No Idle hands here

Or not. this doesn’t apply to phones or small cameras, maybe something like wedding shoots. Although looks like they covered up the info anyway.

We’ve had 5 days of no sun – this in no bueno. I don’t live in Seattle! The one benefit to this is all the spring flowers are blooming and all the moisture is making them very happy!

Seeing dew on leaves like this in the middle of the day is very rare.

Always cool to see a ladybug.

And now, yellow and orange.

CA poppy of course! so years ago, out in Lancaster they created a poppy preserve – very nice – but poppies pop up where they want. This near nearby Elizabeth Lake has a ton of them, the preserve has none. along roads and off ramps there are clumps of them and here in this garden there are quite a few.

The prickly pear has flowers and the beginnings of the fruit.

The flowers of an aloe, also, note how this two acre garden is in the middle of a residential area, which is very nice, a lot of people wandering around.

I think this is Calendula and I think I have it in my own garden.

Same flower, different color

bright orange.

Mixed with pink

and purple.

On to part two….

Went up to Lodi for the weekend, a cousin got married, and most of their Israeli cousins came in for the wedding. On Saturday we just spent the day with the Israelis – all are Orthodox, so no driving for them.

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon, it rained and was cold Saturday and Sunday morning. Looking for something to do, we drove up into the foothills to Sutters Mill. I love history, seeing places in real time is wonderful. Up by the American River were large patches of lupine.

We don’t have rivers this large in southern CA, a lot of kayaks were out on the river.

Sure, cold and wet, they don’t care. We went on to the museum and the remains of Coloma. Interesting history, and no, I didn’t get pictures. It is amazing how a flash in the pan – literally changed history. John Marshall finds gold and the media in SF, in tiny Sacramento share the news and suddenly hundreds of thousands show up. What was unique here (and later in the Klondike and other rushes) is that it is Placer gold – the kind you pan for in rivers. This would be found and used up within two years. then the real mining starts – digging into the hills. One thing this did is allow CA to claim over 600,000 residents and become a state very very quickly – also allowed them to make sure the state was really really big – because who knows what other gold can be found.

Just a few pictures from the wedding. Lauri and Monty the parents have an incredible property out among the Zinfandel vineyard of Lodi – they hosted close to 200 people there.

Lyndsey and Ben, I’ve never seen a more effusive happy bride! Under the chuppah she couldn’t stop laughing. And when Ben called her: my wife, she beamed more than the sun.

The flowers on the chuppah and all over the yard – absolutely gorgeous.

The rain had stopped earlier in the day, but the sun actually came out during the ceremony. Btw, a little more history. Montys’ family the Montgomerie’s – came to CA around the time of the gold rush – they got the real gold – homesteaded and farmed- and supplied the miners with mush needed food. Today they still own some of the farmland right there in Lodi.

Sienna started smiling for real! Although elk claim she just farted. Men!

Look at the gorgeous rose I got this year! last year it produced one or two small flowers, I guess it needed the extra year to have the energy for a big beauty.

All of these are flowers from my garden, although it looks pink – it is another rose from the same bush.

Another angle. I have some stunning flowers in the garden, and springtime is the period where most are blooming

Went with Eyal, Einav and Yoch to see the Elders.

Nothing better than seeing your son as a dad, clearly Sienna is very comfortable sleeping on her Aba. she is still in the scrunched up pose.

Another great image is seeing her with her uncle. She has woken up to the fact that she is here in the world and now is beginning to really look around.

Still sleep and eats plenty!

Time to go down to the beach, although it was cloudy in the valley, the sun was shining here – usually it’s just the opposite.

first the swings, we picked up two friends along the way.

On to the beach!

Running from the waves, then Kaden got to close and started going in. Luckily his aunt and grandfather showed up, so I was off the hook for being responsible for them.

Not much wind, but the sailboats were out.

Walking back.

A pillow fight, Yoch was very much involved.

A picture that Aytan drew from a You Tube Tutorial, need to work with Simon this kind of art.

