Vetch

After the rain the vetch is beginning to grow. I liked this little flower as it looked back at me.

Green Three

Something that is not political...not too controversial...and probably unimportant...but

I just finished the third blanket of the year. It's a "left-over" blanket as it's made out of what is left over from the last blanket. Generally speaking I cannot get 2 blankets from a "batch of yarn" but this time I did. I like the way the variegated yarn weaves a pattern in the design. It is really cozy as I've enjoyed having it on my lap the last few nights. I'll start a new blanket tomorrow.

Morning Dew

It was 31 degrees when I started walking this morning. The grass was a crystalized fairyland.

Once I started moving, it was not too cold...so I walked 2.6 miles enjoying the quiet beauty.

After The Storm

It finally rained a bit in Southern California. It rained so much that the electric company had to deal with a lot of power outages including ours. We did not have power for 38 hours. We were thankful when the power was restored! 

The lake level has gone up a bit after the storm...but so much more rain is needed as there should not be any brown showing in the foreground of this picture.

The center part of this picture should be filled with water!            

This is the "old" boat ramp ... and           

This is the "new" ramp which is no where near the water!

The storm did bring down several trees and pruned a few more

As there are piles of twigs all over the place. We still need more rain this winter.

Sully and Rogue One

We have seen 2 movies this weekend. Based on a recommendation from my friend Priscilla, we rented Sully from RedBox. She was right...it's a good movie. Tom Hanks, as usual, does a good job. If you have an opportunity to see it on a big screen, do so...if not, rent it from RedBox and enjoy.

  Tonight we went to the theatre to see Rogue One, which is part of the Star Wars franchise but not one of the triple trilogy. I think the best way to describe this fiasco is "it's a group of actors and special effects in search for a plot." What passes for "the plot" is shallow and small. I think the whole story was written on one side of a 3 x 5 card. My friend Ed, a Star Wars fan, did not rave about the movie and I know why. Don't waste your money on Rogue One.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia 

 

President Trump

The 45th President of the United States was inaugurated today. The folks who decided to miss the event missed the peaceful transition of power. They did not get it. The inauguration is NOT political -- it is democracy in action. As I've said for the all of our presidents...Good Luck and God Speed...you are now leading my country and I want you to do a good job!

Over Time

We have been spending a few weeks each winter at Lake Cachuma for at least a decade. Given that, I was wondering what the lake looked like during that time. My photo library on my iPad is limited to three years. 

That was January 2015. 

January 2016 

Yesterday. When I took the pictures in 2015 I thought the lake was low...that was only the beginning. Right now it's raining and I'm hopeful the level of the lake will go up.

 

Stairways

Last week Northern California received some much needed rain and now is no longer in a draught. The southern part of the state is not as lucky as the rain "skirted" the area and it's still in a draught. The Lake went up a few inches, but so much more rain is needed as it's still 8% of full. 

Back when there was water in the Lake, the stairways led to a dock...today the stairway leads to a field of rocks and weeds. There is some water in the lake, as you can see in the background, but it should be at the base of the stairs. Maybe we'll get some more rain!

 

Flippers

My sister asked for a pair of baby flip flops for an upcoming shower...so I made her a pair last night. 

There's something fascinating about these little "shoes." They are completely useless but that does not seem to matter as everyone just loves them. At 4 inches long they are perfect for a baby who cannot walk yet. If you need a pair of these wonderful little creations, just ask and I'll make a pair for you.

 

Green

The second blanket of the year is various shades of green and blues (the labels 

 say teal, jade and turqua) and they blended together to make   

A pretty blanket for a teenager. 

Sunrise

Sunrise this morning was a WOW!

Meet Rocky

It was icy for my morning walk...see the raccoon tracks? Sadly, I did not see the racccoon. 

 

Day 2

I'm tired! We spent a second day at Universal Studios. The park is divided into 2 levels...yesterday we "did" the upper level and today we "did" the Lower Level. The Lower Level is smaller with 4 attractions, but only the Mummy Ride, the Transformer Ride, and the Jurassic Park Ride are open for adults. The fourth area is a "Dino petting zoo" for little folks. The rides were roller coasters, and the Mummy ride accelerated up to 45 mph. I could handle the speed, but I did not like the illusion of scarab beetles crawling up my legs! 

We talked to Optimus Prime who did not have a sense of humor at all!

We returned to Hogsmead for lunch and another roller coaster ride. I went on 4 today! 

We had beautiful weather. The sun was shining on the winged boars guarding Hogswart Castle.   

We have been to both Universal Studios Parks, Orlando and Hollywood...both are good adventures. 

 

Universal Studios

It's raining off and on and we are playing at Universal Studios in Hollywood, CA. We planned this adventure back in October based on the fact that it would be a good time to visit the park--we just did not know that the biggest storm CA has seen in years was going to show up at the same time. The rain has not dampened our spirits even if it has dampened the day. We are using our rain ponchos and having a good time despite it all.

One of the first things that caught our eye was the Blue Ford Anglia from Harry Potter...the adventure was beginning.                   

