Back home-sweet-home for a happy month with family and friends.
April 4 and 5
I’m leaving for Kauai tomorrow but First Holiday Fun with the family.
I know, smack into the sun. There were probably another 10 kids roaming around too. It’s the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt and the finding of treasures ensued.
Darryl and Angela went out for a date night while the girls and I…
…hosted a dinner party for Sandy, in town from San Francisco, and Nancy and her granddaughter Chloe.
Rome and Lilly were such amazingly perfect hosts I think someone should write an American Girl Doll book about how to have a dinner party and they should be the lead characters. Wow. And we did teeth and story and bedtime with smiles and good cheer.
I slept over to be ready for all the morning fun of The Easter Bunny hip hip hippy hopping down the lane to drop off a basket of goodies and hide some eggs.
On top of which it was…
…Happy Birthday DARRYL! Big D!! What a guy!!! I love Angela’s candle composition…46!
April 3
It’s the Getty Center with Muriel to see the massive Turner exhibit. The works are only from the last 15 or so years of his life .. tons of them loaned from around the world, but mostly from the Tate in London.
My friends Frog Boy and Hip Girl welcome us this beautiful morning.
We got there before the museum opened so were able to stroll the gardens in relative peace.
A wildflower, the California Poppy, blooming in the most unexpected places.
Outside the café. You’re right if you think I probably have a dozen of these over the years.
Here’s my big collection of pictures from the Getty Center.
April 1
Since I’m going to Kauai in a few days I’m going to add this bit of April along with March.
Here’s the view from Lona’s doctor’s office – the Pacific Design Center.
March 31
So many girls walking home today! I did some cut-and-past in an effort to get the best one of each.
March 30
I had dinner with Nancy and here’s a picture of her cutie-pie granddaughter Chloe. Hi Chloe!
na.
March 29
The Angeles Chorale, where Becky and Marsha sing, performed a huge work tonight – Dvoøák’s Stabat Mater along with the Azusa Pacific Oratorio Choir and Symphony.
It was huge, huge and great.
March 27
Windy invited me to join her for dinner and a play. How civilized!
I can’t confirm for absolutely sure but it looks like it’s a non-equity production in a theater with more than 99 seats – not a lot more, but more. So now I might not know how equity/non-equity works.
It was a lot of fun with a surprisingly large cast and they even had a five piece band as part of the production.
Windy, me, Geri’s friend, Geri
From a few weekends ago when Windy and Jeff were at a car show in Tucson, here’s Jeff with one of his treasures.
Boban and I had a good lunch last week and it seems at the end we are always in a rush because we linger over our conversation, and then I don’t get a picture, so I nag him until he sends me something. The new one is Jordan’s selfie.
Wow-eee how time flies! In a few short weeks the oldest girl will be driving that van. Yikes!
Boban, Jordan, Cheyenne
March 26
Susie and I met in Culver City and took the Expo Line into downtown. It was fun fun!
We do think we might have found the last two parking places in the lot though and we don’t know what people would do getting to work with no place to park. I guess they’d have to continue on by car.
Our destination was MOCA neither of us having been there in many months.
“It’s a small world, but not if you have to clean it.”
There were selections from the permanent collection, an all star cast, that was fun to see.
This is part of the STURTEVANT: DOUBLE TROUBLE show. It’s an Elaine Sturtevant retrospective and it was interesting but loud.
There was also a video by Kahlil Joseph that was thumping and pounding and blaring through that whole side of the museum (the permanent collection side was left in peace). I didn’t bother the people at the front desk! Good for me!! Someone must have thought it was art.
March 24
We met Miles at the park and he too had lost his two front teeth.
Lilly, Miles
March 23
The 7 Minute Workout. I’ve been doing this recently except not #7, and not the last two either, but I replace them with something else…and then try to do just one of the ones I can’t do. It’s fun for 7 minutes.
And I’ve been going to the gym with Windy a few times. I gained 2 pounds in SE Asia and have once again as always lost not an ounce. But I (ineffectively, but full of hope) soldier on.
March 22
Another one of those days where I don’t leave the house. How do I hang around my 280 square feet all day long?
For one thing I watched TV on my computer. Here’s a nice chunk of a day.
TV Series: Indian Summers, Bloodline, House of Cards
Movies: Mr. Pip, Chimes at Midnight, Life Itself
March 21
Nancy and I went to Descanso Garden this morning to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was lovely.
Turns out there are so many different kinds of cherry trees and all their blossoms are different.
Driving home we got off the Glendale Freeway at Fletcher Driver and found some great gates leading to very cool LA River walks. This one is called Water With Rocks.
Here’s one. Note the gate is locked but the side door is open.
And here’s a majorly fancy one called Great Heron Gates leading into Rattlesnake Park. Unfortunately the walls are getting tagged, not artistic efforts for decoration either but just unpleasant spray-can tags.
This section of the LA River is one of the places where the city broke up the cement bed to let the plants grow in which is so nice to look at.
