A visit to The Gipper.

Two Fridays ago, my husband and I drove up to Simi Valley (California), about 30 or so miles from my house to pay a visit to The Gipper.* When we got there he, Ronald Reagan, was waiting for us and all visitors, at the main entrance of the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. He was standing tall with a wide grin on his face. I touched him. He was cold as all statues are.

Inscription at the foot of the statue.
Click images to enlarge.

We paid our entrance and got inside the museum. It was filled with memorabilia. There were pictures of him when he was a child; when he was in the service in World War II; when he was a young actor; when he was president of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild); and when he was governor of California. Pictures of him with his wife Nancy and their children; with world leaders; with people of note and others.

The original car, a mustang convertible, he used during his campaign as governor of California.

The limousine, a 1984 Cadillac, was state of the art built exclusively for the president.

The helicopter...The Marine One.

Young visitors come as well to visit and learn about the past president. Here they are guided around by a docent who explains everything to them. Just above this floor is...

...The Air Force One.

Visitors are allowed to take a walk through this airplane. They, however, are prohibited from taking pictures of the interior. The quarters inside the plane was somewhat cramped, it being a 707 plane. Nowadays a 747 jumbo jet is used. The plane becomes Air Force One once the president sets foot on it. If it is used by others, not the president, it is not Air Force One. (Two maybe, or three, depending on the rank of the user...maybe. LOL)

There is not enough room for me to get the whole plane in one shot. I have to splice three shots together.

Information and technical details.

The floor plan.
The seal.

In the garden, right behind the library is this piece of the Berlin Wall.

About the wall...

...and the garden with the view. It was said during the president's memorial service that he loved the view on this place; that on a clear day the Pacific Ocean is visible here.

A few steps away was his final resting place...

"I know in my heart that man is good
that what is right will always eventually triumph
and there is purpose and worth to each and every life."

RONALD WILSON REAGAN
February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004

...and we bid goodbye to The President.


*He played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper.

Octodad

The Octopus Dad.
Click image to enlarge.

With 8 arms, he can take care of all his 8 babies at the same time. He could be over protective of his little ones. One false move and all 8 tentacles will be on ones neck squeezing the daylights out of the unfortunate one. So beware. Don't ever make fun of his 8 little octobabies.

This octopus is at an electronics store in Burbank, California. It's probably about 10' high and placed atop all the display shelves looking angrily at everyone below him.

Pssstt...I didn't see the octowife.

Summer is here!

One day more and officially it's here. Though right now the sky has turned gloomy again and there's a little chill in the air. Truly our weather is unpredictable. Mother Nature is going nuts. LOL

Yesterday was the first day of my Summer art class. The sun was up and no clouds were hindering its blazing rays and everyone was dressed light. A handful of old students were gathered at the quad when I got there at 9:30 in the morning. A few new faces were sitting quietly around the concrete tables. The teacher came in a few minutes later. She apologized profusely for coming in late. Then we piled behind her as she unlocked the door and we all stepped inside the room as we gathered our painting gears.

The sky was so clear...except for a few scattered clouds.
The view from the school atop the hill.
(click image to enlarge)

That's how hot it was yesterday afternoon - 82F deg. or 30C deg.

During the last few weeks of the Spring semester, I did not attend the class. That was a point when I could not create anything interesting to paint. I have turned away from copying other people's creative work - photos or paintings. It's cheating. I'm cheating on myself. So there I was at a standstill and could not make myself to go to the class. My teacher in my Fall class had more interesting subjects for us to paint; but she left the class to teach art in high school. She is a cheery and hip kind of person. I like the way she taught us, her students.

Now I'm back in the class.

I didn't have any materials or subject to paint, so I painted something from memory. It was a scene I've seen when I was a kid. I was six years old then, I think. And the scene keeps popping in my head. I remember it was somewhere in the north, my mom's hometown in the Ilocos Region. How I got there, I have no recollection. I was there is all I can remember, and the scene had been embedded in my head after all these years. It was a nice, tranquil scenery up in the mountain.

I painted the scene in an 8" x 10" canvas. I need to work some more on it, maybe, in a couple of days. Hopefully, it would come out as close to what I see in my mind.

Portraits

These drawings were from photographs sent to me by Ann. She made a special request for me to make portraits of them in pencil. The original photos are here in her blog.





........

What global warming?

Dark clouds over the canyons.

What is going on? Here we are at the threshold of summer and we are having winter-like weather. I am back to wearing my sweaters and my jackets again to keep warm. At night I put on my flannel jammies to bed. I have put them away thinking I won't wear them again till fall comes. The clouds have been gray, and at times there have been scattered showers. The sun would peek for a while then hide behind the clouds again. It's been this way for three weeks now.

Summer will officially be here on the 21st of this month. So, now we put on hold going for a dip at the pool; going to the beach for a swim; and to the park for a picnic. Those new bikinis won't be worn till it gets warm. California weather is really crazy.

I wonder if Mother Nature is refuting what some were saying about global warming. Could it be she was just having hot flashes? I want summer here and now. I am tired of cold gloomy days. It is depressing. I am tired of wearing layers of clothes. I want to wear my bikini!!!! Ha ha ha ha...like I really could.

