Mulholland Drive

 This map is from Wiki. If you start at the west end and drive, up, up, you'd be where we were

blurry but shows how deck overhangs canyon

Mustangs overlooking canyon

Mulholland Drive is a very sinuous road rising over the Hollywood Hills snaking on a ridge overlooking  various canyons and then dropping to the sea in the northern area of Malibu. It might be 40 miles long, hard to tell with all those hairpins. Long ago I tried to take it south to north overlooking the Hollywood sign and the Hollywood Bowl but had to retreat due to a mudslide. Yesterday we were asked if we'd like to visit some friends in Malibu. Naomi immediately said yes thinking beach house. It was pretty snaking along the ocean on the PCH seeing the fabulous homes overlooking the sea but then we turned on Mulholland heading straight up along the side of a canyon, scary turns that would mean immediate death if one wasn't paying attention..Naomi is thinking no beach house but we finally arrived at this beautiful home perched on the edge of a canyon, no other homes for miles, with a deck that jutted out giving great views. Yes my camera was clicking, will upload when I am home. The family had mustangs, wild horses rescued from the government but now trained and German Shepherds.

Love the chairs!

Lots of glass. Somehow the glass comes at right angles to each other without any framing

Living room/studio  The hostess, among her very many talents, is a photographer. Look for her work in the food displayed in Eat,Pray, Love

The adult children were all performance artists of various sorts so they were quite interesting as were our hosts. The home was  very interestingly and artistically decorated. Later I sat out with the many stars now visible as the lights of civilization were far away, perched over the canyon looking for the Perseids, though past their prime. No shooting stars! But certainly a night to remember. As I sat there thinking how great this was listening to the snorts and hooves of the mustangs below, I feel a furry body suddenly against my legs. A cat! Wasn't expecting that.

rattlesnake skin. There are snakes surrounding this paradise.

I did do a run yesterday morning running to the beach but having no energy to run along it and then run back. But I zig-zagged through neighborhoods looking at cute homes so it was a good run and a record number of miles run in the past week..more than 35. We went to the neighborhood Farmer's Market, not nearly as large as the one in downtown Santa Monica but still had plenty of booths. I had a bad impression of Calif. strawberries as the ones shipped to us are pretty but tasteless but they keep the good ones here; they were very sweet and tasty. We bought some goodies from a French pastry place and enormous peaches that were converted to an excellent pie with raspberries by my friend to be shared at our canyon dinner.

Farmer's Market

Today I am meeting up with Ojo from Noho, familiar to the TNBC community in cyberspace. The Eye from North Hollywood. We are going out to breakfast soon. We know so much about each other from our blogs but to connect in person will be interesting. Later it will be "Hollywood Day" promised to Naomi who wants to see the eponymous sign and see the stars..

Venice Beach

Bougainvillea in Venice

Venice houses

While my friend attended a meeting near-by, I ran in the cool morning air on the beach path through the Venice Beach walk. Shanna had lived in West LA for about 4 years so while she was at work, I had taken the Big Blue Bus here many mornings. This path was well worn by my heavy feet but still beautiful though the coastal fog obscured the Santa Monica Mountains in the north. And the temp was in the 50s...back in Michigan, it seems to be still hot and humid for my friend's walk. For me, the cooler the better.

Venice canal bridge

My friend has two boulders drilled out and converted to fountains..one in front and one in back. The hummingbirds love to take their baths in them so I did get some pictures of that. Naomi, Maya and I drove to the Venice Beach canals walking up and down the many paths viewing the interesting canal houses. Naomi was amazed and took many pictures. We then went to Beach Walk by all the craziness, head shops, psychics, tacky shops, murals, crowds of people wildly dressed, loud music, young men pushing CDs in our faces asking if we'd listen to them then demanding money..Naomi of course loved it all.

