Notes from my patio

[hollydolly]

Bright sunshine this morning. But, another storm is due in a couple days, so I'll be stuck inside for a while. Only a couple sparrows and a crow today, but the oats I put out earlier are all gone. The crows crack me up. My neighbor has a spindly cypress in her back yard and for some reason the crows like to perch right on top of it. But, it's too weak to support them and it's funny watching them try to keep their balance. Sometimes two of them will fight over the top spot.

One of my wind chimes has a wooden paddle hanging down to catch the breeze. The sun was behind it this morning and I could see a bunch of tiny straight webs hanging from it. There must have been about a dozen. And there was a spec of something at the end of each web. I thought they might be baby spiders. I couldn’t make out what they were with my naked eye, so I got one on my hand and looked at it with a magnifier.

It was a tiny amber inch worm with a round black head. I watched it inch its way across my hand. The webs originated in a blob of mud on the paddle and there were tiny holes in it where they had come out. As I watched, one by one they blew away in the breeze, web and all. Inch worms turn into moths, so mama moth must have laid her eggs on my wind chime.

Last night I tried some McVities Digestives vanilla cream sandwiches from Ireland. Very tasty, not too sweet. I don’t know why they are called digestives though. They’re just a cookie.

they're not irish, they're originally from Scotland but factories in both Scotland England make these bisucits for McVities... they're called digestives because the best selling bisucit ( cookie)in the UK is a dry biscuit called Digestive..it's made for dunking into hot tea or coffee...

so the Vanilla cream added makes them Vanilla cream digestives...

Nowadays McVities digestives come in many flavours including dark and milk chocolate.....christmas pudding flavour, caramel, and loads more

 

[Grampa Don]

they're not irish, they're originally from Scotland but factories in both Scotland England make these bisucits for McVities... they're called digestives because the best selling bisucit ( cookie)in the UK is a dry biscuit called Digestive..it's made for dunking into hot tea or coffee...

so the Vanilla cream added makes them Vanilla cream digestives...

Nowadays McVities digestives come in many flavours including dark and milk chocolate.....christmas pudding flavour, caramel, and loads more

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I learned something new. Anyway, they taste good. The cookie has a strange crumbly texture. I don't know how they do that.

 

[Grampa Don]

Grey sky and warm Santa Ana breeze this morning. It looks like a rainy week ahead and I'll be staying pretty much indoors. The worst is predicted for right during the rose parade.

I went out to put some oatmeal down for the birds and saw this new bud on my old rose bush by the kitchen door. I thought I would share it with you.



One of my Christmas treats is a bag of Walker's mini shortbread fingers. I know they are from Scotland. The bag even has a tartan design. They're delicious. I made shortbread cookies once and they were good too. The only hard part was creaming the sugar and butter together, and that went OK.

Today I'll finish up my little jar of sprats for lunch. Maybe I'll eat one of those apple strudels too. They aren't really bad, just not great.

 

[Kika]

what a beautiful Rose...and it's a beautiful color! Walker's shortbread cookies were always one of my favorites. Haven't had them for a while, but I just added them to my grocery list.

Just think, you will really appreciate your next GREAT apply strudel.

 

[Grampa Don]

It's nice on the patio today, so I loaded up one of my corn cobs with some Half & Half tobacco and sat out there for a while. I know; smoking is a dirty habit. But, it's one of my vices. Another is that I take a sip of brandy at bed time.

Half & Half is what pipe smokers call a codger tobacco. That means it was once commonly available in markets and drug stores and smoked by old guys in cheap pipes. That pretty much describes me. I'm not a pipe hobbyist. I don't collect pipes or tobaccos.

A pipe kind of forces relaxation. To get the best from it you have to barely sip and smoke slowly. If you don't, the smoke is nasty and burns your tongue. And, nicotine is a mild narcotic that you don't have to inhale to absorb. I can feel its effects after just a few minutes. And, the aroma is pleasant.

So, call me an old idiot or whatever label seems to fit. I'm out in the fresh air and the smoke dissipates before it can harm anyone else. And, I think the odds are good that something else will do me in before the tobacco has a chance.

I sat and rocked for a while and watched a couple airliners circle on approach to John Wayne airport to the south. If I looked to the north, in the distance I could see them on approach to LA international.

 

[MarkD]

A warm dry Santa Ana wind today. Kind of gusty to sit on the patio. I did my grocery shopping this morning. I usually do it on Tuesday or Wednesday but it's suppose to rain the rest of the week and I wanted to beat that. So did a bunch of other people. The market parking lot is within walking distance of the university. It's funny how when school's out there's plenty of parking. Usually it's fairly full.

Universities make poor neighbors. They tend to spread and change the city. Transient population soars. Our old downtown had a variety of shopping. Now it's mostly bars and restaurants. We have an nice little arboretum that sits on school property. Now they are talking about replacing it with more student housing.

My jade plant is blooming but the flowers aren't much to look at. They are really tiny. There must be tiny bugs that pollinate them.

View attachment 476424View attachment 476426

I picked up some apple strudel at the market. I figured it would be something to munch on during the parade. It looked good in the package. I tried it and sadly it's not as good as it looks. But, it's not nasty and it won't go to waste. I hate to waste food.

Hope you’re well clear of fire danger when those Santa Ana winds come through.

Here in the Bay Area we are cold but no rain expected until tomorrow night.

 

[Babs2u]

Grey sky and warm Santa Ana breeze this morning. It looks like a rainy week ahead and I'll be staying pretty much indoors. The worst is predicted for right during the rose parade.

I went out to put some oatmeal down for the birds and saw this new bud on my old rose bush by the kitchen door. I thought I would share it with you.

View attachment 476621

One of my Christmas treats is a bag of Walker's mini shortbread fingers. I know they are from Scotland. The bag even has a tartan design. They're delicious. I made shortbread cookies once and they were good too. The only hard part was creaming the sugar and butter together, and that went OK.

Today I'll finish up my little jar of sprats for lunch. Maybe I'll eat one of those apple strudels too. They aren't really bad, just not great.

Beautiful rose and good photography!

 

[Grampa Don]

Hope you’re well clear of fire danger when those Santa Ana winds come through.

Here in the Bay Area we are cold but no rain expected until tomorrow night.

Thanks. I think I'm in good shape. I'm pretty far from any of the scrub areas that usually burn and everything is damp now. I know you folks up north have been getting a lot more rain than we have. Stay safe.

 

[Medusa]

It's nice on the patio today, so I loaded up one of my corn cobs with some Half & Half tobacco and sat out there for a while. I know; smoking is a dirty habit. But, it's one of my vices. Another is that I take a sip of brandy at bed time.

Half & Half is what pipe smokers call a codger tobacco. That means it was once commonly available in markets and drug stores and smoked by old guys in cheap pipes. That pretty much describes me. I'm not a pipe hobbyist. I don't collect pipes or tobaccos.

A pipe kind of forces relaxation. To get the best from it you have to barely sip and smoke slowly. If you don't, the smoke is nasty and burns your tongue. And, nicotine is a mild narcotic that you don't have to inhale to absorb. I can feel its effects after just a few minutes. And, the aroma is pleasant.

So, call me an old idiot or whatever label seems to fit. I'm out in the fresh air and the smoke dissipates before it can harm anyone else. And, I think the odds are good that something else will do me in before the tobacco has a chance.

I sat and rocked for a while and watched a couple airliners circle on approach to John Wayne airport to the south. If I looked to the north, in the distance I could see them on approach to LA international.

I love the way you describe your environment. You are a pleasure to read.