So I hung out in Balboa Park yesterday....

Took some more shots of the buildings

and architecture, but a lot of that last time.

 Still couldn't resist some.

 However, some flora and fauna were in bloom 

this go 'round.

Although the botanical gardens were closed.

Then there's the water lilies.....

 The curves and lighting.

 And then I chased the butterflies.

And they're were hangin' in gangs.

 I wasn't fast enough. I need to work on 

my quick draw, lol!

Today we're going to the airshow. 

Blue Angels. Swoon.

I need to be really quick. Sigh.

More to Old Town than meets the eye....

Cruising down San Diego Blvd.

 I went into b&w mode because I just had to.

There are amazing old graves

 that have stories.

 Sadly most in buried there were very young.

 And the graves are protected by these fences.

 And even though there are no graves beyond the

1800's, seeing chilcren and baby graves

still break your heart.
There were modern stuffed animals and toys
on them.

This is the Morman Battalion and not at all what 

I thought it would be.

It's an interactive movie/story of the mormon's march

to California. Its really an amazing story.

Then perched right next to the Morman  Battalion is

Heritage Park.

 And these beautiful victorian style houses and

below a Jewish Temple.

 I was a bit annoyed that as beautiful as they are

they were not open.

 I could've spent all day wandering around inside had

there been furnishings.

 The grounds are beautiful and I can imagine

families sitting outside enjoying them.

 The detail on the porches and railings are amazing.

Evidently these are being renovated to be

bed and breakfasts.

Today was Tall Ships day...

Starting with the Star of India.

Which I heard was haunted.

I didn't find nary a ghost.

And I was soooooo disappointed.

Lots of LINE>not ropes. LINES is the nautical term.

And really tall ladders. 

Of course the Russion Sub was off limits.

The Dolphin was available.

I passed on it. Because the ladder down was steep and narrow.

And my knee couldn't take the pressure with other peeps watching.

Here is the Russian sub.

This is a bunk on the tall ship HMS Surprise.

And I made another friend.

Sailing on these vessels were not for the faint of heart.

However, I made another friend and didn't even have to bribe him.

It was black and white day in Old Town until...

I turned AUTO on. AUTO it appears, does it's own thing.

However, there are some

B&W pix that rocked.

 From the middle of Old Town.

 To the old shops and museums.

 And this fellow seemed to be friendly.

And  I wanted to pet him.

But you never know. There was no one around

to say he was sweet on me.

 So this was windmill was dramatic with the gorgeous blue sky

 and I was switching back to

AUTO to check my settings because

I just couldn't get a handle on things in b&w.

 And then all would be well.

I was gonna hop the blue line train to downtown,

however, dramatic happenings were going on

and they shut the line down with a ton

of cops around and no one was talking.

AND nothing on the news. 

I'm smelling a consipiracy here.

So I hopped the green line back and went shopping at the mall.

Ahhh gee.

 How awful was that!

Winding roads through the California Mountains

is not for the faint of heart. Especially when my DH 

is channeling his inner Mario Andretti.

 We did stop at a lot of "vistas".

And getting out of the car as he screeches

to a halt at the edge is not for the vertically challenged.

 We blew through the town of Julian which we

visited the last time.

It was raining then, so no photo ops really presented itself.

So........we did a drive through.

 Julian is famous for its apple pies. 

Don't the storefronts look like they should be in a western?

 I was anticipating gunslingers, but found mostly bikers
and horse and buggies.

 These flowers were at a casino (and the name escapes me)

while DH was playing blackjack.

I was entertaining myself with flowers and panaromas.

Which is all good.

 We then blasted down the long and winding roads once again.

Once again imitating Mario,

we headed to the Hale Observatory on Mount Palomar.

We blew into the parking lot with minutes to spare.

Gasped our way up the walkway (remember we are 1 mile up)

walked up the 109841923841947 steps

to where the telescope lives, just in time 

for the lights to be shut off.

It was closing time.

