Ruby Blossoms in My Outdoor World

I happened upon
RUBY blossoms in these trees
on a recent walk

“Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” Confucius

“The mind is everything; what you think, you become.”
Gautama Buddha

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and for others participating in Ruby Tuesday, My World,
Outdoor Wednesday, Midweek Blues, and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.”
Gaston Bachelard

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Outdoor RUBIES in My Watery World

Scroll down for Wordful Wednesday & Midweek Blues too

Warmer weather brings
people to the beach and pier
also the Street Fair

Do you see the seagull in the picture below?

How about in the next photo?
If you missed the one above, look up again 😉

If walking to the end of the pier and back is more exercise that one wants, there are folks who will give you a ride in one of these.

Kids can play in these colorful contraptions and people enjoy a variety of foods while enjoying the Street Fair on Tuesday evenings from 5-9pm.
Click to see more views and entertainment shared previously

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others participating in Ruby Tuesday, My World,
Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday,
Midweek Blues and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” Stephen R. Covey

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Outdoor Watery Wednesday & Window Views

ALMOST

Beach town … Surf City
shares it’s history in this
Surfing Museum

today’s temp’ratures
will reach the low 80s and
draw more people here

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others participating in Almost Wordless Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Window Views,
Midweek Blues and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein

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Shades of Hitchcock …

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Last week I shared a goose
from Cerritos Regional Park …

… and today I share some interesting bird activity.

occasionally
these pigeons took flight ‘en masse’
in sweeping circles

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and for others participating in (Almost) Wordless Wednesday,
Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Wordful Wednesday,
Midweek Blues, and Camera Critters too

Thought for Today

“People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.” Bill Vaughan

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A bit of RUBY in my Watery Outdoor World

stormy skies above
as we walked out on the pier …
surveying the scene

very different
from the ones I shared last week
at this local beach

just a few people
brave enough to swim, walk, and
lay upon the sand

For Ruby Tuesday
here’s the bright Barefoot Bar sign
and menu outside

My sister likes her fish tacos ‘battered’ …

I prefer mine Cajun style

and THIS is Hula Pie … delicious!

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My World, Ruby Tuesday,
Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, and Midweek Blues

Thought for Today

“Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again.”
Menachem Mendel Schneerson

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I’m CELEBRATING all week!

Scroll down for Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday

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This is a pizookie from BJs from LAST February … DELICIOUS

Of course, my computers aren’t cooperating with me lately and I’ve had difficulty posting and visiting. This morning I had no internet access at all. My D-Link router seems to have given up the ghost entirely (just as my older Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop) but with some help from my local cable company, I’ve managed to come up with a short-term ‘fix’ and have established a Broadband connection for the time being … and it just MIGHT work around the wireless access issues I’ve experienced ever since I got the newer Dell Inspiron 1720 about 19 months ago.

If I had the money, I’d go buy myself a Sony Vaio and a LinkSys router … but I’ve not yet replaced the HP Photosmart C6180 ‘all in one’ printer that developed a glitch in December and doesn’t work at all … so that needs to take precedence since I can’t print anything at all currently now that the old Dell has died. Seems like it’s always something, right?

I’m not letting it get me down however because the sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day in Southern California at the beach. I’m hoping to get Molly to the Doggie Spa this week because she’s a dirty smelling pooch at the moment … not fun to ‘cuddle’ with currently.

I’ve been told this plant
is a type of ‘aloe’ … if
it’s not, please do tell

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and for others participating in Ruby Tuesday,
Today’s Flowers and Outdoor Wednesday

Thought for Today

“After all is said and done, more is said than done.” Aesop

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(Almost) Wordless Outdoor Watery Wednesday

ALMOST

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Watery Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday,
and Outdoor Wednesday

 

Thought for Today

“Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.” Steven Wright

 

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My Outdoor World is Changing …

Cut back just last week
my rose bushes have begun
to regenerate

Delicate white blooms
opening already on
this ‘unknown bulb’ plant …

I’d appreciate
knowing what it is if you
recognize the bloom

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in (my belated) Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, My World,
and Outdoor Wednesday

Thought for Today

“A faith like Lincoln’s would transform the world.” James Oppenheim

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More Views from Balboa Island along with my January Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Mellow Yellow Monday
(along with Pink Saturday & Today’s Flowers)
is in the next post

More views from my walk
on Balboa Island this
weekend with my sis …

Kewl ‘ruby’ brick work,
blossoms, and ‘accents’ on the
yard’s ‘inhabitants’

More ‘rubies’ below …
Cyclamen blossoms I think,
if not mistaken

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others participating in My World,
Ruby Tuesday and Outdoor Wednesday

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of August. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.

