My freesia are currently sprouting these beautiful white and red-yellow flowers in the patio. I just love springtime!

From WikiPedia:

Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan.

The genus was named in honor of Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (1795-1876), German physician.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Vincent Van Gogh. We were fortunate enough to have been able to see many of his works a few years ago when “Van Gogh’s Van Goghs,” his paintings from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, were exhibited in Los Angeles.

One of the most famous of Van Gogh’s works is “Starry Night.” Click to enlarge.

From InfoPlease:

Born in 1853, Van Gogh’s works are perhaps better known generally than those of any other painter. His brief, turbulent, and tragic life is thought to epitomize the mad genius legend.

During his lifetime, Van Gogh’s work was represented in two very small exhibitions and two larger ones. Only one of Van Gogh’s paintings was sold while he lived. The great majority of the works by which he is remembered were produced in 29 months of frenzied activity and intermittent bouts with epileptoid seizures and profound despair that finally ended in suicide.

There are three markers at this overlook: one for Portuguese Bend, another for Catalina Island and a third for the Nature Preserve just below. The wind was blowing and there was a little wind chill as we posed for this snapshot. Otherwise, it was a beautiful day to enjoy the views and take some photos.

UPDATE: I took some video along the way . . .
Continue reading » Portuguese Bend Scenic Overlook

it’s not one of my best, but with the wind blowing at 30 knots and Catalina looming in the distance, it delivers a pretty good panoramic view of Trump’s Western links. The rest of the course is to the left of the flag and below intervening terrain. Click to view the full panorama.

We had to do a few personal chores today, not the least of which was to get Verna’s sutures removed. After that, I took my wheels to the shop for maintenance, so while we were waiting for the work to be finished, we jumped in Verna’s convertible and went over the Palos Verdes Peninsula to look at the waves and feel the gusting winds blowing at near gale force. She got this nice shot of the Point Vicente Lighthouse with Santa Catalina Island in the distance. Whitecaps and choppy seas can be seen in the Catalina Channel. Click the picture for larger view.