Tag Archives: California

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?

Bird of the Week — Willet

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A Western Willet foraging for food along the California coast. There is also an Eastern Willet, but my photos and focus is on the Western Willet.

Willet —
Tringa semipalmata

Willets belong to the shore birds more commonly called Sandpipers. I see several types of Sandpipers at the beach, but so far the only one I’ve successfully identified is the Willet.

SIZE:

Length: 13.0-16.1 in (33-41 cm)
Weight: 7.0-11.6 oz (200-330 g)
Wingspan: 27.6 in (70 cm)

LOCATION:

From All About Birds

DIET:

Willets forage along the shore, often alone. The tips of their beaks are sensitive and used to find food. They can forage at night as well as in the daytime. They eat crabs, insects, mollusks and worms. They feed along the mudflats, beaches and rocky shores.

A Willet getting a bite to eat along the shore.

NESTING:

Western Willets move inland from the shore for breeding along wetlands, grasslands or fresh water lakes. They nest on the ground and the male will scrape out a nest from the mud or grass. They line their nest with grasses or other soft materials. A typical clutch is four eggs. Males and females incubate their eggs, but the male takes over at night.

Although they are monogamous, they may separate after breeding season and reunite the next breeding season.

CALLS:

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

Bird of the Week — Snowy Egret

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A Snowy Egret I spotted during our beach vacation near Santa Barbara, California. Photos were taken with my iPhone during a beach walk.

Scientific name: Egretta thula
Genus: Ardea

I learned that herons and egrets both belong to the genus Ardea and that there is no scientific difference between the two. Egrets are white and herons are blue or other colors. That’s it.

The Snowy Egret has white plumage with a black beak and legs. They have a yellow streak on their faces behind their beaks. Their feet are bright yellow and called golden slippers. The brightly colored feet are helpful in herding small aquatic creatures while the Snowy Egret forages in shallow waters.

When they are breeding, the adults grow wispy long plumes which were in demand for ladies’ hats in the 1880s. The plumes were valued at twice the price of gold. Many Snowy Egrets lost their lives because of their valuable feathers.

SIZE and SHAPE:

Snowy Egrets are long, thin herons with a long neck, long legs and beak.

  • Length: 22.1-26.0 in (56-66 cm)
  • Weight: 13.1 oz (370 g)
  • Wingspan: 39.4 in (100 cm)

RANGE:

FOOD:

They eat aquatic animals including fish, crustaceans, frogs, worms and insects. They forage in mud flats, along the shore, marshes and tidal flats and eat while standing up.

NESTING:

The male will start building a nest before finding a mate. He’ll select a location at the top of a tree, shrub or vines. When the male finds a mate, the two will finish building the nest together. It’s a shallow oval of grasses, twigs, rushes and moss from 14 to 18 inches across and eight to 13 inches high.

The male and female share the job of incubating their eggs. A Snowy Egret clutch usually has three to five eggs. They also share feeding their chicks. Snowy Egrets do not mate for life, but are monogamous for each breeding season.

CALLS:

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

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?

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

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Looking down the hallway of the Marin County Civic Center in San Raphael, California.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to the Bay Area to see my kids was visiting the Marin County Civic Center. I was surprised that touring a civic center was on the agenda with my son and daughter-in-law. But I soon learned that it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s largest public project and also his last commission.

Intended to centralize thirteen dispersed Marin county departments, the Civic Center project encompassed an entire campus of civic structures and incorporated ideas from Wright’s Broadacre City scheme of the 1930s. The three-story 580-foot long Administration Building, and a four story 880-foot long Hall of Justice together spanned the valleys between three adjacent hills. The flattened dome of the circular library and its connected gold tower (built to encase a smokestack and a radio transmitter) form the focal point of the plan. The concrete Civic Center’s pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are distinctive. The interiors feature glass walls and are arranged around open atriums in order to promote the transparency that Wright felt governments should promote. Though Wright planned the atriums to be open to the sky, practical considerations saw barrel-vaulted skylights put in following Wright’s death. Construction was carried out by William Wesley Peters and Aaron Green. The Hall of Justice was completed in 1969, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976. The site also includes a circular post office, Wright’s only commission for a national U.S. government facility. https://franklloydwright.org/site/marin-county-civic-center/

This was a model of the Marin County Civic Center I discovered outside of the library.

