’18 May

June 28

Labor Day at Sharon’s. That small tree in the big pot produced enough kumquats for a large family. I want one of these!

What a handsome back patio. Sharon and Nancy.

May 27

The cashing in of the Mother’s Day gifts. Mani-pedi from Darryl and Angela…

(from me around, Angela, Rome, Liz, Lilly)

Oh look at those two.

Rome is leaning in a little more because when they stand up straight they seem within an inch of each other. I hadn’t been noticing and then all of a sudden this morning WHAM Rome was as tall as Angela.

I need to add an omg to this!

May 26

Pauli and I went to see RBG, the bio-pic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We both agreed it was a treat to see, and then we had a treat to eat!

May 25

I have been hoping to do something about my ancient and struggling landscape but I can’t seem to move on anything until I’ve got an idea of where it’s all going. So with that in mind Sharon and I walked around the neighborhood and I took pictures of plants that seem to be happy in the area.

All the newish projects are going drought tolerant and so many of the little cottages have these fences around them. One, I’m not drawn to the drought tolerant look and two, I can’t decide about a fence because for one reason I’d need three gates (front path, driveway, side path for the tenants). Oh what to do what to do.

I do want a ton of geraniums though.

May 24

Darryl took this selfie of the family and I got it off Angela’s Instagram.

I put it here because I got to have lunch with Darryl today because he is working very near by in Santa Monica. What a treat, and we could do it again!

dj/ak

May 23

My next big trip! I’m hoping to do this trip after the girls’ birthdays in September and before Thanksgiving. That gives me a little shy of two months, just the way I like it.

LA to Rio in Brazil, to Asuncion in Paraguay, to Iguazu Falls with visiting points in Brazil and Argentina, to Montevideo and the countryside of Uruguay, to Buenos Aires, and then back to LA. Looks delicious doesn’t it!

Not so many locations as my last big trip, in Australia, but still it’ll take some time to put it all together and already some of the very highly rated budget accommodations are full.

May 22

It was Science Night at the elementary school and here’s Lilly and Roxi who did a project together – The Layers of the Earth. Nice job girls!

May 21

From Saint Paul and the Lofty Dogs walk, it’s Cynthia’s Kai and his best buds. The three small dogs live in the same building and love to play!

May 20

I’m typing this from D&A’s house on the 22nd because my &*%^internet has been down for two days and won’t be back until (assuming all goes well) tomorrow. GRRRR.

I and The Cousins Nancy and Sharon had a downtown outing today. We parked at Beyond The Streets and walked to the San Antonio Winery for lunch. It was about a 10 minute walk across the LA River.

A view along the way. Yes, this is the place…

…and here’s the entrance to Beyond The Streets.

From the website: “ORIGINAL WORKS FROM SHEPARD FAIREY, REVOK, FUTURA 2000, RETNA, LADY PINK, DASH SNOW, C.R. STECYK III, GUERRILLA GIRLS, BARRY MCGEE, CHAZ BOJÓRQUEZ, MISTER CARTOON, LEE QUIÑONES, MARIPOL, FAILE, SWOON, EDDIE MARTINEZ, INVADER, RISK, KENNY SCHARF, JENNY HOLZER, HAZE, FELIPE PANTONE, ANDRÉ SARAIVA, GORDON MATTA-CLARK, STEPHEN POWERS, TODD JAMES, CRASH, DAZE, MARTHA COOPER, TAKI 183 PLUS DENNIS HOPPER, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, MARK MOTHERSBAUGH & MANY MORE.”

There’s a sweet little urban garden in the parking lot but the exhibition itself was HUGE. There were two or three, maybe four GIANT warehouse spaces (40,000+ square feet with soaring ceilings) full of interpretations of street art.

I did totally love every minute of it although the same cannot be said for my companions. Check out their website if you’re interested.

Stealth Sprayman and a wall of implements.

This picture had something interesting in every square inch.

The cousins, hello ladies!

Oh, look! Oh…Banksy. Larger than life.

I don’t want to go on and on with these huge pictures but I can safely say if you have any affection for street art you would find this exhibit interesting. It’s such a giant collection.

It’s closing July 6 and all the pieces are going where I don’t know.

The work can be fun for the kids for a while but overall don’t take kids and hope to enjoy it yourself. It’s too big, too many, too much for the young’uns.

May 19

Marsha is RETIRING next week after 43 years with the Auto Club! Her sisters put on a fabulous party in honor of all that is Marsha. Everyone had a fabulous time.

May 18

Merlyn had an extra ticket to the newly re-released 2001: A Space Odyssey playing at the Dome so he invited me and we made an afternoon of it.

