The Farmers' Market by the sea in Santa Monica is always a lively place, but at holiday time it seems to buzz with a special excitement.

Many people don't realize that like Pasadena, Santa Monica has many architectural gems. This is a Greene & Greene Arts and Crafts bungalow sitting high on a bluff overlooking Santa Monica Canyon with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. Many years ago the owners, friends of mine, asked me to lend them my Jack Russell Terrier, Killer, to rid the crawl space under the house of rats. He came up empty handed.