Wordless Wednesday: Lillian Lakes - View Down Valley from the Scree Slope, and one of Glacial Ice of Spring.

Down Valley

Snow Melt

Saturday Komeekz, Good Reads, skywatcher, tiny tribute to Nelson Mandela

Teacher of Righteousness, one of the few Truly Human Beings,  Goodbye to you, Nelson.  God Bless you, and thank you for teaching us how to Be truly Human, too.  Thank you for teaching us how to forgive and move forward without rancor.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Nelson Mandela


This is the cartoon I mentioned awhile back.  I finally excavated found it in one of my Swartz piles. 

I love Pickles!

Today's Saturday skies were grey and not as interesting as the week before, when the clouds spit out some drops, here and there, to tease.  See the tiny drops captured by the speeding vehicle's windscreen?

 
So, after teasing us for several days, the clouds bunched up and emitted some moisture!  It rained!  Wolfie got wet, which he hates!  DH got wet too, but he doesn't seem to mind it as much as W.  I think it's because DH doesn't have as much hair- not quite as much. hehe

Yesterday, after a shorter muscle grinding exercise session at fitness, we went to Michaels and scooped up some garlands.  The house is going to be very decorated, for the first time in years.   Today was the monthly book sale and look what DH found for me!  A massive Tome from Elizabeth George that puts me in mind of the size of A Suitable Boy by Vicram Seth, or And Ladies of the Club , by Helen Hooven Santnyer, both of which are real wrist breakers if ever there were wrist breakers.  Believing the Lie, I am hoping, is just as good a read as the two mentioned.  I always liked Elizabeth George novels until I realized that they had a horrid affect on my mood.  Sufficient time has passed that it may be this one will not make me feel like the world is chock full of psychos- ones not much different than  my paternal unit.

And there was this book, which is memoirs of  Ms. Atwood's time in Kenya.

Being a life long Californian, I seem to have a great affinity for stories, or films, about Africa.  I've read just about every book that can be found about that Continent, especially the more southern countries.  I think it must be the sun and the light that fills my imagination when I think of Africa.   Well, even the bad and terrible, to be honest, I've read it.

Last week, when Mr. Z and I were traveling back from a Christmas Do for a club we are in, I told him that if I had to be born again, which I hope doesn't actually happen, I would ask to come back to California.  That night, while eating salad in December, I said that it would be the foods that made me come back here, to California.  But, like an arrow, I would head for the Central Coast.    I'm not strong enough to live in Africa, I don't think, though I love the continent and the people very much.

Ravelry bars for your blog. Here's how. More of the Trip photos, too.

Thanks to a daring and wonderful blogger who posted this fix in Ravelry, I can now get my bars to progress as I knit more on the projects that are up at Ravelry.  You will have to look way WAY down the side bar for them, if you are interested. 

Here's how it's done:

Go HERE.

Take both bits of code... copy them BOTH into a widget sidebar thing.... the same widget thinga, one right after the other, not two separate ones, and  Voila!  Bingo!  Hallalujah!  There they are.

Now you'll have to go update all of your projects at Rav, but that's the easy part.   Since I'm not knitting anymore for awhile, mine won't move at all. 

The Trip goes on:

Tiny heart shaped stone.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It really is tiny - about 3/4th of an inch across and really does look like a heart. 

I stepped out of the Bounder, and there it was, between my feet. 
I prettied up the snap by removing some neon crocs from it, but isn't it lovely?

This was at the middle camp, before we had to move out onto the streets for a few nights.  If you ever see campers parked on your street overnight, you can blame state park regulations that push people out of parks after seven days.
Gone are the days when your family could glory in three whole weeks somewhere, tent camping and having a grand old time, hiking, fishing, eating, after which they would arrive back home sunburnt and fairly well rested, hair streaked with  blond highlights, etc., etc..  They don't do this in Tuscany!  But, I digress...

Little Tents, all set up and ready to test out some new equipage.
DD's had bought new sleeping bags and inflatable mats

We sat by the fire (and I fought off hypothermia) until nearly 10 pm.  They stayed out there another hour.  The dog and I retreated to snuggle under  two comforters and five fleeces that comprised our indoor sleeping arrangements.   Traveling in style, even with an ice chest, is the only way I can "get out there" anymore.  DH and the DDs hiked the next day while I read this:

Not the Leaf, though it is pretty, but the book.

I also bagged my first ever Townsend's Warbler (sighting).  Yay me!

Here are some tiny beauties to encourage you to look at rocks when you are out and about.  These are from a small collection that remind me to put my head down and look at the ground from time to time.

