My morning walk

I have been dealing with allergies/a cold for a couple of days, so I decided not to push myself to really run today. Instead I threw on my VFFs, hung my camera across my body, left the Sansa at home and went out to just enjoy myself for an hour. It might not have done anything for my cardio fitness, but that's okay with me.

I really seriously don't think I can ever go back to all pavement-running. There's no street that can feed my soul like a morning in the woods does.

Intoxication

I'm in full-on yard work mode right now. It's a neverending job, of course, but in the spring it is fun. It's not too hot, and I'm busy thinking of what my gardens could look like, with just the right amount of work and money and landscape know-how. (I don't really have the ability to follow through on that, but that's another post, to be tackled in August some time.)

But for now, I have my favorite bits of spring, the first buds on my roses, the little spinach leaves, the blossoms on peas, and my irises. These flowers are all gifts from other people's gardens, and I love them. While weeding this bed yesterday, I was accompanied by their wonderfully sweet scent, wishing that they'd stick around all summer long. However, in looking pictures of them, I am reminded of the constant problem of living where I do-- no picture of prettiness is without the ugliness of urban(ish) living.

Here, a photo of them shows off my neighbors' garbage cans and pool and shed. I've planted some roses near the alley to try to screen this from view, but it will be some time before they are large enough to do any good. I tried pictures from other angles, and the ones with our house in the background aren't much better. I'll fix that this year, right?

Nom Nom Nom. Doves are yummy

or so say the owls in my back yard this morning.


I've been watching them for an hour now, and they are still eating. There are two kids and one grown up. I wonder if this is the same owl I got a shot of last spring. Either way, I love their hoo hoo, ho hoooo sounds at twilight. I love that I have enough trees that they call this place home. I don't even mind that I'm going to have to clean up dead bird bones later today. I am blessed to live in an area that hasn't managed to wipe out all of the native species that belong here.


Update: I emailed the Illinois Raptor Center, and they very quickly responded to my query. Those are Eastern Screech Owls. I had been thrown off because my birds didn't have big ear tufts, but as it turns out, they can flatten them down sometimes, too. As an aside, I learned that the screech owls who live at the Center are named Mulder and Sculley. Their names match their mysterious nature, I suppose. :)

A few last vacation pictures

On Thursday we went to Wild Things, a wild animal ranch. We got to see several big cats, a hyena, a baboon, etc. Unfortunately, most of them are behind chain link fences, so the pictures aren't great. But we did get to get some good views of elephants and ostriches. The zebra would only point his butt at us and poop in our general direction. At least he didn't projectile pee on the tour leader like the bengal tiger did.

Well crap-- blogger is being pissy about photo uploads, and I don't feel like messing with Flickr at the moment. I'll try to fix this up again later.

Fun with microclimates

Yesterday, we had a leisurely breakfast, then headed out to drive a bit on Highway 1 and take a gander at Big Sur. First we stopped at a Safeway to buy some new sunglasses for Nige. I didn't want him squinting all day and complaining about the sun (rightfully so-- it's really sunny out here). I got stuck in one of those express lanes that was anything but. First there was the lady who could not figure out how to use her credit card. I am not exaggerating when I say that she had to try the whole swiping process at least 5 separate times. I have no earthly idea why the checker didn't do it for her at some point, but whatever. The next guy didn't have a Safeway shopper card and needed one to get the sale price on his three packages of Starburst candies. The checker started off to the Customer Service desk to get a card application form, when an angel in the form of the next gal in line offered the use of her Safeway card. Nigel does love his glasses, though.

After that 20-plus minute stop, we were on our way. First, we stopped in the Carmel Highlands area and realized that it is very very windy there by the coast. Luckily, we all had appropriate jackets. Nora was afraid to get out of the car on this stop, as she felt like we were atop a sheer cliff. We weren't, but I can understand how her 6-year-old brain came to that conclusion.


After a while of driving around and finding that the Henry Miller Museum was closed, we stopped for lunch. It was only a few miles from our original stop, but holy crikies was the weather different! It was probably 90 degrees and still. We ate at a bakery/sandwich shop, then spent a few minutes enjoying the cacti and other succulents in the area.



