
Jill and Sparky live high on a hill on the landward side of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. From their hilltop, you can see the Southern California Coastline from Point Dume to Palo Verdes Peninsula.




The house is small and nothing special; a white wooden cottage surrounded by a rickety wooden deck. Through the house and out toward the hill is another garden, a dry garden.

Here, a blooming palo verde tree is surrounded by pelargoniums, succulents, and other drought-tolerant plants. Jill is a fantastic gardener, and in only a few short years, she has developed this place into a beautiful retreat.

This is the view directly ahead of us, but to the south, you can see every small community fireworks display. As we sit on the hill, we scan the curve of the coast. It's like seeing winking jewels on a curved string of beads. That starburst there is from the fireworks in Pacific Palisades, at the high school stadium. That twinkle beyond is Marina del Rey, Redondo, or Manhattan Beach. Is that small crimson asterisk all the way down at San Pedro? Or is it the Palo Verde Peninsula? Closer to us, there are fireworks somewhere off Malibu Colony.
But the best is last - right in front of us. Out on the water, a tug nudges a barge into position. And right before us, the show starts.
We don't know whose fireworks show this is. All we know is the City of Malibu has issued a permit for it. We speculate which movie star has provided us with this treat. Danny Devito, some say. Jennifer Aniston, say others. We really don't know, but we're grateful for the patriotic gift.
My little camera actually takes pretty good video - better than stills in a dark setting. Here's a bit of video I took as we sat in our lawn chairs, sipping wine and watching our Borrowed Fireworks. You can tell we're having fun.

Jilly and Sparky's place is available as a location for special events - their website is here at Rancho del Cielo.
6 comments:
wow this sounds fabulous, what fun ! Wish I had friends like that !
Thanks for sharing....
Sounds heavenly! What a way to spend the weekend.
Just dropped in from the Women's Colony to say Hi and nice to meet you!
What a fantastic house! And even more fantastic garden! How lovely to have friends in the right places!
And I missed commenting on the plums, but they look gorgeous! And your photos make my mouth drool!
Just the way I like to view fireworks: from a distance, with a glass of wine in hand! It beats staying home and making sure the neighborhood pyromaniacs don't set fire to my house!
Thank you for this. These are the only fireworks I saw this weekend.
That was one heck of a vantage point. A special time to remember.
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