Even the bathrooms are artistic

Venice storefront art

Wolf house

graffitti tower

Venice mural

On the long way back, we took the quieter bike path with Naomi walking barefoot in the sand stopping to watch the skateboarders with all their tricks at the elaborate set up they have for them. She liked Muscle Beach too commenting on the buff bodies. We were walking for 3 hours with Maya fast asleep in the carrier. She still was asleep in the baby bucket while we had lunch at a nice outdoor Santa Monica cafe sitting in a shaded outdoor courtyard. But later Maya made us pay for her hours of quiet. She woke up very hungry and grumpy. She gulped down her milk so quickly, she then spit it all up starting a vicious cycle of hunger, satisfying herself too fast, and then a tummy ache. So that Naomi could eat in peace (along with everyone else), I took her for a walk in the cool night air. The walking calmed her down somewhat but I was so, so tired... I had gotten up so early to run which I did for 70 minutes and then our hours of walking albeit at a slow pace. Also I had very little sleep for the past 2 nights so I exhaustedly fell into bed guilty as I should have cleaned up more the aftermath of a very elaborate dinner . I didn't hear Maya much but now I do .

Perseids

The picture of Jupiter made that night from Mt. Wilson. You can see the red spot. This is a low resolution shot of the original

To see the annual meteor shower, 4 conditions have to be met

• The right phase of the moon: new moon vs full moon
• No cloud cover
• No ambient light
• You actually need to be awake. Best time to see them was at 12PST but this translates to 3EST which my body still seems to be on. For example, it is just past 6 am here as I sip my coffee typing on a borrowed computer and all are asleep but I know it is after 9 am in Michigan

Well most of this conditions were met somewhere in CA. The husband of the house is camped on top of Mt. Wilson with his fancy telescope. Maybe he'll take pictures. We were invited to go but....

I've lived all these years and not seen this display usually because I forget about them. Some years I've tried. So in my long life, I have seen falling stars only on two occasions; once while camping in Manistique in the UP and another sitting on my friend's deck surrounded by her deer.

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Beach houses in Santa Monica


















The pier with Naomi and Maya underneath it and my friend to the left

On the beach

Sunset from the overpass. Santa Monica Mts

The Pier from the Palisades

Naomi went to bed early. She's on Maya time: sleeps when Maya sleeps. We walked along the beach last night at sunset with Maya in the Baby Bjorn, Naomi trying to capture every beautiful moment by photo. Even the parking structures are interesting here to her. After sharing some wine with our wonderful hostess, I took a thick comforter (really would not be needed in Michigan but I wouldn't attempt to sleep under the stars there as my face would be  mosquito bait)and lay facing the sky. But a coastal fog came through and so much ambient light that once my eyes adjusted, it seemed like permenant dusk. I don't think they could ever see stars here. In our humble neighborhood we can see some of them as we are on the edge of town. In that little village I stayed in Italy, no competing lights whatsoever and never any clouds so they sky was spectacular. We returned before the Perseids. I fell asleep well before the  meteor shower but I would not have been able to see it any way. I was on the edge of the pool hoping I wouldn't sleep walk into it. In the middle of the night, I awoke to the sound of some creature walking through trying to find my glasses to identify it: possum? cat? skunk? Also one mosquito so they do have them.

I am sipping coffee with Ginger at my feet. She is the same age as Spud, 14, but is a big dog. She is interesting looking. She's part German Shepherd giving her size (bigger than Sunny) but looks like a deer with her ears cocked similarly. Or part lion..part hyena. She is buff colored and her fur was shaved off to give her comfort. She moves slowly given her age but makes sure to keep anyone company who is up first.

The man of the house has since returned from the mountain top. I am writing the next day. He took long exposures, 10 minutes, to capture the meteor trails with a camera attached to his telescope. Then he amplified the images by computer in a lengthy process. Looking closely, he found several trails, By his naked eye, he saw 20 the whole night but he does have an amazing picture of Jupiter so detailed you can see the red spot clearly. Also very clear shots of the Milky Way. I will see if these images are shareable or if he can reduce the amount of bytes in them as they are enormous files. They are amazing!

Greetings from the land of milk and honey

Naomi, Maya and I last night hopped on a jet plane and took it to LA. Naomi is thrilled. She can't imagine why anyone would want to live anywhere else than Santa Monica. Palm trees, lots of hummingbirds, hot tubs, pools, beach, 70 degree highs. She wants to photograph it all.

