A Wild And Crazy Afternoon, With A Sunset Finale

My Water Post For Today.

My 33rd Anniversary was a wild and crazy day, though we didn't plan on it being so wild and crazy. I thought that since we have not been anywhere, a nice fast dinner in the Ventura Harbor area, would be a good way to celebrate the day. My son had to attend a meeting at CSULA, but he wanted to go, so he decided to take the train to get there. Well, two train altercations later (one his train and one not his train), he made it down to Ventura at 6:20PM, just in time for dinner.

We ate chowder in a buoy at Andrea's Seafood and we finished, just as the sun decided to peak through the clouds, on its way down to the sunset.

We drove to the other side of the road (where there is beach parking) and caught a few photos of the sunset, this being one of them. I am glad they allow people to park without paying, because we only spent about 10 minutes there watching it go down.

I liked it.

Earlier, while we were waiting for my son to arrive, we decided to walk around Ventura Harbor.

Both of us were glad we did because with the train delay, all the shops were closing up when we returned.

Plus, my son is not big on shopping. :-)

So this is us, on our anniversary.

Happy that we managed to make it so far.

Awe Mom

This is the day of my second marriage...23 years today. As different from the first as night and day. Except for the fact that the wedding party was exactly the same and I was 3 months pregnant.

One of the things we chose for this wedding, were the readings. I chose the Gospel of St John, where he tells the story of the Wedding At Cana. For me, married to a man of Jewish Faith, it had special meaning. This reading proves that Jesus had a Jewish Mother. :-)

I thought I was alone in my interpretation of this Gospel...but Coffee with Jesus, hit's the nail on the head with their comic. (click on the photo to read it.)

If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a piece of the Gospel.

Mary turned to Jesus and said,
"They have no more wine."
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Nearby were six stone jars filled with water used for ceremonial washing. Jews cleansed their hands, cups, and vessels with water before meals. Each large pot held from 20 to 30 gallons.
Jesus told the servants to fill the jars with water. He ordered them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet, who was in charge of food and drink. The master was unaware of Jesus' turning the water in the jars into wine.
The steward was astounded. He took the bride and groom aside and complimented them. Most couples served the best wine first, he said, then brought out cheaper wine after the guests had too much to drink and would not notice. "You have saved the best till now," he told them.

Washing Time At The House

Time for a little comic relief.

Last weekend I spent 4 days at home and so I saw lots of Makenna things going on.

This was one of those moments. Makenna washing herself.

As usual, she was not thrilled with me taking photos of her, but she decided to just ignore me and keep cleaning.

I am always fascinated at how they get their fur to stand up, when washing. I know it's that ruff tongue of theirs.

Love my kitty.

Happy Anniversary 2013

I found this photo in my box of wedding proofs. I don't believe it was used anywhere and so you, dear readers, are probably the first ones (after my Husband and I), who are seeing it.

This was the Second Wedding in 1990, but we both still looked pretty good. Making a baby does that to people, I guess. Having a child in your life, ages one beyond belief. I am sure we can all agree about that. lol

33 years today.

It was hotter the heck both times, but we were married, none the less and I am glad we made it here.

My Thoughts On Pacific Rim

I saw Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim last night, which I mentioned in a post HERE. My apologies if I give something away. I am trying not to.

A few things right off the bat. I was probably one of about 10 women in the audience. So this film was not shot with me in mind.

Max Martini had a much bigger role then I expected. A good thing.

It was 2 hours and 16 minutes and they really could have cut out 16 of them, easy.

It had more of a plot then I expected.

I loved the dog's name!

I loved the nod to a movie, at the end of the film. My Husband and I both got it!

I thought the acting was good and that is so important in a film where the acting is usually an afterthought.

What did I think of it? Well, I think I did mention that this movie wasn't made with me in mind. I bet you can figure out the rest, from that.

Am I glad I saw it...absolutely yes!

Most important, I do hope that it kick starts Max Martini's film career once again.

