Olvera Street

Here is another photo from our day at Olvera Street. It is called Velarde’s Fruit. They sell fresh fruit, drinks, etc. It is a little trailer that has been painted to resemble a brick building with the paint coming off. With the trees around it and the colorful barrels it was a very pretty site. We saw so many pretty and colorful sites. It is located in the main courtyard by the back entrance to all the vendors. To see the rest of the photos, click this link to my web site.

The Velarde Fruit Store

I enjoyed my Flash class last night. It was very good and the instructor showed us many useful things. I am going to work on improving my web site and he gave me a lot of good ideas and some new things to try. It will take me a while to incorporate them, but I am looking forward to it. I really love going to school and learning all of these new things! Today is Halloween – have fun with all the little ghosts and goblins!

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Dia De Los Muertos!

Dia De Los Muertos is one of Mexico’s traditional holidays reuniting and honoring beloved ancestors, family and friends. It is a day for honoring your loved ones. The actual holiday is this coming week-end. November 1st honors deceased infants and children, and November 2nd honors deceased adults. There were a lot of preparations going on at Olvera Street for this week-end; many altars decorated for loved ones, with sugar skulls, fruit, bread, candles, flowers and more. You can read more about it at the Olvera St. link I put up in my last post. There were a lot of people and some kids on school field trips. There is no relationship to our Halloween – they are totally different. To see all the photos, click this link to my web site.

The Day of the Dead

Along with going to Olvera St., we walked over to Philippes for lunch and then over to Union Station to take more photographs. It was a great day. Not too hot – it was in the 80’s, but there was a nice breeze. Willie, Carol and I took many photos and I will share more from my day here with you. The above couple are a good representation of the celebration to come. There will be so many people there this week-end! Well, until tomorrow – it may be more Olvera Street or inside Union Station. Please come back to see.

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A Very Prickly Pear

I went to the Shipley Nature Center yesterday morning at the west side of Central Park. The park is divided east and west by Goldenwest Street. They have trails you can walk on to go around the center. They also sell plants and books and things like that. They have naturalists who work there and visit to give lectures and they also have school kids come on field trips.  It was very dry there since it is the end of summer. I could not find their little lake! I took a few photographs and here is one of them.

A Scary Prickly Pear Plant

The purple flowers are very pretty. As you can see, there is no fruit right now. I would not want to fall into it! I am sure they warn the kids to be careful. We are planning on going up to Olvera Street later today if it does not turn too hot. My friend Carol will be going with us. Hopefully we can make it to Philippes for lunch! The trip is planned for taking photographs. We should get a lot of good ones, which I will share with you! 

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Bella Terra, What is Going On?

So many changes at Bella Terra Mall here in Huntington Beach. The plans that are being made do not sound very good. There are plans for condos and apartments and a lot of traffic. We only live a few blocks away so it will all affect us. We were up there yesterday and took some photos. There are two big stores, Mervyns and Shoe Pavillion that are closing and a crumbling Montgomery Wards that has been closed for more than 10 years and the owners will not sell the building. Also, Levitz closed recently so we have there big rusty sign to look at. We were up at Corner Bakery Cafe with the dogs. That part of it was very nice.

Some Sad Sites at Bella Terra

It just looks bad. I know the city wants to improve things but with the economy the way it is now and the city not doing so well at making things better, it is a sad state of affairs. A lot of businesses are closing all around town. There are a lot less cars in parking lots. People are not out shopping and I know it will be a bad holiday season for all.  I normally like to stay lite and positive, but it is hard when you see things like this and listen to the news. I will do better tomorrow - I promise! 

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One Great Looking Succulent

Willie and I were out walking with the dogs yesterday on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Huntington Beach. It was a great day! This plant caught my eye. I loved the colors and the texture.  Again, I do not know what it is. I guess I always thought my mother would be around to answer these questions for me! Do you know what it is?

A Beautiful, Colorful Succulent

After I said all those nice things about Kyla the other day, I caught her in the kitchen last night munching on a baby back rib she had taken off of a platter on the kitchen counter. Of course we took it away from her. Donnan didn’t know what was going on at the time. Later that evening they were outside and he was barking at her a lot. I told Willie it was because he was mad at her for not letting him in on her plan so they could have shared before I came in and caught them! I have a busy week planned – lot’s of good photographs to take!

