Cheryl Spelts | April 2008 Archive

April 19, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Brooktown

What is Brooktown? It’s home! Technically it’s slang for Fallbrook – the cool kids in the 1960’s came up with it – at least that’s the story I was told at first. Then I heard that it first appeared on a high school yearbook in the 1930’s. But whenever it originated, it’s the insider way to refer to Fallbrook…

The view from Maddox Nursery – rolling hills, groves, oak trees, a few palms, scrub brush, and beautiful homes tucked away in places you never see from the main roads. That’s Brooktown!

It’s far too easy to drive past Dinwiddie Preserve and never really discover it… But it’s worth discovering!

I loved the color of the red blossoms on this tree – they may look small in the images, but they were huge.

In the 1880’s olive trees were planted all over Fallbrook, and between 1913-1915 olives were the biggest cash crop in the area. There was even an olive press here, for making olive oil. Remnants of those old groves can be spotted all over town, but the prettiest stand of olive trees is on the corner of Mission and Live Oak Park Road.

And finally some weeds from in front of Elder House.

So that’s it for my contribution to the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook! Some of these same images are currently appearing on Fallbrook.org and earlier today I discovered that my 2005 cover image for the Sourcebook is appearing on the front page of FindFallbrook.com – some images have a long life, and it was definitely an image that defines what Fallbrook is all about!

April 19, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Palomares House

Palomares House is one of the oldest homes in town – built in the 1890’s. It’s currently run by the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, and community events are held in the house and on the grounds – which are beautiful. The teaser images of the tree in bloom I posted a few weeks ago, were made on it’s grounds.

The first two images were made on March 31, and the last two on March 20, 2008.

April 19, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Live Oak Park, Fallbrook

Live Oak Park is Fallbrook to me. It’s oak trees, rolling hills, a stream, and bright blue skies and birds flittering and fluttering, and peace and beauty.

These images were shot from March 24-26, 2008 for the Fallbrook Sourcebook. I think only one made the final cut for the magazine, but I love them all!

April 19, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Los Jilgueros Preserve

Los Jilgueros isn’t a park – there’s a trail that you can walk, but you must not disturb the wildlife – and the wildlife is abundant! A stream runs through the 46-acre preserve, and there are areas where it spreads out into wetlands, and other areas that are more pond-like. It’s a great spot to bird-watch or just walk the mile-and-a-half path and enjoy the scenery.

These images were shot on March 21, 2008, for Fallbrook Sourcebook.

Los Jilgueros Preserve

April 18, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Cirrus Clouds

The sky was amazing today! Cirrus clouds from horizon to horizon.

That’s the balcony off my bedroom – and the view from Elder Street.

I could look at these clouds all day. Every way you turned, it was like an abstract painting in the sky. Just beautiful!

The last three images were shot at the gas station as I was filling up my tank – and paying $4.09 a gallon. First time ever I’ve paid over four dollars. Thank heaven for a beautiful sky to distract me…

April 18, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Fallbrook Farmers Market

Every Friday morning, on the corner of Main and Alvarado, in the Village Square, the farmers in town take over! You can get locally grown produce and flowers AND locally grown and packaged products like honey and gourmet kumquat sauces.

In 2005 I shot the Fallbrook Farmers Market for Fallbrook.org, and then on March 21, 2008 I shot it again for Fallbrook Sourcebook. If you want to see my earlier images, go to http://www.fallbrook.org/tourism/farmers-markets.asp

April 17, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

Fallbrook Sourcebook is here!

Last month I spent a week shooting all over town – I shot at Palomares House, Dinwiddie Preserve, the Farmer’s Market, Los Jilgueros Preserve, and in all sorts of hidden out of the way places that only long-time Brooktown residents know about. It was great! And now those images are in the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook – it’s the only glossy magazine dedicated solely to the Fallbrook/Bonsall area – and it comes out once a year – today!

The cover features six of my images – the only one I didn’t shoot is the food – the rest are my work. I also shot the cover in 2005 – that year it was one image of an artist painting in a garden – so typical Fallbrook stuff!

I also have quite a few images inside the magazine, and now I can blog some of those images. So more tomorrow!

And finally, here’s my ad that appears inside – I’m really happy with the way it turned out!

April 14, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

The Pico Promenade in April

We’re in the middle of a heat wave – and I love it! It feels like summer… So I went for a walk along Pico Promenade today, and shot all the flowers in bloom along Fallbrook Stream, in Fallbrook California.

This last image may be my favorite of the day – it’s my favorite fence in front of the old Packing Plant – again!

April 11, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

What You Might Have Been

Have you ever had a thought or feeling or dream or wish that rattled around in your head, and wouldn’t leave you alone?

One of my favorite quotes ever is pictured above, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” How can you not love that? Missed opportunities can drive you crazy if you let them, but the thing is, more opportunities open up every day. You can miss eighty in a row, but there will be another one coming along today, so hop on and ride it hard!

So I love the quote, and a couple of years ago I was in my Mom and Grandma’s gift/home decor shop, and they had just gotten in a new shipment of little signs for the garden – and one had George Elliot’s words on it. I had to have it! And when I moved here, I put it up on my deck, between my two big rattan arm chairs. It looked lovely and I was happy to have a place for it. End of story! Or not.

I started to hear this rattling in the walls – especially at night – and usually in the bathroom. Was it the pipes? It’s an old house, could be. Was it an animal? I’ve had a couple of raccoons way up on my second story deck and a bird’s nest on my light fixture – so that could be it too. Could it be a ghost? I kind of liked that possibility! I finally figured out it was the wind causing the sign to rattle against the house. I am on the second story in the tallest building downtown, so I get better breezes here – but also stronger wind. So I took the sign down, a little regretfully, and everything was quiet.

But you know what? I didn’t like the quiet. I realized that I liked the rattle – so the sign went back up. It’s an aural reminder to grab those slippery opportunities. It’s so easy to just exist and live day to day, and rarely move out of your comfort zone – but if you have a dream, a vision of what you’d like be, and do, and see, and accomplish, then you have to grab those opportunities. Who wants to think about what might have been? Bottom line, it’s never too late. So I’m embracing the rattle in my walls – and in my head!

April 1, 2008 by Cheryl Spelts

More, More, More!

Exactly eleven days after the last post, this is what that same tree looks like. Just amazing. I really do prefer the first image – but I can’t get over the opulence of the second image. Spring is on a rampage!

And catch the orange California Poppies below – our state flower, and one of my all-time favorites!