Leaf Coming Undone

I find beauty in every aspect of nature; even the process of returning to dirt.

No Way

This is not my idea of a good beach experience.

We made the mistake of driving on the beach on Saturday. It was packed!! ATV's, cars, motorhomes, motorcycles, dune buggies, horses and people. We all have our own way of enjoying the beach... but this seems so wrong.

The Ultimate Salt

There are so may kinds of salt. This was brought to us by my cousin. She gathered it from lava pools in Hawaii. What a special gift!

Dirty Gutters

We live among the trees and it is usually a good thing. It breaks up the sea breezes and provides wonderful shade. But the down side is there are lots of leaves blowing around. Our son was a good sport and helped us clean the leaves off the roof. They collect up there in the valleys and gutters. We appreciate his help so much.

On the back side of the garage he found this little nursery in the gutter.

And it had been there for a while. I am ashamed...very ashamed. There is even an euclaptus tree growing in there. I wonder how long it would take for a house to become completely overgrown like the Mayan Ruins in Mexico.  Note to self: Clean the gutter on the back side of the garage every time you clean all the others.

Callie's Close Call

Callie used up one of her nine lives last night!

She slipped out an open door about 5PM. When this happens she plays this little game where if you go to get her she runs away. After chasing around for a while she is ready to come in.

Last night we couldn't get her in and then she just disappeared. She wasn't in any of the usual spots out in the back yard and would not answer when called. I walked down in our grove of eucalyptus trees and this huge hawk flew out of one of the tallest trees. Then I heard Callie crying! She was way up high in the trees and she was jumping from tree to tree... like a monkey! She was calling to me but would not come down, just jumped from one tree to the other. I think the hawk had been trying to catch her and she was trying to avoid it. She was so scared.

Then she fell... down, down, down she went. It was like slow motion... I saw all her colors turning in the air...orange, white, black... orange, white black. She landed in the crook of two big branches on her back about ten feet off the ground. So much for the theory that cats always land on their feet.

After a few seconds, she turned herself over but she would not come on down the tree. I ran back to the house to get hubby and we got our tall ladder. Then, the two dogs from next door ran out to see what was going on.  We were sure all the barking would scare Callie even more and she would go back up high in the trees. When the dogs stopped barking, I went up the ladder. The chance that Callie was injured and would not want to be held was going through my mind, but as I got close she wanted to come to me but was afraid to let go of the tree. Finally, I convinced her it was OK and she clung to me. She willingly went into the carrier I had grabbed when we got the ladder from the garage.

Once we had her back in the house we checked her over and watched her closely. She got a drink, ate some food and went and sat by the door looking out!!

Now what was she thinking???

Callie, all the jumping and climbing skills you practice in the house saved your little butt.

Holy smokes... what a night!

Day at the Beach

There was a brisk breeze down on the beach and the kiteboarders were taking advantage of it. We sat at a table far above and ate lunch. The view and the lunch was wonderful!

Ready to Eat?

Patches is waiting...just waiting for breakfast. She usually sits on the empty stool beside us while we eat breakfast, but today she beat us sitting down. I asked her to move over and she did! She is a perfect furkid.