Color in the Garden Today

The last of the bulbine

Aloe vera

Kalanchoe pubescens

Red hot poker/torch lily/Kniphofia

The last of the jacaranda blossoms are falling.

Lavender, as photographed by A.

June LeftoversGood

Good thing of the day was picking D. up at the train station instead of LAX.

A. being honored for excellence in visual arts (pottery)

June 13, first free calendar arrives!

Exploring in Huntington Beach between soccer games

the benton

Our amazing friends have grapes, strawberries, apples, plums, and peaches!

I would have sworn this cactus was dead and had
intended to get rid of it. Thanks, Mother Nature,
for rewarding my procrastination!

A full weekend

It started with a ride and a visit to three new libraries.

Next up was a World Cup game with a
few kind words and a cake at halftime.

On Saturday we took a picnic to the Hollywood Bowl

where we watched a Harry Potter movie accompanied by
the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing the live score.

We headed to LA on Sunday for CicLAvia.

Four dogs seemed to be enjoying their ride.

We went off the route a couple times to check out the old houses.

Worth the Wait

Maybe you were wondering why I went all the way to Denmark for a Eurovision party (aside - no, the Eurovison Song Contest was not in Denmark. I was invited to a Eurovision party that was held in Denmark. The song contest was in Israel. Maybe that makes it more confusing?) and am just posting about it now. I have already bought the cd so it must be time to wrap it up with a post.

After listening to the official videos I initially didn't like any of the songs, but listening for a few more weeks made me a fan.

Here's a fifteen minute recap of the 41 songs.

Last year's winner was a song called Toy.

This was my attempt at a costume that went
with the Toy theme AND fit in my suitcase.

The cakes went along with the theme, too.
Chocolate teddy bear, marzipan frisbee,
lemon rubber ducky, and vanilla Rubik's cube.

We had Eurovision Song Contest trivia and also Eurovision bingo.

This is an example, not the one we used.

Of course there was the actual song contest, which we did actually watch. There were enough entertaining bits and enough silliness to make it feel like Eurovision.

Australia (wait, Australia is not in Europe, I hear you cry. Yes, but they wanted to be and they are not the US so Europe let them join) had the most Eurovision song. The official video above gives you a sense of the final performance, but if you want to see the real thing from the point of view of an audience member, check this out.

After the long voting process, both juried votes and televoting by individuals, Netherlands came out the winner, as predicted. If you aren't in the US you can probably see the winning performance. Otherwise you will have to watch a pre-competition video. Sigh.

Or you could watch an 18-minute summary of the whole evening. My favorite part was when the former winners sang songs performed by other winners (especially at 14:15 when Verka Serduchka sings Toy).

What finally got me to write this up happened just a block from
my house. As I was walking the dog I saw a party truck.

On the other side were some screen with games. A few kids had chosen the Wii dance option and there was Netta singing Toy and people happily dancing along. When I asked if they had heard the song before they told me of course they had!

It is nice to have an event that brings so many smiles to so many people!

Libraries

I joined the summer reading program at the library.
I have already received two prizes, a pen and a notebook.

I have also been to several local little free libraries lately and even remembered to take a picture of some of them!

I still enjoy checking ours each day.

I guess my love for it is obvious because I received this as an end-of-the-school-year gift from Z. and family.

Another Day,

Another new library! It was just a few minutes from the athletic fields hosting A.'s soccer tournament.

The Huntington Beach Public Library had a spiral ramp down to the cafe.

Outside the children's room was a large aquarium.

Not as large as the used book store!

There was even a gift shop!

Other non-book things included an art exhibit,

a torus stone found in Bolsa Chica,

and a replica of a Chinese Terra Cotta Warrior Statue,
a gift from the Chamber of Commerce after visiting China.

I did get to see A. in action, both as keeper

and on the field!

Another good weekend.
It'll be different when we have no kids at home!

Another adventure

Happy flag day
not shown - our flags from Denmark, Hungary, and Uruguay

It was another day for not one but two adventures!

Part one included a ride along the Pacific Electric Trail

to get to Rad Coffee,
a coffee shop with punk-rock motif.

On the way home we stopped at a mulberry tree

which was a bit messy but worth it.

Part two was to the Diamond Bar Library, which has been on my bucket list since it opened in 2012.

Unusual bike racks

This is the art on the other side of the wall.,
created by Frank Matranga, who has art in many public places in L.A. Co.

Maybe this will be the summer I get to Watts Towers.