The Corner Market

 S/E corner of Sunset & Fairfax, Los Angeles, 1933

Once a market, always a market. 
The corner of Sunset and Fairfax in Los Angeles has been a small market since the 1930's. The photo above, the SunFax Market, was taken in 1933. In later years, probably in the late 1950's or early 1960's when the A-Frame architectural style was popular, this building was re-designed and called Chalet Gourmet. In 1999, the Irvine Ranch Market Company and Chalet Gourmet merged. This location then became a branch of Bristol Farms Market. 
Unless some MAJOR redevelopment happens on this corner, this will, most likely, always be a small neighborhood market, catering to the locals.

Chalet Gourmet Newspaper Advertisement

Chalet Gourmet was innovative for the 1960s and 70s. It was a specialty grocery carrying higher-quality and harder-to-find items than the average supermarket. It catered to the owners of the more expensive homes in the Hollywood Hills, much like the Bristol Farms Market of today.

S/E corner of Sunset & Fairfax, Los Angeles today

I plan on visiting my local grocery store this weekend. Which local market do you like best?

Words to Live and Knit By

 

Suzanne's sweater honoring the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This has become a tradition on "L.A. Is My Beat."  For the past decade or so I have been featuring Suzanne's MLK sweater on my blog in honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will repeat  again this year because I'm so in love with this idea and in awe of Suzanne's mad skills. 

The sweater pattern is from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines."  The name of this sweater is "Margaret," designed for the book by Mary Neal Meador.  The instructions state that the sweater may be embellished after knitting with chain stitched quotations of the knitter’s choice.  The sweater in the book has poetry added to the front and back. 

When I saw Suzanne's ("owlknits") sweater, I was touched by the words she chose.  This is from Suzanne's project page on Ravelry: 

I knit this sweater for a local art exhibition that was organized to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I used quotes from his “I have a dream…” speech to embroider on the front and back of the sweater: Front: Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Back: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges.

I am still blown away by Suzanne's sweater and her choice of quotations.  One day I will make such a sweater for myself.  Bravo!  Excellent work, Suzanne, honoring an eloquent man and his ideas! 

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Marin Luther King, Jr.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARRY!

Happy Birthday to Larry! This is a big one! This is also his second birthday during the pandemic.  Ugh! Will things ever go back to normal?

This year, we decided to take a short trip out to the desert to celebrate. We arrived yesterday. Today we will be cruising all the oddities in the tri-city area of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and 29 Palms. On Thursday, we'll dip into Palm Springs to visit with friends and stop by the Palm Springs Art Museum.

This day belongs to you, sweet husband of mine. I'm so glad to have such an amazing person in my life! Thank you for always being there for me. May your special day bring you huge joy and true happiness! I'm thrilled to be celebrating you!

New Year's Day 2022

Yes, we're still experiencing the pandemic. Recently, there has been a surge of the virus. Our New Year's Eve was fine, but we didn't meet with neighbors and friends, just to be on the safe side. On New Year's Day, it is our tradition to visit a local park. This year we drove to the L.A. River and went to Lewis McAdams Riverfront Park in Atwater. This is a park planted with native vegetation. The park meanders along this portion of the river. We liked it a lot.

There is outdoor exercise equipment set up in one portion of the park. There is a pavilion, walking paths and access to the L.A. River. Since we've had lots of rain lately, the river was flowing nicely. There were even a few people fishing at the river's edge.

We wandered through various portions of the park. It wasn't busy, but there were families enjoying this fresh day.

Beautiful tiles representing the park, set into concrete benches

Creative park entrances

Larry, down by the river

Happy New Year 2022!

Read about Poet, Lewis McAdams here

The Pavilion 

The Riverfront Park is a wonderful example of how a city park can be sensitive to its surroundings. I really like this park and will definitely visit again!

After our park visit, we drove downtown for New Year's lunch at Philippe's, the French Dip. Delicious!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2022!