Week 50

"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it."
~ Mary Oliver

It was kind of quiet this week. 

The 4T's were recovering from the 'Rona. 

The weather has been pretty and ccccold. 

And we celebrated my old man's birthday by going out for Sushi, twice. Yum!

This is one of my favorite trees in our neighborhood. 

It's a perfectly groomed Chinese Elm and it's huge.

I guess it's been a while since I walked past this house. 

Or maybe I just never noticed the two heart-shaped shrubs.

Sushi dinner for Hubs - the birthday boy. 

He's officially, OFFICIALLY a senior citizen. How in the world did that happen?!

The top of the Veranda Christmas tree. It's a tall one.

The big pond. Odd that the fountain isn't on in the middle of a weekday,

but it's okay with me, I love reflections. 

Cattails. I hear some parts are edible. 

My phone lock screen cycles through the photos on my phone and 

I get a hit of joy every time I pick it up.  I keep taking screenshots

 - of these photos - that are on my phone. SMH. So, I made a collage.

Karl the Fog is back!

We haven't had a foggy day since last winter. 

Week 40

In to the great wide open

Under the skies of blue...

~ Tom Petty

We went camping on the coast! Finally. There is nothing like being on the edge of the continent with the

wind in my hair, the waves crashing on the rocks, and the endless view - unless there's fog. Even the fog was beautiful! It was worth the short trip and very much needed. I have hundreds of photos that won't all fit here so, here is a sampling.

An Anise Swallowtail entertaining me while we were stopped on the side of the road.

All set up just before sunset. View from the door of our trailer.

We didn't get any epic sunsets due the fog bank off-shore.

Picked up a few of these awesome sturdy mugs.

The view of our campsite from the cliffs. 

Standing on the edge of the continent.

Had to get an "Usie".

He doesn't want me taking his picture.

Headed down to the cove for some exploring.

The ice plant colors during sunset!

She was not ready to leave and wasn't moving from that spot.

These two are too cute.

They found "chairs" to sit in.

Rock climbing.

I asked him to pose like a super hero. I'm not sure what he was going for here.

The mouth of the Russian River.

Week 39

"We are rare, not perfect...we need to soothe ourselves, not blame ourselves." ~ Mark Nepo

Walks, bike rides, art in the backyard, leaves changing color, clear sky in the west, Hurricane watch on the east coast, and these adorable grandchildren of mine. All is well and we're all okay. Thank you.

I love watching the Liquidambars change. 

Out for a morning adventure with this cutie.

Noticing.

I gave him a new pad of paper when I picked him up from school. 

He walked into the house, gathered his supplies, and went straight to work on his masterpiece.

My heart!

Straight out of my camera (phone).

Burn baby burn.

As we watched the weather channel all evening, I  made a little graphic from a screenshot.

Then we watched again the next night as Ian headed towards Melissa in SC.

Thankfully, all of our family made it through okay.

Paisley highly recommends this book. 

It is eye-opening. 

She liked my happy face Sun.

Got all three of them together. 

More Liquidambar (aka Sweetgum) leaves.

Those are some big eyes staring down at me - like I'm prey. 

This is one of the White-tailed Kites that has been hanging out at Hub's office. 

Week 38

"And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." ~ Oscar Wilde

I took a lot of photos this week, and it took a bit to sort through them all. Then I had to pick my favorites. 

The highlight of my week was playing with Paisley's new bubble machine. Well, also photographing flowers, birds, a butterfly, and the clouds, and, oh yeah, IT'S FALL!

An American Goldfinch. 

They are getting more comfortable with me sitting a little closer to their food source.

We had some amazing cloud-scapes this week. 

Signs of fall.

Best bubble machine EVER!

"My bubbles."

Cosmos at Heather Farms.

Just practicing with manual focus on a Mexican Sunflower 

when this Gulf Fritillary decided to have a snack. 

Miss Cleo on one of her thrones.

Art in the back yard, every chance we get. 

Test drive.

City Hall, again. I love the reflections from the pond. 

Week 37

"I am the intentional creator of my human experience."

~ SelfHealers Circle

Bike rides, clouds, walks, Great Horned Owls, hanging out with the grandkids, and even some rain. 

It was a good week.

Downtown PH pond.

That sky though!

Our City Hall.

Sidewalk Sunflower

Another cute yard in Martinez.

No power here for about seven hours while they replaced a power pole.

That's an impressive amount of equipment for one pole.

It's the time of year for backyard sunrises. Yay!

Second breakfast.

Okay, this is a really bad image from my iPhone of a Great Horned Owl we came 

upon while on a Saturday evening walk. It was being harassed by a Cooper's Hawk, 

and we were able to watch it for a while, once the hawk left. 

We believe this is one of two that have been calling from the trees in the creek behind our house. 

In the middle of the night, we can hear them talking to each other and they lull us to sleep.  

Painted this one a little differently. Still, so much fun!

We had a very nice rainy Sunday.