1. for all the new & old friends in the Blogosphere who visit and leave comments on each of my blogs. Thank you all 😉

2. I managed to successfully transfer my December Gratitude List to Happily Retired Gal this morning on the 4th try. I’m not sure why, but I kept losing my sidebar there this morning … but all’s well that ends well, right? Right!

3. Molly got to play with the 3 pugs (Jake, Alle, & Noah) this morning … see Pug Invasion if you’ve forgotten or missed this post from mid-March.

4. I opted for the extended warranty when I purchased my Nikon D60 & Tamron lens last January at Ritz Camera. I should have them back in less than a week since I chose to drop them off at the camera repair shop this afternoon (rather than the one remaining local Ritz store in Fashion Island) to be cleaned & adjusted (something I was advised to do at least yearly).

5. I found my old Casio Exilim camera and it held a charge, so while I’m experiencing a bit of ‘withdrawal’ without my Nikon,
I have something to use in the meantime.

6. for time to create a mosaic with Monday’s surprise sunrise photos and to publish it at Small Reflections before leaving for class tonight.

7. to be home after spending the day at my sister’s house making 247 tamales (about a hundred more than usual) … I’ll be catching up on blog visits tomorrow and sharing photos from the day soon since she let me use HER camera since mine’s in the shop getting cleaned & adjusted after it’s first year of almost continual use.

8. for a day at home to catch up on blog visits, create multiple ‘tamale and critter mosaics’ then write Haiku reflections to share at Sacred Ruminations as a follow-up to the ‘big day’ of tamale-making.

9. I added to yesterday’s tamale post … (Blogging my Blessings there and providing a bit more info in response to questions). Spending time with my ‘reader’ last week … cleaning house (eliminating blogs no one has posted on in a long time), marking older entries as ‘read’ & reorganizing entries into functional categories is helping me manage time for blog visits more easily already.

10. my sister & her husband met me at the Harbor House Cafe in Sunset Beach for ‘brunch’ this morning. Since my ‘all-in-one’ HP printer still doesn’t work, my BIL is going to scan my sister’s tamale recipe then email it to me so I can share it with those who asked for it.

11. the camera shop called to say my camera & lenses are ready for pickup … HOORAY!

12. for Tuesday with my sister. We had a wonderful time together. I’ve shared ‘fountain photos’ from the Shops at Mission Viejo at Happily Retired Gal.

13. her husband emailed the tamale recipe to me so I could share it with those who asked for it.

14. that I’d saved often while creating my Thursday Thoughts … so that when Mozilla crashed this morning (as it does all too often due to a problem with my wireless card and/or driver that no one seems to be able to find or fix) … I was able to pick up where I left off rather than starting over.

15. for the ‘free ticket’ (worth $10) for a Friday Class at Adult School … (apparently M-W classes got these because of the Monday holidays making the courses shorter than T-Th classes so this was how they ‘evened things up’.
I used it this morning to learn about Facebook. I don’t know that I’ll find time to actually USE the information, but at least I understand how Facebook works now … sort of. LOL

16. we’ll be getting some much needed rain in the coming week. I’m hopeful the folks in the recently burned areas won’t suffer mudslides however.

17. I remembered to answer the Simple Woman’s Daybook questions to share with my Blues & Mosaics at Sacred Ruminations and to publish Macro & Monochrome photos at Happily Retired Gal … so I’m ‘set’ for Monday.

18. my DVR recorded the Day One tennis matches overnight at the Australian Open … so I can watch today as I visit blogs.

19. there were breaks in the rain so Molly & I could get outside for some much needed exercise.

20. for this afternoon’s (much needed) appointment to get my hair cut … and I’m hoping for a break in the weather to drive into Long Beach … then on to my sister’s in Cerritos and back home to feed Molly before my Adult School class tonight at 6pm. I’d kind of like to just stay home in this kind of weather, but I’ll drive carefully and hope for the best.<

21. last night’s class was canceled … (because the HB police asked yesterday afternoon that residents not drive for the next 48 hours unless absolutely necessary ) … so I didn’t have to go out in the storm again … at night.