It’s great for birds but also homeless people are camping out in the overgrowth. What to do what to do. The homeless encampments and the tagging made me think of Singapore, clean and safe as it is, but then we don’t want to live in Singapore.
March 20
Walking with Sharon, here’s a bluff at Palisades Park… watch out!
March 19
It took a good part of two days but it’s done – Lona’s big project for rent increases, updating security deposits, paying security interest, collecting fees, providing government forms ETC. that she has to do for all the tenants.
I call it March Madness because we always do it in March. Lona calls it That Miserable Mailing. Cindi, Lona’s ace assistant calls it March Miserable Mailing Madness.
Lilly and Deacon. I didn’t tell them to do this. They were doing this and I took their picture.
March 16
Another fabulous and festive feast courtesy of dear Maxine who created a leprechaun’s dream garden and prepared and served her legendary corned beef and cabbage dinner.
And then we got to enjoy opening night of Dancing With the Stars!
Ann, Becky, Alicia, Marsha, Marija, Ljubica, Lourdes, Maxine
March 15
I went to the beach with Ben and Bonnie for a meal and a walk and the sunset, one of the most crowded March days ever as temperatures soared inland and because Santa Monica was the end point for the marathon bike ride and race this morning.
March 14
I guess the thousands of pictures I took in January and February have slowed my need for pictures in March.
This is last year’s picture of the house Sharon invites me to enjoy every April. Lucky dog me!
March 12
Happy Birthday dear LON-IEE, Happy Birthday to YOU!
First we all had a foot massage at the new place on Wilshire and 3rd, then a yummy lunch at Tony P’s and then…
…we did exercises! which was most welcome considering the aforementioned lunch at Tony P’s.
March 10-11
hmmm, What have I been doing? Watched some tv and checked in on the shows featuring the cast of Friends.
Matt LeBlanc is perfect on Episodes. Cortney Cox is finishing her sixth season of Cougar Town. Matthew Perry has been around the block and might have settled into The Odd Couple. Jennifer Aniston is your basic high-end celebrity. Lisa Kudrow is involved in a lot of projects with her longest running tv show being Web Therapy. David Schwimmer has a fairly long resume of things I haven’t seen.
I also saw My friends, relatives, and neighbors which has been great. But no pictures! Not even pictures of the girls from Tuesday.
Here are two internet pictures in a row. I better turn this around!
March 9
Pauli is going to Papua New Guinea! We had such a nice visit and lunch and talked about how much we enjoy going out to see what’s what.
March 8
Lill and I walked to a yummy breakfast and came back on the path along Ballona Creek, a tributary of the LA River and here we have another one of these cool gates you can often find at the river bike and walking paths.
The water was so clean and nice probably from the recent rains, but still very low due to the drought.
Here’s the link to a selection of my LA RIVER pictures.
These are just a small section of what Lill will have on sale this coming weekend.
Succulent Sale! Great deals too – for example this one will be $8.
Later I met Windy and Jeff for dinner at Guido’s. Thanks guys for the treat, it was Good.
March 7
Nancy and Sharon and I went out for breakfast at Venice Beach on a beautiful March summer day.
We did a stroll down to LA Louvre to see what was showing. I was nuts for these planes.
Then I met Muriel for a late lunch at the French Market where this banana plant was growing in the parking lot.
I visited with Merlyn and Hilda and one of their friends today and we all shared pictures and travel stories. This is their backyard.
March 5
I had a lovely time with my sisters today. That picture is from several years ago but we’re just as cute today.
March 4
Ken and Bill, our first get-together in more than two months, and it was good!
March 3
We usually walk around the neighborhood, to go to the park or to the Indian restaurant or to Big Lots and when we do we follow along with the construction projects.
Today we got to go inside the latest finished home which was cool. We also got to have a nice long conversation with the guys starting this project. I hope we can take a picture every week or so as this one goes up.
Lilly and I took the little girl across the street with us for the walk to pick up Rome. She did so well I’d happily take her again.
At Rome’s school: Book Fair! Everyone got a book which was a lot of extra fun.
March 1
Time to change the ‘refrigerator door’. There’s my Halloween Bat Ears, Christmas Bell Necklace (that makes any outfit holiday festive), holiday pictures and cards from the kids, there’s a card that says “My opinions may have changed but not the fact that I am right” Ashleigh Brilliant, Jo Ann’s exhibition, Welcome to the World Addie Rose, my Valley Girl party, and a book mark from canvas&clay that says “the earth without art is just eh”.
I seem to keep the origami bird and the dancing cranes with every new pass.
February 28
What a delightful and welcoming Welcome Home delicious and beautiful brunch, thanks to DAK&L!
Rome and Lilly wearing their new pearl necklaces from Thailand thanks to Kat who made it happen.
from February, Angela’s pictures
While I was gone the kids had a nice long weekend in the mountains at Lake Arrowhead. There wasn’t any fallen-from-the-sky snow but they had snow to play in anyway.
