Recent content by packleader

I am sending you a few flowers from our garden to cheer you up. Have a wonderful day. Magnolia, Japanese Pagoda tree, Yucca? with red Canna behind, yellow/orange Canna, and Oleander.

Left: The sun behind ocean fog in July --- We are living in the so-called Inland Empire between the coastal Santa Ana Mountains and the 10,000 feet high San Bernardino Mountain Range, about one hour driving from the ocean. Typically, we have ocean fog rolling in from early May to mid-June. But...

After being an English teacher in China for the last 13 years, my older daughter is now permanently coming home for more college studies. At this moment, she is flying over Japan on her almost 14 hour non-stop flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. My daughter just landed at LAX. The airport is...

Happy Holiday from all of us, to all of you, from our morning walk (I am dog sitting my grandson's Beagle.) Daily morning and evening walks are essential to keep me going and healthy. I still enjoy life at close to 90 y/o. Left: My older daughter is about the vacate her long-time apartment...

My 6 y/o grandson begged me to play with him. OK, we went camping under a blanket with a flashlight in my room. In the meantime, my son-in-law is getting their travel trailer ready for camping over the 4th of July in San Diego. A wild party: my grandson is hiding under his red shirt, I, and...

My 6 y/o grandson has the uncanning ability to turn our house upside down. My drawers are his treasure chests. When we watched funny animal videos on YouTube, he screamed so loud that I had to take off my hearing aids. My rocking chair becomes a new toy...................................his...

The fire season has started: 5 fires are burning currently in our area (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.) The Mandalay Fire in Riverside as seen from near our house. 50 years ago, I planted about 200 trees because it was strongly encouraged to save the environment. Right now, I have...

Left: tree guys are removing branches of potential fire danger to the house; I'll leave that work up to professionals. Right: Alligator lizards are one of many species of life in our garden. Until the tree guys are done with their work, we can't leave our house. Monarch Butterflies are...

Today's dog surfing competition at Huntington Beach (aka Surf City USA) in Southern California. Pictures copied from https://ktla.com and other TV Stations (search "Huntington Dog Beach Surfing Competition") With my daughter and pups at the mile long Huntington Dog Beach (Huntington Dog Beach |...

@hollydolly just a suggestion: google, "small table top air conditioners." Certainly not as good as a regular unit but hopefully better than nothing. An ad I just saw: https://toptrendinggadgetreviews.com/conditioner/breezebox/copy2test/v2/index.html but is it true what it claims? Another ad...

Pictures from our garden ......... taking pictures makes me more aware of the wonders of nature. Left: two Monarch Butterflies are fluttering around my wife's garden but never rest, so I caught one in flight and enlarged the picture. Right: dragonflies are attracted to our pond. Our...

Copied from iPhone.....................In a bicycle race, my 6 y/o grandson came in second. Incredible: in 2 weeks I caught 11 squirrels with 2 traps, and my wife saw 2 more; they are cute but also destructive...

There is some talk about cars and repairs. My family has had a bunch of cars, and yes, we did need some repair work done. But in general, we have been pretty lucky. In front right is my wife's 2010 Honda Fit with 137K miles. Besides normal maintenance work which I did, the only repair was...

Just some pictures. Left: My wife prepares for me delicious and super healthy salads. I especially like munching on raw peppers. Have you ever tried Jalapeno peppers? (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/jalapeno-health-benefits) They cause you to jump up to the ceiling and to drink a gallon...

Left: Woman power; Heidi frequently sits on top of Otto who merely grins and bears it. Right: A squirrel is feasting on my wife's Hibiscus leaves. In the meantime, I caught six of them but there are more (drip irrigation.) Copied from iPhone. My daughter in Foshan, 100 miles north of Hong...