Tag Archives: vacation

Home Again

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A photo of Red and Mrs. that I selected for my first homework assignment for my workshop.

Vacation time has come to an end. Now I’m back home and I have to say, “There’s no place like home.” At the end of our vacation, we were both so looking forward to being in our home with our own creature comforts.

I have a ton of doctor’s appointments including seeing my orthopedic surgeon for one last look at my ankle. Three appointments at an imaging place for ankle, bone density and mammogram. Then there’s a colonoscopy plus a trip to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I’m trying to fit everything in before I fly to California to take care of my daughter post shoulder surgery. I postponed some of these appointments due to my emergency ankle surgery. That was enough for me to deal with.

When I return from taking care of my daughter, I’ll be bringing home Waffles the pug. My daughter won’t be able to take care of him for awhile. So, I’ll be taking care of Waffy for a month or so.

My first photography class is Thursday night via zoom. The class I took from January through May was all online. We had reading, assignments, etc. But I never interacted with anyone but the professor. This workshop has five students who have taken it for two to eight years. I’m the newbie. It will be nice to see what other people are working on and to get feedback from students and the professor.

The first assignment was to take a new photo, or select one you’ve previously taken and write about it. The prompt is: “I want you to consider and relate to us in class, why you took this particular photo. In other words, what was your motivation?”

That’s easy. It’s Red and the Mrs. Of course I was motivated to take their photo!

I’ve had some Red and Mrs. sightings since I’ve returned home. I’ve taken a few photos, but they stop by one at a time. I like the photo above for the photography class because they’re both in it and I can introduce my cardinal couple to the class. The photo also tells a story of Red taking off and Mrs. wanting to know where he was going and what time he’ll be back!

What do you like best about Fall and the end of Summer?

More beachy things

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An egret enjoying a snack in the surf.

Ice plants in bloom.

My favorite house at the beach. Not only do I like architecture, it has the best tree.

I love this palm tree with the mountains in the background.

A beautiful house. I wonder what it would be like to wake up there every morning?

Egret in the waves.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend! I hope it doesn’t get too busy and crowded at the beach!

What are your plans to celebrate Labor Day?

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?

Missing Red

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Here are a few of the best photos I got of Red this week, plus two of Mrs. I’m going to miss my backyard birds, especially my cardinal couple and quail. I have hired my former cat sitter to watch over the house and most importantly feed the birds! Hopefully, Red and Mrs. won’t abandon me while we travel.

Here are my favorite photos of the week:

Red perching on our beavertail cactus art.

Mrs. enjoying some bird seed.

Red on the fence. I liked how the morning light was shining through his crest.

I don’t get that many photos of Red with a front on angle.

I liked the sharp focus on this one.

Mrs. enjoys the beavertail cactus statue, too.

Do you have a favorite photo this week?

What are your exciting plans for the weekend?

It’s a dog’s life

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A new friend at the beach bringing a ball to my husband.

After our evening beach walk and swim, we were relaxing in beach chairs watching the waves. Suddenly, a small dog ran to my husband and dropped a ball at his feet. We looked around for his owners, but there was nobody close by.

My husband threw the ball. The speedy little pup raced after the ball and ran back to us, dropping the ball at my feet. It was my turn.

The pup alternated between the two of us for 30 minutes, never tiring of chasing the ball.

The dog is waiting in anticipation for the ball to be thrown. If you look in the ocean there is a couple out there.

Eventually the couple who were body surfing in the waves came onshore.

“Is this your dog?” my husband called out to them.

“No, he’s yours now,” the man replied. We all laughed. The dog trotted over excitedly to his rightful owners.

The dogs on the beach are so entertaining to watch. There’s a man who lives a few houses away from Kevin Costner, who walks his black lab every morning with a tennis ball launcher. That dog is so excited and jumps and circles, crying for the ball to be thrown. He runs back and forth chasing and retrieving the ball for an entire hour walk. We watched a pair of Vizlas chasing balls from their owner’s tennis ball launcher, leaping to catch the balls in the air before they hit the sand. Then there are dogs who pick up sticks two to three times the size of their bodies and proudly trot them down the beach.

Here’s a video of our new friend racing after the ball:

If you have a dog, do they like to swim, chase after balls or carry sticks?

What other creatures are as happy as a dog at the beach?

More Beach Views

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Moon rising at Carpinteria State Beach.

We’re enjoying our beach time. We start the day with a morning walk and end with the same. In the evenings, we visit the beach with our towels and chairs. After our walk, my husband swims while I do my favorite thing — read a book at the beach.

Every day there is something new to see. Here are a few more pics:

I’ve complained about Mexican food in Arizona. I haven’t found anything with the same flavors I’m used to in SoCal. This is a dinner prepared by our friends in Carpinteria. Chicken mole, rice, beans and sauteed peppers. Delicious! We’re going back for leftovers!

Low tide standing near Kevin Costner’s estate. I’ve never seen the tide so low that we could walk on this part of the beach. It’s usually under water. Around the corner of the point in the distance is our beach. Well, the beach a few blocks from our VRBO.

This is the view looking back from Costner’s estate at the beach where we take our daily walks.

More incredible Mexican food. Al Pastor tacos from Kim’s Liquor a mile from our VRBO. What’s interesting, is most liquor/convenience stores have kitchens with amazing Mexican food to go. Maybe I should let Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives know about this?

Sandpipers lined the beach this morning. I don’t have any quail at the beach, like at home, but there are plenty of sandpipers, pelicans and gulls.

My daughter once said her favorite comfort food she grew up with was Mexican food (which I do not make.) I thought she’d say one of my specialities like pan friend sole, chicken and dumplings or oxtail soup. Nope.

There are certain flavors and cuisines served in different areas of the country and the world that we enjoy and love.

What’s your is your favorite Mexican food or comfort food?

Almost beach time

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beach time
It’s almost beach time.

Soon, we’ll be making a nine-hour drive to our beach vacation in California. It will be our seventh year renting the VRBO cottage.

I will admit, I’m a little anxious over the trip. I think it’s because of how things turned out last August. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing vacation with our DIL getting diagnosed with cancer. Our son and DIL planned a last-minute wedding prior to surgery that was cancelled due to COVID. Later, they were able to move ahead with the wedding. At first, they didn’t want people flying in bringing germs, since she was beginning chemo. Then our son really wanted us there, but we couldn’t get flights to make it on time.

It was an extremely stressful time with lots of waiting, questions and prayers. I wrote about it HERE.

The last week of our vacation, friends that we have in the area all got COVID. We left a couple days early, because it seemed like the safe and sane thing to do.

This year I’m reading that Arizona has one of the lowest COVID rates, while California has one of the highest.

The cat sitter is lined up. The next door neighbor is watching our house. Time to pack and hope for a peaceful, relaxing and rejuvenating beach vacation.

Do you find vacations to be relaxing or stressful? Why?