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This is My Space

I decided that just for fun I would show you my work space. I work at home to do my real estate (which I do not do much of right now) and my photography and this Weblog and my Web Site and my work for school. This is where it all happens. I have my Wacom, my Epson scanner and printer (2400) and I have a Xerox laser jet printer. I keep a few books that I am using close by and my scientific calculator when I am doing math.

Where it All Happens

I have asked Willie to raise the monitor for me to more of an eye level. Maybe one day he will get to it. I use a PC at home and a Mac at school.  I was sorry we were not able to go up to the mountains yesterday, but Larry and Shelley are newlyweds, they don’t need us around. I may go up to Lake Arrowhead next Saturday and spend some time with an old friend. We first met in the third grade and she stood up for me at my wedding. In the mean time, I will try to come up with something interesting for tomorrow!

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My Brave Little Girl

Kyla conquered a big fear yesterday. We have two sets of french doors in our living room and one of the sets has been blocked with stuff stacked up on the patio.  Well, we made that door accessable since Larry helped us last week.  Kyla would not come into the house through this door and even Moo Moo’s would not bribe her!  Well, I put a leash on her and brought her through the door many times (with a treat of course). It worked and she will now use that other door.  Donnan had no problem with the door.  I do not know what her fear was, but she conquered it and I am so proud of her!

My Sweet Little Kyla

 

I love my Kyla and my Donnan so much. I think we are going to go up to the mountains on Saturday. We have a cabin in Green Valley Lake.  Last year at this time there were fires in Green Valley Lake and the firemen had to vacate the town. We thought all was lost, but our cabin is still standing! Larry and Shelley will be up there and we will have a lot of fun. Larry said they want to take the canoe out on the the lake and that they are having an Octoberfest and a haunted house for kids at the Community Center. I will share some photos.  It will be a fun day and evening if we decide to go.  (Update: we did not go)

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GWC at Night

During break last night at school, I walked around a little bit and the campus was very quiet.  With my camera in hand (but no tripod) I rested it on a rail and tried taking some photos. I liked this one because of the spotlights below and the long dark hallway above. Makes you wonder what is down that hall, right?  This building is part of the original campus built in the early 1960’s.

GWC Fine Arts Building

We got our new FIOS TV yesterday –  so far, so good. It just takes time to get used to the new remote and their way of doing things.  My favorite feature is you can record two programs at one time or record a show and watch another live show. If I am recording a cooking show or my soap, it won’t annoy Willie if he is trying to watch some silly cowboy movie!

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The 405 at Night

I took this photograph last night at about 8:30 P.M. It is the 405 Freeway at the Beach Blvd. (Hwy 39) offramp, that we use to get home.  You can travel Highway 39 from the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains all the way to the ocean. When I was in high school I lived in Glendora, which is close to those mountains. I remember going to the beach that way sometimes (to avoid freeways). Enough nostalgia. I just thought this would make a good night shot and I could use my new tripod and ball head.

The 405 at Beach

Very hot yesterday, in the 90°’s. Hopefully, it will be a little cooler today. A technician is coming today to change our TV from Dish Network to Verizon FIOS. I sure hope I am not sorry I made this change. We have had Dish for a long time, but I have been upset with them ever since they took away my East coast feeds. Let’s hope for cooler weather and a good Flash class tonight.  For tomorrow…?

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Crazy, Reflecting Stairwell

Driving through a parking structure last night, I noticed how strange the stairwell looked against the office building next door.  Willie was driving and I made him stop and back-up so I could look again. I was hoping I could capture in a photograph what I saw – the zig-zag and distortion of the stairwell reflecting on the windows of the office building. I guess you never know when you will see something interesting!

Reflective Stairwell

I was lucky to have my camera and tripod (my new one) in the back of the Jeep.  I am very happy with the results.  When we got home we watched Gavin and Stacey on BBC. I had recorded it earlier in the evening. It is a very funny show and very sweet also. I am not a big fan of British humor, but this is a good show. We also watch all the British detective shows that have been on BBC from Netflix.  Anyone else watch it?

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Golden Leaves of Fall

I saw this leaf yesterday and thought it represented what is very beautiful about this time of year. Of course, here in Huntington Beach, we do not get the same type of colors that I see in photographs of the Eastern states, but we have beautiful colors none the less.  Add a filter to the photograph  and voila!