Is that you Don Quail?

About a week ago I saw a strange looking bird meandering in my patio. It was my first time to see this kind of bird and I have wondered what it was. Then I suddenly remember to run upstairs to get my camera. I took aim and just then my battery ran out. Grrr...&@$#& I got back upstairs to get my spare battery and ran downstairs again. This time, however, the bird has wandered between the exterior wall of my house and a big pot of cactus plant. It was not a good shot. A few seconds later it took off in the backyard up the slope among the bushes.

Three days later, I heard a strange sound in the patio again. I walked to the sliding glass door to see what it was and there it is the strange looking bird. I startled it and it took off, but came back in a few minutes. I aimed carefully this time, hiding behind the wall so as not to scare it. I got a good shot of it.

It turned out that this is The California Valley Quail. It is the State Bird. More about the bird here.

The California Valley Quail
Click image to enlarge.

Here it is at the back door, looking inside. It's been lurking in the back most of the time. It is now a familiar sight in my backyard. My husband said it is our mascot. LOL

I don't have a clue as to its gender. I wonder if that thing on its head means its a male or a female. If it's a male, I'll call it Don, Don Quail. (Not to be confused with Dan Quayle. ) If it's a female I'll call it Donna. However, I prefer it to be a male.

Don has been looking inside the house for some 30 minutes or so. He could be watching me while I was watching TV. Or he could be looking at his image on the glass, thinking it's another quail. Or he could reading my blog. Yes, that's what he was doing. He's lurking, and when I'm not looking, he's reading my blog. LOL

Oh, well, I ramble and talk nonsense at times, if not all the time.

Just rambling along

My so called art has gone that away; it's been there for quite a while now though. I am peeling my skin to something else, and I am now a rambling soul. Like a nut case, I would be rambling about nothing; talking to myself; and to the freeway. I would at times include some rough sketches here to go with my subject. My header, a painting from an old black and white photo of my old house where I lived from age 4 till I left the country, would be replaced by something else. At this point, I don't know what it would be.

The past few days nothing has happened, nothing exciting; mostly mundane, day to day routine. However, what's exciting to me might not be to other folks. Like for instance the seeds of some of my vegetable plants have started breaking out from the ground and that has gotten me excited. My husband has urged me to plant veggies in the backyard, and I did. He said that it would help control the weeds. Probably just his excuse, so he won't have to deal with them.

I have planted vegetables years before, but have not done it for quite sometime now. My bones have been attacked by lazinitis (my word for indolence). Indolence sounds too harsh for me. :-D Too harsh, or I'm in denial.

The economy is still in bad shape and I need all the help I can get. With a little tender loving care from me, I'll be able to supplement what little I have from my backyard. It is still days before I can harvest the fruits of my labor, but at this point I'm happy to see my plants get bigger and stronger.


Long beans, or sitaw in Tagalog.














Green beans. This is known in the Philippines as Baguio beans.

















Lemon grass. A friend gave me this. I haven't used this in any of my cooking, but I'll try it this time.















Jalapeno pepper. This one took a long time to germinate. I thought it would never come out.
It's so tiny the weeds are bigger than it.















Kabocha squash.

















Okra
















Tomatoes

















Sweet potatoes















Zucchini






















Whoaaa! Lotus. Not mine. Nope...nope...nope. Would I be planting veggies if I own one of these? Nuts! I'd be driving this all over town the whole day. I saw it along one of our streets, and it happened to stop by our car and I took a shot at it. I rarely see one like this. If I'm not mistaken one of these would cost about $150,000? Aaacckkk! I'd owe my soul to the devil if I buy one like this.

In any event, my eggplants haven't germinated yet. And...and...mumble... ...mumble. I'd better go to bed, it's past 1 AM. I'm bored already.

Cactus Salad Anyone?

I always see cactus leaves at Mexican grocery stores and at the Farmers' Market, and have wondered how it tastes. Some of these are sold with their tiny spines and nubs still on; some have been removed, and some have been diced already. And there are some prepared salads sold in small plastic containers.

The cactus or nopales at a grocery store.

On my visit to the Farmers' Market 2 weeks ago, I asked the Hispanic woman, who always sells oriental vegetables, about preparing cactus. She explained to me on how it is prepared, but did not give me details or recipe.

Cactus with the spines and nubs removed.

I thought I would give it a try and bought from her a dollar's worth which was 3 pieces and took it home. I found a recipe in the internet, which was simple and easy to make.

As per the woman's instruction I diced the cactus (I used one for now) after washing it, and boiled it for 10 minutes. Then I drained it. I chopped a medium sized tomato, some onions, a Jalapeno pepper and mixed all of them with the boiled cactus. I had it for dinner along with some rice, fried fish, and...I forgot the other dish. (Grrr...my senior moment.) It did not turn out the way I expected. It was blah...bland.

We have 2 Farmers' Market here: One on Sunday mornings at the college campus; and on Thursday afternoons at the Market Street on Old Town Newhall. I stopped by at the Market Street and found this Hispanic man selling some cactus. He told me that instead of boiling, he grills them. That way, he said, it doesn't lose the flavor and the food value of the vegetable. He makes sense.

