..........A little blog about the little things in life..........

Friday, December 31, 2010

Christmas in California

We drove down to Santa Barbara on Christmas Eve day to pick up Kristen, who flew in from Denver to join us for Christmas!  We enjoyed a nice late lunch at Brophy Brothers seafood restaurant which is located in the harbor and since we were sitting out on the deck with a view of the water, I had time to check out all the beautiful boats. 



We exchanged our gifts on Christmas Eve, as we planned to drive to San Francisco on Christmas Day.


We drove up to San Francisco on a rainy Christmas Day and enjoyed hanging out with the family at Denise and Tim's new house.

 Tom, Helena, Tim and Grant
 Kristen, Helena with Ginger, and Denise

After spending the night, we headed for home, after checking out the Golden Gate Bridge.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Weather

Yes, we've had "weather".  It's been raining off and on (mostly on) for a week - so far the total rainfall (collected in our garden) has been 5.40 inches.  Not bad.  The Salinas River, which normally is just sand and bushes is running bank to bank with muddy water!  And the little dry creek behind our house actually has some water running in it!


Casey, who loves to spend her days outside prowling and sleeping in the sun, has not been pleased with becoming a "house-cat".



The storm passed over Monday afternoon and we were lucky enough to be able to view the lunar eclipse.  My photos aren't very good - don't have a powerful enough zoom, but here's a little sequence.





And this is my favorite....couldn't hold the camera steady, but I like the results nevertheless.


Little orange mushroom like plants have sprung up all over the entryway into Spanish Lakes.



This afternoon the sun was shining while it was raining



and we had a lovely sunset.



Next storm is due in a couple of days - just in time for Christmas! 
Hope you're enjoying this beautiful season!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Foggy Morning Walk

I walked over to the small lake this morning. It was very foggy, but I was hoping to find some wildlife or capture the sunrise. I'm sure the sun rose, but the fog did an excellent job of hiding it. As for wildlife, I noticed signs of deer and coyote and saw mallards and coots on the lake. Since I couldn't see very far, I concentrated on things close to me.  Come join me - you won't even get your feet wet!



















Each moment of the year has it's own beauty.
Ralph Waldo Emerson