Good luck mate! ;-)

4th Of July Cobbler As It Was Served

OK, so I had to take a photo of how the cobbler came out, when I served it on the 4th of July.

Blueberries and Strawberries on top of the whipped cream and (of course) the cobbler down below.

It was very yummy and worth the work, but I wouldn't want to do it every day.

Bunny And The Birds

This has been my life during the 4th of July holiday. We had a new crop of birds in two locations, under our eaves. Not that this is unusual, it seems to happen every year.

Unfortunately for the birds, this one is right by our barbecue, which makes grilling a problem for me and for them.

By the end of the week, the 2 week old birds either died, or flew away. I am inclined to think they flew away, because the nest seems to be empty and there is nothing on the ground.

In other news...I seem to be the new home for a cotton tail rabbit.

I saw it on Sunday morning and again on Monday morning. I have no clue where it spends its day, but when I open my drapes in the morning, there it is.

Hmmmm...

Chateau deVillandry

My Water Post For Today.

An acquaintance of mine is spending the summer in France. One of the recent places she visited is the Chateau deVillandry.

I, of course, did not choose to show off the incredible grounds at the Chateau...but the water flowing from a pond where swans live, down a channel through the property.

I found it quite amazing. The water and the rocks and the pedestrian bridge overhead.

Worth the time to look at and I hope you enjoy.

RFK Memorial At The Former Ambassador Hotel

The Ambassador Hotel has a history, both good and bad. Since 1921, it was the place where people would congregate, to listen to music at the Cocoanut Grove. Presidents, heads of state, movie stars and the well to do, would stay at the Ambassador Hotel, to see and been seen.

The bad thing that happened, was on the morning of June 5th 1968. Robert Kennedy, A Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party, had his victory speech early that morning. He had just won the California Primary and on his way out of the hotel, he was shot and killed, in the pantry of the kitchen. I was not aware of this, but back in those days, the Secret Service did not protect Presidential Candidates. President Lyndon Johnson, changed that and now days, all candidates are protected.

Things were not going well for the hotel before this, but afterward, this literally killed the hotel. It remained empty for decades, until the Los Angeles Unified School District won its fight to build several campuses on the site.

So LAUSD tore down most of the hotel and almost all of the Cocoanut Grove, though they did leave a nod to the original structure, within the design of the school. You can see the part of the front of the hotel, from Wilshire Blvd.

What they also did, was make a pocket park in front of the school, right on the street. It is quite moving to see, with many quotes of Robert's or others speaking of him. Unfortunately, there are also homeless men living on the steps, with tents pitched and luggage hanging around. I found that very sad.

This final photo is the famous quote that Edward Kennedy spoke at his brother's funeral. I happen to love it and place it here, along with the final lines of the eulogy, which (I believe) also turn up on another part of the wall.

"My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

"Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'"

Definitely worth a visit, if you are in Los Angeles.

A Remnant Of The Brown Derby Of Old

The Brown Derby Restaurant has a wonderful history in the City of Los Angeles. I believe at its height, there were 4 locations, one of which was about a mile from where I worked for 32 years, in the Los Feliz area. You can spend a bit of time reading about all 4 locations and see what they looked like in their prime, HERE.

The original one is the one I visited as I walked down Wilshire Blvd. It was shaped like a hat and it had customers who frequented the Ambassador Hotel across the street and the Coconut Grove night club, during it's hay day.

I thought it was gone from our lives completely, another of those things that aren't here anymore.

Just before CicLAvia, I found out that the derby hat itself is on the third floor of the mini mall that was constructed on the site of the restaurant. Well, this I had to see for myself.

After we spent time at the Ambassador Hotel site, we did our back track down Wilshire and got onto the left side of the street and walked over to the mini mall. It took a bit to get up to the third floor and (of course) the place was closed. It is called "The Red" and it looks like a Korean bar or club. From what I can see from Yelp, it is something modeled on Korean Street carts, called pojangmacha. They serve easy to eat street foods and simple drinks. No extensive bar here. I believe they serve about 5 drinks, besides bottles of beer. From what I could see, they basically get mixed reviews from patrons. I guess it's according to what you expect from the place.

