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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Bathroom report 06-13-19

I am one of those ladies who visits bathrooms wherever she goes.  It is a necessity rather than a choice.  Recently I had lunch at Rutabegorz restaurant in Orange, CA.  There are two other locations, one in Tustin and the original in Fullerton.  They are what I think of as hippie restaurants with lots of healthy food and drinks and their food is very good.  And there is a lot of it.  The Orange location is in an old house just down the street from Chapman College and it does a good business.  They have a lovely patio which at this time of year is a bower of bright flowers.  But the patio is between the house and the busy street (Glassell) so I always choose to sit inside.  And, of course, the bathroom is inside!!  It is original to the house and is decorated in a style very familiar from my childhood.  Although they have rather over done it - on purpose.  All these wall pieces are like those I remember and, in addition, they have painted the toilet seat as some people did in the 50s. Also the window, but I don't remember seeing that before.   It is all very original but also "old fashioned". 

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Shopping at the Dragonfly 06-28-11

I'm not much of a shopper, except for fabric, and rarely go out and just stroll through shops.  But when I go to Rutabegorz in Orange (on Glassell between the Circle and Chapman College) I cannot resist taking a stroll through The Dragonfly, which is right next door.  In an old bungalow converted to this use, it is crammed with wonderful things, both inside and out.  The inside is so packed I fear that I will collide with something every time I move, but I always have to go in to see their hats (today I bought one).  But the plants and garden items outside always tempt me and I end up with a purchase or two.

There are little islands of interest whichever way you walk.  This is in the area of tiny things to put into little dish gardens. 

There is a bowl stuffed with tiny people to accompany the little fences and miniature benches and gates.

And wee lighthouses and beach chairs.

This is the front of the house, behind the picket fence.  Barely visible are wire rings with dragonflies about fourteen inches across - they are a sort of bronze color.  Can't see them?  Click to enlarge the image or....

..look at them upside down as shadows on the sidewalk. 

This is the loveliest fairy I think I have ever seen.  She is about two feet tall. 

A rain chain made of copper umbrellas - so clever.

 

There are lots of little potted plants.  Some, like this one, have those tiny figures tucked in.  There is a fairy, a turtle and some colorful rocks tucked into the left side of this "garden".

The area for two blocks around the Orange Circle is filled with shops and antique malls and lovely little restaurants.  I have tried a number of the eating spots, but I am especially fond of Kimmie's on the south side of the Circle and Rutabegorz to the north side.  It serves the same food at the original location in Fullerton and the third location in Tustin.  I ate wonderful chicken crepes today and carried the excess home to eat for dinner tonight.  Delicious!

Photo experiment & Rayna Gillman post 12-09-10

Yesterday I had lunch at a local eatery named Rutabegorz which is a holdover from the Hippie food of 1970. The original is in Fullerton, but there are also locations in Orange and Tustin (where I ate yesterday). The food is organic, big on veggies, huge salads, hearty soups and some 'funky' dishes, too. Anyway, I was sitting there with my latte in a Xmas mug, which I think is very cute (it is also very much like a design I did for a quilt about thirty years ago), and I tried a half dozen photos to see what I could do with the very busy background I would get. These two images are the two best, however, they are highly modified. I have found that I enjoy digital photography more and more - it is fun to take a not very great image and use the different functions of a photo program to improve it.

If you are a quiltmaker I hope you will take the time to read Rayna Gillman's Blog for today. She makes some very good points about exhibiting your work.
http://studio78notes.blogspot.com/2010/12/juried-vs-curated-or-invitational-shows.html

Name of the rose? 01-09-09

My friend Toni and I met for lunch Wednesday in the old town area of the city of Orange. The restaurant Rutabegorz is such a reliable place to eat - there are three locations and the food is pretty much the same at each. They recently started offering 'small' salads in addition to their regular which comes in a medium sized mixing bowl! I've never come close to eating all of one if their salads and I didn't this week either. The 'small' is not small enough. But I brought the rest home in a doggie box and had it for dinner last night. Located in an renovated 1900s house they have a lovely patio area and next door they have converted another house into a bed and breakfast. To enter the B&B you walk through an arch covered with a lovely single blossom climbing rose. It appears to have been there for a very long time and the blossom seems familiar, but I can't remember a name and haven't been able to find it online. Does anyone know the name? When the lady at the B&B saw me photographing she came out to see if I knew the name. I told her if I could find out I would let her know.

This image shows how light the backs of the blossoms are.

While this one catches all the stripes and dots on the front.

Corky is going to be here all weekend, so we are both 'happy campers' at Camp Del. It is very windy so there are all sorts of taps and bangs and scratchy sounds. Neither of us is afraid, but it is nice to have company.