Rolly polly fish heads...

My tanker truck.

Normally when I shop for my groceries at the Seafood City Market -- 25 miles away -- I bring a tanker truck. Well, not really a tanker truck, that's an exaggeration, but I and my husband, buy a lot since we drive that far for our supply. We get a lot of seafood like bangus, pompano, tilapia, shrimps, catfish, and etc. Last weekend, however, we stayed away from tilapia, shrimps and catfish as most of these come from China. Although the importation of these (from China) have already been blocked by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) we'd rather not get any. It's best to be safe than eat fish loaded with whatever they found in those seafood. Click here and here for more.

"My trip is canceled?"

Now all seafood at the store were marked the country of origin; wild caught or farm raised. I never knew before that they come from countries like Vietnam, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Philippines and Taiwan. Some are US products. Mussels that I usually get come from New Zealand marked clearly on the package.

I wandered to the dry goods area to get a pack of Shiitake mushrooms (dried), and lo and behold, it's from...you know...and all brands. I'm not sure about it anymore, so I passed it. I'm not going to use any Shiitake for now.

The veggies I supposed are mostly local. If not it probably did not come from that far. There were some things I bought that were Philippine products...jars of halo-halo mix - kaong, makapuno, munggo beans, white beans and langka.

Halo-halo would be great to cool us off these hot...hot summer days.

Cute

This cute little girl is so fun to watch. I don't know what language the song is, but it doesn't matter...she's just so cute. She does all the hand gestures, and facial expressions. She would make a good singer someday.

CRASH!!!!

While watching TV last night I heard a loud thud outside. I went to investigate and I found a bird on the ground lying on its side. It hit the glass wall of the house. The poor little thing was knocked out cold. Its left eye was closed as it had hit the wall the most.

I picked it up; put it on the patio table and gave it some water. It sat there motionless, but now conscious. My husband suggested sprinkling it with water to waken it up. I did that with a spray bottle, but it just sat there. I left it for a while, and then when I came back I found it had vomited.

It was getting late, soon it will get dark and I'm afraid that if it's still unable to fly, a raccoon, or a cat would get to it and...gulp...eats it up. Poor thing, it would be defenseless, a sitting duck to all those predators.

Okay, little bird, here's my phone and call your mom.
It's getting late and you're not home yet. She's now worried.

I took a wicker basket to put it in; to hang it up at one of the pergola beams so it would be out of reach of a prowler. Perhaps by tomorrow morning it would feel much better, regain its strength and it could fly. When I picked it up it started to struggle; it walked a bit. I put it back in the basket, but it hopped and walked to the edge of the table. When I turned my back it was gone. It had managed to fly...and I just hope it's strong enough to get away from those predators lurking in my backyard.

Still Sizzling...

We had another scorching day today here in Southern California. The temperature hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit; it was 90 degrees in the shade by late afternoon. This went on with other states east of California, i.e., Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Arizona. We were asked to conserve energy to prevent power outage that would lead to rolling black outs. Mostly I stayed downstairs where it was much cooler. I have taken one of my easels down to the game room so I can do a little bit of painting. But the heat was unbearable, I didn't feel like doing anything. A little exertion of effort was so tiring it was best to stay motionless.

How I wish I could lounge in a hammock by the seaside and read a good book; drink ice cold buko and lull myself to sleep. Aah, dream on.

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My husband and I had gone to Redondo Beach, a 50 miles drive down south, last Saturday. It was cool there. The breeze coming from the ocean was so refreshing. After having lunch we took a walk at the pier and watched people fish; fish were not biting. We walked down to the boardwalk and stopped by the ice cream place and we had our usual one scoop ice cream which we shared. The young fellow who usually serves us wasn't there. He quit and went back to school. He knew me already and always had an extra cup, spoon and napkin for me. Two ladies took his place: a mother and her daughter. After we finished our ice cream we headed to our car and drove back to our hot, hot, hot place, near the desert.

Fish were not biting.
The beach was crowded with people cooling off from the heat.

A family filleting their catch.

At the upper level, we watched people stroll the boardwalk.

A boat with a very familiar name.

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Right now, I feel like dipping in a pool. I wouldn't care if I get toasty brown...aarrgh, it's just too darn hot. When is this going to end?