See January 23

On that day I posted "Trees I'm Watching"

Now take a look at the tree! The huge conifer was cut down on Friday. They took away the wood and left the stump. The entrance to the Marina looks sad, yet it was needed as the poor tree was dead. 

Here's another tree to watch!

Fifty Feet or More Underwater

I walked along the "old road" to see how far I could go before it got too squishy. Turns out it was only a mile.

There is water, a few birds, and some vegetation. This morning I saw two pelicans and a redwing blackbird. There are small shells sprinkled along the bottom. I think they are the remains of mussels. Before the drought, the lake had a mussel infestation they were trying to eradicate. The drought might have done it for them.

A no longer used bridge. I could not discover why this bridge was built.

I usually look at these trees from the angle in the next picture. There is a lot of vegetation growing in the lake bottom. Some of it is over 6 feet tall. 

Reading to a Dog

Our local library has a Tail Waggin' Reading Program for kids, whether they be reluctant readers, special needs kids, or reading pros. The program is open to all kids (up to third grade) who want to read to a dog. The dog is special too. Not every dog can qualify as a reading dog, as it needs to be a certified and insured therapy dog. 

Today the therapy dog was a very mellow ten year old white lab. She's a very friendly dog. In fact, one of her other jobs is to cheer people up in the hospital when she's not working at the library. She loves to be petted and talked to, and apparently she loves to be read to also. I did not take any pictures of kids reading to her, but the kids I saw reading to her were content and calm. One little boy was reading to the dog while he nestled his head on her back. Another was sitting on the carpet reading to the dog as though the dog was in the audience in a theater. 

The program is completely free. Our library has 6 therapy dogs and their volunteer persons coming in every Thursday for two hours. The volunteers and their dogs vary the schedule, so it's rare to see the same dog two weeks in a row. During that time, children and their parents come to the library, sign up for a session with the dog, and then they get to read. It's a real treat!

You might wonder if there is any efficacy in reading to a dog and the answer is a resounding YES. Reading aloud is a skill that produces confidence. The dog is non-judgmental, so if mistakes are made, the dog will not correct the reader. Reading aloud increases vocabulary and expression. For children who are not proficient readers, the soothing dog provides a focal point or purpose for reading. Sure, all of this can take place with a person, but it's not the same. A furry friend will give you "strokes" no matter what, unlike a mom or dad or teacher who is trying to teach you a most important lifelong skill. 

Rose and the Motorhome

Two interesting events...one is just too neat...

Amidst the fact that we've not had a good rain in awhile, this rose has decided to bloom. Isn't it beautiful?

The second is less sublime. I love looking at RVs. There are thousands of different makes and models and I've seen a lot them over the years. Here's one that was new to me.

It's a home-made unit set on the flat bed of a garbage truck. It is that rare 4 wheel drive RV. It's the perfect off road RV at about 25 feet. Short, sweet, and definitely a hill climber or a sand-runner.

While it's not "cute" it is tidy. I talked with the owner and he said it was the perfect size for his wife, two dogs and their toys. They had just returned from two weeks in Baja playing in the sand.

Shades of Yellow and Green

I finished my third Project Linus blanket for 2016 tonight. It's a huge blanket for me...it will fit over a double bed. I used a favorite pattern of zigzags, ridges and shells. The two main colors are light yellow and dark green matched with a row of bright yellow and spring green.

The blanket has about two pounds of yarn in it, making it very cozy and cuddly. Instead of just numbering the blankets this year, I'm giving them names, so I've been calling this one "Spring." I hope it will make it's new owner feel hopeful like spring. The best is yet to come.

More of the Same

Last year, this was at the water's edge. This year...well, take a look...

The water is a long way down the boat ramp. In fact, I tried to walk to the water's edge, and I could not as the drop off was too great.

Here's a look at the main boat ramps. They are  high and dry, as are the huge cement blocks that keep them anchored. As you can see, the boat ramps are just laying on the ground and there should be about 30 feet of water under them.

There is water in the lake, it's just hard to get to it. The dried weeds in the foreground, should be covered with water. Maybe it's time to do a rain dance.

Pink Elephant

I was minding my own business at the market, when a pink elephant "walked" up to me and said hello! 

Isn't he the cutest little elephant you've ever seen? I scooped him up and I'm going to give him to my crochet pal for Valentine's Day. She collects elephants and I know he will be a welcome addition to her menagerie. I hope she's surprised!

At the RedBox

A few winters back, we would go to a local video store, buy a one month video ticket and rent movies to our hearts content. Then the video store went out of business and we needed to find an alternative sources. We discovered the library had a small DVD collection, but we quickly saw most of the movies there. Now, when we rent movies, we go to RedBox. It's the easiest way to rent movies yet.