After lunch at the Japanese place near me we lurched our way through Friday afternoon traffic to the Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Park for a little tour…

…and then a short visit to the LA Municipal Art Museum also in Barnsdall Park. I liked this piece a lot but it does serve better in person.

The must-have view from Barnsdall Park.

And then on to the show followed by dinner. Thanks Merlyn, it was very good fun! (I know…he’s not standing in front of 2001…)

May 17

Burt came over the hill from Simi today and we had a fine multi-location outing.

First we went to Samy’s to look at cameras. My thumb joint arthritis flares up from time to time when I’ve been using my camera often and that thing is a brick, so we looked at a few of the smaller, lighter guys.

I do wish these kinds of stores would charge a consultation fee that can be applied to purchase because the fellow here stood around with us for a hour. He was great and then we left.

Then we went across the street for lunch at The Farmer’s Market at The Grove. This view of downtown from the parking garage is a must have for every stop at The Grove.

And lastly we had a swing by the Annenberg Space for Photography that Burt had never visited.

It was excellent fun. They had a Story Corps booth there inside a small, historic Airstream and Burt definitely wanted to tell a story!

May 15

Lilly in a box taking a selfie. That’s right.

May 14

Sharon and I had our Palisades Park walk today and much to my surprise all the dinos on the Promenade were behind fences announcing a Habitat Restoration Project.

The Rose Garden was kicking in big time.

May 13

Happy Mother’s Day to Liz and Gary and Rome and Lilly!

Here’s the whole gang after a lively round of Flickin’ Chicken. Thanks to D&A for putting on a very fine affair of food and fun!

Here I am 70 years old and I still don’t have a photo face. Maybe next time. Somebody, Help Me, Please, I’m getting a new driving license in a month and I Need a photo face.

May 12

Remember Brigitte and Knut, she from Belgium and he from Norway? Knut and I were colleagues at Crystal and they were across-the-street neighbors of Tony from generic ‘here’ and Lill from Sweden (with whom I’ve been taking pictures for many years).

Brigitte and Knut have settled permanently in Antwerp and here they are enjoy a fabulous spring in Haspengouw, the fruit growing region of Belgium.

I include this picture now because in a few short weeks Brigitte will finally be sixty. It’s about dang time.

May 11

Les came by this morning, passing through on his way from Australia back to Boston. This picture is from one of his many presentations in Australia, changing the course of student standardized testing as he has already done in the US. You go Les!

(internet)

May 10

Lona and I walked for a couple of hours. Spring had definitely sprung out there around the Ballona Wetlands and then we had to chase up a little p-break. We got so far out we couldn’t get back in time for Lona’s nail appointment so, I called for a Lyft, Lona’s first time for an app-ride. The magic worked!

From the wetlands.

May 9

I went to the dentist today to get my teeth cleaned. I couldn’t manage to do anything else. My jaw is still sore. But I didn’t cry so that’s good.

(internet)

May 8

We dropped Lilly off at her dance class and then Rome and I took a spin by the beach.

It was easy to park along the road here and walk down.

Rome making some of her signature ‘up in your face’ photos. That’s her picture in the inset!

May 7

I went with Lona to her nutritionist appointment and it was so interesting. They have this machine that measures your bmi with some ‘waves’ passing through your body. You just stand there. I want to go too!

Marsha hosted Monday Night and here are four cars parked on her newly refinished driveway.

May 6

Alex and Carol are going off for a two month land journey in Europe. Bon Voyage!

We took some turns around the bay. If you look above the land you can see the sails of dozens of kite surfers.

from May Day to Cinco de Mayo

The big Cinco de Mayo party about three blocks from my house, set up in a parking lot. They closed down at eight and from what I could tell all was well.

Kathleen and I walked down and stayed for a while. We were the oldest by 30 years minimum.

Lilly’s Fashion Show at the elementary school Talent Show. She designed all those outfits and is wearing a Little Black Dress in honor of her favorite designer, Coco Chanel.

(Denise)

Awwww.

(Denise)

Here’s the back of Lilly’s ode to Coco Chanel.

What CHRISTA in Honolulu has been posting, ’cause ‘mericns are hard pressed to know where anywhere is.

What Curtis (of Camas and Curt in Kauai) has to say: “The flow is out in an area that attracts people who would buy an acre of land for $15,000 and live in the path of an active volcano. This eruption has been going on for 35 years which is why the land is so cheap, it’s all in the path of the flow. Puna and Pahoa are not my first or even fifth choice of a place to live.”

Here’s a picture from that bar in Honolulu with the giant aquariums. That corner looked so cozy.

I got home and was too lazy to walk across the street to the grocery store. Amazing, I was too lazy to even get dressed let alone walk across the street.

This worked!

On the day we left Kauai the morning broke so sunny and bright and all the kayakers were smiling big smiles.