Ginger walking around the hot tub and pool. If you look at her straight on, she looks like a mountain lion

On the of the rock fountains. Hummingbirds took turns taking their baths in it

Black sedum among blue grass all over my friend's yard

Sea Lavender

Naomi chillaxin' on the front porch. Nice place to sip coffee while reading the paper. Naomi is texting away

The plane ride wasn't fun as we had to share seats with a large, nasty man who kept invading Naomi's personal space with his over-sized legs. He immediately requested a new seat that didn't have an infant next to it but alas, for all involved, none was available. We landed on time despite a very late start but no gate for us. Delta refused to find a new one. Meanwhile they had a survey on their touch screen. Usually I avoid these things but was a tad irritated to just sit there for so long unnecessarily and I thought I could use the time giving them a piece of my mind but what kind of questions did they ask? How we liked the appearance of the tray tables, carpets, seats, etc. Nothing at all about the service and their planning. (we were late taking off as the catering truck didn't show, then no gate, then no jet tug, then no baggage handlers) We got to my friend's home around 3 am, Michigan time. A long day. On the plane, we kept ourselves amused playing trivia against the other passengers on the touch screen. I was the all time champion but through blind luck, Naomi won a round which thrilled her.

So Naomi is now basking happily in the sun with the baby bundled beside her.

While I was gone...

• Ms Maya had her first month check-up weighing a hefty 11#2oz putting her in the 92%tile for weight and 97%tile for height. She looked healthy in their other screens.
• Naomi decided again she was tired of red hair despite how beautiful I think it is and put this ugly black wash on it. Fortunately it is already fading. Last time, it was mostly gone by the end of the month.
• Steve was subpoened to appear in court. Steve was an election official and apparently his precinct didn't record the few votes that a write-in candidate received. He had to add them up again.
• We got a job offer. It wasn't clear if this was for both of us or one of us. On the plus side, we know all the co-workers as they all came from our former place of employment and like them and money would be nice. On the negative side, we are not interested in being bench chemists. I was trying to convince Steve to do it at least part time but he didn't see the fairness in that.
• My dental insurance is straightening out. Maybe now in September I can have my teeth fixed. They presumably give me character but not the type of character I want to be.

Since I've been back...

• One of the "Moms" is getting remarried this fall. We went to a very nice poolside shower for her Sunday afternoon
• Went to a 'family dinner' at my son's. Julia keeps trying out new dishes and is quite the cook.
• Been running in oppressive humidity to make up for my sloth in Canada
• Still no bright blue morning glories despite all the many vines covering everything like kudzu though the small dark purple ones are blooming all over
• Went to Happy Hour with a friend. Always nice.
• My last soccer night for a while. It is nice to sit watching the guys play (and win now) while talking with Julia, my DIL.

Preparing to leave once again and looking very much forward to it.Again my posts will be sporadic


While I am gone....

A good friend will do the 3 day  60 mile (yes 60!!!) Komen Walk starting Friday wearing a picture of me and several other breast cancer survivors. She knows plenty of them as sadly, we are so common. Hopefully this walk will make us less so. I feel bad about not being here to physically cheer her on but I will be thinking of her from afar. She has put in numerous miles and I am very proud of her dedication. She also has raised around $3000. I did do a training walk with her (only 8 miles; I passed on the 18 mile ones) meeting up with other survivors that I have met during treatment and afterwards. There is an article in today's Free Press about her group headed up by my former neighbor (and the mom of Josh's former girlfriend)http://www.freep.com/article/20100811/FEATURES01/8110340/1372/Features


So be strong, my good friend! I am very, very proud of you and am in awe of your dedication.

Barton Hills

From a transparency taken in the late 1940s. This image is inverted as the garage area really is on the opposite side

This is from the 4/30/1965 Ann Arbor News. Every year, there is a home tour in Ann Arbor. That year featured my grandfather's home

My mother on the front porch of this house around 1948 or 1949. Look how thin she is!

