Category Archives: Empty Nest

Home Show

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While you’re looking at some of my favorite houses at the beach, I’ll be headed home. I’ve been missing my home, but I’m sure I’ll miss this beach once I’m standing on desert sand. I got the most of my last few beach days with multiple beach walks and sitting on the beach to watch sunsets. I felt like I needed to get my fill of beach time until next summer.

Here are a few of my favorite homes on our favorite beach:

This is my number one home I would like to move into and live happily ever after! I like the roof lines, the shake shingles and the tree! This home reminds me of the home I grew up in on Lord’s Hill in Snohomish, Wash.

This is a pen and ink drawing I made of my childhood home for an art class in college. it doesn’t really look like the beach home above, but it shares some of the same roof lines, shake shingles and windows.

My son’s favorite house is next door to mine. What’s really unique is you can look through the front windows clear through the home to the garden behind the house. It’s beautiful.

This is the Kutcher house almost finished after a remodel.

This is the before photo of Ashton Kutcher’s house with a little cottage in front that didn’t make the cut.

A former home of Ellen’s.

The home of George Lucas.

Kevin Costner’s home at the end of the beach.

Of view of the beach where you can see how close the homes are to the beach.

I really like the smaller homes that have preserved their original flavor.

This little cottage is hidden behind a sand dune.

I noticed this home for the first time this week! I have walked by it without seeing it for years.

Below is another home I’ve never noticed before. Love it. I took this photo with my Nikon on later walk. It’s next door to the Lucas house.

I can only imagine how beautiful the views are from all those windows!

A last look at the beach.

Which one of these homes would you like to move into?

Happy September! What are your plans for this weekend and the month ahead?

Harbor Cruise

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A view of the harbor in Ventura from Brophy Brothers restaurant.

One evening last week, we visited long time friends in Ventura and went out to dinner by boat after a harbor cruise. What an enjoyable evening and a great escape from a humid hot afternoon. We are on our annual beach vacation to escape the heat of the desert. Unfortunately, there’s been warnings of excessive heat most days and there are few places with air conditioning on the coast. Finally the heat warnings are over and our last few days at the beach should be ideal.

This is a view from inside the Duffy boat of our friends’ neighborhood. It’s called “the keys” and homes are on the water throughout several inlets. Everyone who lives here has a boat parked in their back yard.

I’m not aware of many neighborhoods with boat parking, although there were a few in Washington state where I grew up. Lake Washington and the San Juan Islands definitely had boat docks in front of homes.

The Bougainvillea below the restaurant was beautiful!

This is our friends’ Duffy boat parked at the restaurant. They use the Duffy to cruise around their neighborhood and drive to dinner in the harbor. It’s a cute little boat. They have a big boat too, that they take to Catalina Island.

A few gulls hanging out on the docks.

I’m getting homesick and I’m ready to leave the beach for the desert. Just a few more days and we’ll be home sweet home!

Do you get anxious for home after vacation, or do you want vacation to last longer?

A Day at the Market

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Saturday we visited the Santa Barbara Farmers Market. It runs across two perpendicular streets downtown Santa Barbara. It used to be held in a school parking lot. I found that much easier because all the stands were in a large rectangle and I walked up and down the aisles knowing where my favorites were located. Now it’s spread out over blocks and blocks.

I took my Nikon camera and 105 mm lens because it does close-ups from 1.3 feet to normal range photos like above. Also the 105 mm lens isn’t as cumbersome to carry as my telephoto lens that weighs a ton!

Here are photos of people, veggies and flowers from the Farmer’s Market:

One of the many gorgeous flower stands.

Squash blossoms. My friend who lives near Santa Barbara stuffs zucchini squash blossoms with ricotta cheese and sautés them. Delicious!

There was live music which added to the festive atmosphere.

I love cauliflower.

This is a closeup of the blue flowers that were in the flower photo above.

Interesting spelling of garbanzo beans.

One of the flower stands was all orchids.

Another was all mushrooms. I’ve never seen mushrooms like these in clumps. Have you?

The couple in the center look like they’re enjoying themselves.

A closeup of rich purple blossoms.

Lots of veggie stands feature beautiful tomatoes.

I like the name Tutti Frutti Farms.

It was fun to take people pictures, because I haven’t done that since my college days as a journalism major. I was surprised when I loaded the photos onto my laptop and saw interesting interactions.

I hope you enjoyed my day at the market. Our objective was to buy a homemade pie at a pie stand for a friend’s BBQ Sunday. We found the stand and bought a cherry crumble pie. Yum. Then with mission accomplished I wandered around with my camera.

What photos do you like best?

Do you go to farmers markets near you? What do you like best from farmers markets?

Friday Photos

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This is the view from our airbnb living room. The little cottage we have rented for nine summers has the feel of a tree house. The living room is upstairs at tree level overlooking the ocean. This is the one photo I took in this grouping with my Nikon and telephoto lens. The rest of the photos were taken with my iphone walking on the beach. I hope you enjoy a taste of California beach life.

This is our favorite beach to take walks and sit and watch the waves. This view is looking north.

