Our Morning Visitor Returns

Our patio seems to be turning into a "wildlife area". The other day, the hawk came by for a visit and this morning this little guy showed up again.

Merry Christmas to my friends here on Blogspot

Morning Walk After The Storm

Went for a 2.25 mile walk this morning. I walked along the normally dry riverbed of the Santa Clara River here in Santa Clarita, CA. You would think that the river would be named "The Santa 'Clarita' River since it runs through the Santa Clarita Valley here in SoCal and NOT through the city of Santa Clara which is up in the Bay Area near San Francisco.
When we get heavy rains, the river flows from the Angeles National Forest to the Pacific Ocean in Ventura, CA.
After walking along the river's edge, I drove up to Todd Longshore Park to take some photographs.

Here is a short video of the river

Good Report

My physical went well this morning. Didn't have to do the "female" thing since I'm not due for that until 2012. Doctor said other than my high cholesterol that we cannot get under control since I cannot tolerate the statins, I seem pretty healthy.

Hawk Drying Its Feathers

Boy has it been pouring down rain here in SoCal for the past few days. Around 11:30 A.M. today we had a huge cloudburst and then within minutes the sun came out from behind the clouds and was so bright.

A few mintues later, I noticed a hawk sitting on our fence near our patio trying to dry its feathers during the lull in the storm.

Rainy Day In SoCal

They claim "it never rains in Southern California". But as the old song says "it pours, man it pours". We've had rain now for 3 days and they say it's not going to let up until Friday, then starting Sunday, we are supposed to get several days more.
Usually our Christmas time is in the mid-70's to mid-80's so it's kind of nice to have some "wintry weather" for the holidays.
I got out for a short 1 mile walk this morning. Took a couple of photos down in Discovery Park while I was out.

Hiked This Morning

This morning my friend Linda and I went for a hike over in Pico Canyon. We thought we'd have some rain, but thankfully it didn't appear and the sun actually peeked out some.
If you'd like to see some of the photos of our hike, check out my "Hiking With And 'Old' Woman" blog at the following link:

Hiking With An Old Woman

You can also find this link here on the main page of this blog and also on my Photoblog.

Kate Gosselin (OMG)

I am not particularly a Sarah Palin fan but I've always wanted to visit Alaska so I've been watching "Sara Palin's Alaska" show on TLC.
I've noticed a few things about the Palin family and the main thing is that they do not seem very affectionate with one another. Some of the things the do on the show make me feel that they are "acting" and trying to make America love them.
But actually, I'm not here to put the Palin's down, I'm here to say that I cannot believe what a whinney little bitch Kate Gosselin is. I have never watched her "reality" show, but I've heard a lot about it. And now I know why her husband dumped her.
The Palin's were kind enough to invite Kate and her brood to Alaska to go camping with them and all Kate could do was whine about how miserable she was while her kids were having the time of their life. Kate was wet, Kate was cold, poor Kate. Oh come on! She knew she was taking her family to Alaska for a camping trip. What did she expect? Then she storms off making her kids go with her when you know all they wanted to do was stay and have fun.
As I said before, I'm not a "Sarah Fan", and I don't know what was said between Sarah and Kate that we didn't see on the show that may have been edited out, but at least Sarah acted like an adult about the whole thing while Kate acted like a bratty little kid.

Our Christmas Tree

Sky Watch Sunday

Just took this show of our sky over SoCal.

Sunday Drive In "The Valley"

Ben and I went for a Sunday drive today. We headed down to into The San Fernando Valley. Went to Glendale to the old Grand Central Building. I'm including a wiki-link with information about this old airport terminal.

Grand Central Airport Terminal

We also drove over into Burbank past the Walt Disney Studios where the Seven Dwarfs hold up the front of the building. The trees have grown so much, I could only get photos of three of the dwarfs.

On the way back to the freeway to head home, we drove by Olive Park in Burbank where there is a full-size Lockheed F104 Jet Fighter. Since I worked at Lockheed for 37+ years, I just had to stop and take photos of it.
 

A Cloudy Morning In SoCal

Today was Ben's Saturday to work so I wanted to get out for a walk even though it was cloudy and gray outside. I was checking out one of our city's many walking trails only to find that there was nowhere near the trail for me to park my car. So I drove back down the street to the Bridgeport Marketplace where they have a small park. It is a great spot for taking photographs. I took several shots there and then went across the street to the community of Bridgeport and walked around their man-made lake and took a few more photos. I got in a 1.5 mile walk and also got to participate in my favorite hobby of amateur photography.