Barton Hills in an exclusive area just outside of Ann Arbor. It is a village now. When my father lived there, they needed to pay tuition for him to attend Ann Arbor Schools. The area was owned at one time by Detroit Edison as they had dammed the Huron River to provide power. The resulting lake was known as Barton Pond with the northern shores rising in tall hills (for this area). They platted out the area and sold them to wealthy individuals who were encouraged to hire world class architects to design their homes. My grandmother had her heart set on having a 'plantation house' as she loved the homes she saw in Natchez, Mississippi. She also acquired many antiques from that area which are discussed in the newspaper clipping I obtained from my trip to Canada. My grandfather made a model out of sugar cubes (somewhere I have a picture of this) and hired an architect (Frank Carson) to design the home. These plans were offered to me but when I went to fetch them last week, they were gone! One of Jeannette's nieces was fascinated with the home and wanted them. (But it was MY grandfather's home....). The grounds and many paths, he designed and then made himself. So some of the homes there are quite avant-garde for their times (1935-1950) but this house, which my grandfather referred to as Cromarty Knoll, named after some land in Scotland that our ancestors had, was very traditional, so much so that allegedly (according to a 2004 Ann Arbor Observor article)the other residents referred to it dismissively as Tara. My grandfather did not start med school, UM, until he was 37, quite old for those days though he did not retire until he was 80. He did have a forestery degree from UM. Their project was to plant trees on Edison's property. So the 100 year old weeping willows still there today were planted by him. He was a medic during World War I in France. After the war, he moved to Illinois and taught chemistry meeting my grandmother, a Latin teacher. Even though she held a higher degree than him, he was paid much more. After they were married, he became a foreman at John Deere in Moline to earn more money saving it up for med school. Six months after my dad was born, they moved to Ann Arbor buying a nice, new house in Burns Park (still there on Brooklyn St) and he started med school. He quickly became a successfull doctor and they built their dream home in Barton Hills in the late 30s. In the late 60s (by this time he was married to Jeannette, 30 years younger than him), he sold the house as it was too big.

So the home was filled with antiques, some of which still survive. The place was furnished as a palace with gilted this and that, not my style. I now have a few of the items, who knows what they are worth.

But I understand why the niece was fascinated by the place (many of Jeannette's relatives stayed there with my father referring to all of them, especially Jeannette as the F...ing Frogs. He obviously did not approve of my grandfather's choice), I had dreams of the place as a child with its secret closets and nooks and crannies. It was huge with a spiral staircase in front with several balconies. From the top balcony, one could see all of Barton Pond. When it is late in the year, one can see the house from Huron River Drive. Naomi has shown several of her friends the house,still impressive today: My grandfather once lived here!

Downward mobility, here we come.

Cervelles et rognons

We stopped at several places along the way to take pictures to meet Jeannette's nephew who is the executor (or liquidator as he translated it) of the will.  As there was alot of construction and heavy traffic, it was impossible be on time in that dreary suburb containing the warehouse where the possessions were stored. We passed by numerous First Nation (Canadian for Native American) tobacco stands targetingAmericans. Fortunately everything fit in the car. I had fretted about the chair, which wasn't as nice as the picture indicated. After loading up the car, we went on to Longueuil just across the river from Montreal, where Jeannette had lived to have lunch at a bakery that I had often gone to when visiting Jeannette. We went there again on our last day and the owner gave us a tour after she saw us taking pictures of everything. Very nice. the baked goods tasted as good as they looked too.

Marzipan and truffles. Also my favorite fruit gelees which I took home

On the bottom row are French macaroons. Quite a bit different from the Italian variety. We saw the pastry chef in action decorating his elaborate creations

