The tomatillo, also known as the husk tomato, jamberry, husk cherry, Mexican tomato, or ground cherry, gets these pretty little flowers before producing fruit. In Mexico, tomatillo means “little tomato.” We have a bunch of these in the garden this year. Click for the full-sized picture.
Phalaenopsis Orchid
Known as the “moth orchid†due to its resemblance to some tropical moths, the phalaenopsis is native to the Asiatic tropics, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. This lovely and delicate plant has been a welcome adornment to our kitchen counter under the skylight for several months. Click for a bigger view of these beautiful flowers.
Sunflower Centerpiece
This week these have been decorating the living room. At a certain time each morning (if the clouds are gone) they are bathed in the sunlight – great for taking their pictures!
Marriott Manhattan Beach Golf Club
During the after-lunch stroll, I walked out behind the Marriott and took this panorama of the course. Very nice day – sunny and nice breezes. Click on the image for the full-sized panoramic view.
Parker Dam
One of the places we visited on our recent vacation was Parker Dam on the Colorado River between California and Arizona. I dug up some facts about the dam from Wikipedia:
Parker Dam is a concrete gravity-arch dam which spans the Colorado river, at a point 155 miles (250 km) downstream of Hoover Dam. It is 320 feet (98 meters) high, 235 feet (72 meters) of which are below the riverbed, making it the deepest, although not the highest, dam in the world. The dam’s primary functions are to act as a reservoir, and to generate hydroelectric power. The dam straddles the border between California and Arizona. The reservoir behind the dam is called Lake Havasu and can store 647,000 acre-feet (798,000,000 m³) or over 210 billion US gallons of water.
Image above right: Verna looks for photo ops below the dam. Click on the image for a panoramic image downstream from the dam.
The power plant has four Francis turbines with a combined capacity of 120 MW. Each turbine weighs 60,000 pounds. The head is 72 feet (22 meters). Half of the electricity the plant produces is used by the Metropolitan Water District to pump water along the Colorado River Aqueduct, and the rest is sold to utilities in California, Arizona and Nevada. The generation of power is limited by a requirement to keep the water level of Lake Havasu between 440 to 450 feet (134 to 137 meters) for recreational purposes.
Image above left: Upstream side of the dam. Click on the image for a panoramic image upstream and a view of Lake Havasu.
Lake Havasu is the water source for the Colorado River Aqueduct. The aqueduct is operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies water to almost all cities in the greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas. The district paid for nearly the entire cost of the dam, but it is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Lake Havasu is also the water source for the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct (“CAP”). The project is designed to provide water for irrigated agricultural areas, as well as municipal water for several Arizona communities, including the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson.
Respectable Woman
Our weekly trip to the range consisted of the usual faire; a couple of our .38 caliber revolvers, a 9mm pistol and our 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. This week, we borrowed a Glock 26 9mm pistol from the range for a ‘test drive’ since we’re thinking about adding one to our collection.
I shot some video of Verna when she was firing her 20 gauge and, later, when we were trying out the 9mm Glock. This reminded me of a cubicle placard that Verna used to have – it said,
“I am a respectable business woman – do not [screw] with me.”
So I went with that thought and put this video together.