My Outdoor Lights

It took me about 5 hours total to get my outdoor lights up. I put the ones around the garage up and took them back down 2 or 3 times because I couldn't get the length just right. They came up too short the first time, then too long the second time. Finally got everything the way I wanted it. I also put a lighted reindeer and a small Christmas tree on the porch. Here are a couple of pix.

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I've posted a blog.
Today I am going to attempt at putting up my outdoor Christmas lights. Ben is at work, so I'll be doing it all by myself. Hope I don't get tangled up in them (LOL).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

To all of my American friends, I want to wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving.

A Hike With My New Friend

Today I got to meet a lady  I am friends with on Facebook. Her name is Linda. We met online when I was doing a blog about a park they put in near my home. Linda saw my blog on Facebook and being that she lives just a mile or two from me, she sent me a message and we started communicating online. After several months, we finally decided to get together for a hike. Found out that we are a lot alike and we have a lot of things in common. We are planning on more hikes together in the near future.

Linda and me standing at the hearth of an old cabin

Placerita Canyon

An Acorn Woodpecker

This is an old post where the Acorn Woodpeckers have made holes and stashed their acorns. Hence their name "Acorn Woodpecker"

Dancing With The Stars

Brandy goes home and Bristol stays? What the heck is that? I am not a Brandy fan but I cannot believe she went before Bristol. This proves more and more that Sarah Palin and here Tea Party are controlling the voting.Now we all know that in reality, Jennifer should now be the winner because she is the best dancer. Kyle has a chance because of his fantastic personality, but Bristol can't dance and she has the personality of a rock. I was asked on Facebook if it was Chelsea Clinton and not Bristol Palin on DWTS, would I be mad if Chelsea made the finals. I replied "It depends on if she could dance or not". This is NOT about who Bristol is, it's about the fact that she is as stiff as a board when she dances. I would think she'd be embarrassed knowing that she is still on the show just because of her mom. This show is supposed to be about who is the best dancer, NOT who your mother is.

If Bristol ends up winning, fans all over should boycott the show next year. They should write letters to ABC this year complaining about how the voting is done.

Always Wash Your Hands

Since Ben had his eye surgery, I've had to put drops into his left eye 3 to 4 times a day. One of the drops actually dilates his pupil. Well stupid me...I put the drop that dilates his eye into his eye this morning. Before I washed my hands, I rubbed my eye because it was itching. Without realizing it, I got some of his eye drops into my eye. Must have gotten some on my finger when I was putting the drops into his eye. Well I started noticing that my vision was getting blurry in my left eye and when I looked into the mirror, my pupil was dilated! Now I'm using plastic gloves when I put the drops into his eye and as soon as the gloves come off, I scrubbing my hands with soap and water.
I never stopped to think that just getting a little bit of that stuff on my finger and then rubbing my eye would do that.

BLESS OUR VETS

Memories Return

Look what was visiting our community today.

Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner

That is what I'd truly love to be

'cause if I were an oscar mayer weiner

everyone would be in love with me

Blood Work Today

Got a letter from Kaiser yesterday asking me to come into the lab and have some blood drawn monitor my blood pressure medication Lisinopril. I guess this medication can deplete your potassium levels and damage your kidneys. I have never had a medical provider have me come in for this reason before but it sounds like Kaiser really is into "preventive medicine" which is a good thing.
I drove over to the lab this morning right after it opened. There was already 4 people in front of me waiting for blood work. I only had to wait about 25 minutes to be called in and I didn't have to fast for this blood work, but I thought this cartoon was funny and wanted to share it.

After The Rain

We had a light rain overnight and today the air is so crisp and clear. It always amazes me how pretty everything looks after a rain. Ben and I just had to get out for a ride and enjoy the beauty. We drove up through the Heritage Valley in Ventura County and I took a few photographs.

Afternoon Drive

The weather was beautiful all day. We decided to take a driver over to Castaic Lake & Dam which is about 10 or 12 miles from us. The sky started getting darker and the clouds started rolling in. They are saying we may have a chance for a little rain tonight. We'll see.

Day Trip To Red Rock Canyon State Park

Ben and I drove out to the desert this morning to visit Red Rock Canyon State Park.

Red Rock Canyon State Park