LA Doorway

I have done a series of these doorways.Quick and splashy but giving an impression I hope.
This was on the walk with Hashi at the back of Hollywood.
A quick post tonight as I am heading in for beading. A busy few days. Tomorrow is Adelaide and my mother.

Last days in San Diego

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A street scene and then as we were leaving and waiting for the train, the fountain at the Santa Fe depot, a planter box and then when we were in the train a last view of the station.
Now I will have to start sketching again.
For some reason I am feeling terribly tired tonight, didnt think I had done that much today, perhaps more than I thought.
Last night Tabby and John and Millie came for dinner, nothing special, John's pasta and freshly stewed quinces, the only ones from this year.
Millie at not quite 6 months can now sit up by herself and thought she was terribly smart, Oscar wasnt so sure as she waved around her rattle. Tabby's John heads up to Alice Springs again today so Tab will be on her own again. They seem terribly happy together and Tab is now sporting an engagement ring.

San Diego

Nearly at the end of these. The first was of a small bit of one of the buildings in Balboa Park, that day we had almost no time to stand and sketch we walked for about 6 hours but this was waiting at lunch time for my lunch to come.
then a sketch while having coffee on another long day of walking in the Old town, roof lines looking up the hill.
We had lunch in a Mexican restaurant that I had been to before with Patti, and this was a quick sketch of the leaves and plants in the courtyard and then a bit more detailed one of the fountain also in the courtyard. the wonderful use of tiles, the colors and not being frightened of them. sorry only black and white but I may have time through winter to do a few more as I remember them.
We have finally had some rain, not nearly as much as Adelaide and not nearly enough. John and I walked Encounter Bay yesterday, lovely to be walking again.

LA to San Diego

I have lost this 3 times, if it happens again, i will close for the night.
The first sketch was done sitting at Starbucks in the Hollywood Highlands Babylon Center where there was a good view of the sign, we had a good view in our bedroom in the hotel as well.
the next is of the mammoth stuck in the La Brier tar pits, it is a model but looks really life like. I really couldnt believe that in the middle of a large city they are still digging out fossils, well worth visiting.
Then the bits on the wall in the Union Railway station, tiles and metal 'things', a bit art deco looking but I have no idea what they were for and then the sand dollar and ammonites that I saw in the Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park San Diego when we went to see the very moving and disturbing Pompeii exhibition.
We have had some rain today, the paddocks around the house are being seeded but we so far havent had much although it has got much colder. I just hope the rain keeps up.

Lunch in Visalia, view to the Sierra Nevada mtns and buildings at Fort Tejon

Today is ANZAC day, John had to lay a wreath at the Dawn Service in Victor, I am afraid I stayed in bed, then I had to get him to Goolwa to go fishing, which was cut short by a broken steering line to the motor so back i went caught up with a friend in Victor and went to an 80th Birthday party.
The first two sketches I did on the day I didnt go out with the rest of the group but stayed in Visalia and looked at a bead shop and wandered some suburbs taking photos of houses. I came back tired and footsore, checked the washing and wandered into the hotel restaurant looking for food, having been asked what I wanted to drink I said water, went through the ice, lemon routine and then without thinking asked for a glass of, wait for it, champagne, not bubbly as I would normally do at home. My glass came with my meal and the waitress told me they had a struggle opening the bottle, shortly after the manager came with the bottle in an ice bucket and said I might like a second glass, suddenly worried about what I had ordered I peered into the ice bucket and saw a lot of french! So I had a bit of a panic and asked the waitress how much it was, thinking John would kill me if it was an $80 or more bottle! thank goodness it was a $20 bottle and $5 a glass so on the strength of that I had two glasses, a reminder to be very careful what you ask for. Hence my two drawings.
The next two were done on the next day, the view from our last dairy farm towards the Sierra Nevada range which had snow on the top and although I could just see them at times no photos seemed to.
Then we drove down to LA stopping for a boxed lunch at Fort Tejon in a pass in the grapeseed mountains, I think they were called. This was a lovely meadow that is a historical place and now is used by school groups to get a feel of what it was like to live during the time it was first set up.

