Down On The Street

Leaving our neighborhood this past Sunday, I stopped in my tracks as I came upon yet another cool VW van parked on the street.
A classic mid-60s "splitty" 11-window Bus. Nice, shiny and straight - even if it is missing a hubcap, the rear bumper and the front bumper over-rider ("towel bars") supports.
It's even clean inside, the front seats have been re-upholstered, replacing the vinyl with fabric. Interestingly there was an infant seat buckled to the rear bench.
Unfortunately it's ruined.
Not because of a lack of a rear bumper, but because of the Grateful Dead license plate frame and a Dead-related sticker. This one would require a thorough sanitizing/fumigating/de-hippyfying before I'd take it out on the road.

But it still looked pretty good sitting on the street.

By George, It's A Garden Gnome

A little something special arrived in the mail today, courtesy of our friends Eric and Rebecca.
Here's the letter:

"Chris and Allison,

Came across this at a friend's house the other day and they were looking to find Dubya a fine home with a liberal bent. So, naturally, I'm sending it to you since the sight of it in our garden might trigger a militia assembly (I should mention that the sender live in a very conservative Texas city -c).

These friends moved from Ohio and were given the Bushgnome by a friend of theirs who manufactures these. Check out the various versions at the website on the bottom of the gnome.

Eric"

Yep, it's a representation of the moron who occupied the White House for eight years, the guy who put the DUH in DUH-bya. Naturally I had to display him with pride in our courtyard:
However, even ten year-old Celeste was embarrassed by his presence and promptly hid him behind a planter.
That girl is one smart cookie, I tell you what.

He's now back for all to see. We'll see how long it takes Celeste to re-hide him.

Thanks Eric and Rebecca!

Field Trip - Exotica Nursery, Vista

While bumming about in North County Saturday afternoon, we encountered a sign for an exotic fruit nursery. It might as well as said "free ice cream and puppies" as Allie practically grabbed the wheel and steered us into the nursery's lot.
Established about thirty years ago, this ramshackle establishment hasn't seen much in the way of improvements since Regan's first term.

But that was fine by us, as it felt much more as if you were in someone's private little hobby/sanctuary.

Trees to climb,
"shop dogs" to pet,
fruit to pick,

loquats

greenhouses to explore,
and plenty of hand-written signs:
The coffee sign wasn't for roasted, ground and bagged coffee, but rather coffee plants:
Maybe next time.

Pomegranates,
and figs too:
Acres of interesting plants:
Allie ended up buying a few plants, two pineapple guavas and one pomegranate to add to our small garden.
I'm certain that we'll return for a few more fruit trees in the near future.
Maybe I'll even bring along a real camera.

Juno Learns How To Use The Gate

So I guess you *can* teach old (and fat) dogs new tricks.

Celeste taught her this trick a few days ago. Better keep that gate locked, lest Juno start bothering the neighbors.

California Curiosity - Houses & Noise Barrier Combo

Yep, Californians are retarded and will place houses anywhere.
Even utilizing highway noise barriers as the structure's back wall.
This small development is adjacent to I-405 (or "the 405" in the local vernacular) in Westminster. I've past it a few times while traveling from L.A., but never had a chance to snag some shots of it.

(sorry about the blurriness, I was traveling at ≈50 MPH when I randomly snapped the shots)

At least the last one has some natural light coming in from one point on the back half of the house. One of these days I'll have to check out the houses from the other side. Oh wait, there's Google Maps for that.

Overhead view:
And from the street (and via teh innernets at least), you'd be hard-pressed to tell that the houses have no back yard.
Still, I bet it's loud and that it smells.

Earthquake Warning!

A nice magnitude 5.7 jolt rolled through the area last night, an aftershock from Easter Sunday's 7.2. With that, I felt that it was appropriate to post this video warning us of the forthcoming big one...

Be sure you have your preparedness kit all put together!

Down on the Street - Neighborhood Trucks!

These two vintage Chevy trucks were visitors to our neighborhood but looked oh-so-good on the street. fancyPhone in hand, images were snapped.

The first one is owned by a carpenter who was working on a project. So refreshing to see something other than, say a refrigerator-white Econoline.
Looks like it was previously owned by an air utility. Me thinks it was part of a fire brigade prior to that.
Sure it'll fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood:
Simple, purposeful and RED interior.

cupholders? bah, put your damn gas station coffee between your legs!

One fine-looking Chevy that'll likely still be on the roads 30 years from now (as long as there is still gasoline).
And speaking of fine-looking Chevys, I came across this visitor over the weekend:
I've seen this '56 on Carlsbad-area roads a couple of times, but never had the opportunity to take any pix of it.

Some damn fine patina on the hood...
...as well as on the bed:
Those wide-white bias-ply tires on black steelies are perfect too. As is the mis-matched tailgate:
And look, it's been in California since it was first registered, 54 years ago:
The interior features just as much stamped steel as the ex-fire truck above, but with a fair amount of surface rust:

in-car entertainment? the dashboard hula doll.

At least the seat has good upholstery. I'd happily drive this truck as-is, maybe raising the height of the bed for added function. Of course a healthy dose of LS7 would do wonders and create a fantastic sleeper. Or, for those who lean a bit more green, GM's LS3.

Dramatic Sky via Hipstamatic

The Hipstamatic is easily one of the best apps available for the iPhone. This photo was snapped while walking the dog this morning.