We got back in the car, feeling very thankful for the air conditioning, and set back off for points north. We drove over some really tall bridges, most of them built in the early 1930's. Now I feel the need to understand 80-year-old road-building technology. They certainly didn't have the giant machinery that we see laying mile after mile of Interstate highway these days.


Then we got out at another point to take in the view. Again, the jackets went on. The cool wind was definitely back. But this time Nora got out and really enjoyed seeing the coastline. She said, with a giant smile on her face, "I'm sorry that I didn't get out the first time." Nigel remained inside the car, though, as he was having fun "driving" it.


We decided it was time to head back to Carmel and go stick our feet in the ocean. It was the first ocean-touching for both of the kids. That water is c-c-c-cold! But the air was warm everyone had fun. One rogue wave came up and soaked my pants from the knees down. That'll teach me not to wear shorts like everyone else. After a bunch of playing in the sand, we headed off to find the yarn store (nothing fabulous to report there, though) and come back home.


Unfortunately, vacation tragedy struck later last night. Nora has come down with a stomach bug. She's currently snuggling with daddy on the couch, and watching cartoons. We were supposed to go to a wild animal park (complete with lions and elephants) but I doubt that will happen at this point. Ive got a good book, and two yarn projects to tend to, and it's a sunny day. Nigel seems to feel fine, so I'm guessing he'll spend a lot of time on the swing set and slide outside.

Till tomorrow, I bid you adieu.

Pictures from Yesterday

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is as fabulous as I remember it. Maybe even better, because we got to watch the kids see it all. I didn't have offspring yet the first time I was there. We spent most of the day at the aquarium, watching otters and crabs and tuna and hammerhead sharks, touching limpets and starfish and bat rays.

"Hey Look! It's the fish from Nemo!"

Penguins are so cool to look at. I could have spent all day just going back and forth between the penguins and sea otters.
Some seals having a nap out in the Bay.
I got quite a lot of practice using the manual settings on my camera to get shots of the tanks without a flash. I just might figure out this photography thing yet. These particular guys are mediterranean jellyfish.
And super duper surprise for Norm here, there is a Dale Chihuly installation. I have a deep and emotional love for art glass, so I was as happy as the proverbial clam to happen upon this. Squee!
In addition to the sea otters, we met a few river otters, too. These guys are fast! And really hard to get a decent picture of.
We came back home, had a little rest, and another fabulous home-cooked dinner, courtesy of our hosts. The kids are still sleeping now, and when they get up, we'll head out for 17 Mile Drive and Big Sur. Nora is really looking forward to stepping her feet into the ocean.

I'm sorry I've been absent

Sometimes, despite our best intentions, life takes over. But I've been knitting again the last few days, and hope to show off a finished object again in the very near future.

Meanwhile, I had a visitor in my back yard yesterday who was so kind as to stay long enough for me to run in and get my camera. Have I mentioned that I love having a 12x optical zoom on my camera? There's no way my old 4x zoom could have taken this picture.

I know I only have a handful of readers, but are any of you owl experts who can tell me what kind it is? And can I tell from the picture whether my new friend is a boy or a girl? I've not ever seen an owl outside of a nature preserve or zoo, so this is all foreign to me.

Fear me, thrift store sweaters!

I'm on an unraveling rampage. Really, I'm too cheap to buy really great yarn. The idea of spending a hundred buckaroos on one garment's worth of yarn just boggles my mind. But for just a couple of bucks and a whole bunch of time and work, I can have heaps of good wool at my disposal. I have started with a men's XL sweater. It's a pretty heathered dark green.

The yarn seems to be completely untwisted when I frog it, which makes it fairly weak. I hope it is all worth it. According to my (rather inexact calculations, I have about 300 yards from just the left sleeve.

I'll probably go find a scale after I frog the whole thing to really figure out how much I have here. This had better be worth it. It's sorta a lot of work.

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In other news, I really need to get better at photographing this stuff. It's maddening to have a hundred pictures of project that don't end up resembling the real thing. I've vowed to get better at it. And to create a picture-taking space on my front porch. It has windows on three sides and gets great morning sun. So expect upcoming yarn pr0n from me.

But don't hold your breath for it. I'm a horrible procrastinator.