Pre-Christmas - outings

We’ve had a few fun and not as fun outings in the past couple weeks.  First was a not so fun visit to the surgeon for my 4 mo post-op review.

My bionic knee

He remains quite optimistic, but at this time I certainly expect more.  My knee continues to pop with each step, but on the positive side it is WAY better than pre-surgery.  So now when I’m asked ‘How are you?’ my response is 'I get better every day!’

In-n-Out Burger honors our Veterans with a FREE meal!  (Thx for the tip Aj!)

I typically order a cheeseburger ‘Animal Style’ which adds French Dressing and grilled onions along with the lettuce and tomatoes, fries and soda.  I took the fries home for Fran.  (Gay – Fran can help with your leftover fries :) )

Another veteran benefit was reduced price on weekday tix at Nightscape at the San Diego Botanical Gardens.

The gardens are decorated with festive lights along the one mile trail loop.  We parked in their Blue Lot and entered the loop from there.

Neither tripods nor mono-sticks are allowed, so ignore the fuzzy handheld low light pics, and many of the lights are animated .. so very cool … but not very photogenic.

The giant lily is quite beautiful …

and its mate’s reflection is quite amazing .

The light displays were varied throughout the trail.  Overhead tulips were common.

Aj with the tulips.

Birds were red and blue

In places the trail is lighted with LED lanterns. 

Looking closely at the LED lanterns each contain a unique shadow.

A fairy ... Tinkerbell ?

For many this tree was the highlight.

And we did spend a few minutes there.

But I think the Cathedral was the best photo-op.

Surrounded by light is was impossible to take a bad picture, but having family subjects certainly helps.  If Kg could have joined us this would be a Christmas Card!

Jay, Kami, Aj

Today I loaded our bikes up for a ride to the Makers Arcade.

As we typically do we parked in Liberty Station for the 4+ mile ride to the Embarcadero.  A bit of exercise on a level ride.

The Arcade features local artisans.

Freeze Dried Candy ???  not for me!

Live music on 3 different stages

This fella has enough hives to generate the honey for his local mead.

Christmas coasters

A fun repeat that Kami and I used to use.

“You remind me of the Babe
What Babe?
The Babe with the Power
What Power ...”

I should have bought it ….

Macrame has made a comeback!

The only Food Court booth without a line!

The Dang Brothers pizza have their pizza oven in the bed of an old fire truck

And here’s Fran coming with our order

A Hawaiian that we will split

Very good !!!

As we returned to the bike rack we enjoyed watching this wreath making event at the Make-and-Take table.

Even this far into winter, I continue to lose to Fran as we play Hand-and-Foot most evenings.  But at least we can still play outside!

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Corpse Flower - Encinitas

The “Corpse Flower” is indeed a ‘Stinking Beauty’!!! 

I was so totally unprepared to blog our outing to San Diego Botanical Gardens, I was only armed with a cell phone with low batteries, and Fran did not bring hers.  This turned out to be a SOOO blog worthy outing.

Corpse Flower

From their web page:

‘The corpse flower’s common name comes from the smell of the flowers, a rancid carrion scent that attracts the carcass-eating insects that pollinate it. The bloom of a corpse flower is a rare and special event, as most plants require seven to ten years to produce their first blooms and then bloom only every four to five years thereafter. The fully opened bloom lasts around 48 hours.

The flower spike of the corpse plant is the longest unbranched flower spike of any plant in the world. During the bloom, the massive floral spike (up to 12 feet tall, in the wild), which looks like one enormous flower, opens its deep red, petal-like spathe, to reveal hundreds of tiny flowers at the base of the spadix, the tall, yellow pillar of the structure. Each bloom spike has both female flowers, which are deep red, and male flowers, which are white. The spathe and spadix wilt within a few days of the bloom.’

The Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) a Sumatran endangered plant.  The plant last bloomed in 2018.  The single (up to) 12 foot bloom is the largest in the world.

To simulate its native Sumatran climate the plant is maintained in a large greenhouse. 

Other than the Corpse Flower, only the Bird of Paradise was in full bloom.

Fran and I took our time walking though the ‘Shade Plants’ section.  The north side of our house gets little to no sun ever.  We’ll have to check out this little ground cover from South Africa.

So how does the Corpse Flower really smell?  For sure it is not pleasant!  Our niece compares it to a dirty diaper.  With the good ventilation in the green house, I’d say more of a nasty fart.  While Fran did not smell it – I don’t blame her! 

We have visited the gardens before.  For more info on the San Diego Botanical Gardens follow the link.  I blogged a previous visit, which contains more flower photos HERE.
The garden has a time lapse video posted that shows the previous 24 hours.  View ’What a Difference a Day Makes’ HERE.

We're now preparing for a week on 'The Fun Side of the Wall'.  I'm sure we'll have a great Thanksgiving and I trust you will too.

Earth Day at Quail Gardens - Encinitas

It’s Friday, normally I’d like to hit the trail, but it’s also Earth Day and an opportunity for lunch with friends at Casa de Bandini – my all time favorite place.  So no hiking today, but with a desire (need) to have the yard more SoCal drought friendly we spent three hours taking notes at San Diego Botanical Gardens.  Not only was the name changed from Quail Gardens the entrance fee was increadsed to pay for the new sign!  OK at $10 it’s still a worthwhile stop.


Our focus was on ideas for what might be a better drought tolerant and native solution for the front yard. 

Options include a beautiful Laurel, more succulents, a Mariachi band, or some awesome Yucca options.  The Old Man Cactus is very unusual altho not a real consideration.


My favorite includes the large variety of Mallow that would be available.  These colorful bushes are available in a variety of colors and could be mixed and trained. 


Of course cactus is an option, but not high on the list.


What’s not to like about a Saphire Tower?  Now that is a strange looking beauty!


We do live close to the beach, perhaps Beach Sage? or a Cycad?


For ground cover a variety of ice plant is available.  But since our yard is level, we do not need it as it is usually used for retaining.  Here’s a nice looking fit.


The California Poppy are always a ‘go-to’ option, but Fox Glove is more interesting.

The gardens are divided itnto sections.  Including a great kids play/educational area.  We’d never get the grandson out of here!  Also Africa, South Pacific, Rain Forest, etc are all represented. 

One of the more surprising  exhibits is Sam is also here.  Sam the Galapogas Tortoise who is is “Too Big to Lose”.

and he has his own overlook!


Perhaps my most surprising sight was this XP Camper parked in front of my truck.  OMG now that’s a go anywhere rig, but at about twice the price of Rufus …  It is for serious boondocking - this is the bomb of off-road excursions.