Several times a year we spend the weekend with our longtime friends Steve and Sims at their home in the Upper Ojai Valley. Good food, wine and fellowship prevail, as do good photo ops! Here are a few from our stay there over the July 4th holiday weekend.

From the front porch toward the pergola

Still life on the kitchen island

Looking west through the Upper Ojai Valley

Artichokes gone to flower

Stephen, SIms and Tom on the drive

The main house, from the side

Ever few months we’re lucky to spend a weekend at Lavender Hill Farm, the home of our friends Sims and Steve in the picturesque Upper Ojai Valley. Here are some pictures we took on April 16 and 17.

We picked vegetables from Steve’s extensive gardens and prepared them for lunch and dinner. Artichokes are in high season and we had them three different ways: with fava beans as an accompaniment to pork chops for dinner; with onions, lardons and egg as a pasta sauce for one lunch; and with tuna and cracked pepper on toast for another lunch. We also had the fava beans, straight from the pods, with cheese and bites of salami as an appetizer before dinner one evening.

The Valley was resplendent with springtime color and fragrance. My iPhone got the color fairly well; the scent you’ll have to imagine as you peruse the photos. Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions of any of them, and click again for a yet larger version.