been here less than 24 hours and we’re still shopping for food. In that time I’ve seen a seal mucking about in the surf (thought it was a very sleek diver); and a pelican came so close to the building we could hear its wings flap.
Getting here was a snap. Twenty nine minutes to get through security leaving us with a 2 and a half hour wait to get on the plane. I don’t know if we were just lucky or what, but the fear implanted in traveling seemed needless.
We arrived here to a glorious sunset, and plants galore all along the traffic-choked highway.
You can see evidence of mud slides, detritus from fires and still it’s one of the most gorgeous of landscapes anywhere. Like the Tuscan valley in Italy, like the Alpes-Maritimes in the south of France,. and then only like itself.
We adore this little town and absolutely nothing has changed except things are much more lush than last year because of all the rain.
Ernie the bus driver says we’re in for a three-day blow so maybe serious walks on the beach will have to wait for another day.
We spent the afternoon at the farmer’s market loading up on vegetables, olive oil, fruit and though we only live a few blocks away, we took a bus (25cents) home. Though he didn’t have to Ernie the bus driver let us off right in front of our building.
Now to cook what looks like a spectacular chicken.

Here’s the sky our first day:

Well what fun the book launch at Teatro Verde turned out to be.  Here’s Sarah Maclachlan the president of House of Anansi with me and my daughter Jennifer Harris (aka prof at U of T) on the left.  this picture was taken by Mark Disero of  gardentoronto.ca who arrived early with Yvonne Cunnington  and covered the event. Left: Michael Pellegrino and Shawn Gibson of  the maestros of TeatroVerde with the enchanting corner they made for me. I was ordered to wear the same colours as those on the cover of Thrifty.

Lots of wonderful old friends dropped in, some new friends made through the book and near as I can tell everyone had a great time. I was too busy signing book or hailing people as they came in the door to enjoy the crowd whooping it up at the bar which was where everyone else was gathered.

The wine was donated by FuZion and it was delicious and no one left til the last drop was drunk. It was a wonderful evening for me.  Go to Mark’s site and have a look at the rest of the party.

It’s been a frantic week or so promoting THRIFTY: Living the Frugal Life with Style.
Today is the day of the book launch at the wonderful Teatro Verde. What great guys Michael and Shawn are to do this, and how lovely that my publisher House of Anansi is the co-sponsor with FuZion wines.
So between 6 and 8 we’ll be lifting a wee glass to celebrate the book and I look forward to this immensely,
Tomorrow I’m being interviewed by Shelagh Rogers which will be such a treat. It will be broadcast next week and I’ll let you know the times. She’s such a good interviewer.
Then on the weekend I’ll be on Newsworld but I don’t know when. Then it’s done.

You can find the book in all sorts of different places including Bianco Plus on Avenue Rd near Davenport and of course at Teatro Verde where I’ll leave lots of signed books if we don’t sell them tonight.

It’s been a frantic week or so promoting THRIFTY: Living the Frugal Life with Style.
Today is the day of the book launch at the wonderful Teatro Verde. What great buys Michael and Shawn are to do this, and how lovely that my publisher House of Anansi is the co-sponsor with FuZion wines.
So between 6 and 8 we’ll be lifting a wee glass to celebrate the book and I look forward to this immensely,
Tomorrow I’m being interviewed by Shelagh Rogers which will be such a treat. It will be broadcast next week and I’ll let you know the times. She’s so wonderful.
Then on the weekend I’ll be on Newsworld but I don’t know when.
Then it’s done. You can find the book in all sorts of different places including Bianco Plus on Avenue Rd near Davenport and of course at Teatro Verde where I’ll leave lots of signed books if we don’t sell them tonight.