Aytan loves digging holes, getting dirty is a big part of it

Eyal needed some help getting up the tree

As did Einav

both are happy to be up the tree.

Its been two weeks and the wisteria is still beautiful

Even the white one.

Seder time! 18 people including Sienna, who only had milk

Aytan and I discussing Pharoah

Shira discussing the four sons.

Eyal and Cameron had their own little table. Westley discussed the 10 plagues, also, he had his own personal dish of pickled radishes and turnip

Havdallah, between Shabbat and a holiday

Reading the Haggadah

cousins!

Even Sienna gets in the picture!

She is one week old, I haven’t seen her since the day she came home, but a few more days, and I’ll see her again.

Mom and Dad send pictures.

Siblings in pink, she actually looks very much like Cam did as a baby

We can pretend this is a smile.

Meanwhile, Purim happened. I made Dubai Chocolate stuffed dates.

I didn’t take the pretty after photo, we enjoyed these as did friends and family

We have Harry Potter, a flying money and a princess for Purim.

I”m teaching Shira to embroider.

While waiting to meet Sienna, Pat and I walked the beach and found amazing shells. This turban mollusk is huge!!!

a group of interesting shells we found in one walk.

A few days later, Pat and Cam went down to the beach and it was full of tiny jelly fish. Glad I wasn’t there!

Looks like she is happy to be here and out of the fish tank. born 3/9, 3:33 pm, 7.3 pounds and 19.5″ long

Proud parents about 2 hrs after birth – look how amazing Mandy Looks!!!

As a real newborn!

Meeting her brothers!

First time holding her, notice how she has my hands!!!

Grandma Pat got on the first plane from Fl and will stay a week

Both Grandmas with all three grandkids

A newborn is soooo tiny, she will grow quickly

She is a little fussy, didn’t give them much sleep last night. That’s ok, the parents need to rest and concentrate on Sienna right now!

On an early March day, we took a quick trip with friends to Death Valley. A great time was had by all.

We drove up the back road, east of HWY 350, through Trona, now that is an alien landscape if I ever saw one. By lunch time we stopped here. Had a very good lunch.

Drove up to Father Crawley point. The Airforce used to do a lot of test fights here, since a bad accident 5 years ago – not so much. Although a day later we did see a stealth fighter fly silently over Death Valley. Looking down into the canyon, these are the kinds of colorful bands of minerals we saw.

weather couldn’t have been better, friends even more so.

By the iconic sign. two years ago Joel and I were here, since then hurricane Hillary (not the Clinton one) came through and flooded the valley. so now it is a lot harder to see the iconic tetra and hexagon shapes of the salt oozing through the dry land.

Devils golf course looked the same.

We took a jeep tour, saw some of the standard sights and also some off road ones

That is a lot of table salt, yes, It is exactly that. Table salt. Like so much of the earth, great changes happened over millions of years – including the fact that used to be under the ocean.

Standing on very hard compacted salt.

Into Artist Palatte canyon, the geology is fascinating. These are just different formations.

The camera doesn’t do the colors justice.

the colors, the textures, the deep blue sky!

One of the many sites used in the original Star Wars.

Same canyon, looking in the other direction.

One of the things that make this park so unique is the incredible contrasts.

gorgeous sunsets!

Wonderful dinners. We celebrated both Michael and my birthday, and boy did we celebrate!

When this museum opened about 30 years ago they were trying to be very serious. Nowadays, they don’t have much well known art, they have gone woke, but they also have great activities for kids. So it’s easier to ignore the woke.

Great place to take grandkids.

They have a fun play area, here is Einav cooking.

Legos and magna tiles – both items that Eyal has at home, but it is so much more fun when one is out and about.

It is a cowboy museum, so riding the horse is a must. Einav said this was her favorite, Eyal said his favorite was all the guns, I love how much of a boy he is – and yes, all those old guns are beautifully decorated.

The green light screen. You may notice that most of Einav’s shirt disappeared into the background – although it looked light Turquoise to me – it has enough green to disappear into the background.

