LAGUNA BEACH WEDDING VISIT

Wedding couple

Laguna Beach Art Museum

            

Heisler Park

Seven 4 one boutique hotel

            We enjoyed a drive to Laguna for a wedding of the daughter of a friend of Ed’s.  Since it was on a Saturday during the summer the traffic was very heavy mid day going to Laguna Beach. It was a lovely wedding at the Methodist church followed by a reception with light refreshments. Since there was time between the wedding and a dinner later we visited the Laguna Art Museum which features diverse styles of art by California artists.                                                                                                                                                           There was time to enjoy the nearby ocean views at Heisler Park before heading to Seven 4 one boutique hotel for rest of the wedding festivities.                                                                                                          Appetizers were served on a roof top deck with an ocean view.  Later the guests moved inside to a large room with seating on the sides and a central area for socializing and dancing.  Dinner included a salad course that was served in a large martini glass followed later with the entrée that filled a martini glass with a mushroom dressing topped with cut filet mignon and prawns.  The drive back to San Diego was much easier with light traffic.

AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO

       

Kookaburra                                             Koala

A new exhibit has been developed at the San Diego Zoo called Australian Outback. It features a variety of Aussie animals including koalas, wallabies, wombats and many bird species including the Kookaburra.  Previously the koalas were indoors until it was noticed that they suffered from degenerative bone disease due to a lack of vitamin D so this new exhibit has all of the koalas outdoors on many perching trees.

            At the entry of the outback exhibit there are some interesting totem poles combining Aboriginal art on North American totems.

            Entertainment with musicians, acrobatics acts and a contortionist are part of the summer program

Wallaby

Tree Wallaby

  We had plenty of time to enjoy several other parts of the zoo before topping the day off with dining at Albert’s which is in a lovely tree setting.

            The web site below has a number of good video clips.

www.sandiegozoo.org/videos

Meerkeet

Guanaco

African elephant has large ears.




 

RESIDENT SCRUB JAY

 

             A resident Scrub Jay stops by several times a day at the glass door off the patio waiting for peanut treats.  It just grabs a peanut from my fingertips with a quick swoop and returns several times for more.  Often it buries the peanut nearby for a later snack.  They have a complex memory to recover hidden caches.

            The California Scrub Jay is a sub species of the Western Jay and is common in coastal urban areas.  It is patterned with blue, white and gray. It is not migratory.  The average life span in the wild is about 7 years.  They eat grains, berries, nuts, fruits , vegetables and even small lizards.

            They mate for life.  Nests are built in low trees or bushes with a diameter of 13-23 inches.   4-6 eggs are laid from March through July.

            Scrub Jays are among the most intelligent of animals.  The are the only non-primate that plans for the future.  They can remember the locations of over 200 food caches and the food item in each. They can summon others to screech over the body of a dead jay “funeral” for up to half an hour.

BORREGO SPRINGS DAY TRIP

            This trip with DayTripper tours began with a stop at Dudley’s Bakery in Santa Isabel with the opportunity to buy fresh baked breads and baked goods.  Nearby apple trees were in bloom. Then it was on to Julian for a stop with time for lunch on our own.  The first sight one sees approaching Julian this time of the year in March are the yellow daffodils that are in full bloom covering the hillsides or tucked in crevices throughout the town.  We had time to visit the local museum that is crammed with artifacts from lace to mining equipment.  We found the Julian Café was full so we chose the Cowbella Ranch cafe  that was just right for a hamburger and chili dog.  

We just had time for some sampling of cinder and snacks at the Cider Mill before it was time to board the bus for Borrego Springs. 

 

In recent years  a new feature has been added to Borrego springs by artist Ricarado Breceda of giant metal sculptures portraying prehistoric creatures.  Dennis Avery, land owner of Galleta Meadows Estates had the vision of using his land as an enormous outdoor gallery, home to Breceda’s work.. There are 129 metal sculptures scattered throughout Borrego Springs. Several stops were made to see the variety of animal sculptures.

 

A quick stop was made at a fruit stand where I bought a bag of sweet, juicy pink grapefruit. Due to the limited rainfall this Spring there were not many wildflowers in bloom in the desert but we did see several varieties blooming around the Interpretive Center and Museum.  A film about the seasons of Borrego was a good documentary on the plants and animals of the region.  We were fortunate to have good weather day.  It was mild in the  mountains and just a pleasant warm day in the desert. The last stop for the day was made at Santa Isabel again to pick up pie orders that many  had selected earlier in the day.  We chose a boysenberry-apple one that was perfect for desert after dinner.  We have an Irish dinner at my house with a curry soup, corned beef, Colcannon made with mashed potato and kale,  asparagus and apple nut bread from Dudley’s bakery. Then it was on to Ed’s house for apple berry pie that we had bought at the Julian Bakery Company while watching the movie Argo on DVD.  It was a full and interesting day. 

DAY IN THE PARK

  

Lily Pond

Late February we enjoyed a warm, sunny day in Balboa Park. The visit began with an interesting exhibit at the NAT featuring the growing of cacao in rainforests and processing of cacao seeds to manufacture cocoa & chocolate candy,   Even the exhibit room had a chocolate fragrance.  The elite Mayans and Aztecs made a frothy drink from chocolate and chili.  The Europeans took the cacao to a new level  with hot chocolate and confections. There was a small candy shop next to the exhibit where we selected a chocolate bar with cinnamon and chili which was a delicious combination!

California Tower

Open cacao seed                       

Part of the insect collection    Another exhibit was Dr. Entomo’s Palace of Exotic Wonders with some unusual live bugs along with a display of mounted local insects

      There was also an excellent collection of black and white photos inspired by  the work of Ansel Adams by several photographers on the uppermost level with good lighting from the opaque ceiling.

Japanese Garden Entry

It was a perfect day for lunch on the terrace of the Japanese Pavilion Cafe before strolling through the Japanese Friendship Garden with the first blooms of the cherry trees.  The  garden is an expression of the ties between the people of San Diego and Yokohama.

First blooms of cherry tree

San Diego Museum of Art

Flying apsaras-angel like

  The San Diego Art museum has a newly refurbished Art of East Asia gallery

With objects from China, Japan and Korea with religious icons to every day life utensils .Hands on elements have been added to touch ceramics, metal pieces etc.

The teak floors and brighter lighting are new added features.

  

  The last museum visit for the day was at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The current exhibit features a large collection of photographs by Jessica Lange who had a career as a fine art photographer alongside her work as an actress showing a moody mystery from regional and international cultures.

DAY IN CARLSBAD AND OCEANSIDE

We started the day in Carlsbad at the Museum of Making Music where one can listen to many types of instrumental music and songs.. There are many instrumental innovations of the 20^th and 21^st centuries on display.  One an also play on a variety of hands-on interactive instruments.

Next stop was in Oceanside starting with the Thursday farmer’s market where there is a good choice of prepared foods for a lunch along with stands with local produce and products.  
We selected a variety of tamales and had French canales for dessert
             

 The Oceanside Museum of Art features local and  regional artists that reflect relavent issues of contemporary art and diversity.

The featured galley had a sizable collection of multimedia sculpture by James Hubblell a well known architect of Julian.   We completed the day with  DVDs of the founding fathers of America and dinner out at a sushi restaurant.