Bud's Annual Burning 

Our friend Bud has a tradition in January of gathering a bunch of Christmas Trees and assorted other combustible materials for a VERY LARGE BIG BURN at Fiesta Island. We got an invitation this year and it was quite fun. Good people and a VERY BIG BONFIRE. The first pile lit had at least 4 Christmas trees in it along with some large wood from a growing tree that was chopped down and donated for the cause. The first photo is the beginning. Yes, it started this way. This will show you how fast a Christmas tree that has been hanging around in your home for a couple weeks will burn. There were at least 15 trees there to burn, maybe more. There was one that was very fresh and took much longer to burn than most. Most were completely burned in less than 90 seconds. The wood that was from a neighbors tree burned slow and hot and provided an excellent base for the fire. I imagine that pit still has hot coals in it 24 hours later. Those of you who have been around a fire with me know that I like to dance around the fire moving with a long shutter. You'll see some of what I came away with in the gallery I put up here.

The Burrowing Owl

Along the San Diego River, I found a Burrowing Owl. I passed by it a couple times on my daily walk. Since it seemed like it had made a home there at least for the time being, I bought my camera down and took some photos. I had fun the couple days I took my camera with me. We'll see how long he or she hangs around the area. It seems quite content. It isn't bothered at all being a mere 10 to 15 feet off the road. There aren't a bunch of cars that drive Old Sea World Dr. but the ones that do, drive way too fast. The only time I saw this bird get nervous was when an Osprey flew overhead. It didn't like that. This wee owl is about 8" tall at the most.

This owl is a small bird but look at that beak!

The other profile

Just about as straight on as I could during this visit

I do believe I am boring this owl.

The second day I was able to go around to the back side and get a peek at the legs of the owl.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday I went to a cake exhibit at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I was all ready to sample lots of cake. Unfortunately, there wasn't any cake to sample! I sampled a couple wee pieces of cake pop. But I was ready for some full on cake tasting. I went with my dear Sweet Sara and my sister so all was not lost. It is always a good time when I get to spend time with them. I share with you here the few cakes they had on display for a competition. I have to admit that these types of cakes do not look good to eat. They are amazing works of art. There is no doubt about that. I think the fondant is unedible. It serves the purpose of allowing these beautiful works of art, though.

This one was my favorite of the bunch. All are impressive and take incredible talent. Impressive work.

Haha Hats Sale

The San Diego Hat Company has a sale every year in October. They put out boxes of assorted hats. There are hats of every size and shape for every gender. Nothing is sorted and it adds to the fun of the hunt the way they are just jammed into boxes. You never know what you'll find in a particular box. My sister and I hadn't been in a few years. We made up for that on this visit by having extra fun.

We didn't purchase all of the hats we tried on. Part of the fun is taking photos of these crazy hats while we are hunting for the ones to bring home.

The gigantic brim on some of the hats is large enough to provide shade for the whole body. But how does anyone wear these?

The next two hats are ones that I wish I had taken home with me. They were both way too hot to be practical in San Diego. But they sure have style!

Counting up the hats.

The hats tried to leap off the check out table. We had a pile of them and thoughts of the perfect person to have them on their heads. 

On our way out. We are loaded down. I have bags of hats on each shoulder and one in my hand. My sis strikes a pose with hats in hand to help tell the story.

I've shared just about all of the photos that I took at the sale here. There are a few more in the hats gallery if you feel like taking a peek at more crazy hats. We go on the first day, first thing in the morning of the sale. Retailers are known to swoop in and buy large amounts of hats when the sale opens to resell. They can sell them for 10 times the sale price, so it is a wise business move. I think we came home with some really wonderful hats and had incredible fun too.

Comic Con San Diego California July 22, 2016

A visit to the colorful characters that flock to Comic-Con is always a fun way to spend the afternoon with a camera. It is challenging. There are many photographers there and a ton of people. You have to shoot fast and take what you can get quickly. There weren't as many wild costumes this year as in years past. I was happy to run into Beatle Juice though, the guy had the voice and mannerisms down pat. I'll post a few photos here and you can see much more in the gallery of photos at my site. Take a look at the gallery and you'll find many more interesting characters.

Group Shoot at Leo Carrillo Ranch

It was a beautiful day at Leo Carrillo Ranch. I was traveling light and didn't bring a long lens. There are always peacocks at the Ranch but I figured I'd taken their photos before so I'd focus elsewhere. I couldn't help myself once I was around these birds strutting their stuff. You can learn more about the ranch here. The peacocks in all their glory are in this post.

Peacocks like to hang out on the tops of buildings. Anyone that has visited the San Diego Zoo has viewed them on top of buildings there. It is different at Leo Carrillo. The peacocks roam free and have a different attitude toward people. They are very relaxed.

The back side of a male peacock is just as impressive as the front side in my humble opinion. No matter which way they turn they are beautiful.

There is even a white peacock at Leo Carrillo Ranch. It was off in the distance. We waited for awhile hoping that the white peacock would fan it's feathers. We were rewarded the wait.

Pure white from all directions.

There are always interesting flowers at the ranch.

Leo Carrillo has many things at the small ranch to make photographing  fun. There are only a few structures but they are interesting looking.

It was a fun visit. If you haven't visited Leo Carrillo before, I recommend it. You can't beat the price. Free admission! I have a few more photos from the day you will find here, at my Zenfolio site.