I received this cactus as a gift, and was so impressed with the beautiful flower it produced, I wanted to post it. I am not sure the type of cactus or succulent this plant is, however, the flower that was produced is a vibrant pink and is beautiful

There are a couple of other buds on it, and I am sure it will bloom again soon. The flower only lasted about a week, and then if fell off.

The photographs below are a ranunculus that grows from a  bulb. These flowers typically bloom in spring. I took these photographs while on broker caravan in Dover Shores in Newport Beach.

On another broker preview, I took some additional photos of some flowers.

Thought I would share some beautiful flowers with you today!

This is hilarious. You have to watch the video of this 7 month old puppy named Mona who ran across the baseball field at a minor league baseball league game. Players were chasing her as well as other support staff are chasing Mona., and the players were chasing here.

As a result of her running across the field, she was adopted by a family from Springdale Animal Shelter, and the next family in line who wanted to adopt Mona, adopted two other dogs. So it can attributed to Mona that she helped find permanent homes for herself and two of her friends.

Enjoy the video! It brings a smile to your face.

Patrick is my seven year old Irish Setter, and he is a character. He loves going to the beach, swimming, chasing sticks, and just overall has a great personality. Patrick is definitely part of the family.

I thought I would share photos of him today because he is Irish, and his name – Patrick!

You might want to visit one of the Newport Beach Irish Pubs for some corn beef and cabbage today! Enjoy the day and be safe!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day Everyone!

The 2010 Olympics Women’s Figure Skating was awe inspiring last night on February 23, 2010. The Canadian skater Joannie Rochette took the ice with a very heavy heart. Joannie’s Mother had unexpectedly passed away the prior Sunday of a heart attack. There were no symptoms or warnings. It was not even clear if Joannie Rochette was going to skate her short program and compete in the Olympics.

However, last night, Joannie Rochette did skate her short program at the 2010 Olympics and she skated her personal best. She landed all of her jumps including her triple lutz, triple toe loop combination. She skated with grace and elegance, and in my opinion skated a perfect program. At the end of her program, Joannie clutched her face and broke into tears. The fact that she skated under these circumstances was incredible, and that she skated such a clean program was amazing.

Joannie Rochette had a standing ovation at the beginning of her program, and at the end. I think the world was supporting her, and admiring her incredible courage and strength to perform a difficult routine under such circumstances. I know that I was brought to tears by her routine, and will definitely continue to admire this incredibly strong and courageous young woman.

View Joannie Rochette’s short program here. It is a beautiful and emotional program.

My oldest daughter Heather previously figure skated competitively, and as a result, we shared a very strong bond. With the many hours of practice, early mornings at ice rinks, landed jumps, missed jumps, and competitions we shared many experiences (including tears and laughter) that I know we both enjoyed and will always remember. The figure skating definitely shaped who she is a person.

So as a result, we both appreciate the incredible amount of effort it takes to become as skilled a skater as Joannie Rochette is. I am sure she had a strong bond with her Mother. Her father was watching her performance with tears in his eyes, a grieving man. My heart goes out to this young woman who lost her Mother – what an inspiring person.

I am looking forward to her long program on Thursday evening.

Southern California had a week long of rain last week, and again it dumped on us in Newport Beach yesterday. Although it may be inconvenient when it rains, the beauty of the snow on the mountains is incredible after it clears up. The air temperature has been down and the snow fell on lower elevations.

These are views of the mountains this morning looking out from my deck in Newport Shores. It is pretty awesome to wake up and look out and see the snow capped mountains in the distance from the beach.

If I can answer any questions about Newport Beach Real estate, Newport Shores homes for sale, please contact me.

Phone or Text: 949.280.0681

Email: Spaxson@roadrunner.com

Seriously, is this Southern California? The weather has been unusual and extremely wet and treacherous over the last few days. The weathermen and news media have been fairly accurate about predicting the storms. Yesterday was unbelievable. It started raining in Newport Beach at about 1:00 pm and then the rain became torrential. I was in a meeting in the Prudential office, and my colleague commented that the rain was going side ways! I turned to look, and it was incredible!

As it turns out, there were water spouts, and reports of tornadoes in the Orange County waters. There was incredible damage to buildings in Costa Mesa including Play it Again Sports on Harbor Boulevard – the windows were blown out. Boats were overturned in Huntington Harbor, and the streets flooded in Long Beach and parts of Costa Mesa. Roofs were ripped off buildings, and trees toppled. The ground is so saturated that trees are falling down, and with the winds. Today, I was at a home inspection, and on the way home I had to navigate around a fallen tree in Newport Coast right off San Joaquin by Saint Laurent. There were pine needles in the mirror.

Cars are stalling as the drivers attempt to drive through water that is way too deep!!! And the power is surging, as I noticed my computer was off and all the clocks were flashing!

It is supposed to rain from now Wednesday to Friday non-stop.

Yesterday after all that crazy weather, there was some beauty to it, as the wind blew away the clouds and as a result of the moisture in the air, a beautiful rainbow appeared.

More pictures will be posted of the surf and wind.

But, for now, be safe, and don’t try and drive through that water which is way too deep!

Here it is December 28th and the rush of Christmas planning and preparing for the day is behind us. It was definitely an enjoyable day and time of year and I am still enjoying the holidays with friends and family. I love the decorations, holiday lights, and all the festivities that go along with the holiday. This is the Balboa Pavilion which was taken during the Newport Harbor Parade of Lights.

It is such a wonderful time of year to enjoy, and appreciate and be thankful for all that is in your life.

Here is a video that makes me laugh, and this is my dog Patrick!

And of course, puppies always make me smile. My neighbor got a Bernese Mountain dog puppy for Christmas!

I hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday season with friends and family.

Here is wishing a happy and healthy New Year!

Newport Shores in Newport Beach is home to many creatures including racoons, skunks (bummer for my dog Patrick), possums, herons, seagulls, ducks, wood ducks, and pelicans visit the Newport Shores area in the winter. It is always a treat when the swan comes to visit. She comes about once a year, and she is pretty tame, and will swim to you and enjoys eating bread.

Yesterday, this beautiful swan was outside our deck, and my daughter was standing there with her bird sitting on her shoulder - affectionally named B Bird (ok – I know we are not that creative – but it works for him). B Bird is a brown headed parrot who is a hand fed baby, and is very tame, and about a year old ( and is lacking in any outside survival skills – like I said – a hand fed baby).

Suddenly, B Bird wanted to be a real bird and take flight – seriously right off my daughter’s shoulder and half way across the canal in Newport Shores. Well, B Bird didn’t sink (thank goodness), but he doesn’t have webbed feet to help him swim. So my Daughter Heather (the lifeguard) had to use to her life-guarding skills to rescue him yesterday. Off the edge of the deck into 60 degree water, she swam to get B Bird in her clothes (ripping her favorite tee shirt at the same time).

And the swan booked it out of there when my daughter jumped into the water. But I do see that the swan is still around today.

B Bird was very wet, and shivering, and had never been that wet before. We dried him and made sure he was warm, and then B Bird had a visit to the vet to make sure he was going to be ok from his swim. $140 later, B Bird is on precautionary antibiotics, but is just fine. No harm, no foul (no pun intended!). B Bird just wanted to be a real bird like the other birds!

So – another day in Newport Shores.