Looking back 10 years 06-08-21

Today friend Carol and I shopped at Tiddlywinks children's store near the Circle of Orange, following it up with lunch at Rutabegorz, about a block further north.  If you are looking for children's gifts that don't require batteries and will give the kids some education while they are playing, Tiddlywinks is the place to go.   With the help of a knowledgeable sales lady (maybe her name was Jean) Carol has some great gifts for grands and grands of a friend.  Rutabegorz lunch was delicious, but it was too crowded on the wrap around patio so we ate inside - very quiet and peaceful.  If we had gone before shopping or waited until about 1pm we could have dined among the gorgeous flowers.  Next time. The menu is extensive and everything I have ever eaten there has been excellent.

I was thinking about years past and wondered where I was ten years ago on June 8, 2011, so I looked in my picture files.  So nice to have pictures on the computer and can find them by date, even if there are no captions.  I had just returned from a trip to Denver for that year's SAQA conference and the closest I could come to the date was June 3rd and I found images taken when Carol and I went on a bird walk at the Fullerton Arboretum.  I only managed one bird image and it is too poor to post, but there were lots of blooms and critters. It was a terrific day, not too hot, and only about ten people on the walk along with the guide.  I don't know why we have never done it again, I'm sure the Arboretum still offers them, probably not this past year though. 

The jacarandas were blooming then, as they are now.  I can never get quite the right color with my cell phone, the flowers are more violet than this shows. 

The Arboretum has many exotic plants and trees.  This large bloom is from a Monkey Hand tree (Chiranthodendron pentadactylon), a medium sized tree native to Guatemala and southern Mexico.  This shows the size of the bloom in the hand of the guide. 

And growing in the tree.  The flowers are not profuse and sort of hide under the large lobed leaves.  This image shows the "hand". 

There is a nice size pond edged by rocks and lots of water loving plants.  There were many turtles and baby turtles sunning themselves and ignoring a couple of mallards floating around.  

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