All these beauties reside in flower pots of succulents somewhere in Santa Cruz.  In the middle, see that little agate under the Red Jasper?

Packing up the next day:

Yep, all that stuff went into little bitty bags.  Modern tents are so cool!

Wednesday- Cabrillo Farmer's Market Special

These are local fresh pasta and cheese makers.  My daughters say they have wonderful things.  We were on our last day before coming home, without a refrigerator, so we didn't buy much of anything but it all looked wonderful.  Our refrigerator turned up it's toes two days before we left home. 

Malabar Trading Company was at the market with an aromatic assortment of teas and even Tisanes.  I'd always thought that Tisane was just a fancy way of saying tea in a glass until seeing this display.  It's herbal tea.  Hercule must be smiling.

We bought two kinds of Hummus, luscious garlic and one very delicious basil herb,  plus a stack of pita breads, from a seller who is from the Monterey Bay area.  Yummy stuff.  We also bought a big bag of organic, and deliciously thin, long green beans from another fruit and vegetable seller.  These three foods comprised our dinner for the next day when we stopped in Irvine at a "Park and Ride" lot the next day.  There is a Mediterranean market on Balboa Avenue that I like to get pita bread from at home, and this bread was just as good.

Lovely, freshly made pita breads

Organic is the Heart and Soul of the Eat Locally Grown movement, and this booth was one of the ones that traveled, by rotation, to several local farmer's markets.

Part of the exhibits were of fruits and vegetable carved in a traditional way by a woman who was a  restaurant owner.  This is a traditional art for festivals in Thailand.  Everything is so very beautifully done, and she will give lessons on how to make these, also.  She has won competitions with her intricate and beautiful carvings.

And what is a festival without music?  This guitarist was singing original songs for the passing crowd, some with ice cream cups from three local organic creameries.

Pretty much that's all folks!  Hope you enjoyed the foodie post!

More trip: Pottery and Books Read, and Bee's Wax adventures

I wanted to share the Local Foods Movement show, but first the potter.  He was a droll sort of fellow, and when I told him I would be blogging about his pottery, and would he mind, he said, "You are going to blog me?  What does that mean?"  He turned to someone else in the booth and said, "She's says she's going to blog me."  Then he looked at me, and I snapped the worried look.  He was, of course, only teasing.   The encounter was fun and entertaining.  He's very fun to talk to.

My new cup. 
First thing I drank from it was a cup of coffee!

The Potter Modelling for me.
He's pretending that getting blogged might hurt.

His tables.
His pottery is very popular and very Beautiful, too!
I wanted several more pieces!

Reading and no knitting.  My hands were still recovering.  So, I had a lot of great books to read.

The DD's gave me Dead Ex, and I was so pleased with this sort of "Miss Marple, channeling Sam Spade, meets Hollywood" tale that I'll certainly read more of Harley Jane Kozak's mysteries.

Donna Leon's latest, Beastly Things, did not disappoint.  As per usual, Brunetti always gets the culprit while traveling a thoroughly entertaining and thrilling path.    

True Nature Stories is a great book if you love interactions that are unusual, and kind, between wild animals and humans who are caring. 

Do Fish Drink Water? is a collection of writings about questions that started to arrive at Bill McLain's desk.  He was the Webmaster at Xerox and became very popular with his dedication to answering every question that crossed his desk.  It's a wonderful book to have around when you are trying to get a "time out" from the madmen in Washington.  I don't include the Prez, nor all the Congress, just sayin'.

Maeve Binchy's last book, before her death - something I was shocked to find had happened - is the last one in the pile, A Week in Winter.

I'm truly going to miss this writer.  She could remove you from the world of "WAY TO BIG AND MEAN TO UNDERSTAND", and bring your mind down to the level of a whole Village full of people who worked things out together.  I'm now reading one of her other books I'd missed (while wallowing in Washington DC Ills and Evils) called, Minding Frankie .

Five books I read while lazing about.
I was happy to be away from Politics and Economics!

I was having trouble finding Bee's wax at the Farmer's Markets.  It was at the Monterey Market but we didn't do that trek this year.  So... when we were out and about the town with Bee, we were looking for a leather shop that sold patterns.  Bee wanted to get some leather and a pattern for making moccasins for Elle.  While we looked round for the leather works we found a Candle maker.  She sold me a good lot of her scrap which I can melt down into hearts and flowers for beading and seamstress friends.  I was very happy to find this shop because of being almost out of bee's wax!   The hemp is from a lot that DH bought to make something but it had gotten lost for several years under his seat in the Bounder.  So, I have adopted it to make necklaces with, and any other whatnot that comes to hand.  Lovely stuff!

