Sunday, December 27, 2009

California Christmas

The weather is really nice this time of year.

The day after Christmas The Man and my mom and her husband went on a hike along the beach with the Sierra Club. The weather was very pleasant and clouds in the sky made the scenery interesting. We hiked from Refugio Beach to El Capitan Beach and back.


The tide was not low enough to stay on the beach for our two mile hike, so we hiked up the cliffs on to the bike path. We saw an egret along the way and I managed to catch a picture of it in flight.


It was a little chilly at first, but on the way back the wind was no longer in our faces and we got quite warm. It was probably in the mid-60s during the day. I found a wooden spool on the beach. I wanted to take it home to make a little coffee table, but The Man didn't want to take it home. It would have been quite an effort to roll it the whole two miles back to the car.

Today we went on another hike. This time we hiked 9 miles round trip to the top of the Santa Ynez mountains and back down again. It was a good workout, which I blew on chocolate and peppermint cookies and candy once I got home. My body is a dumping ground for toxic chocolate waste, and my waist certainly shows it. I can barely fit into the hiking pants I wore all summer.

Our great December weather also makes us fortunate enough to do things differently if necessary. We put our Christmas tree out on the deck instead of in the house this year. Well, actually, we have never had a full-sized Christmas tree before. Our house is too small and cluttered for a tree, plus it might scare our birds. Our big white bird (sitting on The Man's shoulder in case you don't see her) doesn't look too scared by the tree outside, so maybe we worried for nothing.


It looks like a jungle for our Christmas picture. Behind The Man is our rain barrel that we got from the City. The leaves hanging near his head are from one of our many avocado trees. The avocados are bonking me in the head in the yard now.

Finally, one last picture from my new camera. I got a new camera to replace the one I accidentally broke while hiking the PCT. I broke it while sleeping with it. I rolled over and pressed with all my weight with my hand and broke something inside. I heard it snap. Never sleep with your camera. I finally got a replacement camera and can take pictures again.

This picture is of my garden which was made from a crappy wooden bookshelf we found discarded on the sidewalk. The stuff you see growing in the front is romaine lettuce. In the back is more lettuce and chard. I thought my seeds weren't sprouting, so I tossed seeds in until stuff started to grow, so there is also cilantro and god only knows what growing, too, all mixed up. I haven't a clue what I'm doing, but maybe someday I'll do it right.


I grow my garden on the garage roof, which is flat. It is also the only sunny place in the yard, thanks to the avocado trees. We are so lucky to have a year-round growing and hiking season.

No comments:

Post a Comment