Tomato Harvest

They're ripening on the vine. Our first two maters and they were really good tasting and firm-fleshed. There's another one on the window sill waiting for tonight's dinner. We'll just slice it and eat it.

Anniversary #3

A traditional 3rd Anniversary gift is something of leather, and there are my Italian leather, cashmere lined, red gloves. The modern 3rd Anniversary gift is something crystal, which is represented in a set of Paris styled tumblers. This one filled with my new favorite Plum Tea.

We also went back to our favorite local restaurant, Cliff's Edge, to celebrate. The place always reminds me of lodge dining in Africa. And we talk of going back again, to Africa.

Not For All The Tea In Mexico

I discovered a wonderful tea that is absolutely great iced and I can't find it anymore. It's TADIN Mango Green Tea. I believe this tea company is based in Mexico and they distribute out of a plant in the City of Commerce. I don't like the the flavored teas on the supermarket shelves these days, they are too heavily flavored and sweet, and buying them by the bottle is way too expensive. I'd rather brew my own. And at $4 box, 25 tea bags gets me 4 pitchers of iced tea. I placed one order of 10 boxes of tea on Amazon and when I went back to reorder my second order only shipped 2 boxes, the rest on back order for forever. Then I found another site that carried them and ordered 10 boxes and only received 1, the rest back ordered for eternity.
So I'd been thinking about going to Chinatown to find a good replacement tea. Something light and fruity but not "flavored" and "sweetened". I googled and found that Ten Ren's Tea is the place for me. I found the small shop at the butt end of a crazy shopping center, and the woman on duty was very nice and helpful. One side of the shop is for traditional teas, the other side has a boba tea counter. No mango green teas in the traditional tea side but I bought a Plum Tea, Rose Green Tea and Hibiscus Green Tea. At the Boba tea counter I ordered a Mango Green Tea Cooler, without the boba. it was really really good.I haven't tried my tea bounty yet, but I hope they fill the void until all the tea in Mexico makes its way across the border and on to my local supermarket shelves again, or Amazon fills their back orders.

Flickr Set

Biking the San Buenaventura River Trail

After reading a short article in Sunset magazine's March issue about the Ventura River Bike Trail I tore the page out and added it to my "places to go and things to do" pile where it rested until yesterday.

It was a lovely Sunday morning drive up through the valley and the really quaint Santa Paula with its agriculture and roadside produce stands, and on to San Buenvaventura and the sea. We had breakfast at a small downtown diner and visited the Mission before entering the bike trail. Although the trail started off kind of bleak, with the highway to the left and industrial yards to the right, there are interesting art installations along the way. Once we passed through trumpet vine covered fences the highway disappears and the river finally appears and the trail winds along a more quiet and peaceful stretch of land.

There we passed an abandoned oil refinery, crossed over an old wooden bridge and peeked through a vine covered chain link fence at a back lot set of some bygone era street scene. We reached Foster Park where a nice bridge crosses the river and two lions at the gate guard the front.We rested there for a bit and watched the river run before turning into the headwind and biking our way back to where we began.

Flickr set here.

Angelino Heights Open House

When we left the house this morning at about 9:30 it already felt like it was 90 degrees outside. We stopped at Masa for breakfast and walked on up Douglas to Carrol Avenue in Angelino Heights to be looky-loos for the Trolley Line Open House Tour. The houses, Victorians and Craftsmans, were built from 1886 to 1909. The largest house came in at over 9,000 square feet and the cost of construction...$11,500.
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Who are You?

These are cute but they're eating the leaves of my Tomato plants. I haven't been able to ID them with any online searching. But then I'm no bug expert by any means. I flicked one and it flew off.

Tomato Invaders have Arrived

I've been very light handed with the organic bug spray on the vegetable garden, and now I'm paying the price for it. The tomato invaders have arrived. As I was watering the tomato plants and getting ready to stake them out some support to hold their heavy boughs, I spotted a plump green caterpillar on the top soil. I checked my one little green tomato and something was poking its little brown caterpillar head (or bottom??) out. Dang. I plucked the plump Caterpillar from the ground and then plucked my little tomato from the vine. Looking through the green leaves I found another little green caterpillar, got the spray out and doused the plants but good. Take that tomato invaders.

Tomato !!

What's that?!?*

Is it? *

A Tomato!!!