Most neighborhoods have a RedBox. I'm sure you've seen them. The RedBox is about the size of soda dispensing machine, and it's red. Inside it are a variety of movies and video games. The system is slick. Find the RedBox nearest you, see what movies that particular RedBox is offering, select what you want to see, swipe your credit card, and a neatly wrapped DVD of your choice pops out a slot on the side of the RedBox. When you return it the next day (to any RedBox), just pop the DVD back into the slot and you are done. You will receive two emails: one when you rent the movie and one when you return it. 

We have rented three RedBox movies this past week. The first one was The Man from U.N.C.L.E which was OK. I wanted to see what they had done with the old TV series and frankly, I did not think they did much with the story. It was a simple 1960s spy movie that did not work anymore. Next we rented Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and it was pretty good. It was typical Mission Impossible story with some good stunts and gadgets and an interesting story line. Tonight we rented Terminator Genesis with the Gover-nator, Arnold. It was the best of the lot. A very complicated story, lots of fun graphics and action, action, action. 

Who knows what will be rented next. I've downloaded the RedBox app. All I have to do is select what I want to see, and it will be waiting for me at the RedBox I specify. It's an easy way to rent movies, and every RedBox has a slightly different selection. 

Trees I'm Watching

A big conifer by the entrance to the Marina is showing signs it will not make it through the drought. 

And I don't think these tall pine trees will last much longer either. We tend to think of drought as affecting only people, but it's a problem for everyone and everything. While the east coast is catching the storm of this winter, I'm saddened to report that we just had a sprinkling of rain.

A Calm Day at the Lake

The Lake was calm after 10 hours of rain. Take a look!

It still needs a a lot of water. The green in the middle of the picture should be water.

Just the perfect place to sit down and look around and smell the clean fresh air.

And Down it Goes

I took this picture of January 14, noting to myself that the tree was dying. 

And here is what it looks like today. Just so much firewood. Park personnel are cutting down a lot of dead or dying trees, leaving huge openings in the view. It needs to be done, but I miss the big old trees. 

A Tale of Two Birds

As I was walking this morning, two birds caught my eye.

This vulture with outstretched wing was catching the warming rays of the morning sun. No matter how many times I see a vulture with it's wings open wide, I visualize the bird swooping down in attack mode. I've never seen a vulture swoop down to attack, but it's a big bird and anything could happen.

On the other end of the size scale is the hummingbird. These little guys were freeloading at the country store. They normally fly away as soon as someone walks up the path, but today, they were more hungry than "flighty." Unlike a vulture, I've seen hummingbirds attack. Their sharp beaks are nasty. And, the smaller the hummer, the feistier the bird! I did not stick around long enough to see if they were going to attack. I took the picture and ran. 

Ojai

We visited Ojai yesterday. The name is the Spanish spelling of a Chumash word meaning "nest" and it's pronounced O-Hi. Ojai, like it's name, is nestled in a valley about 13 miles inland from Ventura, CA. 

The Coast Range of mountains are the backdrop surrounding the town. There are orange orchards. There is a Post Office with it's own bell tower.

Needless to say, the Post Office was built when it was important to make a statement. On the other side of the street is the "arcade" which offers some shopping for tourists and residents alike.

Not too far from the Post Office is a local museum, which is housed in an old Catholic Church.

I did not bother to take a picture of the new Catholic Church as it just does not have the charm the old one has. There are three "tony" private schools in town, Thacher, Ojai Valley (you have to board your horse at these 2 schools) and Villanova Prep (no horse needed). There's also a Hindu retreat center called Krotona founded by a fellow named Krishnamurti. (I don't know if you need a horse at Krotona)

Talk about a multicultural place...Chumash, Spanish, Catholic, Hindu...nestled amid the orange groves.

Lavender Blue

I named this blanket Lavender Blue because it's made up of shades of those colors. It's the second blanket of the year. It's 39 inches by 47 inches, so it's big enough for a lap blanket for a teenager or a regular blanket for a little person. 

Contrasts

As you know, I try to walk about 2 miles every morning. While it's possible to walk any time of the day, there's something special about a morning walk before people are stirring. There's a quiet that envelopes the world that is peaceful and relaxing. I also get to see little things that would not be noticeable later in the day.

Today I saw sun shining on dewy leaves. 

This is special in two ways...the grasses are starting to grow and there is enough moisture in the air to produce dew. 

Then when you consider that my camera is an iPhone, that's pretty special too.

After enjoying the "new" grasses, I was saddened to see that some of the veteran trees in the Park are not doing as well. I fear the rain is coming too little and too late. I don't think they will recover.

Those are not autumn colors, that's a coniferous tree dying. It's too sad. Along with the old conifers dying off, there are a few huge valley oaks in sad shape too.

This is one of my favorite trees in the park. It's a giant, with a trunk the size of a Smart Car. This time of year, the leaves should be dusty green instead of dusty gold. 

The lake is at 14.5% capacity and even though we had 3 inches of rain over the weekend, the

lake level did not rise.

Little Hats

Yesterday I was asked to make 3 little hats. I asked what color, and pink was chosen. Since it was rainy, it was a good project. 