‘Indigenous modern art’. cultural appropriation only goes in one direction. this quilt pattern is called either Lone Star or as I remember from over 40 years ago – Star of Bethlehem. Certain tribes adopted it – which is fine, but now suddenly the original white women who created this pattern no longer exist.

This is made out of computer motherboards and it a wonderful example of old and new, without the social commentary.

A driftwood beaded wall hanging.

Another craft I love, beadwork.

This quilt is made up of star destroyers with the millennium Falcom superimposed with embroidery. Very lovely!

A bee keeper outfit, adorable bees!

Northwest style artwork, probably computer generated weaving.

Gorgeous in its’ own right. I do enjoy a visit here.

Angles, textures, light and shadow.

I was here about 10 years ago, they were in the middle of renovation, of course they aren’t done, and no one can figure out how to stop a FLW house from leaking.

everything here is designed by FLW, except the lighting fixture. That was Aline Barnsdells’ input, I don’t fault her for wanting her own imprint on her own house. That is not the Wright way. Which is part of the reason why she never lived in this house. Oh and carpet might not be a reproduction, I’m sure it’s not original. I do love the Hollyhock on the back of the chairs, most elaborate on in the house.

Original dishes from the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, all that remains. although it survived earthquakes – it was later torn down. I actually would really enjoy a set of dishes that have this pattern.

Not sure the lamp is original, I love this tableaux and look at that phone!

The living room!

More stainless, concrete Hollyhock and Japanese screens. these are the real deal, FLW didn’t create them, certain things made by others are allowed in the house.

The fireplace with the moat around it, yes, he planned for water to run inside and out of the house, sometimes in pipes, sometimes in a moat. Interesting choice for a single woman with a young daughter, although he had 8 children of his own – he clearly never had anything to do with their safety.

A closer look at this nook that looks out at the inner courtyard. The new carpet is a replica of what he designed for the house.

More textures, materials and shapes.

The walkway from the house into the courtyard.

The Hollyhock house is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Go to their website for information, very well worth a visit. You won’t get the private tour I did, but the docents are throughout the house, each sharing their information.

A bunch of friends, at the Hollyhock house in Hollywood. In the middle, Harry, our friend and docent and lover of all things Frank Lloyd Wright. What a font of information!

Today Barnsdell park is owned by the city, the property is much smaller than when Aline Barnsdell bought the property in the 1910s. thankfully the home still stands, although in Good Wright Fashion – it leaks. He may have been a design genius, but his use of materials – have caused problems for almost all of his houses – in the maintenance dept.

Another famous Wright house is across the valley to the Hollywood HIlls, the Ennis house, used in the movie Blade runner, as well as others. It is privately owned and the owner has no interest in visitors – oh well.

FLWs’ graphic design of the Hollyhock flower, this is outside, other iterations can be seen inside as well.

There were a few Hollyhocks blooming, in Spring the area will be full of them. You can see how the base of the plant is thick with leaves, and as it grows tall, it narrows to the flowers.

The day before we went was a very rainy day, we had clouds and cold left, but no rain. A cloudy sky is a very interesting backdrop. This building was built like a Mayan Temple. FLW thinking that Spanish colonials are not indigenous to the area. Why he thought Mayan Temples are – I don’t know. Along the rood line he had the walls at an 82 degree angle, not perfectly straight but not at a sharp angle.

A fountain without water. Joel with a slightly different iteration of the Hollyhock.

The front of the house, not the entrance, that is off to the side, but this is the living room, the music room and library – with gorgeous view. At the time this was built there was very little around, now, everything is very built up around this hill.

A beautiful inner courtyard. notice steps going up to different outdoor patios on the roofs. Some of us joked about the human sacrifices – it is a Mayan Temple after all.

You can see the stylized Hollyhock next to a real one.

From the courtyard looking into a hall way, there are so many different stained glass windows here. Mostly very geometric and quiet, and yes, made and restored by Judson Studio, I’m hoping to arrange a visit there soon.

Next up – the interior.