I’m challenging myself to give you a description without a particularly relevant image, this image is of a small house in Carpenteria, and is meant as decoration to this piece rather than having any particular relevance as the blog is about an image I have in my head, not in digital format. We went to Carpenteria’s Museum, in this small town on the coast just below Santa Barbara. It’s worth a visit. As we entered the place, a long single storey building which was dark as we walked in. A delightful elderly lady welcomed us in and asked if we’d … Continue reading Picture this.

It’s a fine balance staying with family. You like to be helpful but essentially you are getting in the way of a routine they have in place. So we thought before we came here to California: “Give them a break!” We booked to go North in a hire car to Santa Barbara and to stay slightly inland at Ojai. For the uninitiated that’s pronounced  Oh Hi! I’d also planned a trip to the coast to have a guided bird watch trip with Jenny, both the accommodation and the outing were booked through Air bandb and both very much lived up … Continue reading Give them a break.

It’s the name of a Vet Practice and it can only be in California, or at least the USA. They like these names for businesses, perhaps they have something in common with South Yorkshire where the locals there seem to like business names that are intended to make one chuckle, or not! Judging by the look of the place it was doing ok. We were on our way to a Vegan Restaurant for a spot of brunch, a bit of a treat for me on Father’s Day, on top of the jar of marmalade bought from Larchmont Farmer’s Market. Marmalade … Continue reading The Barking Lot

There’s probably a very good explanation for it but the streets of Los Angeles seem to have dozens of old power lines. Or may be they’re new. Walking past this area the other day I could not help notice, with the ultra modern new skyscraper in the background. There were also people having a lesson in “how not to walk”.   Continue reading Why so many overhead wires?

There were no mobile phones, or cell phones as they call them round these parts. We were met then by Derek, a friend who’s ambition was to live in the States and be a hot shot lawyer, who could have blamed him then, it was the 80’s and he was from Nottinghamshire. His girlfriend Carol was a Californian who wanted, and did achieve, a quiet life in the UK, turning her back on California. Like us, at the time, or a little before in his case as he’d already settled over there, we had been living in the same house … Continue reading The last time we came here…

Travelling long haul is exactly that, a long haul. I’m not convinced of the glamour. We took to the skies by the so called trendy Virgin Atlantic to Los Angeles to visit family who’ve gone there for a while. It was, I suspect just like any other airline, the planes are the same, and the seats not a lot different unless you pay a King’s ransom to fly anything other than “Economy”. We thought we’d gone one cheaper still by flying “Economy Light” until I discovered that the light meant that you could not take any clothes with you to … Continue reading The unutterable glamour of flying.

Why not buzz off over here? Continue reading The final in the series, it’s all about how one conducts oneself…

Someday my prints will come! Continue reading “Tickling the Ivories” is almost the last in the series

Hair for you? Continue reading Sax rears it’s ugly head…

Keep smiling! Continue reading Variation on the theme…

Reach for your wallet… Continue reading Number 5 is the man with reach assistance…