There's Hogwarts Castle in the background... it looks spookier on a rainy day. We walked thru Honeydukes the sweet shop, and saw the latest in flying brooms...I even rode the two roller coaster type rides...went on one of the coasters twice it was so much fun.

We had coffee at the 3 Broomsticks and enjoyed the scenery--there was even a flying carpet!

Of course we saw a few other attractions...like the Animal show which was great...                  

This is one of several trained cats (yes, it is possible to train cats...)

We took the Studio Back Lot tour (which was excellent) and saw the set where some of Jaws was filmed...in fact if you wait long enough, Jaws will make an appearance where the water is roiling (of course I missed that shot). We cruised thru a mini-New York City (without any traffic) and we saw the city hall from Back to the Future. We were chased by dinosaurs and experienced an earthquake and flood...great entertainment.

A fun time                  

The night before we walked The City Walk and enjoyed the dancing waters (think of Peterhof with electricity)

And people flying in a vertical wind tunnel.                  

As well as King Kong chasing us down the street. We have one more day...great fun!

PS: If you are going to Universal Studios get the free app for your smartphone. It is a good way to familiarize yourself with the park attractions and layout before you get there. You can also do some planning with it.

PInk Dolphins

Unlike pink elephants, there really are pink dolphins. They are found in the Amazon River. They are fresh water dolphins, unlike "Flipper" a bottle nose dolphin that lives in the salty ocean. 

A pink dolphin is about the same size as a Bottlenose Dolphin, but it has a different snout/nose. It also has smaller eyes and a more bulbous head. 

It has lots of sharp teeth, but it seems to be pretty even tempered given all the people who want to pet it. 

I want to thank Charlie, one of our table mates, for his pictures. The pix I took were blurred lumps on the water. He took an excursion to swim with the dolphins, which I should have done but ... that's the way it goes!

Movies

During our winter stay at the Lake we look at movies. We get them from a variety of sources...RedBox, the Library, or the store if we find a good deal. The pickings seem to be slim this winter...either that or we cannot agree on anything to see. To date, we've seen "Angels and Demons," "Maximum Ride," "Tarzan," "London has Fallen," and "Jason Bourne."* 

Angels and Demons is a must see if you are going to Rome in the near future. The outdoor scenes are right on -- and they have done a good job recreating the Sistine Chapel. In fact, take a good look at the cinematic version of the Sistine Chapel, as it looks like the "reaL thing" and is a lot less crowded.  The movie is good too and bears repeat viewing.

The 2016 remake of Tarzan does not offer any surprises...but the fellow playing Tarzan has a very fit body. The treat is the movie still works -- it's an old story (first published in 1912). It was considered science fiction back in the day. Now it's just good fun. 

James Patterson wrote Maximum Ride for the young adult audience. The movie is OK if you have read the books...if you have not read the books, don't rent the movie.

London has Fallen is a "shoot em up bang bang" movie that actually has America as the winning team! It's nice to be on the winning side once in a while. The acting is OK...the story is OK...it's a good diversion.

The last movie we have seen is Jason Bourne...in the seemingly endless series of Jason Bourne movies. Matt Damon recreates his role from a decade ago. He did a good job. If you have not seen the latest JB movie, rent it. It's good...and there's room for yet another sequel! 

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*all photos were copied from public domain files at Wikipedia. Thank you!

Pterodactyl at the Library

 

Every library is filled with exciting things found in the stories of thousands of books. The library we use near Lake Cachuma has those normal exciting stories but it has more....   

Flying out of the pages of a book is a life sized prehistoric bird...who could ask for more! What a place for adventure!

 

 

Every 10 Days

 

I just finished the first blanket of 2017. It's a large blanket in toasty colors that will keep a teenager warm on a cold winter day. I've been enjoying the blanket as I've been crocheting it as it has some heft and yet it's soft and cozy. Last year I made 3 dozen blankets which comes out to a blanket every 10 days. I don't know if I can keep that up this year. with the traveling we are going to be doing, but I'll give it a try.

Christmas in Solvang

Town Square in Solvang still has Christmas decorations on display. So pretty. 

A Year Ago

Lake Cachuma has seen another year of draught. While Northern California is doing"ok" water wise, Southern California cannot say the same. On January 1 new water rationing laws went into effect in the city of Santa Barbara. Other cities and towns are asking folks to conserve conserve conserve as the draught is in the fifth year. 

This is how Lake Cachuma looked last year at this time....

And today it looks a bit more dry and the weeds are taller. 

In normal years this is supposed to be filled with water. Instead the weeds are six to eight feet tall and 

 dried up. A winter weather front is supposed to be coming this weekend, but it will take many rainy days to make up for the deficit.

At the Puddle

We are back at the "lake" but there's not much lake around here. 

That large field is supposed to be the Lake

There is a a small amount of water in the Lake. The website says the lake is down to 8% of normal.

The weather is nice and there's a hint of rain in the future. That's good news...but the rain will be a mixed blessing. We have reservations to go to Universal Studios to visit Harry Potter-Land and it's supposed to be raining when we are there! I don't know what to root for...rain for the lake or another dry day for Harry Potter?