The Countdown

Deciding to walk this morning to the new LAMill Coffee Shop (oops, coffee boutique) for breakfast and a reeeeealy good cup of Joe, I was looking forward to having one of their specialty coffees prepared uniquely at the table using an ancient Japanese syphon brewing method. We arrived before 9:00 and were told table service for breakfast didn't start until 9:00. So we opted to take a walk through the neighborhood, up to the dog park, wind our way up a side street, and take one of the stair streets back down, taking photos along the way.Getting back to LA Mill at about 9:10 or so we were greeted by the hostess and given the option of a table inside or out. We opted for a table for two outside. We were seated, given menus, water, place settings. Then it all came to a screeching, stomach growling, where's the damn waitress, halt. Once we decided what to order, we waited...and waited...It's now 9:30. Will sets his watch timer for a five countdown. I got up and went inside to find the hostess and let her know we were ready to order. She looked at her wrist and said something about "maybe the waitress doesn't know it's 9:00 yet". Whaaaat? If your table service stars at 9:00 don't you think you know when the clock strikes that hour of the morning and start serving? And there are certainly other customers and they have coffee, and dishes are coming out of the kitchen, people are behind the counter brewing and pouring. I said "It's beyond 9:00 and we're waiting to place our order". She asked where we were sitting. I pointed to the table just on the other side of the floor to ceiling / wall to wall plate glass window, where...she...seated...us.

Returning to the table I told Will what the hostess said. She came to our table a minute later and told us the waitress would be right out. We waited some more and then Will's wristwatch said "times up", and up we got, and left.

See ya!

Some Days

Some days are just lazy like that. And some weekends too. With nothing more to do but chill out and you know, do laundry, go to the market, clean the bathroom, watch a movie, take pictures of flowers, marinade a couple of Ribeyes, and generaly just meander around the house and the yard with those I love and live with. Days can be sweet that way.

Harvest

It's been really mild and in the cooler upper 60s. So Spring. But we're getting hit with a wave of heat today. Temps are supposed to be in the low 90s this weekend with the Santa Ana's blowing.

The side garden is getting a good soak and the vegetables are basking in the sun. I harvested some spinach this morning and added the dark leafy greens to the tomatoes and onions in our breakfast scramble.Can't wait to see the tomatoes sprouting on the vines. Nothing yet but little flower blossoms.

Miss You

I'm missing him so.

And the dogs will hear something out front and think its him. They both run to the door, tails fiercely wagging, joy in their little faces. They wait, look back at me, and wait. As they look towards the door and he doesn't come, their tails slowly stop wagging and droop. They mope around looking at me like "Where's dad?"

I think about him in everything I do. Make coffee (just enough for one). Getting ready for work in the morning. Coming home at the end of the day. This morning I went to get the newspaper and someone had stolen it from the front steps,an empty blue bag is all there was. And see, I filled the water dish, scooped the poop, brought the trash cans up. See...

I can't wait until he comes home.
But, maybe I'll leave some dishes in the sink. He'll like that.

Birthday Wishes from the Carolinas

My husband calls to wish me a happy birthday this morning from the trenches of the convention center in Charlott, NC. I pick up the call from the kitchen and he directs me to the library cupboard where there is a bag o' goodies for me! I love you sweetie pie. And OMG, this is one of the best of the bunch:
Then Mom calls from Murrells Inlet, SC to wish her daughter happy birthday and catch up on family news and how OLD we all are. I forgot to thank her for the lovely card she made for me:Thanks Mom.

Tomato Plant 21 Days Later

First planted on March 9th (above) our little vegetable garden is growing well.
March 30th (above)

Blessing of the Animals

A scene from Blessing of the Animals

After dusting Buster off and getting out the sombrero, we were off to the Blessing of the Animals at Olvera Street. The afternoon grew very warm so the bath courtesy of Cardinal Mahoney was refreshing to big dogs, little dogs and people alike. And the the Sangria's at the cool Colima restaurant especially hit the spot afterwards.

Picture Perfect

Mom sent me a picture this morning of Grandma and her dog (gosh I think her name is Millie) at the Sun Dial Bridge in Redding, CA.What a really wonderful picture. And thanks to my Uncle Jim for getting her there and taking care of her while she was sick (flu, bronchitis, verging on Pneumonia). Although she left the stunningly beautiful country town of Troy, those Montana winters have got to be long and hard. I'm glad she's back in Redding where the weather suits her better and she can get out and walk and she can garden all year round.

I planted Basil in my little garden this morning and all of the other vegis are doing good. Now grow, grow, grow.

Star Power

Figurines from the bucket at Coco's.

After going to the garden center for a couple of trellises and some basil to add to the vegetable garden we stopped at Coco's, an exuberant little mish mash of a shop brimming with an odd combination of Kit Cat Klocks, small plastic toys and colorful kitchen ware among the pure water, brooms and bicycles.

Owned and operated by the delightful Mister Jalopy who came out and talked bikes with my sweetie-pie while I browsed the isles and took some pictures. Will couldn't wait to try the Hamster's Lunch snack and I got a bell for my bike.

Victory Garden

We talked about planting some vegis this season. Some of our favorite things. Tomatoes, ruby lettuce, spinach (and basil to come). There's a perfect size plot that gets some decent sun along the north fence that Will had already terraced. Small enough to try it out and still hopefully bring us a nice little harvest this summer. All it needed was weeding and some work on the slope a bit so I would have level ground leading up to it. So I tackled it today using our stock pile of brick and river rock, filling in with mulch.We'll see how it does and maybe expand it next season.