More sketches from Dairy farms

These were all done in the Central Valley.
the first two are at the first farm we visited, they had a big dairy and then some grape vines, or possibly pistaschio trees in rows, they were so small it was hard to tell, also a few Valley oaks which apparently you cannot regenerate because the soils have been altered so much, once this central plane was low scrub and Valley oaks and some swampy areas, now it has very few native plants remaining.
The second sketch is of a garden by the main dairy shed.
Then some color! this was of the mountains from the three sisters cheese factory, not the snowy ones, these were lower, but then there may have seen snow behind and I just didnt see them. I had climbed into the bus and was quite happily sketching and for once got the watercolors out.
the next is a not at all good sketch of the bus we were in, somehow I dont seem to get the proportions of cars and buses correctly, any way it was something to do while waiting for the rest of them to finish looking at cows.
I think after nearly a week home I am slowly getting my life back together.

Grace Cathedral, Sausalito and Central Valley

I hope these are not boring but I would like to get them up, still very sketchy sketches.
the first is of Grace Cathedral which I drew while they were ringing the bells, and I watched a Chinese man swing his small dogs, of which he had several on the children's swings in the small park.
the next is another of Sausolito which has houses climbing up the hills around the bay.
Then we headed down the central valley to Tulare County and as I am in love with barns I had to draw any that I saw. this one had a large flag outside it.
Finally the hills and mountains that I could see while waiting for the rest of the group to finish looking at cows, this I think was at the three Sisters Cheese factory and farm. They had olive trees along the edge of the road.
Still more to come!
My nephew and his family called in today, they are from Perth and we dont see them very often.
So not much done today either, he has two very energetic young sons and a lovely wife, they are both trying to make a living from acting. Not easy here but somehow they are managing.

More from the sketchbook

Still in San Francisco, In China town, this was actually the facade for a bank! Then The pot sticker which was where we had dinner one night, the best Chinese I have had for a long time, family run, the grand daughter came and sat on a chair next to me and gave me her fortune from her cookie.
Next Sausalito, over the golden Gate Bridge and a very touristy little town but right on the bay, lots of yachts, we had lunch on the bay at a nice place next to the marina and boats of all sizes sailed past, and the Bay Bridge was in the background.
The last one was across the bay from where we ate, interesting as there seemed to be some major land slips.
Adelaide today to see my mother and beading tonight, so not a lot of time.

Various San Francisco sketches

More from my sketch book, the town from the water, we had a dinner cruise which was lovely.
the golden Gate, also sketched on the dinner cruise.
the wonderful terrace houses that I love and are so part of San Francisco and finally a very odd fore shortened sketch of a cable car the reason it looks like it does is that we were standing in a very long queue waiting to catch one and from where i was standing that was what it looked like.
I love San Francisco, so many things to do and see and the way the streets wander up and down and around the hills and then the bay itself. Interestingly this time there was no fog, the last times I have been there, in autumn it was incredible to see the fog come up and the tops of hills and bridges appear and disappear.

From my sketchbook, first day

I hadnt realised how many sketches I did, I am still scanning them.
The first two are in Sydney airport waiting to leave and then the very bumpy one of the part of the wing I could see, this was an extremely bumpy flight and the seat belt was on more than it was off making going to the loo very difficult. the last one is of my snack and drink early on in to the flight, as you can see a G & T very nice it was too. No bubbly on the flight, not like here in Australia, only awful chardonnay and not much better merlot. Hate to say it but I am not greatly impressed with Californian wines. Found the South American stuff more to my liking.
I am flat out trying to get washing done and the house tidies, cleaning will come later. The weather is dry and nights cold but the days are warm a bit too warm.
After all my walking etc I thought I would be very fit but the time in the plane was enough for all my joints to seize up again! What I need is more adrenalin and new sights to see!!

Home from California

We are home, today, after travelling for about 24 hours and we are tired!
I had a Welcom (no e) home, where is the blog email so thought I would put something up.
the first is of the Sierra Nevada mountains, copied from a poster on a wall in the town of Visalia as the pollution was so thick or perhaps it was just thick air! that we rarely saw the mountains even though they were only a few miles away.
The other was of a building and palms and gardens I could see from our hotel window in San Diego,
so far lots of pen sketches and heaps of photos but not a lot of colour, we honestly didnt have a lot of time, while on the tour it was up early and bed late and not very relaxing, I will tell more tomorrow.

My day

If you want to know, go and look at Back Valley Seasons which is in my links.