22. that I took the initiative and drove to the local Social Security office (in the rain) to get my paperwork scanned into my file rather than continue to wait for the ‘secure envelope’ to arrive. Wish I’d done this a week ago!

23. the rain seems to have stopped this afternoon and it’s supposed to be clear on Sunday.

24. the laptop still ‘boots’ after multiple ‘Blue Screen of Death’ crashes this past week … so I’ve had time to back up my recent files & photos before I call Dell again, but the crashes have been frustrating when I try to visit blogs and leave comments!

25. I was able to help my sister get started on a computer related photo project over the phone and still get myself to class last night to learn some kewl new ‘digital media’ techniques.

26. my faulty wireless LAN card & Mozilla let me visit some blogs this morning before crashing …

27. for the ‘kewl’ new skills & techniques presented in tonight’s Digital Media class. Now what I need is time to practice 😉

28. my persistence paid off with Social Security. After spending MANY hours on the phone with multiple calls (asking many questions until I connected with the right person), I finally have my ‘claim number’ for Medicare, allowing me to finish signing up for a ‘supplemental care’ & ‘drug plan’ … so coverage should begin on February 1st (barring any unforseen issues).

29. I rewarded myself for a challenging week dealing with Beaurocracy by spending the day with my sister today and signing up for two ‘review’ Digital Photography classes with her tomorrow … one in the morning & the other in the afternoon.

30. for the Digital Photography 1 & 2 classes at Ritz Camera in Fashion Island letting me get my settings right again … and learning a few new things about the Nikon D60 to practice in the future.

31. to watch Roger Federer play well to win his 16th Major Championship in straight sets against Andy Murray at the Australian Open … regaining that title after losing there the last two years, putting him at #1 again … the first father to win a Major Championship since Andre Agassi did it in 2003.

FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found at Happily Retired Gal, my new WordPress site. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2009 Lists – December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November

Thought for Today
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’” William A. Ward

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Ruby Raindrops … Shadowy Reflections

My World, Macro Monday and Monochrome Weekend
are in the next post

Enjoying the rain
here in California …
watching TENNIS too 😉

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and for others participating in
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday
Ruby Tuesday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday,
Color Carnival, Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday

Thought for Today

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Outdoor Watery Wednesday at the Beach

ALMOST

Each day at the beach
just a wee bit different …
always beautiful

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and for others participating in Outdoor Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Midweek Blues, (Almost) Wordless Wednesday
and Wordful Wednesday at Seven Clown Circus

Thought for Today

“By all means use some times to be alone.  Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear.” George Herbert

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Ruby Tuesday Outdoor Holiday Mosaic

If I can get my
HP ‘all-in-one’ to print
this mosaic will

appear on my cards
with New Year’s greetings because
technical problems

have plagued me this year
I am tempted to give up …
but I’ll persevere

Some of these red views
may be familiar if you’ve
visited before

others are quite new
but I like the holiday
mix in my collage

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and for others participating in Ruby Tuesday,
Window Views and Outdoor Wednesday

Thought for Today

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder

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It’s FINALLY raining … hooray!

ALMOST

Sharing holiday
reds for Ruby Tuesday here
… forgot earlier

Finally the rain’s
come to California
and might stay all week

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Ruby Tuesday, My World, Outdoor Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday
and more of My Wet World
at Sacred Ruminations

Thought for Today

“It’s Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.” W.T. Ellis

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My Watery Outdoor World in Southern California November’s Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Thirteen photographs
of my world here at the beach
… click to embiggen

Original – Straight out of the camera

Poster Edges – lightened

Click to embiggen for better viewing
and for others participating in My World, Outdoor Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Midweek Blues,
and Thursday Thirteen

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of August. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.

1. for the pair of season’s tickets to the Pacific Chorale concerts that I won in a drawing. The first concert on Sunday evening was magnificent 😉

2. I was home with ‘L’ called this morning to let me know she was going to be in the area and wanted to meet for breakfast. We had a wonderful visit and a tasty meal.

3. I had time & opportunity to REST today when I realized I wasn’t feeling top-notch … and that the Vitamin C, chicken soup, extra water and rest seemed to stave off whatever bug was trying to take hold.

