Art class self portraits- Exhibit in June- Brandon Gallery

Linda Thorne

Laura Ryan
Carol Zaleski Mila Mann Sue Colby Diane Jansen Barbara FinwallJoy Brown

RoseAnne Sobcow

Virginia Melton

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I can't figure out how to place this over on the side.

Do I really need a counter ?
Do I need another widget?

Try out my other new widget- Followers- please!
Don't make me look like a loser!

( It's down below the etsy sale items.
As you're on your way there stop by etsy and buy something)

PEACOCK UPDATE

Since my last post there's been a new development on the peacock front.

Look very closely and you'll see a peahen laying on her nest of eggs. Her head is in the middle left of the picture. Her face is white with bright green feathers on either side. They're more blue/green than the leaves. The feathers of her body almost exactly match the color of the ground. The light area is a sun spot with the shadow of me reflected in it.

She's very well-camouflaged, but she's right outside the den door. (Right below the window in the picture above.) She's not disturbed when people go in and out of the door (at least not visibly). This sure seems to be a very dangerous spot, right on the ground where any predator could reach her. There are a lot of coyotes in the area. I've heard that coyotes don't bother peacocks because they're so big but I'm not sure this is true. My tenants (who live here) say that they saw two male peacocks fighting nearby. Maybe one of them is the father and is protecting the mother. Or, as my tenant said, fighting over the paternity.

Apparently a snake tried to get at the eggs while the mother was away but the young boy who lives here shot it with a b.b. gun. I'm not sure this story is true but if so, he's a hero. But now I'm worried about a gun in the house. I'm very anti-gun. Now I'm going to worry about the safety of the peahen and the boy with the gun .( He could shoot his eye out).

Here's some info I found on the internet : The hens usually lay 2-6 eggs in their 2nd - 3rd year, hiding the true nest in the woods in leaves or just plain dirt, but first laying eggs right in the open. She may lay several eggs, decoys, which just sit around, until she gets serious about it and lays a clutch or group and sits on them. She sits on the nest for 28 days, producing pea chicks which look like turkey poults (babies), yellow and brown. She leaves the nest once a day to eat and take care of personal needs, flying from the nest with loud cawing noises to distract predators from the hidden nest.

IN PRAISE OF PEACOCKS

I really miss the peacocks at my old house. I've moved from this house and have leased it to a very nice family. I hope they are enjoying the peacocks as much as I did. I must admit, though,

that they are very noisy during mating season.

The story in the neighborhood is that the woman who owned the peacocks died and her husband, (who must not have appreciated their mating calls) let them loose. The mating calls must work because there are a lot of them now.

I didn't know that they could fly but one of them lived in a eucalyptus tree in my backyard and several times they walked around on my roof. You can imagine how that sounds from inside the house.

Here's one looking in my window.

Two beautiful males. They often had fights during mating season but they didn't seem to be too serious. I think one of them just went off to another house. And the one who lived at my house went back up to his tree.

Here's the result of the mating calls.

Misbehaving while watching "Ain't Misbehavin" at The Ahmanson

We went to see "Ain't Misbehavin" and during the performance I saw what I thought would be a great shot with a beautiful backdrop, great costumes, etc, whipped out my camera and prepared to take a picture. All of a sudden the "photo police" descended upon me. I hadn't been listening when they announced about turning your cel phones off, etc. Didn't hear the part about not taking pictures. I had turned my cel phone off, tho.

Well, this lady was mad. She said she was the assoc. administrator (or some such title) of the theater and that she would have to confiscate my camera until after the performance. When I objected she said I could keep it if I promised not to take any pictures. Of course I wouldn't take any pictures... I'm about the most law-abiding person I know. How embarrrassing!!!

So then, after the performance ( which was really good) we went to a cute little gift store called Uncle Jer's. (Megan worked there when she was interning in L. A.) I bought Nancy (for her birthday) what turned out to be a $58 bar of soap. While we were in the store I got a $50 parking ticket. The soap actually cost $8. ( Did I happen to mention how law-abiding I am.)

Then we were going to go to Musso and Frank's Grill (an old Hollywood landmark) to further celebrate her birthday. It was closed on Sunday.

Here's a typical Hollywood sight: As we were leaving Musso and Frank's we found these "girls" who were being filmed for a movie. They told us we could have one photo for free.

We ended up at a really good hamburger place in Brentwood. Very good but not quite what we had in mind.

Nancy's Birthday

Here's Nancy enjoying her flowers from Megan.