Ramos House again 03-05-15

I recently blogged about lunch at Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano.  And previously at:  http://www.delquilts.blogspot.com/2007/11/san-juan-capistrano-ca-11-10-07.html
Coincidentally the magazine from the Automobile Club of Southern California, called Westways, published an article about the area "Los Rios Historic District" in their March/April 2015 issue.  It is an interesting area just a block and a half from the old Mission.
They have renovated the small parking lot into a sort of plaza with landscaping and benches, so best to park in the multi-storied parking lot on the east side of the tracks and walk across.  There are a number of coffee places and small restaurants if Ramos House isn't to your liking, it is the only place I have eaten there.

There is a nursery where one can browse among the plants and flowers.  Something that grows wild and is currently blooming along the roads and walkways is oxalis.  The bottom picture is of my back slope covered in blossoms.  The park is in the upper left corner. 
 

 

 

 

Ramos House restaurant 02-19-15

 You can see the train tracks in the middle of this image.

Yesterday's  picture was taken at Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano, a lovely little outdoor place with unusual food.  It was almost too cool for me, but I managed a chair in the sun facing the railroad tracks.  Yes, it is right on the tracks at the SJCapistrano depot, so the trains come through regularly.  But they are not disruptive, actually rather interesting to me.   I didn't take pictures of my lunch, which was lox on toast, because it wouldn't have been much of a picture.  I also enjoyed a latte.  For some reason I am always interested in the other people sitting around me.  It is an eclectic bunch from young women in tattoos and long skirts, to business men in suits, to the "ladies who do lunch".  There always seems to be a group of women, of any age, celebrating a birthday with gifts and balloons.  The old house it occupies is in the original "town" of SJCapistrano and there are several museums, a lot of little shops and coffee places and adjacent is an interesting nursery and a petting zoo.  Nice place to spend an afternoon - you might even take the train down (or up) and back. 

Wordless Wednesday 02-18-15

 

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Old Town San Juan Capistrano, CA 08-22-13

The area around Ramos House (where I had lunch on Tuesday) is the historic, original town of San Juan Capistrano.  Ramos House backs up on the railroad tracks (I like watching the passenger trains come through). Along the road are many little old houses, some still occupied by families; and there are restaurants and gift shops and antique shops and a history museum of the area.  Slightly further west are a large nursery and a "petty zoo" which has an odd assortment of animals.  The summer heat keeps me from exploring this time of year - these pictures were taken in November 2007. 


This free standing Angel's Trumpet was really loaded down with blossoms.  There are many Trumpet vines and bushes in the area, some are many years old.  The red-violet flowers in the foreground are ice plant - one of many colors available.
 

There are half a dozen emus in the petting zoo.
 

 
They always seem to be giving me the evil eye.  Don't get too close, they have a vicious peck that will make you bleed!
 

This is the back of one of the larger houses which is kept in excellent repair.  I think it belongs to the people who own the nursery, which starts in the foreground of this picture.   Of course I love it, it is grey with white trim!
 

The common name for Tacomaria capensis is Cape Honeysuckle, although it is not related to that plant, but belongs in the family Bignoniaceae.  But the plant vines like honeysuckle and the flowers are trumpet shaped.  They are not fragrant. The plant is native to southern Africa, however it is a popular landscape plant in SCalifornia.

There are different shades, but this is the most common. 
 

This is the bud (buds?) for Plumbago capensis - also called Cape Leadwort or auriculata.
It can be a vine or trimmed as a shrub.  It is another of the old-fashioned plants found in the older parts of SCalifornia.      
 

As the flowers open they form blue "powder puff" shaped clumps.  The red-violet hairs on each flower stem are sticky and will cling to clothes, hair and even skin.
 

Properly watered and pruned the plumbago makes large blue mounds on hillsides and in backyards.