 Does anyone know what that is? We saw them

on the mountain roads on the way down, from the mountaintop.

 Since we were on a roll in making things in the nick of time.

We decided to head to sea level and check out the

sunset on the Pacific Ocean.
*Dramatic pause* waiting for my ears to catch up.

And my camera battery died. A race to the car and a quick

switch. And wa-la - sunset!

Leaving on a jet plane.......

Stay tuned on this bat channel for lively updates

of what's happening now!

Please check out my new hub 

Creating Scrapbook pages without the perfect and/or no photographs.

Hope you enjoy, vote up and share on your facebook by

hitting the FB button. Thanks!

I Dog-earred page 20 in the Oct 2011 of CK Mag..........

and used it as the inspiration for my page "So Big." Okay, so Annie's not quite aware that she's all that with the "so big" gesture, but her laid back, relaxed position is perfect. Only the young can strike a pose like that and actually sleep.

If I slept in a pose like that all my appendages would be wailing in agony and I'd be curled in the fetal position harmonizing.
Oh to be young.

Cloud 9 was perfect for this and I think this line can be determined as stash. Added a couple of stamps, punches and QK spicy chicken. I love that font.

As you may know, or not, I have issues with depth perception. The hardest part, was when I whacked
the strips, some of them were not straight. Hard to believe I know, especially when I used a trimmer.
As a result, the strips are wonky and some finessing was

required.

I just loved the overall look of the original page. All the embelleshments are perfect touches. Artist: Nicole Pomeroy.

I'll be going back to the mag as I have A LOT more dog-earred pages where that came from.

Layout Swap......

is a new challenge over at Moments.

It's a fun challenge where you scrap someone else's photo

and then send the page to them.

April and I do it all the time, mostly just surprising the other.

It sometimes spurs my mojo having someone else's photo.

It's a lot of fun, and I love getting someone else's

scrapbooking perspective on one of my photos.

This is Pat's (our fearless leader) photo.

Its a beautiful landscape over Veteran's cemetery.

I love cemeteries as they are a font of information in

chasing down your ancestors. (You can read more about that

in my hub "Raking through the dead leaves"). shameless plug.

Anyway, I used a Heidi Swapp clock stamp with Studio G chalk ink

and created my own background on cardstock.

I wanted to keep it simple as to not take away from the beauty of the scene.

I also left 'journaling' areas for Pat to fill in as she desires.

Leftover from Rainy Manic Monday....

and these are the times I love leftovers.

This is the diecut challenge.

And the challenge should you choose to accept,

is to use diecuts creatively in your journaling.

So I did. (Except I cheated and used punches).

Hey! I had a story to tell.

Anyhoo.....if you look real real close.

It's another butterfly picture.

Shocking. I know.

Chased his badass down to the canal.

Which is filled with all sorts of other critters.

So you have to be on your toes.

Fortunately, they were polite that day.

Journaling: I love butterflies, and I will chase them from flower to flower just to get the shot. 

Sadly, it took me a long time to figure that journaling out.

*Rocking back on my heels feeling all righteous and stuff about how creative that is*

Because I'm gifted that way. (It's the little things)

Everyone snort in unison. 

lmao................. 

It was a rainy Manic Monday

over at Moments!

Challenges were thrown down! and completed.

WOO HOO!!!!

Love it when a plan comes through.

The first challenge I took on was to use squares as a border.

I broke out the foam stamps. *gasp*

I miss them and they are located right at my feet now.

So easy to get to and calling my name.

Well I had to answer and it shows I need practice.

ALOT of practice. Aw gee....

 The next page is the recipe challenge.

Orange pattterned paper, swirls (which is in my pp)

by My Mind's Eye *swoon*, at least 3 hearts and a photo of

someone you love.

Ta-da!

I actually completed a 3rd page - busy busyn - but

it didn't photograph well last night

and I'm too lazy to do it right now,

so it'll be tomorrow.

The suspense I know takes your breath away.

So stay tuned, same station,

same bat channel!