Tag: California

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Ore Cart III

I may have to start an ore cart factory in order to get one for my yard.

Here I am posing with the one up at Henninger Flats.  It may become the prototype for the factory.  My brother Matt in the UK who is in the railway equipment business has found some wheels in a yard in the rural UK.  We aren’t sure how we are going to get them to the USA yet.  They don’t look like carry-on luggage.

There is lots to do but an ore cart will be a great addition to the garden.  And the perfect place to display all of the rocks and minerals I have brought home from various trips over the last 30 or 40 years.  They are currently stored in many large cartons in the garage.

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Mimosa Tree

This tree in our neighborhood has the same name as the orange juice and champagne drink and is beautiful when it flowers.

It is unclear which came first the drink or the tree.

They are roughly the same color.

Again this was taken just around the corner from our house near where the Passion Fruit Vine is growing.

The fruit of the passion flower looks like this before it turns purple/black and becomes edible.

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Lotusland

It is spring in Southern California and to massacre a metaphor the low hanging fruit are nature pictures.

We visited Lotusland in Montecito, near Santa Barbara last Friday and learned a little about Ganna Walska the garden’s creator and got some great photos.

The best single word for Lotusland is eclectic.

or maybe eccentric.

If you like gardens Lotusland is definitely worth a visit.  Reservations required.

Many more photos on Flickr

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Tour of California

I went with Lillian, Barbara and Gordon to watch the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race a few weeks ago and had a terrific time.

It took all day but it was great fun to be up in the mountains at Mt Baldy Village with thousands of people who shared a strange enthusiasm for bicycle racing.  We were at a spot where we could see the racers go by twice and we did but the actual part where you watch the race is perhaps five minute each time.

Most of the time is taken up eating, watching the other spectators and casual riders, repositioning and trying to find your friends.  As the riders came by I rang a cowbell to encourage them and it seemed to work.  And I get to write the word peloton and know what it means.

Bicycle racing is a perfect sport for advertising upscale products.  The fans are all upper middle class people with nice cars free time and disposable income.  It is not unusual for someone to spend $3000 for a recreational bicycle and then an additional $1000 each for some super tires and wheels.

I get high with a little help from my friends

The Tour of California isn’t as big as the Tour de France yet but I predict that it will be in thirty years or so.

 

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Wild Flowers 2012

In preparation for our hike in the Alps for my 65th birthday I have been doing some practice hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains.  As you can imagine I take great pleasure in being able to write that I am going hiking in the Alps.  Yes life is good.  On these training hikes I’ve taken a few good photos of the spring wild flowers.  Here are a few:

Wild Mustard on a hillside

a close up of the mustard

Orange Flowers

See lots more spring flowers in my Flickr album

Volunteer Vincas?

Even the desert can bloom.

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Work

“After you have worked on a farm, nothing else you ever do is work.”

John Kenneth Galbraith

US Economist

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What Would Texas Do?

Headline in the  5/14/12 WSJ:

“Brown Says More Cuts Needed”

Note to Governor Brown:

“You can’t save your way to prosperity.”

Instead ask yourself:

What Would Texas Do?

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Mallow

One of the best flower photos I have taken in a long time.

Click on the photo and look at it full screen you can see the pollen on the bee’s back.

I’d say National Geographic quality.

Life is good!