Tag Archives: Summerland

Things are going haywire

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After posting photos of all the gorgeous houses on the beach, I’m sharing the house we’ve rented each summer since 2018. It’s a three-block walk downhill to the beach. Behind the yellow front door is the bedroom. Upstairs is the living room, kitchen and bathroom. I think it’s cozy and cute.

We made the drive home from Santa Barbara to Arizona in eight hours. We left in the wee hours of the morning and we’re both exhausted. Kitty Olive was so glad to see us. The cat sitter took good care of her and left notes like “Olive was lonely so I petted her for 20 minutes and turned on classical music.”

Once home, I ran into all sorts of weird snafus. The lamp on my nightstand collapsed at the neck where the light bulb is. Then I couldn’t get my Bird Buddy (AI bird feeder) to charge after bringing the camera unit inside while we were out of town. Then I tried to log into my Cox app on my phone to view the outside camera — and it logged me out — and won’t let me log back in. I tried resetting the password. Nothing worked. Not even our cable TV.

I received money via Venmo and I tried to transfer the money, only to get a message that Venmo wasn’t available in my area.

My husband snapped at me over something minor. I realized we are both tired and I gracefully accepted his apology.

Everything is going haywire. It’s like our house is upset we left it alone for three weeks. The electronics are rebelling.

I decided to focus on my reactions. I can’t control many of the issues surrounding me. But I can control how I react. I closed my eyes and pretended I was sitting on the beach listening to waves.

Here are a few more photos:

The kitchen of the house we rented. I love the shabby chic decor.

The view from the patio with barbecue and table. Perfect except for electrical lines.

The cottage we rented in Laguna Beach for at least 15 years while our kids were growing up. That’s our beloved Angus on the front porch (RIP). Can you see why I’m a beach cottage fan?

How do you react when electronics seem to be working against you? What do you do to control your reaction when things seem out of control?

My favorite beach houses

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My favorite house on the beach where we walk each morning and evening.

Part of the enjoyment of our beach walks is looking at the houses — as well as at waves, dolphins and an occasional seal. I’m sharing some of my favorite homes, from mansions to cottages. I notice workers washing windows and gardeners working in the yards — but I rarely see people who live there.

I like the house above the best because the architectural style is similar to the house I grew up in. Lots of large glass windows, angles and shake shingles — a contemporary style from the 1970s. I also love this house because it’s private and not too showy. Then there is the tree:

The tree makes the house.

This stately home must have stunning views from the multiple decks.

Another magnificent home with lush landscaping.

I love the contemporary look of this home and the expanse of windows. They scalped the lawn yesterday, which I didn’t know was a “thing” in Santa Barbara. In Palm Springs, lawns are scalped each fall to plant Winter Rye. In the heat of late Spring, the Winter Rye dies and Bermuda Grass, which is dormant in the winter, grows back.

I like the simplicity of this A frame.

Look what is and has happened around this sweet cottage below? Last year there was a cottage next to it, but now there’s a huge crane making tons of noise.

When you get near the parking lot, the homes are smaller and closer together. There are still some cottages left, that haven’t been torn down to build modern monstrosities. This is one of my favorite cottages.

I hope you enjoyed my beach home tour!

If you owned a beach house, what style would it be? Beach cottage, White House replica, contemporary or modern?

There’s no place like home

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Sunset at our favorite beach.

As our long-awaited annual beach vacation comes to a close, I’m feeling homesick. Not to be ungrateful, but I’m looking forward to being in my own home. I miss my cat. My friends, who moved from our old neighborhood in Palm Springs to a mile away in Arizona, have texted and asked when we’ll be back with “We miss you!”

All year long, I’ve looked forward to our weeks out of the heat, at the beach. I guess I didn’t feel “vacationy” with all the anxiety of health issues with our family. I spent the first two weeks in a state of constant worry.

Once relief hit us — that our future DIL will be okay — and COVID also had come and gone with our children, we finally relaxed.

But, then four days in a row, once our fear was gone, we accepted invitations with friends. We hadn’t felt like socializing until things settled down. Four days in a row was way too much for introverted me. We said no to friends yesterday and today. We spent evenings until sunset enjoying a beach walk, sitting until the sun set, and being quiet. Just what my soul needed.

If there’s no place like home, I wish I could click my heels three times and be home — without the nine-hour drive!

When you are on vacation, do you look forward to returning home — or do you want vacation to last longer?

Views from the beach

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Our favorite beach in the Santa Barbara area.

I love how each walk at the beach can have such different views.

I’m not sure if this is a hawk or not, but it’s gorgeous. I stopped to watch it glide on the breeze.

Ashton Kutcher’s house with a small cottage in front.

Afternoon beach walk.

Keven Costner’s property has the white deck and house on the point, valued at $145 million.

The same bird from the other photo. There’s an interesting complex of homes at the opposite end of the beach.

I loved watching this Vizsla dog and puppy chase a frisbee. I missed the shots where the dog leaped into the air to catch the frisbee with the puppy trailing.
I looked up the prices of homes on this beach. The ones I found start at $20 million up to $100 million.