A committee interviewed 26 architectural firms in 1956 to select an architect for the civic center. Peter Neutra was the lead candidate. Frank Lloyd Wright was not interviewed and refused to participate in a competitive selection. Wright had an ardent supporter on the Board of Supervisors but it was a battle to get him appointed as the architect. Wright eventually earned the commission and was directed to proceed with detailed design on April 28, 1958. In March 1959 Wright was appointed to design the post office. On April 9, 1959, Wright died at age 91. The Civic Center continued under the direction of two of Wright’s architects, Wesley Peters and Aaron Green.

Here’s a view of a spire through the ceiling glass. We have a Frank Lloyd Wright spire at a shopping center in Scottsdale. That spire was originally planned for a capitol building that Wright designed without anyone asking for it. His project was never approved or brought to life, but the spire was built.

This is the library in the civic center. We walked the entire length of the building and saw the sheriffs department, attorney general’s office, library, a state senator’s office, cafeteria, court house and government agencies including financial, community services and administrative offices.

Next to the large building is the jail. Isn’t that amazing? The jail is underground and a tunnel connects it to the court house.

Here’s s view of the spire from outside.

The design has been controversial with the blue roof. But I thought it was beautiful!

I wrote about Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s compound in Scottsdale HERE.

Are you a Frank Lloyd Wright fan?

What Wright homes or buildings have you visited?

Birds and the Berkeley Bowl

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“There goes the neighborhood.” Mrs. leaves the birdseed block when a neighbor takes over.

While I’m up in the San Francisco area taking care of my children, I didn’t bring my camera or lenses. I did have some photos downloaded to my laptop of Red and Mrs. that I didn’t get a chance to look at before I left home.

I have taken a few photos with my iphone at my favorite grocery store called Berkeley Bowl, which was built in a former bowling alley, hence the name. I’ve written about Berkeley Bowl before HERE.

Here are a few views from Berkeley Bowl this week. Look at this variety of pumpkins at the entrance to the grocery store!

Sweet potatoes anyone?

Pomagranites, melons, apples and more.

More backyard bird buddies:

I was pleasantly surprised with how crisp and clear my photos of Red, Mrs. and a Mourning Dove turned out. I took these the day before I left to take care of my daughter.

Mrs. and her new pal Papa Quail. He doesn’t want to leave her side!

What a handsome guy! I worry that when I’m out of town, my Red and Mrs. will leave. My husband has assured me that he’s making sure they are well fed. They should be in my backyard when I come home.

A Mourning Dove fluffs up his feathers after a rain.

Happy Friday everyone! What plans do you have for the weekend? What’s your weather like?

A Different View

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This does not look like my desert view from home because it’s not. It’s the view from a living room window of the cottage we’ve rented for vacation each summer since 2018. It’s a nice break from the heat to be in the cool weather by the beach. Plus a change of scenery isn’t so bad, either.

Here are some more views:

The living room is upstairs and has a view of the ocean. The kitchen and bathroom are upstairs, too. Downstairs is the master bedroom.

The kitchen may be tiny, but it’s full of charm.

The stairs are proving to be a challenge for my ankle. All the ups and downs to unload the car were something else! This photo doesn’t capture the steepness.

Then we went for a beach walk with friends. I made it with a little push and pull, plus encouragement, to get over the rocks and boulders to the sandy beach. Hopefully, I’ll manage it without help in a day or two. It’s a short trail, only a few yards, but with obstacles that were in my way!

One of my favorite things about the beaches in this area is they are not crowded. You almost feel like you have the entire beach to yourself.

My friend pointed out that Ashton Kutcher and his wife are remodeling their $17 million beach house. It had a small cottage in front, that they scrapped completely and they’re making the main house bigger.

Here’s a photo I took of their property last year. I read that the small cottage in front got damaged by a mudslide. So now they’re going to have a different view as well.

What do you like best about a different view than your normal everyday one?