Bee in the Rosemary

We're getting some good rains this winter and the yard is just soaking it up. Grass is green and new growth is popping open everywhere. Weeds are growing, well, like weeds. I pulled some up from the rain soaked dirt and thankfully the roots came easily too. With the new growth and the rain I went into digital macro and cought some close-ups.

Raindrops on a blade of grass
***

Bud
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Bee in the Rosemary

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Going to Hollywood

It was a good morning for a bike ride so we saddled up and hit the road to Hollywood.8.4 miles round trip from our house to the Hollywood Farmer's Market. We haven't been in a while and it sure is a bustling place, but has maintained it's charm while continuing to deliver top quality foods. We bought some greens, including some heavenly basil, some blueberries and organic honeycomb. After eyeing the berry cobblers we stopped at the gourmet tamale stand for a bite and a drink of lemonade. On the way home we stopped at the Army Surplus store and picked up a bag and belt for Sweetie and a cap and bunjee cords for me. I need to find a nice basket for my bike so I can attach it the the rear rack. I'm thinking something like a small pic-nic basket.

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Watch Dogs

One patrols the front...

The other's got the rear.

Perimeter secured.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Ok, so I wasn't as gung ho about the idea as Will was, but when I saw how much he wanted to go and how much he wanted me to want to go, well, I said "I can be ready in 20 minutes". And about 30 minutes later we were out the door and on our way to the happiest place on earth. As we expected, February is not peak season at Disneyland. Even more so on a cold and rainy day that just happened to be Superbowl Sunday.
It's probably been at least 15 years since I've been there and it's still the same beloved place it's always been. Thank goodness. I only wish It's a Small World would have been open. Then we could have left with that song in our heads. Instead it was the Enchanted Tiki Room song.
It is really a very beautiful park and the tulips were unreal. We walked on to most of the rides and the longest we probably waited in line was 20 minutes. I remember as a kid not wanting to leave, but being so tired at the same time. And it was still hard to leave.

Architecture Buffs

At least that's how the L. A. times described the 1,000 people who were lucky enough to get a rare tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's first of four "textile-block" houses that he built in the hills surrounding Los Angeles. And sweetie and I were among them. Photography wasn't allowed inside the house, which is too bad because it was really a beautiful space, but we snapped away outside.

Photo set on Flickr
and Will's are here

Work Around

After telling my sweetie about spying two beautiful hawks soaring from my 12th floor office window with late afternoon clouds dramatically hanging in the sky and NOT having my camera, his comment was "Have you learned nothing?" So in my purse my camera went and although I saw no hawks outside my window there were rain clouds and rainbows.* * *

And at a red light there was this painted city utility cabinet .

OK, How Much is That Doggie in the Window

Sorry, I couldn't resist. While I was along the side of the house checking my bike's tire pressure and getting ready to roll downtown, my Ranger was looking down at me from the bay window.
See, how could I resist.

With calm winds and mid-sixty temps it was a perfect day for a ride. Sweetie suggested we go see the matinee showing of Cloverfield, head over to the Library for a photo exhibit, then check out the art installation at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary, and wrap the whole thing up in Margaritas at Olvera Street before the roll home.

While L. A. is mostly flat, and I have demonstrated that I can manage some of the city's inclines, it was still a somewhat ambitious ride for me. We left the house at 12:00 for a 1:00 movie, giving me pleeeeenty of time to get there. Well, we got there, in 20 minutes.

I biked 9.2 miles. Yay!

Photos from today on Flickr.

A Fine Day

A fine day for a bike ride around the reservoir.At the end of the loop we stopped at the Back Door Cafe for breakfast and a cool down. Will told me this morning that their owner and business neighbor has evicted them and today is their last day at this location. Lot's of people there to support them, along with their doggies.

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Rainy Days and Sunshine

What to do on a rainy day. Goof on the computer. Go to the market. Do some laundry. Change the bed linens. Play ball with a muddy dog. Take pictures of raindrops. Watch a little football.

Now Playing:

Catherine Russell

Nice sountrack for a lazy day.

Happy New Year 2008

At the beginning of each New Year I wonder what surprises will come my way. Where I will travel to, what I will encounter, and ... where I will get the strength to fight my battle. Fortunately my battle is, what, I was going to write "small". But is the battle with my weight small? Is this where I pick up the phone and "call Jenny"? I know what needs to be done and I know why. It's maintaining that effort, because it is a huge effort, that is so tough. And those who have never fought this battle can never really know how much it takes to take it on. My opponent.

However, I will take it on. And I will lose weight and the benefits of that will be apparent. I will ride my bike and have the stamina and strength to roll more than just a 2 mile loop. I will hike the trails and cobbled streets wherever it is I travel to and handle the elevations with relative ease. I don't want to always be the last one up.So, on to a happy and healthy 2008. I'm ready for whatever comes my way. The wondrous and lovely daily adventures and delights, to the difficult decisions and challenges of life.