Wax from the Candlemaker's shop,
and a lucky find under the driver's seat.

More tomorrow, from the Cabrillo Market Local Foods show, but I have to tell you, here in SoCal, we got rain!  It was glorious, fantabulous October Rain!   Two days, or nights rather, it has rained. 

Clouds Break to ReBuild Yesterday

Five Minute Friday and tiny bit more of trip photos/chat

The word for this week is, "Laundry."  I'm stunned, what could possibly take five minutes to describe laundry itself or my relation to it in this life.  Should I say that I hung all my clothing up for years until we had a home of our own?   I actually liked it because my mother had done this before me, and my grandmother would have me hand the pins to her as she hung out the laundry.  Things have really changed because where we live is a dust farm, not my words.  If you hang laundry outside it gets dirty all over again!  DH built me a laundry get up in the small side yard, and I actually used it for some time until giving up and wanting to not have to have grit on all my clothing. 

Recently we watched a documentary by Ken Burns about the Dust Bowl, and people described over and over how their mothers or older sisters would hang out the laundry only to have a dust storm roll in and blacken it.  I thought how hard those women worked and for nothing at all.  Ten seconds and I will say that some day I would like to again live where laundry could be hung out and actually stay clean!
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Now the next part is to visit one of the other posters and cheer them on!  Yippie!
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Tippin' Down the Road, Part II

This is not in order other than small stories about this and that to accompany the pix.

Hubster, Bee and I were on the way to a Fabric store to get some knits from a bin so Bee can practice her knit sewing skills.   Santa Cruz is a lovely place and you truly do meet a lot of different people here.  Think of Venice without the Ubiquitous Palm trees;  although palms to thrive here, they are less numerous.

We found some lovely slinky black on black knit that will go into at least two garments, and something else that was more suited for a mundane "muslin" for pattern testing.  The day before, though I go no pictures of the process, I showed Bee how to lengthen - she is very tall - the pattern pieces for herself. 
She had a Stretch and Sew pattern for a long or short sleeve T, and I was happy to see that Stretch and Sew was still in business. 

I'll end here in order to post the Five Minute Friday...

Thankful Thursday and a Merriam's Chipmonk who came to dinner!

Firstly, I'm thankful that I am feeling better.  Thankful for DH's tender care, and something that must have occurred while I was sleeping, some powerful something like lots of sleep maybe.  My dreams were of baking and fixing foods, though I've never actually mixed rice into pasta before but in this dream, I did!  I don't think it sounds any better when awake than it did when I was dreaming about it!  I was a very unhappy cook in that long, disjointed dream.

I'm thankful, Great Spirit, that it is finally FALL!  I'm celebrating with a new header for awhile!

And, with no further ado,  I'll start a sharing of the Photo Horde from the trip to the Santa Cruz County Mountains, and nearby environs.

First, the Merriam's Chipmonk.  Several of these cute critters came rustling around the short undergrowth and leave litter in three different camp sites.  I think they knew a morsel or two would be made available from our vegan feasts.

I used many sources to make sure I wasn't wrong, but I like THIS source a lot
because of the many pictures of other chippers and ground squirrels to compare.

Mostly we camped at the land of crooked trees.  A perfect place to be when Halloween rolls around.

Henry Cowell's was partially closed but they opened back up the big half to accommodate  travelers who had been bumped out of the National Parks because of the furlough.  This time was a boon for the State Parks but it was a very sad state of affairs for the National parks and their users.  Climbers, especially some who were from Europe, were unhappy, and some others who were in wedding parties were extremely put out.  One group had planned for years to have their wedding at Yosemite.  

Happy notes...
Wolfie got lots and LOTS of Cuddles:

Wolfie and Gee

Wolfie helps DH with the Crossword

Wolfie, sleeping under my sweater.

It got cold up in those mountains.  There was only one other time when we actually used the heat in the RV, and that was 30°F weather in the Sonoran Desert one January.  That was the night that tiny Jazzie wobbled up to me and snuggled up against my body, poor baby.  He weighed three pounds and that kind of cold is just too much for such an itty bitty fellow.  We started putting out some self heating pads for him and made him a little shelter from then on.  We'd heard enough horror stories about people smothering their tiny pets!

View of the sunrise through the crooked trees. This was the same cold (BRRR!) morning.

Taken out the back window of the Bounder.

