Carnivorous Plants, etc...

 this is gonna be in the running for favorite photo of the 2012, one way or another.....

Hubsy and a rare sighting of the BlogHostess at the Huntington Gardens as seen by the BlondeGuy...

..another bug eating plant...

More Garden Photos....

 workman are busy improving the already near perfection of the lovely gardens. Go to a formal garden to take your photos, you can't go wrong. If the workers were operating a back-hoe, it would still be a great pic...

funny gold fish in a pool with the reflection of southern California sky--sublime.... winter temps: high 70's..

add the strong smell of Chinese food here and you would understand the shot completely....

Cactus section at The Huntington Gardens....

...with a bonus picture of my Hubsy and our younger son, The Blonde Guy among some very big bamboo. We have bamboo in Illinois, but never anywhere near this large.

A Rare Product/Service Recommendation...

 If you are ever in South Pasadena, here's a sweet and romantic place for the above signed items....

L'il Pearl showed us this amazing tree on the grounds of the South Pasadena Library. In addition, the library has great books in their fund-raiser book sale area, many for only .25 each. My kinda town!

I took 302 Photos in CA!

Hubsy and I visited Blondie and the 'Pearl in South Pasadena; supposedly the kids were on break from school, but grad students don't get real "breaks". Pearl's portfolio was due, along with several other important assignments. On top of that she decided to bind it (herself) into the necessary book-format. After all was said and done, she photographed the book.

A great photo of the adorable and happy little couple the first morning there.

South Pasadena mixed-blessing: apparently, many years ago, a local pet shop burned and the ancestors of this parrot were set free for their survival in the blaze. The birds indeed survived and thrived so that now there are good sized flocks of big colorful parrots all over town. It's like a built-in alarm clock when morning comes and the hungry birds make loud, raucus squawks as they find their breakfast. The oranges and lemon were ripe; that was a great sight!

Star Sighting? ???

Visiting our BlondeGuy and the Li'l Pearl. Today we went to Manhattan Beach to see the high surf; I can't miss a chance to see the ocean.  We had some lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. At the next table sat two ladies; the blonde one seemed familiar. After they left, both kids voiced the same reaction, and now Li'l Pearl is wracking her brain trying to figure our who that was. It's fun to be shallow for a few minutes.    And it's lovely in SoCal, if anyone wants to know; I've got a shipload of pix!!!