4. I managed to finish creating Peace Globes and posts for each of my blogs in time to post before I went to class tonight.

5. for all those participating in today’s Blog Blast for Peace: Dona Nobis Pacem.

6. for wonderful ‘catch up’ cell phone visits with ‘C’ and my sister … both of whom are traveling in RVs with their husbands.

7. I’ve managed to stay ‘functional’ …(if not totally healthy)… by mindfully limiting my activities the past week or so.

8. the folks (vacationing from New York) renting the house next door for a month seem friendly and have two standard poodles — Katie, the elder white one, is standoffish but Molly likes to play with Ned, the young black male 😉

9. I managed to visit the grocery store today so I’ve got fresh produce in the house again … finally!

10. for what I learned in my first ‘Fix Your Own Computer’ class tonight … and for the lessons to follow. Hopefully I’ll figure out what causes my Dell 1720 laptop to crash so regularly and get it fixed … finally 😉

11. Service Champions checked out my furnace this morning so I can turn it on to take the ‘edge off’ on chilly mornings again.

12. for my DVR so I can fast- forward through commercials when I do watch televised programs … saving about 20 minutes out of every 60 to use for other endeavors.

13. Stephen King has written and published a new book … I’m looking forward to reading it 😉

14. for a fun catch up phone visit with my writing buddy from Taos this morning and a beautiful warm sunny day outside as I watered my overly dry yard.

15. my sister called last night after having no cell signal for the several days.

16. to reconnect with a former student in the Jury Pool yesterday … we had a nice chat before getting sent to a court room for Jury selection that will continue tomorrow morning at 9am. So far I’m still in the audience watching and listening … so I guess we’ll see what happens next.

17. that even though I was selected for a jury, we were released in time for me to drop by home to feed the fur-kids and still make it to my my evening Adult School class by 6pm. It was a LONG day, but I managed to stay focused until 9pm and drive home safely.

18. California courts are ‘dark’ on Wednesdays giving me the day off because tomorrow will be another LONG day starting with Jury Duty and ending with an Adult School class from 6-9pm again. Hopefully I’ll have time to drop by home to feed the fur-kids between the two activities.

19. after coming down with the flu yesterday morning and coping with nasty symptoms throughout the night, I was able to keep a few soda crackers and a bit of chicken soup down … then sleep this afternoon … finally.

20. that (although not totally healthy yet) I’m feeling much improved this morning and even managed to create a Haiku Sky Watch Friday post at Sacred Ruminations using a mosaic I created last week … though I don’t know how much energy I’ll have to visit blogs today because my head hurts. I’m hopeful the trial continued yesterday without me since there was an alternate juror, but no one called me back after I called in sick.

21. to be feeling MUCH better today!

22. my sister called and we had a nice catch up visit on the phone … they’re visiting with friends in Northern California and will spend Thanksgiving in McKinleyville.

23. I had energy enough to take Molly to Dog Beach in the morning and to the groomer in the afternoon … so she’s clean, soft & sweet smelling for the holidays 😉

24. I went to the Water Store today because it will be closed tomorrow through the weekend. I also did my grocery shopping today and saved almost $50 with coupons!

25. to be celebrating my 1st Blogoversary at Happily Retired Gal, my WordPress blog.

26. for phone calls from family & friends today.

27. I walked down to the beach to watch and photograph this afternoon’s glorious sun set over the ocean.

28. the laptop didn’t crash during the 6 hours it took to make a full backup of my PSE6 catalog.

29. my sister and her husband are finally headed for home and should arrive in a couple of weeks so we’ll spend Christmas together this year. Hopefully they’ll stay here for a while before hitting the road again.

30. I’ve kept this daily gratitude list for 13 months. I’m trying to decide whether or not to continue the practice. Guess I’ll see what I do tomorrow 😉

FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found here at Happily Retired Gal, my WordPress site. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2009 Lists – October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November

Thought for Today

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” B.B. King

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Outdoor Watery Wednesday – Midweek Blues

ALMOST

 

More photographs from

my sister in Canada …

RV traveling

 

Collaboration..

I create the mosaics

then share on my blogs.

Click to embiggen and for others participating in …

Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Midweek Blues …

and Wordless Wednesday t00.

Thought for Today

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” Sir Winston Churchill

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