The Safari Park Yet Again!

I believe when I purchased our annual pass I warned you that I would be posting about the San Diego Zoo Safari Park a lot. I usually keep my promises, so here we go again. Same wonders just with different, fantastic company!

Our NoCal son and family are visiting for two weeks and since he had work to do, my daughter-in-law and the kiddos went on an animal explore, just the four of us.
All the animals made wonderful appearances and delighted us all.


On the tram, we had our own private section which allowed us to run to either side depending on where the animals were best viewed. What a visual treat.







In Walkabout Australia, we were able to observe kangaroos being trained (to do what, we weren't quite sure but it was exciting to watch).
We visited the gorillas when we arrived and right before departing. What a satisfying show.

And since we were with a 1½ and 3 year old, a stop at the Petting Coral was a must!
Oh man, we all agreed that today could not have been better. Sunshine, active animals, and great company... What a day!

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Wine & Tattoos...

For our last full day with Chuck and Hazel, I planned a diverse afternoon here in Temecula.

My choice for our lunch was at The Restaurant at Ponte, an award-winning al fresco restaurant surrounded by stunning vineyards and manicured gardens (on non rainy days).
Wine Country begins just 1 mile from our front door. Our selection was vast but we all agreed, I chose well.


For those of us who carry purses, the loan of a protective basket, while dining, was a very nice touch.


Our outing concluded at the Temecula Valley Museum for the current exhibit, TATTOOED and TENACIOUS: Inked Women in California's History.
Today, more women than men have tattoos. Almost a quarter of American women have permanent ink, compared to just 19% of men. Younger people are even more likely to be tattooed, as more than a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 40 have skin art.
But, what about the first women to get tattooed? Who were they, and why did they get inked?
They came from across the U.S. and crossed class lines. From the upper-class woman who followed a trend, to the working-class woman who worked in a sideshow, American women have always had an intimate and fascinating relationship with tattoos - and in California, it was no different.
So popular were tattoos that you could get your photos developed while getting your skin art! Wild.
Here we were introduced to Artoria Gibbons, an American tattooed lady. She worked at carnival sideshows and at circuses for more than 35 years. She was the first tattooed lady to perform in her tattoo artist husband's local carnival sideshow. Her tattoos, which covered 80% of her body, imitated paintings by Raphael and Michelangelo. She was one of the highest-paid tattooed ladies of her time and continued to perform until her death in 1985. Wow.


The biggest difference between then and now was this dress. Society women easily covered tattoos with fashionable dresses.
Today's tattoos are on display proudly.


It wasn't just inked women we met. Interestingly, this tattooed fellow, Captain Costentenus, a self-identified Greek Albanian, was the first fully tattooed man to become a national celebrity.
In a striking combination of blue and red, the Greek's tattoos “consisted of 388 symmetrically arranged and closely interwoven images which covered his entire body, including his face, eyelids, ears and (genitals). According to Alexandrinos, he received his tattoos in Chinese Tartary (the general location of present day Burma) as punishment for his part in “unspeakable crimes” during a rebellion against the king. It seems that Burmese lettering also constituted his tattooing in the interstices between his fingers. When asked what the writing said, his stock answer was that it branded him “the greatest rascal and thief in the world.” Wild stuff here in Temecula. What an interesting exhibit!
No visit is complete without a visit to the Children’s Touch History Exhibit.
There is nothing like being a kid again with one's big brother. Yee-haw! What a fun, albeit too short, visit.

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Pasadena Part 2: The Gamble House

After our brief explore of Old Pasadena, we returned for an interior tour of the Gamble House.

"On this tour, your docent will lead an exploration of the house and its history through rooms lined with rare woods, featuring handcrafted details, fixtures, and furnishings designed by the architects and unique to the house. The Gamble House exemplifies the work of Greene & Greene, illuminating the themes in their work that contributed significantly to Southern California’s early 20th century artistic heritage and built environment."
I love this family photo of David and Mary Gamble with their three sons, left to right: Cecil, Sidney, and Clarence.
The essential nature of architecture by Greene & Greene begins with intense attention to detail and craftsmanship, as their bungalows mark the height of the American Arts and Crafts style. The brothers were inspired by the concept of total design, or gesamtkunstwerk, which was stressed in the German-designed rooms at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase International Exposition in St. Louis. When they met David and Mary Gamble, they already had developed a list of rich couples who commissioned them to design their houses, with generous budgets and relatively free reign.
"An architect is a builder employing the process of art," Charles Greene once wrote. This is proven to be their governing belief, not only in the final product but also throughout the process. The brothers were known to veer from the initial blueprints, showing that they were enthralled with transition and process, the blueprints as a point of departure rather than a set of instructions.
The drawings of the house were completed in February of 1908, the groundbreaking occurred in March, and ten months later the house was completed and the first custom-built piece of furniture delivered. The family moved in immediately, and the house and all of its specially designed furnishings were officially finished in 1910.
The early projects of Greene and Greene reflected the traditional tastes of their clients, but in time they achieved recognition for developing the California bungalow to a high art, as well as for creating houses with the quality of fine furniture. The Gamble House represented an American-style which sat amidst an abundance of imitations and interpretations of classical European buildings, the influence for many mansions at the time. It was designed to be very suitable for the southern California climate, with a sleeping porch and beautiful transition spaces from the inside to outdoor patios, a garden and a pond.
The developed style of Greene and Greene is very distinguishable in the design world, as their Japanese inspirations are incorporated into stain glass windows, details carved and formed with wood, joinery and joint pieces traditional to architecture in Japan. The emphasis on the horizontal line, the use of modular units, a taste for the asymmetrical, the absence of clutter, extensive areas of unpainted wood, a preponderance of natural and subdued colors, a close relationship with the outdoors were all key elements of Japanese architecture that are incorporated into the Craftsman style.

The strong ties to the outdoors are brought to the interior as well, through flowers and trees which are engraved in the windows, doors and lanterns. Indigenous Japanese shapes appear throughout the house, in the contour of the dining room table, the cloud lift in the transom bar of each window, the recessed handles on drawers and the ebony frame of the master bedroom furniture.

The attention to detail was incredible. I know this is one of those places in which each visit would bring new found discoveries.


Nice touch having Proctor & Gamble products in the kitchen cupboards.





There are also European inspired aspects to the design; the cantilevered second story over the front terrace, window boxes and shingles on exterior walls, the long roof lines and Swiss-like exterior elevation south of the front door, the living room inglenook, and the Gothic fireplace in the den.
Mary’s younger sister, Julia, also came to live with the family. David and Mary lived in the house until their deaths in 1923 and 1929, respectively. Julia remained in the home until her death in 1944. Eldest son, Cecil and his wife, Louise, then moved in.


Her sleeping porch was enviable.

Even the garage was stunning.

In 1966, the Gambles almost sold the home to a couple who intended to paint the interior teak and mahogany woodwork white. The family immediately realized the artistic and architectural importance of this home and deeded it to the city of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the University of Southern California Department of Architecture.  What a treasure and what a great day in Pasadena!

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