Hi, I'm Torrey. Welcome to Left Field, where creativity runs amok and imagination is ALWAYS more important than knowledge. Shoes are not allowed but ties are optional. This is a repository of snippets from my life out here in Left Field. One never knows what shiny bits of creativity will be found here... cards, scrapbook layouts, photography, poetry, recipes, ponderings, rantings and musings. It could be anything! Life in Left Field is always changing, always real, always ...interesting.

August 5, 2010

Headin' off to La La Land


Well, sorta...I'm actually off to Malibu for a week with my sister and mom. This has become an annual tradition. We go to a Franciscan Monastery for a spiritual, um, renewal week? Basically, it boils down to girl time in a beautiful place that overlooks the ocean on one side...and Mel Gibson's house on the other (and Dick Van Dyke's and Hugh Laurie's--the one-and-only Dr. House himself). Its name is Serra. Built by the Rindge family (who owned all of Malibu)...Serra was once a privately-owned, 50-room mansion home--built by a widow in tribute to her late husband--and never finished. She even started Malibu Potteries to make the exquisite hand-painted tiles that adorn every inch of the buildings, walkways, stairs, retaining walls and grounds. 


A year after her death, the mansion; its surrounding land (26 acres) and out buildings were sold to the Franciscan Friars for...get this...$50,000. They turned it into a retreat center that is unbelievably peaceful and beautiful with gardens, walking paths, amazing overlooks...and even a labyrinth. 


Serra welcomes hundreds of guests each year...and I'm lucky enough to be one of 'em.



So, don't hate me too much when I wake up to this every morning for a week.






1 comment:

  1. Torry - This looks just beautiful,
    Hope you had a wonderful time.
    I could picture a retreat there.

    ReplyDelete

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