There’s a canal along the walk and I caught this gull relaxing on a piece of drftwood.

This is the glimpse of the beach from the walkway that takes us to the beach. Ellen Degeneres used to own the house to the right of the fence, but sold it to have more privacy. It’s a gorgeous house by the way and sold last year for $35 million. Click on the link for a news story and photos.

The white house at the end of the beach is Kevin Costner’s estate. The tide gives him plenty of privacy because the beach is under water near his property.

We went out to dinner with friends and came back to our cottage to see this sunset out the side window.

I caught a Snowy Egret in action

A southward view of the beach.

I believe these are Willets but not quite sure. There are so many similar looking shore birds.

Father and son walking and talking.

I made them stop and pose. It’s such a joy to have our son and daughter-in-law join us for some relaxing beach time.

Which photos do you like the best? What are your plans for the weekend?

Day One

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The photos were taken with my iphone on our first beach walk. I haven’t taken my Nikon to the beach yet, but will soon! This bird is a Willet and part of the Sandpiper family.

We finally made it to the beach! It was a long drive and we stopped along the way to visit our old home town and friends from my husband’s childhood and earlier days of married life. We hadn’t seen them in years, so it was a nice way to break up a long drive.

This is a Snowy Egret known for their golden slippers.

This beauty is a juvenile Gull. The specific type of gull will be known in a couple years when it loses its brown colors and turns white with markings and features of its species.

Another photo of a Willet. They were gathered along the shore catching a bite to eat between waves.

We walked on our favorite beach early in the morning before the sun broke through the clouds and fog. I can’t tell you how good it feels to take beach walks. Next, our son and daughter-in-law will be joining us. They met in college at UC Santa Barbara and love to visit and stay with us when we’re here. Our DIL surfs, so it will be a delight to sit at the beach with a book and watch her in the waves.

Evening Photos:

What a change from the morning to the afternoon. The sun is out. People are on the beach, but it’s not crowded at all. It never is.

Look at the American flags. Love it!

Is that a gorgeous view or what? All I need is a few dolphins leaping through the surf.

What is on your agenda this week?

Friday Photos

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Red stayed away for another five days, but Mrs. was here every day. I wonder if Red got into a fight because he has a black spot on the side of his head he didn’t have before. But I did read that Cardinals molt once a year, so maybe that’s it. Or, I have a new bird altogether. Fortunately, he stopped by this week several times a day. My neighbor has promised to keep the birds fed while we’re out of town.

Good news. Red is looking more normal each day and keeps on visiting our backyard.

At least Mrs. is always around which makes me feel good!

A neighbor told me I should name this quail dad “Lucky.”

Lucky visits every day with his wife and three babies. Somehow he lost his tail, but he is still standing strong. That’s how he earned his name.

This is a Mourning Dove at our new bird bath. I left the old one empty when we visited our son and daughter-in-law because I didn’t want it to become a breeding ground for mosquitos. Normally I change the water every day. So the end of the story is that the old bird bath didn’t survive in the heat being dry. A resin coating splintered and peeled leaving an unhealthy mess for the birds.

A Gila Woodpecker hopped on for a ride.

Another look at Red and Mrs. before we leave for our beach vacation.

Last but not least, it was Waffles the pug’s 10th birthday this week. It seems like yesterday he celebrated birthday number one while we were on our beach vacation! These two photos were taken at our friends’ house in Santa Barbara for Waffles first birthday.

My daughter made flyers and held a party for Waffles in a park near her apartment. She gave flyers to friends, co-workers, her favorite coffee shop and hung them on telephone poles in her neighborhood. She invited everyone with dogs or not and promised dog treats for all dogs. She had a crowd that included her friends and families and even a group of eight-year-old boys she didn’t know who wrapped presents for Waffles. Everyone thought it was a perfect family-friendly evening at the park and want to meet every week.

The old man Waffles with gray hair at age 10.

What photos do you like? What do you think is up with Red’s head?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Bird of the Week — Bullock’s Oriole

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This is a female Bullock’s Oriole who stopped by our yard for the first time last week. She was very flighty and this is the only photo I captured. She’s hiding in a firestick plant.

Scientific name: Icterus bullockii

Size:

  • Length: 6.7–7.5 inches (17–19 cm)
  • Weight: 1.0–1.5 ounces (28–43 g)
  • Wingspan: 12.2 inches (31 cm) [1]

Location:

Bullock’s Orioles can be found in forests, along streams and also thrive in desert washes in Mesquite trees and other desert plants.

Diet:

They eat insects and ripe fruits. Bullock’s Orioles also will stop by hummingbird feeders to drink sugar water. They forage for insects in the leaves and bark of trees.

Nests:

The female chooses a nest site typically 10 to 25 feet up in a tree. She will weave the nest from grasses, twine or wool. The nests are gourd-shaped and range in size from four to 15 inches. They line their nests with soft material like feathers, or “cotton” from cottonwoods or willows. They will work on the nest together, with one working inside and the other on the outside. Pairs will stay together long enough to build their nests and raise their chicks, but will find new mates the following year.

Calls:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bullocks_Oriole/sounds