Tag Archives: vacation

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?

Almost a Rescue at Sea

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Tuesday and Wednesday evenings we went for beach walks and stayed until sunset.

On Wednesday night, we were with our son and daughter-in-law at our favorite beach. Everyone but me went swimming or boogie boarding. The waves were unusually big. This area is known for having the “world’s safest beach.” Normally there isn’t a current, rip tides or big waves. Wednesday was different.

My husband, son and DIL were out in the ocean in front of our beach chairs and umbrellas. After a few waves, they were way down the beach. When they walked back from the other end of the beach, they said there was a really strong current.

There were only four other people on the beach that evening — a couple including a stunning brunette woman under a pop up tent and two ladies walking their golden retriever.

The brunette jumped into the ocean. She was getting knocked around by the waves, right and left. We watched her swimming and diving under the waves and she looked like she had it under control. Her boyfriend was sound asleep under their pop-up tent.

We were sitting on the sand when my husband said, “Where did she go?” We couldn’t spot the brunette in the ocean. Since my husband had fought the current earlier, he walked down the beach to where he ended up. He spotted her more than a quarter of mile away. He called to her and asked if she was okay. Finally, she gave him a thumbs up.

The waves crashing against the rocks at the end of the beach. First time I’ve seen that.

The brunette walked up the beach to us. “I could have died out there. That’s my new boyfriend and he was asleep,” she said pointing to the man face down under the pop-up tent.

She and my husband talked about how strong the current was. He explained he was worried when she was out of sight. He said he could tell she was afraid and struggling. He wanted to make sure she was okay. She asked our names and introduced herself, Jennifer Lopez. She offered to buy us dinner downtown Santa Barbara next week to thank us.

I said, “No, that’s okay.” My son and DIL said, “You should do it!”

My son and DIL in the waves.

Jennifer said she was thankful someone was looking out for her.

Tip: If you’re swimming in the ocean, you need to have someone with eyes on you in case you need help.

Another Rescue Story:

More than ten years ago in Laguna Beach, my daughter and husband were at the beach after the lifeguards were done for the day. They noticed two panicked people stuck in a rip tide. My daughter, a swimmer and lifeguard herself, charged into the ocean and got them to calm down and helped them. My husband joined her and they got the two people to shore. Walking back to the cottage we rented that summer, my daughter noticed a neighbor’s dog out in the street. She called the dog and brought him back to his owner.

P.S. No, it wasn’t THAT Jennifer Lopez, but she said it was her legal name.

What are your plans for the last week of summer?

Sunset at the beach.

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?

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?

My Home Away From Home

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This is my favorite hotel to stay in when we visit our kids. It’s the Claremont in Berkeley. I was walking to the most amazing bakery across the street when I stopped to take this picture of the tower and flag.

They don’t make hotels like this anymore! This is the backside of the hotel.

The Claremont Resort & Club opened in 1915 as a grand 22-acre Tudor Revival landmark overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Known as the “White Castle on the Hill”, its origins trace back to a late-19th-century private estate that burned down in 1901 before being developed into the iconic hotel. — The San Francisco Standard


Isn’t it gorgeous? I took this photo from inside the health club with a gym, pool, tennis courts and spa. I was on an elliptical machine and you can see the window reflection across the photo.

I zoomed in on the city view from the strategically placed outdoor sofas and chairs where I enjoy peaceful quiet time outside.

The Golden Gate Bridge is part of the view. The main restaurant has a deck where you can sit outside and enjoy these same views. Inside there is a wall of windows facing the bay.

The hotel’s prices vary from reasonable to too expensive. It all depends on what is going on at nearby UC Berkeley. If it’s parents weekend or a football game — forget about it. This past week, there was nothing going on, so the hotel was no more expensive than any other hotel like a Marriott Courtyard.

This is one of many hallways on the main level. It’s easy to get lost trying to find your room because there are hallways taking off in many directions. By the time we are ready to return home (like today) I have it all figurerd out.

An early morning view. I’ll share more highlights of our trip later this week including a visit to Sonoma and the Marin Country Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Have a wonderful week! What are your plans for the rest of July?

Getting a bit of help

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This is how I’m packaging my cards. However, my folded cards have not arrived yet. This is my first trial run that turned out with the photo on the front and blank on the back. I hope to have my first folded cards in a day or two. Then if I’m happy with them, I’ll order more including Mrs., Poppa Quail and Roadrunner.

I’ve been working on a website, ordered business cards and each day I find a little something I want to change or improve.

Then it dawned on my that I will be visiting my son this week and he has skills and talent to review and improve my projects. How great is that? I asked him for help and he said he’d love to. Also, while we are in the Bay Area, he and his wife are treating me to a day in the North Bay — to visit Sonoma and a quaint town I’ve never been to before.

Another treat is staying at my favorite hotel and taking the kids to Chez Panisse.

I’ve made the executive decision to continue working on this card project, but it’s not going live until our summer vacations are over. I won’t be here to get delivery of cards or do fulfillment if I happen to get any orders. So, I’ll keep working on getting things just right.

What are your plans for the week?

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?