Back with more tomorrow.  We had a great time with our daughters, running around the countryside meeting neat people at Farmer's Markets, etc.  There was a gathering, at the Saturday Cabrillo College market,  of farmers and artisan bakers - as well as others,  who are promoting the practice of eating locally grown foods.  I bought a coffee cup from a potter who may or may not be world famous but he is terrific and lots and LOTS of fun to chat with, too.   Until Tomorrow!

Friday

Thank God it's Friday.  I hope the fire in Arizona is getting contained.  Horrible!

We went to have Fish and Chips some day this week, oh yes, the Beer Can Regatta was running so it was Wednesday.

So here's some snaps of the lovely cooler weather that is to be had down by the Bay.

Sailing into the 20 meter boat basin

The Boat with the Blue Spinnaker won this Heat Race

It was about a quarter mile ahead by the time the boats were down the reach.

This Gull was not having a good day, and if we hadn't had Wolfie with us, I would have captured it for Wildlife Rescue.  Someone did come for it, nonetheless, probably alerted by several others who had seen it.

Some of the walkways are being repaired, and this benchmark medallion was moved to the new site when that was done.  Isn't it cool looking.  I wish that I could have it but of course to take it would be very rude.

But of course, I still want it. lol ......it and another glass float from Japanese fishing boat nets.

Well, I hope you had a lovely weekend, with the Holiday in it and all.  I'm feeling a little better, and my hands seem to be getting better, too.  Hopefully I can drag out the knitting soon!  Sandy, I hope your hands are better.  I wish we could have met up!

Wordless Wednesday just isn't me...

So I've been looking for random Memes to capture and drag over here.

This one I picked up at Kwizgiver's Blog and will plug it in here...

If you want to PLAY too, <<<  there's the link.  It looks like fun to do.

Here are the rules:
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently I am reading, "The Native Americans".  See it in the side bar.


I am almost finished reading, "The Beginner's Guide to Walking the Buddha's Eightfold Path".  I'll finish that  today, also in the side bar.


I know I will be reading William R. Corson's book, "The Armies of Ignorance".

There are pictures from Shelter Island today, too.  The Port District is putting some major moolah into spiffing up all of the public spaces of the Island.  Actually, they (we the people) own it all but put out long term leases on land for hotels and eateries, etc.

Sculpture at Humphrey's by the Bay

New sign (you can read it) to explain our hopes

Osprey Nest box and the (perhaps) spy palm near it. hehe

Have a great hump day evening!  I hope to watch a movie tonight, and maybe eat some popcorn, we'll see.

Friday, a totally random Thoughts day from morning to night....Accidental art

Good morning.  I'm trying something... random thoughts

I'm getting so much better at the crosswords.

I like the rocks that are going together for my friend's Power necklace.

"Ortish" Native Sycamore tree roots from Briercrest Park

"Ortish" Non-native Coral Tree roots from Lake Murray Sports Complex

Part of the beautiful playground structure at Lake Murray

OY, the Bobcat!  Everyone who reads here knows that I am obsessed with Heavy Equipment, from fire engines to bulldozers to itty bitty things like the Bobcat.  Well, actually, I like the little guys best.  Years ago, we almost bought one from a place that was going out of business.  Wish we had!

What will be next?  Hmmm...  I am going to go knit a bit and watch a "Campion".

Good night and God Love ya, may you have a great weekend and have some mysteries solved, like why are we alive and, and conversely, why do some of us die way before our times?

Wolfie, Friday Fill-ins And a few more Briarcrest Park photos.

Sweet, little Wolfie is getting very slowly better.
He had a nasty fall while we were gone last Friday

Friday Fill-ins

1. I use a lot more time planning than actually doing something.  If I didn't, I'd surely get more done!

2. "Blindside" may just be my favorite but it certainly is one of my favorite movies.

3. It's very inspirational, and it's a true story as well.

4. But one that I watch time and time again, is "Enchanted April"!

5. I said, "You have far too much to do.", and then he said, "It's what keeps me young."

6. A GREAT BIG oatmeal raisin cookie is what I'm craving right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include painting a clear coat on the wood for a project, and doing some knitting, and Sunday, I want to walk a little, maybe if I'm not tired, and then I'd like to meditate, really meditate! 


As promised, a few more pictures of Briarcrest Park:

Is it Black Sage or perhaps Otay Sage?  Some of the Native Nurseries have created so many hybrids it's making me nuts!

There are many lovely little walls, on which people may sit, that are lined with children's art tiles.  This is a wonderful addition to a children's park.

All the plants are native to our chaparral Including this Sycamore tree.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!  I will put up a few more pictures, Xylophone, Marimba, and Froggie, in a few days!  Now I want to go watch "Big Bang Theory" and do a little more knitting, maybe.  The Light's bad at night.