Tag Archives: Old Town San Diego

The Year That Was

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Snippets from the past year that has stayed on my mind … it’s not too late for this, right?  I started this last week for the Weekly Photo Challenge, but didn’t post in time.  Since I did half the work already, I’ll just post it anyway.

From the Philadelphia Flower Show, these purple, blue and green orchids caught my eye and I couldn’t tear myself away from it.

A couple of weeks later, it was off to the New York Botanical Garden for their annual Orchid Show.

Jade Vine close-up

In San Diego, blood oranges and eggplant cactus fascinated me.  Okay, so the proper name for the cactus is Aeonium.  But I like my name better :)

Monet’s Gardens – what a treat!  The lilies … the daffodils … the colour explosion …

We had soccer tournaments from freezing weather to hot, brutal sun … and I hear there’s more soccer travel planned for this year …

A trip to Dili, Timor-Leste … Cristu Rei of Dili … Georgina! … AFET Humanitarian and Medical Mission 


Hurricane Sandy blew away our Halloween and fall season and turned lives upside-down and inside-out …

The end of year and I’m back to Africa  …  the clouds … River Nile … watercolour sunsets … did I mention clouds?

Entebbe Sunset – December 2012
Entebbe Sunset – December 2012
Entebbe Sunset – December 2012
Clouds in Entebbe – December 2012
Entebbe Air Show – December 2012
Water-Coloured Sunset, Entebbe – December 2012
Entebbe Sunset – December 2012
Fishing on the River Nile, Ninja, Uganda – December 2012
The River NIle, Jinja, Uganda – December 2012

From the statistics, this blue-eyed fellow was the most-searched item:

And my personal favourites …  La Morenada

… model flowers and the Volitan Lion Fish …


Hope yours was a good year as well.

 

The Money Tree

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This was a friend’s gift to my aunt on her 50th birthday.  She said there were $5 bills in there, but I didn’t find it.

Makes me want to take up origami again, but I don’t know if I have the patience for that again, other than for a boat and a hat (which had a similar base, anyway).  I couldn’t even get halfway through the famous crane, which seems to be the graduation piece.  I like how the leaves blend in as the wings here.

When I couldn’t get the folds right, I would start all over again, but I would use the same piece of paper again.  For best results, one had to use a new sheet of paper so that the folds and angles are crisp.  Well, I didn’t want to use a new sheet, because then I would run out of the origami sheets.  See those crisp folds to make a nice fan?  Mine didn’t look like that.

That was then; I think a pack of origami sheets are much cheaper now.   Now that I’m older and wiser (ha-ha), maybe I can get my brain to follow the instructions on folding and inserting this corner to that angle or fold.

In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy looking through these.

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Johnson House

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Walking around Old Town, there was the general merchandise store – Johnson House.  

What drew me inside was what was on display outside.  If there was one outside, then there had to be more inside.

Walking around inside were period clothing, cowboy hats, mixed in with occasional modern-day hair accessories.  I kept looking for other crocheted pieces, and didn’t see anything until I had made a round of the whole room and on the other side of the room, almost by the exit.  If I had walked clockwise instead of counter-clockwise, I would have found it sooner.  I saw these on display, and thought I was getting closer to more.

What I found instead was this, and my day was made.

Selecting this issue from the basket, I went to the front to pay for it.  Looking at the magazine, the elderly lady dressed in 1800-style fashion asked if I crocheted, or knew how to crochet.  Of course, I replied, and hope that there are good patterns inside the issue, I added.  I then asked her if it was real.  Pulling out the price tag, she said that yes, it was authentic, and that the tag said that it was vintage.  Hmmm … more research for me.

The paper is in good condition, although faded and yellowing.  It does look real, but I’m no expert in vintage documents.  In any case, there’s a whole new world to explore with this find.  What’s inside it?  Read more …

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Eggplant Cactus

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Walking about Old Town Market San Diego, I turned around and this hit me full on.

Wow!  Was totally fascinated with this.  It was an unusual color – actually, now that I study it more, it has similar colors to an eggplant.  So that’s what I’ll call it until I find out the correct name.
I would have spent more time on this, if my companions weren’t too tired and wanted to get home soon.

These were huge, although it might not show in the photos.  I always forget to take a contrast picture, so that one can see the difference in size.  There were other variations of the plant, which were all equally as fascinating.

Just wish that somebody had dusted the cobwebs off it, but guess that adds to the charm of the plant.

Old Town Market

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Behind the main street, we stepped back in time to Old Town Market.

We passed by the stables, the blacksmith … and came upon the saloon.


I almost expected to see horses tied up outside.  In fact I think I did take a second look, just in case.  Must have been the heat, which addled my brain into looking for horses.
The local pottery barn – would have liked to bring those shoes back with me.
And a family of clay fireplaces? clay stoves?

Old Town San Diego

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Suitably fed and refreshed, we made our way to Old Town San Diego.   

Upon exiting the freeway (not the highway, I am reminded),  we sort of stumbled on the right road to get there after a couple of turns.  Luckily, we found parking just across from their ‘main street’.

I was told that there had been a lot of work and improvement in Old Town.  It had been cleaned up and there were more stalls and shops.

There weren’t too many people walking around – maybe it was because it was the middle of the afternoon.  Even my companions were fading fast, probably thinking that they could have been home and taking a siesta, instead of in Old Town.

I sit my uncle in front of this drinks stall – maybe he’ll have a drink and cool down, while I walk around.

I pop inside what looks to be the main general souvenir store and was greeted with this.   Funny, but a bit macabre.   Looking around, I saw other items along the lines of skull bracelets, skull heads on walking canes, skull sculptures, etc.  It reminded me of New Orleans.  I didn’t know Old Town also had these in their folk-lore?  Will have to read up on that.

Happily, on the other side of the store, there were other more colourful items for sale.

 

 

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