Too perfect not to post. considering the recent weather in many parts of Canada and the US...

You've come a long way, baby....

I knew Loreena McKennitt had done well since we saw her busking at Granville Island many years ago but I didn't realize quite how well until I noticed a new acquisition by Netflix called "Loreena McKennitt at The Alhambra"....wonderful concert and great to see again this amazing wonder of the world.  What a combination!  The concert was in 2006 when she began releasing recordings after this tragedy in her life:

"In July 1998, McKennitt's fiancé Ronald Rees, his brother Richard and their close friend Gregory Cook drowned in a boating accident on Georgian Bay. She was deeply affected by the event and subsequently founded the Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety in the same year.

At the time of the incident, she was working on a live album of two performances called Live in Paris and Toronto. The proceeds from this album were donated to the newly created memorial fund, totaling some three million dollars.^[9] After the release of the live album, McKennitt decided to substantially reduce the number of her public performances and did not release any new recordings until the studio album An Ancient Muse in 2006."

Out to The River today

We had to return items to Rancho Mirage Library so I suggested we take a walk around The River which is nearby.   This development really suffered in the economic downturn  and it was sad to see a lot of prime space still not occupied.  Babe's,  The Cheesecake Factory,  and the movie theatres still seem to be doing well.  

This morning we had fresh orange juice and picked some more oranges after our swim.

The River is nicer than your usual mall given the wonderful water feature.

This is around the back and I was pleased to see this tree was saved when the complex was built.  There are fewer empty spaces at the back.  I guess because the rents are cheaper here than the prime front areas.   One of these places is an ice cream parlour...$5.50 US for a small cone!  

We used to go to Babe's quite a lot but in recent years,  those big dinners of ribs somehow don't appeal.  There is a wonderful smell of ribs cooking as we pass.

This is quite the hat shop!

I could be tempted by these "mad hatter" hats...

The last couple of years they have made a small ice rink for folks during the holiday season.  $15 gets you skates and access to the rink.  We might have given it a try if our knees weren't so tricky.

A lovely walk in the sunshine and really quite warm...

These first ones were all taken in Canyon Sands.  I just finished making fresh orange juice.  We picked up some grapefruits and found a great tangelo orange tree by one of the pools on our walk.

Four oranges made 16 oz of juice.

Too bad our tennis days are over...6 courts hardly ever used.

I never tire of these mountain views.

 Every year they do more of the desert landscaping...looks great and saves water.

I like the way this neighbour picked up the red of the bougainvillea in his Christmas decorations.

Canyon Sands is in the neighbourhood named "Melody Ranch" because the area around here was once part of Gene Autry's ranch.  A lot of the neighbourhoods in Palm Springs have signs now so tourists are aware of where they are in terms of old time neighbourhoods that have historical significance.

We walked around where the golf course is.  We usually are driving this street and I hadn't noticed that a cross street was named "Birdie"...very appropriate!

I quite like these Santa Fe style condos...reminds me of New Mexico and Georgia O'Keefe.

Scarcity and abundance....

On the scarcity front,  we had one lonely orange on our tree this year after over 100 last year.  We'll probably take it down as it doesn't seem to be doing well after we had it pruned last year.

On the abundance front,  Kathy,  who organizes our bookclub saved all the handouts and goodies she gave out since I attended my last meeting last year....what a sweetheart!  And she gave me a book of poetry she wrote in 2014.   She wrote a poem every day for the first year she lived in Palm Springs.  Not every poem is published as some were very personal but it still adds up to 171 pages and the poetry is really quite wonderful.   I am really enjoying reading her thoughts and experiences in PS.

Photo taken in the Loire Valley,  France,  July 2016

Out and about...

We had to purchase various things today....odds and sodds.  Jim's halogen bulb blew on his desk lamp so one of our stops was Tru Value Hardware.   This isn't a fancy place for garden furniture but they do have a reasonable selection of things.  So many things seem reasonable in the US but it seems almost anything to do with garden furniture (at least in Palm Springs),  even a small side table,  seems a lot more than we would pay in Canada.

I think this example took the cake.  When I showed it to Jim and said it was a "good deal"....he  guessed about $75.  Would you believe for what you see,  described as "3 seat sofa",  table,  plus one more pillow (I removed it so the photo would take better) totals $2500 US!!!  (And that is before the 9% sales tax) Actually the photo makes the front "chair" look much bigger.  The real size is like the chair beside the "lounge".

Breakdown of cost,  3 seat sofa $1900,   small white table $400,  each pillow $100.

Well,  it wouldn't be a shopping expedition without a stop at Trader Joe's and I got some great looking pumpernickel bread that I hadn't noticed before and these lovely iris.

Awoke to the bluest of skies...

The blue and sunshine was almost blinding today and still felt warm when we were swimming this morning even though it has cooled to the 60's now.   Then off to Las Casuelas and good food,  happy music and dancing.  This will probably be our last time before we leave.

We dropped into the Art and Architecture Museum and saw their current exhibition called MetaModern consisting of works done by people born in the 60's so these works are quite contemporary.  Photos weren't allowed but there are a few here.

https://www.psmuseum.org/whats-happening/284-metamodern

The best thing about this place is the amazing gift shop with the usual smaller tourist items but also lots of very cool (and somewhat pricey) works of art.

I loved this tribute to Henry Moore.  It was all prisms I guess because although it was clear glass you saw rainbows everywhere in it.  If I had lots of money I would have bought it.

This was pretty cool too!

A day of rainbows...

The sun was out for most of my swim this morning,  then we've had a combination of rain, sun, and now lots of wind.   There was a huge beautiful rainbow as we were driving home after our lunch.

Hot and sour soup

An egg roll comes with the lunch special.

My roasted duck

Jim's pepper beef.

Our fortunes...Jim's is the top one...mine the bottom.

I haven't heard doves yet.  We usually have a pair around but not evidence until today when these two doves were sheltering on the patio wall from the wind.   It seems rather exposed to me but I guess the roofs are higher and there is some shelter.

Taken through a dirty,  rain splattered patio door.

Stormy weather,  Palm Springs style.   Winds will apparently reach gusts of 65 mph.  There have been some pretty strong gusts already.  Lights flickered but still power.   We're charging everything up!  The fireplace will still work but it's still quite warm.  Almost 5pm and the heat hasn't kicked in yet.