Here are two of them, the third will be finished in less than a hour. The top one is for a newborn, the other two are for girls under two.  I'm kind of proud of these hats as I did not have a pattern to follow. My niece texted me a picture and based on that, I created the hats. All those Project Linus blankets have taught me a little bit about creating patterns!

Later: I finished all the hats, and they came out really cute. 

I decided they were a little bland, but with the addition of a puffy flower, they are perfect.

Later still: Meet one of the little girls who will get a new hat! Isn't she a cutie!

Still later...I was asked to make 3 hats, but it was so much fun, I made one more. 

It's the same size as the 2 larger hats (above) but a different pattern. If you need a little hat, I have some good patterns now.

Lake Cachuma

Winter at Lake Cachuma is always a nice place. The skies are usually blue, the temps are usually warm and the lake usually has water in it. Things are not usual this year. California is experiencing a drought, and even though this area has had 3 inches of rain in the last 2 days, the lake levels are the same as they were last year. In other words, the lake is at 15% capacity. Here's a photo from last year at this time.

And here's a photo that was taken before the rain of last week.

And this was taken today

There's not much difference, except grass has started to green up the lake bottom.

When the lake was created in the 50s, a feed lot was covered by the water. I don't know when the feed lot was last used, but here's what that feed lot looks like today after being covered with water for nearly 60 years.

Last year, the water level came up to the cement. This year, there's a "lawn" growing in the same place. 

Here's another portion of the feed lot I did not see last year...If you look carefully you will see 3 circular structures...will the archeologists of the next millennium think these were holy kivas like those found in Anasazi Land, or will they know they were feed bins? 

The dying oak trees are another consequence of the drought. These bastions of the valley are feeling the lack of water. The leaves are turning brown, never a good thing. 

A scree of green has started to cover the land. The rains are supposed to bring more water. In the meantime, we are enjoying the blue skies and the mild temps. 

1924 Silent Movie

Tonight I saw "The Thief of Bagdad" starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The silent movie was filmed in  black and white, and while it was meant to be melodrama at its finest, I found it to be a comedy. The music was grand Rimsky-Korsakov that fit well with the overall story. The story was a typical love story with a damsel in distress. The acting was pantomime and rather grim. The special effects were wonderful given the day. There was a flying carpet, a flying horse, an invisibility cloak, and magical beings. The sets were grand and rather marvelous. (However, Bagdad did not look anything like it looks today.) It would have been fun to see the movie in living color as the sets and costumes looked like they sparkled with exotic fabrics. 

Back in the 20s, Mr. Fairbanks was one fit guy. He had his shirt off during most of the movie (was it scandalous?) and he wore billowing harem type pants that showed off his slim waist and muscled legs. The damsel, actually a princess, was veiled, but the veil was sheerest gossamer and her outfits were pretty revealing. The stereotyping was over the top. The Mongol Prince, the Persian Prince, and the Indian Prince were portrayed in ways that would not be considered politically correct nowadays. Fairbanks played the thief, who stole the heart of the  princess and in the end they flew away on the flying carpet where they lived happily ever after. 

I'm guessing the movie is a classic. It lasted 3 hours (when you saw that movie back in the day, you got your money's worth!). I thought it was funny. The story did not move "well"...when it could not logically move from point A to C, magic was invoked, and voila the problem was solved! I'm wondering if there was a storyboard for the movie? I would love to see what that looked like! If the movie shows up again, record it on your DVD then watch it at double speed...you will miss the wonderful music, but the story will move along better. You can also stop it now and again just to look at Mr. Fairbanks.

First Blanket of 2016

Last year I made 25 blankets, so I'm going to try to see if I can make more this year. You might ask if the world needs more blankets, and the answer is YES...there's always someone who needs to feel the love and the warmth that goes into a hand made blanket.

The first one of the year is for a baby boy. It's a blue Teddy Bear blanket, just right for a newborn. 

It looks like it's white and blue, it's really light blue and lighter blue. It's nice and cozy for baby and mommy. If you know of a baby coming soon in your future, and you'd like a Teddy Bear blanket,  let me know and I'll make one for you too.

It's New

Did you know that there are adult coloring books. NO! They are not x-rated coloring books...they are just coloring books for adults to use. I guess kids can use them too. The designs are complicated and the lines are close. All you have to do is select a color you want in each of the spaces, and  like magic, the whole "space" will be changed to that color. The purpose of these coloring books is simple: de-stress. You can also nurture your creativity while thinking outside the box. There are no rules that say the colors have to accurate so you can use whatever color you want! Why not?

I "purchased" a free app called Colorfy at the Apple App Store. The basic kit is free but if you want more colors you can buy them (PS it can get pricy).

Here's my first masterpiece. 

And, you don't have to be online to play! Hat tip to Priscilla for finding yet another time waster!

Bring It On!

It's 2016. 

Happy New Year!