Holiday in CA

As I mentioned in the last post, the day after Christmas, B, one of her brothers and his wife, went on holiday.  I was hoping for a little warmer climate, but I wasn't the one that was choosing the site- although, I didn't want to spend 5 grand to go get a sunburn either.  The spot: northern California, in a little place called Irish Beach (around the Mendocino area).

It was beautiful, very relaxing (so relaxing I almost slipped into a coma). I will paste a few shots here.

This a panoramic shot from the deck of the home in which we were staying.  There was quite a steep hill down below, but there was a road not far away that we walked/drove down to the beach.  The waves relentlessly battered the shore day and night- what an awesome sound.  Although, I'm glad we were sleeping on the other side of the house else they would have kept we awake all night.

We arrived late at night, the day we arrived at our coastal getaway.  When I got up the next morning, I spied a couple of very rare visitors at the house across the road.... the illusive dearbird.

The next two shots are views as going down the road to the beach.

 There were ginormous mounds of kelp that would wash up on the shore which scattered the beach in all directions.  We were secretly hoping to find a body tangled up inside, a victim of some spy vs. spy action... sick!

 B's bro and his blushing bride.

 Awe!

 A lot of these shots are so Goonie-esk.  I've got to go watch that now...

 As the waves retreated, they would make some of the most spectacular designs.

 Man against the sea...  let me tell you, I was just a few feet from falling into the sea.  It was a one foot wide cliff.  It gave me the heebee geebees, but dang, what a shot!  This is the spot where we saw sea lions and whales spouting- cool!  It was such an amazing coast line.  So many different rock formations, cliffs, and wildlife.

 We were surprised that there were hummingbirds still hanging around here.  Well, the flowers are still growing, so why wouldn't they?  They are so fun to watch- quick little boogers and so dang cute!

"When the ebbing tide retreats along the rocky shoreline.  It leaves a trail of tidal pools in a short-lived galaxy.  Each microcosmic planet a complete society.  A simple kind mirror to reflect upon our own.  All the busy little creatures chasing out their destinies.  Living in their pools they soon forget about the sea..." Natural Science cpt

 Just had to put her feet in the water... because it was there.  How do you get a brain-freeze when you wade in cold water?   Hmmmmm...

This was a shot of old mill we saw on our drive through the Napa Valley.  We were amazed at the endless miles and miles of grape fields that stretched out through this beautiful country.  There were so many wineries, it was unbelievable.  And they all had taste-testing available- I doubt they had any "unleaded" varieties.

 

This little flyer caught my eye as I walked back from the beach one day.  It just so happened that we were going to be in town for the big crab fest- sweet!  It was quite pricey, but it was all about the experience, right?  This place we were in, really didn't seem like California, more like Oregon... with Oregonites.  We went to this feed and it was in some little town hall (a grange- Google it- interesting). So we go in to pay and we ask if they take credit cards.  They looked at us like we were growing two heads.  We went to the local grocery store and bought a few things and got cash back.

It was an all-you-can-eat affair... I like that!  All the crab, shrimp scampi, fish chowda and salad that you could stuff down your gullet. I of course skipped right over the rabbit food and went straight for the sea fare.  I pounded down so many crab, I almost walked out sideways!  So good.

As with all good things, they must come to an end- sad.  You know, I don't ever think I could get tired of watching as the "wheel in the sky" sinks slowly into the never-ending barrage of waves of the beautiful Pacific.  The sound is amazing- I don't want to go home to my  high-teens, low-20 deg environment... oh well. Oh, I forgot to mention that several nights, we hopped into the hot tub and soaked in the starlight and drank deeply from the ever-sweet Milky Way.  I enjoyed watching Orion track the ever-evasive Taurus across the expanse of space.  

When I gaze upon Space- that final frontier, I always get pensive... at least, it makes me think a lot  :)  How does God do it?  I don't know, but I want to find out so I can put a few worlds together myself.  I don't know, but it will be hard to rival the beauty that He's made for us.  Sometimes, it's the simple things in life...

