And a bit more on books....I love it!

A new wall mural on the outside of an apartment building in Utrecht. The artist asked residents for their favorite book and included those in the mural.

La Quinta Library Adult Reading Challenge

I took a photo of this when we were in the La Quinta Library. I thought it was a pretty interesting idea and a good way to expand what one generally tends to read. I think many readers get into a rut. I know I do.

Rose Mallett at Woody's with Susan and Chris

1. We began with a drink at their place at Ocotillo Lodge. Thanks, guys, we had a fun time. It's always great to see you! 

I rather liked the painting with the cushions...Chris hates it!

A nice firepit outside that they have really been enjoying. You didn't need it last night as it was very balmy.

I guess Woody's has a food truck.

This is my salmon and risotto...very good.

Jim's steak wasn't so great.

I didn't get any good photos of Rose but I'm hoping Susan did.

Susan got some great photos.

It's a small world

Linda sent me this message after she saw my post on the Bob Hope house:

"Bob Hope’s childhood home was two blocks from my Aunt’s in Eltham, London!   We would walk by it every day we went to the train.  There is a small plaque in front of the house showing it’s history.   My Aunt said he visited when the plaque was installed, many years ago.  She’s long gone and we haven’t been back in many years."

He liked to come to Victoria to play golf since everyone left him alone. We ended up sitting across from him in the Victoria Airport once.  No one came up to him. We all just let him enjoy being an ordinary person. That probably didn’t happen very much. 

IN-N-Out Burgers yesterday

Very yummy as usual but we both just got the single cheeseburger. Richard, I know you love the "Double-Double" but it's just too much for us. We remembered to order raw onions on them...yum!

Jim chowing down and waiting for his very thick milkshake to get a little more able to be drunk.

I always steal a couple of sips. It's just about all I can manage.

Then to La Quinta Library where we picked up 10 books from the 10 cent table. Some really good ones. It was a great day for a drive to La Quinta then home to a wonderful swim...hard to get out of the pool. Perfect weather

The Bob Hope House

Cactus Hugs had a good article and photos on this home. We see it from our place. It was listed for 50 million a while ago but sold for 18 million.  The article mentions that the Netflix series "Stay Here" has an episode featuring the house. We didn't find it. Well, you can't "stay there" so I'm not surprised.

I had to laugh at the part in the article that says the house has some fireplaces even though Palm Springs isn't known for cool temperature. It does get cool at night for most of the year and having a fireplace was one of the big features of buying our place. We use it anytime there's a bit of a chill. We used it a lot this year.

Chris and Susan hiked up the Araby trail to just below it but it is in a gated community with lots of scary signs so you can't really get near it.

https://www.cactushugs.com/the-bob-hope-palm-springs-house-everything-you-need-to-know/?fbclid=IwAR1cSC1bAAd7vx0j0rqPyilFxt4b8JvNanp21zk5QQB--Ga5PB7oGKRPlp4

Some photos.

Wildflowers around Palm Springs

Susan took these photos....aren't they great!  Susan and Chris have been going on some great local hikes.  We're very impressed!

Super bloom

I took this while we were stopped. I think we may give a pass on going out to these super bloom sites and just enjoy what we see driving around PS
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The traffic and people trampling over things has made it all a bit of a nightmare.

All visitors heading to Lake Elsinore to see the poppy super bloom this weekend must take shuttles to reach Walker Canyon, officials announced Thursday morning.

Michael Lujan, who serves as the city's police chief, announced during a news conference that shuttles will run from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and cost $10 per person. No pets, except for service animals, will be allowed on the shuttles.

Authorities opted to run shuttles as a way of maintaining order after tens of thousands of people descended on Lake Elsinore to view the blooming poppies on the hills near Interstate 15.

The phenomenon caused major traffic headaches for local residents and led officials to temporarily shut down access to Walker Canyon.

Most of the wildflowers are found in steep canyons, leading people to parts of the canyon that weren't meant to be hiked. They bloomed after an especially wet winter.

Exterior painting

Our area is being painted this week. It will be a nuisance but I'm pleased with the new paint job in the areas that have been done. I'm glad we decided to go rather Zen in our patios and got rid of the orange tree and a lot of foliage. This would have been a problem. It was fairly easy to clear things...putting things in the middle and removing them completely. Our zero gravity loungers are very easy to bring in and out as we have room for them in our hall so we will be able to use our patio after they leave at 4pm.

Towels down by windows and patio doors in case water get in with the power washing.

The old colours...tan for the trim and an off white.

The new is a brighter white and chocolate brown for the trim.

The garage areas probably have the most dramatic change and I think it looks really good. White doors instead of the colour of the trim.

Old.

New

A Bug and an old Vespa...love them!

I think this has my name on it!

Palm Desert Library Book Sale

Jim looking for treasures. We didn't get a lot this year...around a dozen books. 

Hoping to get lots of posts of Spring flowers from my friends...

Alan posted these containers from their garden in Otley, Yorkshire.

We've gone very Zen in our garden in Palm Springs but have this one flower pot over the old orange tree stump. I bought five dollars worth of bedding plants at Lowe's in October last year and Ken watered them when we were away in January and now look...not bad!