I ended up working all weekend – and the expectations of what the next 2 weeks of work have in store for me – makes me want to visit the Raven as soon as possible. Thankfully, it’s just down the street.
Here’s some nice info on the Potato Bug from the San Diego Natural History Museum
“I just want to be your friend”
Names that this little dude goes by:
Chacos
Potato bugs
Stone cricket
Nina de la tierra (child-of-the-earth)
Wi see ts’inii (Navajo for “skull insect” or “bone neck beetle”)
Well, we finally made it over to the highly praised Larkin’s in Eagle Rock. As I had posted previously – we had been anticipating a meal here since before we moved down. It’s in a recently restored Craftsman Cottage that is beautiful and everyone working there was really nice – but I have to say, after reading the menu I was already a bit put off. Everything is listed as “not your mamas grits”, “not your papas greens” “not your…” well you get the idea and the drinks were served in Jelly Jars. It’s like they were trying too too hard to be cute and it comes of as contrived.
I also broke my own promise to not try Mac & Cheese after finding the perfect one (at Blair’s) but my veggie choices were this or salad so I gave in. I have to say, it’s a pretty limited menu overall.
It was pretty to look at, but to use some more annoying descriptions – it tasted like a “hot mess”. It had no flavor, except for the cloves of garlic jammed here and there – and made me sad for cheating on Blair’s. Jesse had the pork chop with rice & beans and was much happier than me. Sorry for the whacky photo – i took it with my phone.
J & I are really lucky..
We have one incredibly smart & funny nephew…
not one but two beautiful….
& amazing nieces….
And in just one short week, we’re going to get a chance to meet the newest member of the family!! We both can’t wait!
It’s raining really hard, i’m bushed from work and I needed some comfort food. J was a good sport and indulged me by ordering-in pizza, but not just any pizza, my new favorite pizza – the Blonde Bunny. It’s a no sauce pizza with ricotta, goat cheese, romano and mozzarella – with lots of garlic. And apparently NickyD’s is the official pizza of the Dodgers – not quite sure how that works.
In case you’re wondering, yes I tried my best and no, I didn’t eat the whole thing in one sitting – there are still 2 slices left over.
These beauties were something to look at – but they drop their tiny little barbed spines on the ground which get hidden by the sand somewhat – until one of doggies would all of a sudden begin limping or doing a 2-legged hop. This was a sure sign that a Cholla got them. It was an exercise in patience removing the barbs – since the dogs wanted to bite us when we tried to remove the spines.
Another look at the Cholla.
Her big window.
If the sun was out – this is where you’d find her – draped over the back of the couch.
Inca keeping an eye on the hummingbirds and bushtits that frequented our old yard.
Spent a bit of time at work today – but when I got home I made an effort and cooked up some homemade mushroom barley soup. Seemed like a good rainy day kinda of thing. I was very “pleased” with my self in that the soup, bread and cheese we had for dinner was almost 100% organic. The only thing in the soup that wasn’t organic was the dried thyme (oh and also, the mexican cokes we drank.)
While the barley was cooking away – I looked up from the kitchen and saw this.
The sky had turned the coolest shade of gray/black but the sun was still coming through across the top of the clouds. What was even neater, was in the opposite direction the sky looked like this.
I think it’s safe to say, its going to be rainy tomorrow too…
One last photo to share tonight…
How many dogs does it take to read a book? Apparently three – but i’d like to try it with 4 or 5.
There are these amazing gates on both sides of the LA River as you’re coming down Fletcher – right near our house. It’s hard to get a good look at them as you’re driving by – but I need to take some time in the coming weeks to walk around over there to check out the landscape & sculpture. The gates are part of Rattlesnake Park and part of a bigger project – the Los Angeles River Greenway – which is working on creating a reacreation area along the river. There are parts of the river that have been planted with trees, grasses, and other indiginous plants along with large boulders placed in the “river” to create a more natural environment – and believe it or not water is flowing in these areas…not totally sure on the “source” of the water – but it’s still pretty to look at. Once I get over there I’ll take pictures to share. To read more about the gates you can go here.
I was just doing some on-line digging to find out more about these beauties and found article after article about how icky they are….here’s one excerpt.
“Firesticks, the darlings of florists and high-end nurseries are red-tinted varieties of the pencil tree euphorbia. The euphorbia plant contains a caustic white latex sap, and pencil tree is one of the most toxic species. Merely brush against it, and the milk starts to flow.”
More research is needed -but for now I guess I’ll stick to safer plants – I did find this one place that ships from San Diego that has some really interesting varieties.