I am not sure if I am happy it is still around...or not.

What Did Our 4th Look Like

It ended up being a quiet day here at the Angel House.

There was a 50-50 chance we would go see fireworks, but we went the entire lazy route and stayed home watching A Capitol 4th on PBS.

They had Barry Manilow and then Neil Diamond singing. What a surprise, Neil sang "America". :-)

We barbecued some ribs and cooked steak. I had some left over potato salad and coldslaw from Sunday and some fresh corn that I cooked. I rounded it out (mostly for my son) with some macarroni and cheese. He doesn't like macarroni salad, so I figured that would do just fine...and it did.

As I mentioned before, I did make cobbler again. Yum.

I was worried about my cat, Makenna, but she made it through with just pouting going on.

Nothing stopped her from getting her food, though.

I love that cat of mine.

A personal note.

Before I was a mother, I was an aunt.

27 years ago today, I became one.

Happy Birthday to my nephew and godson, Matt.

Much love your way today and always.

Blueberry-Nectarine Cobbler

Happy 4th Of July!

Stay safe, everyone.

I bought blueberries the other day. I took them to work for a small snack and found out that they had no flavor. What, I said, no flavor? What's going on here?

I found out that sometimes they are picked before they are ready and I guess this was the case for these. So I decided (after seeing a recipe on P.Allen Smith's show) that cobbler was the way to make these babies shine.

So thanks to him and his guest, Capi, I now have Blueberry-Nectarine Cobbler for dessert Sunday Evening. Their recipe was for blackberries and peaches, but I prefer nectarines and I had the blueberries, so what the heck.

You can print out your own copy, at his website, HERE.

Note, it won't let me copy it onto my blog. The things people do to get page hits...sigh.

UPDATE:

My friend, The Dimension Skipper, got it to copy and so here is the recipe. Enjoy.

Ingredients

2 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter plus an additional 2 to 3 tablespoons
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or shallow ovenproof dish. Combine the blackberries and peaches in the buttered dish and sprinkle with half of the sugar.

In the work bowl of a food processor, combine the flour with the baking powder and salt. Add 8 tablespoons of butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, and pulse until a lumpy mixture forms.

Beat the half cup of heavy cream in an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the powdered sugar just before the cream becomes whipped. Add the cream to the flour mixture and continue to pulse until dough holds together. The dough will be quite soft.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough over the berry-peach mixture. Melt 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the dough. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar.

Bake the cobbler for 30 to 35 minutes or until the dough begins to turn a light brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe provided by Capi Peck, Capi's Restaurant.

Moonset Over Alameda Avenue

This was the sight I got when I came to work last week.

It was a few days after "Super Moon" and so maybe that is why I noticed it.

I took loads of photos, but the one I liked the most, ended up being this one, because the moon is caught between two pretty cool buildings.

When I got home and uploaded them, I actually had to take out some of the blue in the photo. I think because everything was reflecting the blue sky. So I added just a little bit of magenta and I like how that came out.

I hope you do, too.

Flooding In Canajoharie, New York

Back in October, I spent a half hour of my life walking around Riverfront Park in Canajoharie, New York. I documented some of that in a post that you can find HERE.

Last night, on Facebook, a friend who lives in the area mentioned that there was severe flooding in the very area I visited, which depressed me, because it was very lovely.

You can see the footage via Fox News 23, HERE.

Obviously, this bothers me, more then just because I visited the area. Remember, I will be leaving in just over a month, to take up residence in the area.

I wish them all luck and hope the rain stops soon.

3 Birds And A Fountain

My Water Post For Today.

I only found one water fountain, along our route down Wilshire Blvd. Of course, I stopped my Husband, so I could take a photo of it.

As I brought my camera to life, 3 birds landed on the fountain. I took just this one photo and you can see that the first bird was already on it's way up again. It was like they posed, just for me.

Being we were just south of the Hollywood area, my Husband asked if we owed each bird a dollar. :-)

I hope you enjoy.