Christmas 2013

Didn't get a lot of good pix this year for Christmas.  Needless to say we were like a vessel full of mariners, adrift on the endless paper-wrapping sea...

Everybody was here- Rory came from his Army assignment to spend a few weeks which was nice.  We even had Gma Little with us, as she is alone now.  I think all had a good time.  We did presents, played games, ate, then everybody went home.  Then the day after Christmas, Brenda and I went on holiday with one of her brothers and his wife.... which will be the next blog which I'll get to one of these days.

Whoa!  Was that for Mrs. Claus?  Shanaenea!

Happy Winter Solstice 2013!

Not sure how your winter has been going, and I know it's just the start of winter with the Winter Solstice, but it seems like we've had a month of winter already.  Been feeling more like January
'round here.  For weeks we've been down in the single digits and low teens.  With the snow and slick roads,   I've had my share of double-hour one-way commutes to work and back.... am I complaining?  Sorry.  Well, the other day, there had been freezing rain from about midnight to 5am.  I got up and thought I'd better go shovel the slush before it froze into inches of ice.  So I shoveled mine, my Dad's, then there is a particularly long sidewalk that boarders my Dad's field that leads up to the Jr. High (guess I'm volunteered to do it... and I love it when the snowplows blast all the road's snow up onto the sidewalk).  When I got done with that, it started to snow.  Now we've got ice covered with snow. I listened to the radio traffic reports to see how the commute was going.  Thought it would lighten up if I waited, but it kept getting worse.... so I took the day.  Why wouldn't I?  Since I had a little time on my hands (after I went back out and re-shoveled and used the snow blower on what I had done earlier... then I chopped wood for the fire, had lunch with my dad, cleaned the house, etc, etc), I went out and took a few pix- everything looked so wintery....?  Ice-covered everything- just couldn't pass up the chance to make a couple of my own Currier and Ives (I had been looking for some nice winter backgrounds for my computer and couldn't find ones I wanted- thought I'd make my own).  Hope you enjoy.

Also, thankfully with this storm, it has cleaned out the stinky inversion air so I can go out and run again... and not only that, so I can add to the pollution again with a lovely wood fire.  Nothing quite like a wonderful crackling blaze with Johnny Mathis Christmas playing in the background.  Mmmmmm mmm! I don't get much work done with that that combination! ;) ... what? (makes me want to cook some figgy pudding or bake cookies, you know).

I am very thankful for the snow and moisture we're getting- it is badly needed for when the days get warm and long.  Speaking of long, the days will start getting longer now- sweet!  Welcome back Mr. Sun!

Thanksgiving 2013

I looked forward to another Thanksgiving Day.  Not just because I wouldn't have to go to work for a couple of days... well, partly, but because all the family (except Emery) would be together at our place (Jake wasn't going to be here because of work, but he surprised us by getting off early because work was slow).

We tried something new with the turkey by putting it in a roaster.  It was probably an hour late, and it wasn't done then.  So we just ate the perimeter of the bird and put it back in to finish cooking after we ate (see the pic- notice the "blondness" of the fowl...we love living on the edge).  While worrying so much about the turkey getting cooked, we forgot to cook the yams- dang!  Oh well, there was plenty of food for several rounds.

After stuffing ourselves, we went around the table and took turns reading our lists of things we are grateful for.  If we said something that someone else had on their list, we had to cross it out.  So, we tried to think of the more obscure ones.  It was a lot of fun.... and insightful.

Since we were all so full, we couldn't plunge into the pie until quite late, but we still had to have some.... banana cream, lemon meringue, deep-dish apple, chocolate, and of course, pumpkin.  I was ready to "esplode".

Thanksgiving Day 2013- we have much to be thankful for, especially so much that is taken for granted.



Oh, I forgot to post some pix we took of Isla in the leaves... enjoy.