Outside of my favorite patisserie

Longueuil has a mainly French speaking population whereas there are large pockets of English speakers in Montreal. Most under 30s speak English just fine though it is hit or miss with the older generation. I try to speak French though my efforts were rewarded with getting a sandwich with ham on it which my vegetarian friend couldn't eat. They serve cafe au lait in 'bols'...huge bowls of goodness. None of those thimblefuls served to us in France here. We then visited Jeannette's old roommate Gilberte who visited with  us in a panoramic room on the top of her building (12 stories) that we could see for miles from. The room also was nicely air-conditioned. A relief from the oppressive heat that day. We sipped wine. Later, we went to Jeannette's god-daughter and niece's condo across the street to visit and later walked to dinner to have a very good French dinner at Chez Parra (http://www.restaurantchezparra.com/). On the menu, they had cervelle de veau ou rognons de veau ( veal brains or kidneys, non merci!). My friend had sole with a very tasty sauce on it whereas I had shrimp with a lobster sauce. All the side dishes were tasty and interesting. We shared a pear tart and wine. All very nice and we had an interesting conversation. We were in a sheltered patio while it stormed outside bringing in a welcomed cold front making the high of 68 deg for the next 2 days. The niece, Claire also gave us passes to the MBG which would have cost us $33 total.

We stayed in a chain hotel that was nice though boring but convenient with free guarded parking (important as I had so much stuff stored in the car). A subway spur outside the parking lot brought us quickly to Montreal which we made good use of our $7 day pass throughout the day.

We first went to Old Montreal:

Street person with jester cap. Quite a bit of street people in Montreal but usually they didn't wear jester caps

Early in the morning after the rains of the night before. Not many places open before 10. We ended up eating in a hotel

Much more lively after 11

My friend took a picture of me with the 3 fat ladies making it four

We had a so-so breakfast but enjoyed seeing all the public performers, military bands, bag-pipers, interesting old houses, many art shops including those featuring Inuit art which my friend was especially interested in. I bought a beautiful piece of fused glass from an Argentine woman, some necklaces and a unique purse. I hadn't bought anything at the Ann Arbor art fair as I was too distracted due to certain events. In their Tastes of Quebec areas, we both bought really tasty maple cream liquor and ice cidre liquor. They had other really good stuff too but it was hard enough as it was carrying all this stuff all day.

The tourist guide spoke of these interesting Victorian homes all in an area called the Golden Square Mile. we went there and found a information place wanting to find the street that had the prettiest houses as a square mile contains many streets and we had little time. We found out: 1. the houses I showed her on the postcard were nowhere around there and 2. there were no topiaries in the MBG and they were going to close soon so we better get there ASAP if we wanted to see anything.

On to the Botanical Gardens taking a subway from the Westside to the Eastside.

squirrel hidden among the flowers

Penjing This is less than 2 feet tall and 60 years old

Japanese floral arrangement

So serene

Nice woodwork in the pagoda

The only example of bonsai I have here. This is a forest of miniature maple trees.One  has some leaves turning red for the fall. The whole 'forest' is only 24 inches tall.

Japanese gardens

koi

Penjing gardens

The gardens went on for miles. There were besides the Japanese and Chinese (the best) First Nation gardens, Alpine Gardens, Tundra gardens, Perennial gardens, Rose Gardens, Dahlia gardens, begonia gardens, on and on. We did go in the sensory gardens concentrating on scents though there were some things to feel. We couldn't possibly see it all and we were tired. We did have a late lunch on a terrace overlooking the gardens. Very pretty.
Walking to the gardens from the subway, we went by the Olympic grounds.

Then on to  Place St. Louis where there were supposed to be some of the prettiest houses:

We walked down a pedestrian only street nearby full of restaurants. We ended up eating at La Bretonne Creperie. I had an enormous crepe full of mushrooms, a big bowl of cream of leek soup and a creme carmel. We wearily went back across the river to our hotel where we had wine and fell asleep.The next morning,  it was back to Chez Sue  after a trip to the wonderful bakery in Longueuil where I had a fresh almond croissant and a bol of cafe au lait, one last visit to Montreal by car to find those cool houses in the Golden Square. Not sure if we found them but we did find some interesting places to take photos. I only posted a small amount of my pictures though my companion took 3 for every one of mine with a much better camera. I will steal some of hers when I can. Then the long trip back stopping for a good lunch in Kingston and visiting their farmer's market. We went  through awful traffic around Toronto. Fortunately the nightmare I envisioned at the border did not happen. All in all, an excellent adventure.

Kingston Farmer's Market