Fall Leaf

I did errands yesterday, grocery shopping, etc. Oh, so exciting!  I saw this leaf while I was out. Willie took Kyla and Donnan for a good walk last evening. I worked on some Flash and then watched some Heroes episodes on Netflix. Why watch it on TV when you can see it with no commercials on your computer? Beautiful day yesterday but still unseasonably warm. We will see what today brings!

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One More Getty Center View

This image I took at the Getty Center shows a lot of the things I really like about the place:  the beautiful texture of the stone used to create the building and the walls, the architecture and designs of both the structure and the gardens and the juxtaposition of the building on the site among many other things. I hope you see the beauty that I saw. I enjoy sharing this with you.

The Getty Center

Hopefully we will be going to the Getty Villa in Malibu sometime in the Spring.  It is just as beautiful there but in a totally different way. Yesterday was a rather uneventful day. I watched some Lynda.com videos on Flash and then watched a little TV.  I added a link for an RSS feed from my Weblog here. Sign up if you want to. For some reason I felt very physically and emotionally drained yesterday. Today is already better!

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Oh, The Yellow Rose of …?

This rose bush is growing in my backyard. It produces beautiful yellow roses, don’t you think?  Larry was over yesterday and we got a lot done in the garage and the backyard. I didn’t have much time to plan a photograph to shoot. It was a nice day yesterday. Kyla and Donnan like Larry and they behaved very well. Larry has told us in the past that they are out of control, he didn’t say that yesterday!

Lovely Rose

I still have several boxes of my mother’s things stacked up in my living room. Aside from the eyesore they create, it is difficult for me to go through them and get rid of things. I feel that if it was important to my mother to have in her small home, who am I to get rid of it?  Larry put a few of the boxes in the garage and said I have six months to go through them or he will do it and get rid of stuff.  Is that fair? 

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Beautiful Colors, Light and Texture

This is the bottom of a bamboo plant with the roots showing that my mother had for many years. It is in a tall glass vase layered with blue, green and white glass rocks. Willie is taking care of it now. I took it outside so I could get some sunlight reflecting on the rocks and water. It came out just like I wanted it to. I hope you agree. These are some of my favorite colors and they are very beautiful.

Beautiful Colors Shining Through

Larry is coming over today to help Willie with some work in the garage. We don’t see as much of him as we would like to, but I guess that happens when your son grows up and gets married!  I will supervise and delegate – I am good at that. There was an article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about the photography exhibit at the Getty Center, and particularily “Carlton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California.”  If you get a chance, check it out – it is very interesting.

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The Beautiful Getty Gardens

I was at the Getty Center this week, which you would know if you follow my Weblog. I shared some of the building architecture with you in my last post and now I am sharing some of the garden architecture. There are many beautiful garden areas, including a cactus garden. A meandering stream ends in the center of this photo after going through different areas of plants. The Pacific Ocean is at the horizon along with Catalina Island in the background. The Getty is on top of a hill and there are beautiful views from any direction.

The Getty Gardens

We have been there about four times, and there are still a few areas we have not explored – hopefully, next time we will see it all.  When the hedge in the center of the photo is in bloom, it is covered with red flowers and is very beautiful. I think I will share one or two more Getty photos with you. Donnan’s growth is not getting smaller – Willie thinks it is getting larger.  Until tomorrow…

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Great Day at the Getty Center

We had such a great time at the Getty  yesterday. There were some wonderful exhibits that were very impressive. Especially a photography one with work by Carleton Eugene Watkins. I was not familiar with his work but I will definitely learn more about it. The architecture at the entire Getty Center, including the gardens, is so beautiful and I love photographing it. This photo is of an overhang that circles around one of the buildings. I was in the gift shop later and saw a postcard with the same image! I have other photos from the Getty I want to share with you. I hope you see all of them.

Such a Gorgeous Day in LA

The dogs were alone in the backyard over eight hours yesterday and they were very happy to see us when we got home. It started out being a hot day but the clouds came in and that cooled it off. We were very glad we went. Tonight is Flash class and I will do some reading and watch a few videos. It should be a good class. Come back tomorrow to see what is new!

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