Where is your favorite beach?

Changes

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“Time may change me
“But I can’t trace time” — David Bowie

Our first morning walk at the beach. There was something very different about it. See that rig in the ocean? Next we saw this sign:

There are oil rigs off the coast of Santa Barbara that are active — but you can barely see them in the distance. I believe they are at least five miles offshore.

On the beach below the house we rent, there are signs like the one above that weren’t around last summer. There are also signs explaining the work that’s going on. They are recapping 100-year-old oil wells a few dozen yards offshore. That’s what the barge with the equipment is for (see top photo.) They are capped but leak when storms hit. We watched two tug boats stop at the barge. Then we noticed tar clumps all over the sand.

The beaches here always have spots of oil and tar, but this year it’s much worse. We keep paper towels and “Goo Gone” next to the hose at the backdoor to clean our feet after our beach excursions.

The other change was our favorite spot for breakfast burritos in Carpinteria — which was inside a liquor store — is gone. We drove for burritos and were stunned. Someone bought the entire block on Linden Ave and demolished the buildings. I wonder what will be built?

On our morning walk on the tar blotched beach, I was relieved to see the driftwood sculpture condos were still in tact. I wrote about them on an earlier beach trip HERE.

There were a few additions this year that I enjoyed:

Words of wisdom: Be More Like My Dog!

Prince Harry lives to the left. That’s a fact. Montecito is to the left of this beach.

Kevin Costner’s $145 million home where his divorced wife refused to leave is to the right around the point.

Lots of changes going on around us. We can’t stop change. Another change: our son and his long-term girlfriend were getting married Thursday. We were flying from Santa Barbara to Oakland for the nuptials. Our son called today and has COVID. No wedding. Change of plans.

What is changing in your life?

Ocean view condos!

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The condo development at the beach below our Vrbo has grown this year.

The past few years, we’ve been fascinated with a driftwood art installation at the beach. We first noticed it four or five years ago. I wrote about condos at the beach last summer HERE.

This summer, the person who is working on what we call the “beach condos” has added more people, creatures and signs. We’ve never seen anyone working on it. But it keeps growing and getting more interesting. I’d love to know who is creating this. I am picturing an aging hippie with long white hair.

Here are random photos I took yesterday morning:

driftwood character at the beach
One of the many driftwood people at the beach.
cartwheeling driftwood
Looks like he’s doing a cartwheel
Summerland beach club
Summerland Semi Social Club sign
driftwood dogs
Driftwood dogs.
driftwood person
Another character at the beach.
Please remove your shoes.
“Please remove your shoes” makes me laugh.The other sign reads” Please leave it as you found it.”
dancing driftwood
These guys look like they’re dancing.
driftwood person
The artist is obviously having fun.
pirate driftwood
Ahoy! A pirate.
Video overview of the beach condos.

Have you encountered anything like this at the beach or anywhere else? Which person or creature is your favorite?

Have you heard of “Quiet Quit?”

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beach view from Overlook Park Summerland.
View of the beach from the park below our Vrbo.

With more and more employees being called back to the office, jealousy is bubbling up in the workforce.

Companies are pleading with employees to come back to the office and are plying them with goodies like gift cards, swag and cash bonuses. I read that this is not sitting well with the employees who worked in the office throughout the pandemic.

If they are truly upset, they may “quiet quit.” I’ve seen the term before, but didn’t know what it meant. Today I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that explained it called “These Workers Were the Bosses’ Favorites. Now They Feel Jilted“ by Callum Borchers.

What’s waiting for people heading back to the office after Labor Day? Jealous looks from the underappreciated colleagues who returned long ago

“Tension is a real risk with this group,” says Kristie Rogers, an associate professor of management at Marquette University. “If we’re not paying attention to those who have been around a while, making sure that their efforts were valued and continue to be valued, there could be some division that undermines the purpose of bringing people back in the first place.”

She adds workers who believe their in-person contributions are not sufficiently rewarded may quit or “quiet quit,” staying in a job but doing only the bare minimum. 

Keeping everyone satisfied is especially difficult since many workers feel empowered to resist office callbacks and expect new perks in exchange for showing up. Those who’ve long been working in person can hardly be blamed for resenting the incentives—why weren’t they offered sooner?—even though the benefits are available to all.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-workers-were-the-bosses-favorites-now-they-feel-jilted-11661977719?mod=life_work_lead_story

It sounds like a mess to me. Jealousy in the workplace is awful. I should know. I was jealous in my 20s. I found out that a new hire was making much more than what I was paid. Yet, I had experience, a college degree and more responsibility. I didn’t “quiet quit.” I QUIT!

Then, I was on the other side. When I worked with my husband in financial services, I would leave earlier than others to pick up our kids from school and get them to swim practice. I was on the receiving end of dirty looks. But it was the deal we had.

Have you ever experienced jealousy at work?

What are your thoughts about quiet quitting? Have you ever worked with someone who did the bare minimum?

What do you think about working remotely versus showing up in the office?