Cactus salad

So that's what I did. Well, not exactly. Rather than fire-up my grill, I popped the 2 remaining cactus in my toaster-oven and broiled them. When done, I diced them. And this time, I chopped some cilantro (coriander), tossed it in with the chopped jalapeno pepper, tomatoes and onions; and I squeezed a bit of Mexican key lime. This time the cactus was crunchy, and the lime added flavor to it. It was uhm uhm good.

Manny Pacquiao...

Manny Pacquiao

...is one of THE TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, in its May 11, 2009 issue. These include Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Saudi Minister Norah al-Faiz, French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy, Ted Turner, Philanthropist, Actor-Philanthropist Brad Pitt, Musician John Legend, Capt. Richard Phillips, Physician and Sociologist Nicholas Christakis, and many more shakers and movers; scientists and thinkers; artists and entertainers; and heroes and icons.

Boxing is not the sport I watch, so I have no way of knowing his prowess in the ring. All I know is that Manny Pacquiao's name reverberates in the sports world. Now I leave it to the pros and quote here from Time Magazine.

Manny Pacquiao
By Lennox Lewis

Pound for pound, Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer in the world. But even more important than holding that distinction, Manny has connected with the people of his home country, the Philippines, to the point where he's almost like a god. The people have rallied behind him and feel like they're a part of him, because they can see his talent, his dedication, his grace and his class. The grip he holds over the Philippines is similar to Nelson Mandela's influence in South Africa. I can surely see Manny becoming the Philippine President one day.

In fact, he already ran for Congress in the Philippines but lost, in part because voters thought he could do more for the country as an inspirational champion boxer. I agree with the Filipino people. Manny, 30, already has a true global reach, and his influence will only expand as he gets better. Manny is from the Muhammad Ali school. He's a boxer, a puncher and a mover — a champion in four weight divisions. He doesn't stand there and take shots. He throws that wicked jab and is so quick to dodge trouble.

Boxing needs a guy like Manny. Too often, when something positive develops, the sport takes two steps backward; you never know where the black eye is going to come from. With Manny, you don't have to worry about that. He just loves the sport and knows he's carrying the hopes of his country in the ring.

Lewis, the former world heavyweight champion, is a boxing commentator for HBO Sports

Fast Fact: Pacquiao is the first athlete the Philippine Postal Corp. has honored with his own stamp.

A piano prodigy...

...Ethan Bortnick. He's amazing.

They're back...

The loss of the hummingbird chicks was heartbreaking. It was sad that they were devoured by a hungry blue jay, lurking in my backyard. However, a couple of days before the tragic end of the chicks, other birds have been building a nest nearby.

Click image to enlarge.

A few feet away this pigeon had scoured the area and had built a nest in this same basket they have occupied a few times before.



Yesterday I found this pigeon inside the basket, with some twigs for bedding.



And, lo and behold, I found two eggs. From what I remember they usually lay 2.

Last year I was about to throw away my old straw hat, then I though, maybe, I


should hang it in my pergola, for the birds to build their nest. And to my surprise, they did! I made sure it was away from the reach of cats or rats. Hopefully, the blue jay won't get to it.

I took a ladder to get to peer inside the hat and I found some baby finches. I don't know exactly how many they are, but I'm sure there are more than two. A few days more and they would be big enough to fly and be on their own. Right now they are being fed by both parents. I see them fly in to bring the food and take turns feeding the brood.

Here's crossing my fingers that they make it out of the nest and enjoy their adulthood, and come back next year.

My feathered friend

This hummingbird started refurbishing the old nest on this shell parol before spring officially began. The old nest had been battered by the elements and it needed patching up and retrofitting. So, when it was ready, little hummingbird sat in it and laid a couple of eggs. It sat there for about 2 weeks until the eggs hatched. I could see what was going on every time I'm in the kitchen, as the nest is right there smack in front of the window. Later on, she was feeding her little brood, flying out to find food and coming back to feed them, then sitting on them.

The mother feeding her chicks.

It was a delight to see this going on right before my eyes. And anytime I have a chance to take a picture, I drop whatever I was doing and grab my camera.

Yesterday morning I was in the kitchen watching her come and go, feeding her brood. Then after lunch as I was washing dishes I looked up and to my horror a big blue jay was right there on the parol. I screamed. The blue jay flew away. My husband hastily went outside to the patio to see if any damage had been done. I watched him, trying to read his face. Then he came in the kitchen and said, "They are gone, the blue jay ate them. I never thought those birds are predators."

Oh, no, not again. A year ago some predator did the same thing to this same nest. I felt so bad for the mother hummingbird. So sad.

Mother hummingbird came back and looked around then flew away. A few minutes later she came again; tried to land on the nest but couldn't, some parts of it came loose. It hovered for a while then flew away. She came back a few times more then finally realized that her brood are gone then flew away and never came back.

My husband and I were looking forward to the day the chicks are big enough to fly on their own. It is, however, not going to happen, not anymore.