The Arboretum

I missed My World Tuesday this week so I thought I'd share a little something anyway. I usually post photos of flowers and plants and birds I see at the Arboretum but don't often show the actual grounds. I thought I'd share several shots of just some of the grounds around the Arboretum. These were taken during the summer of 2008. And I threw in a couple of the local birds.

Billy The Elephant

This is Billy the elephant at the Los Angeles zoo. There was a big stink not too long ago (last month), that ended up in the City Council's lap about whether or not to release Billy. A group was protesting about how bad the conditions were for Billy and that he should be set free.


If you look at these photos you can see how confined Billy is. I couldn't even get a good shot of him. But the L.A. Zoo is already in the middle of construction of a Pachyderm Forest that will be just over 6 acres, a MUCH bigger exhibit then this one shown which doesn't even give the elephant much room to walk around in.


The L.A. City Council voted to let the elephant stay and though I know there are good reasons to let Billy go, I think it only fair to let the zoo continue with this multi-million dollar exhibit which is a huge improvement over the current conditions. They are investing the money to improve the conditions and I know Billy will be happier in the larger, more natural environment, large enough to get him a friend.


If the conditions were to remain the same I would have agreed that Billy should be released. But personally, I would like the zoo to see if this new, larger environment will be better for Billy. I know it bummed me out to see him in the current little exhibit. I would like to see him in the bigger one and can't wait until it is completed. I can't wait to see Billy roaming around, actually roaming and not just standing there rocking back and forth.

My World Tuesday - Downtown Los Angeles

These are by no means "pretty pictures" but if you're a crafts person like me they'll be a wonder to your eyes. Part of downtown Los Angeles is what I call Buyer's Paradise where you can buy just about any and everything as discount. It's located in and around the garment district and you can buy luggage, toys, fabric, beads and jewelry making supplies, shoes, wedding and party supplies and flowers and floral supplies.

My post is focusing in on my favorite area that sells fabric and craft goodies.


In today's high priced market you can still find fabric for $1.00 a yard. You can find everything for sewing - fabric, thread, appliques, lace, ribbons, buttons, zippers - all at prices you would love!



Imagine blocks and blocks and blocks of stores with all of these goodies inside, all just waiting to be bought, taken home and played with by a creative soul.


This is not only a part of my actual world but my personal crafting world.



If you'd like to cyber-travel to little parts of the world or join the fun, click on the icon below for your boarding pass.

Shadow Shot Sunday

I've had my eye on this meme for a while but haven't posted anything under it yet so I'm pretty sure this is my first post for it. I took this one a while back and really liked it. I hope I haven't posted it before on this blog. I thought it was appropriate - there are shadows from tree's leaves, the shadows under the benches and even shadows in the background.



If you'd like to see more shadow shots or participate follow the link below:

I DID IT!

I've been thinking about selling my photos. Well, I finally set up a website with my photos for sale. I'd appreciate any comments and/or suggestions and you can be honest if there's something about it you don't like. tbrucephotos.smugmug.com.

This is my great-nephew. He wasn't feeling good yesterday and while he had his head down I took this shot.

Ports O'Call

Just a few more pictures from my last trip to the beach. The first is a statue that greets you at the entrance.


This is just one of the many boats docked there.


And this is one of the star fish I saw as I was standing at the railing looking at the boats. I've never seen star fish except at the aquarium so I thought it was pretty awesome to see this just hanging out at the edge of the water.


If you're interested in seeing a couple more pictures of this place you can see them on my other blog Down Around L.A.

Where Lamp Post Go To Die

I went up to the lake today and found a section of it I'd never been to before. I'll post some shots of that later but, while there I came across some old lamp posts. They've been replacing them in the park and I guess these had not been picked up yet for disposal. Me and my bright ideas, I thought I might get some interesting shot from them. Here are some of them: