And to further continue the dog theme.....

Continuing the dog theme...

Riley's latest food pilfering was last week: he finished off a one quart container of homemade chicken stock that was thawing in the sink. I don't know how he got it out of the sink, but he got it to the dog bed and enjoyed a lovely "chickensicle." I'm sure Decker helped. Anyway, I just saw this list this morning of "things removed from a dog's stomach" and thought I'd share. It's from a British newspaper. Fortunately, Riley is mainly into food - or things somewhat edible....

The top twenty list in full is:
1. Ten-inch tent peg
2. Christmas decoration (star shaped)
3. Kitchen knife
4. Alphabet fridge magnets
5. Man's wig
6. Ann Summers underwear
7. Bell
8. Fishing hook
9. Socks
10. Rubber duck
11. Baby's dummy
12. Golf balls
13. Coins
14. Balloons
15. Metal ball from a computer mouse
16. Shoe laces
17. Power ball
18. Corn on the cob
19. Needle and thread
20. Box of chocolates

Back at work

Christmas is over and it's back to work. I've got some pictures to share over the week, but for now, just wanted to give a quick update. It's supposed to be in the low 70's the next few days, but it's still chilly out right now. I hope the forecast is correct because I would love some warmth!

Check this out - a good way to put your lazy dog to work!

Last day of work for a while

I took some vacation days next week, so combined with the Christmas holiday, I'm going to enjoy a full week off! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. Now if I can just shake this cold... I hope to get in a bunch of surfing while I'm off (sick or not). This time of year is normally big, powerful winter surf, and that's not my cup of tea. Strangely, it's really flat right now and predicted to be that way through early next week. This morning, it was so flat, I'm not even sure it was surfable! We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Saw this earlier, and had to share it with you :) Click on it to enlarge it if you can't read it...

That time of year

Behold - the dog bed that is ignored nine months of the year. Somehow, having a fire makes it seem oh so appealing. It's been cold and rainy here the past few days, but we got a bit of a clearing today. More rain for Friday though.

I've been fighting a cold, so took a sick day to get some rest and try and knock it out. Back to work tomorrow, but then off for Christmas week!

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Fairy ring

Saw this on campus the other day. The mushrooms don't go quite all the way around the tree, but they are a definite ring. I don't think I've ever seen one before. So of course, I had to go to Wikipedia and read about them, which you can do by clicking here. I'll have to keep any eye on this spot from now on and see if it gets bigger & more dense.

Riley is doing better every day. Now that he's just one one "heavy" drug, he seems much more normal. Normal enough to eat 1) a banana off the counter and 2)finish the apple crisp I made the other day. Yes, I would say he's on the upswing....

Riley update

We got Riley home from the vet last night....$1800 later. Ouch. Can I say that again? Ouch. He was really drugged up. He stumbled when walking and it seemed like he had severely reduced vision. He couldn't settle down and kept wandering around, ending up in corners where he couldn't figure out what to do. And then from time to time, he would just start crying - it was sad :( He finally settled down at bed time, but got up a few times during the night. He seems to be doing better today, so we are hoping last night's behavior was just the remnants of all the IV drugs he was on over the weekend. The Phenol Barbital will make him drowsy until he gets used to it, so we are expecting some sluggishness, not just the level we saw last night. We'll keep you posted.

Stuff

Here's a beautiful sunset from the other night. Of course, this picture (taken from the hot tub steps) doesn't begin to capture how amazing it was, but it gives you the general idea. We are entering our "late fall" weather pattern right now: cold at night, but in the low to mid 70's during the day. That's the forecast for the next 10 days, and I like it :)

In other news, I think most of you know that Riley has epilepsy. Unfortunately, it's become more symptomatic over the past two months. Yesterday, between 2:00 am and 8:30 AM, he had three seizures, the last two being pretty intense. We took him to the vet at 11:00, and he checked out just fine. The vet decided it's time to put him on the next level of meds, and told us that if he had another seizure in the next day, we should bring him back in. Of course, he had a seizure in the parking lot.... He's spent the night at the vet on an IV getting a steady feed of anti-seizure meds and as long as he hasn't had an seizures by later today, we can go get him. The low estimate: $1200. Merry Xmas from Riley! Fortunately, the new meds should do the trick and they are inexpensive. It's actually Phenol Barbital, so he is going to be groggy at first until his system adjusts to it, but then he should be his same old "what can I eat?" self.

We are off to Santa Barbara to pick up a new living room chair....

R.I.P little mouse

Well, we got him/her last night. Not that I'm terribly proud of killing things, but the old fashioned mouse trap did the trick. I was sitting on the couch in the living room and watched it dash into the kitchen, then into the dining room, under the hutch. I made the Whippet stay on the couch, then moved the mouse trap near the hutch, and went back to sit on the couch. About two minutes later I heard the tell-tale "snap," and the deed was done. I don't know if that was the only one or not, so we'll keep an eye out for more counter-poops and nibbled bananas.

Scared of Santa

This is a photo collection from the Chicago Tribume - too funny! Click here to enjoy....

Invasion!

We got back from Thanksgiving to find that the apocalypse had begun in our kitchen. OK, maybe not the apocalypse, but we have a dual infestation going on right now. Alright, I exaggerate again. It's not an infestation: it's one mouse and a bunch of fruit flies.

We walked into the kitchen Sunday evening to find mouse turds all over the counter. We hadn't left any food out when we went away, but some little critter was still on the lookout. I cleaned up the mess and checked for damage, but didn't find any. Well, until we got to the office at least. The little guy/gal came in via the door separating the office from the garage. It chewed away about 3" of weatherstripping and unfortunately, chewed a way a portion of a solid Mahogany door. The damage is minor, but still annoying. I bought some mouse traps yesterday, a new plastic kind, and set them out last night. Apparently they make good mouse feeding stations but don't actually kill mice. We'll be buying the old fashioned ones today.

The little guy actually made two appearances last night. One on the counter, but when he saw me, he vanished behind the stove. And then again later while I was sitting on the couch. He ran into the living room, then under the TV cabinet. Lucky for him, Riley was sleeping.

As for the fruit flies, a couple of our other neighbors have reported them being a problem this fall as well. We found (thanks Google) a great, easy way to kill them though. I put about three tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in a ramekin, then filled it with water, up to about 1/2" from the rim. Then, I stirred in about a teaspoon of dish soap, and put it on the counter. I had my first victim within minutes, and this morning, there were probably twenty dead fruit flies. At least we can kill something (not that I'm gloating about that, mind you....)

Mmmmm

This is part of the display case at Chantilly, a Japanese bakery in Lomita, which is in what's considered the "south bay" portion of LA. We have been here before, specifically for the cream puffs. And since we were in the neighborhood, we had to stop by and have cream puffs again. Specifically, the cream puffs filled with black sesame cream. I can't even describe how good they are, so let's just leave it at delicious :-) They make quite a bit of other stuff too, but we just get the cream puffs. Maybe sometime we'll branch out. Maybe ...

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Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey is eaten, and now we are full and sleepy, how about you? The dogs did their part by helping with the dishes :-) hope you had a nice day!

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This and that

No picture for you this morning, sorry. I went to a party in Cayucos last night. It was at the Vet's Hall and three bands played, headlined by "Sexy Time Explosion." I didn't get home until 12:30, and of course, headed to work at 7:00 as usual. Needless to say, I'm a bit tired, but I'll make it :)

We got rain yesterday, and it's continuing this morning. Not a lot, but enough to make puddles. I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving, have a good one!

Attack of the stick

So, I walk into the bathroom this morning to get in the shower - without my contacts in. I see something on the floor, but of course, it's all blurry, so I just get in the shower. I finish, get out, put in my contacts, and discover that the "thing" is a walking stick, just hanging out in the bathroom. I ignore it, and start brushing my teeth, keeping watch on it out of the corner of my eye. I notice it starts walking, right in my direction. Lucky for me, there was a Kleenex box handy I could use as a shield. I put it down on the floor, the walking stick climbed up on it and stopped. I was able to complete my morning hygiene routine without incident.

I took it outside later so I could take a picture of it. This was a pretty good sized one. I have no idea what it was doing in the bathroom, or how it got there. I'm just glad it wandered in that direction, and not onto the bed, while we were sleeping.... (you can click on the picture for a bigger view)

A little Wednesday intrigue

It's been a busy week so far, work wise at least. Lots of stuff going on so I haven't been motivated to post. Riley's paw is healing well, hopefully we'll get the bandage off this week. He's been very good about not chewing on the bandage, so we only need to leave the cone on when we aren't home.

After 85 degree weather Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, it's cooled off a bit. Ah, Fall. That's it for now. In the meantime, enjoy this cat riding a Roomba.....

Ramen

We just had lunch at this ramen place. Holy cow, it was delicious. The only have one kind of ramen on the menu, and its a very particular style. Its pork and the broth is almost creamy, like its been simmering for days. It was so delicious. The place was tiny, hot and busy. We had to eat at the counter but it was worth it.

Two blocks away the No on 8 rally is going on so its pretty packed around here. Heading over to North Hollywood to look at a warehouse full of Danish Modern antiques!

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Ben Folds

A view from our seats last night. Fantastic show! Really, really good, glad we went. The Wiltern is a really great old venue.

Of course, we wake up this morning and the Sylmar fire is worse. It shouldn't affect us today, but we are keeping an eye on it.

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The Tea fire

That's what they are calling the fire in Santa Barbara. Its clearly visible from the 101 as you drive by. They have lost about 100 homes so far, which is so sad. Hopefully they will have it under control soon. The winds were not as strong today, so that helps.

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Downtown LA

This is the view from our room at the Hilton Checkers. Its nice, and close to the concert and dinner. But - they have Christmas decorations up AND they are playing Christmas music in the lobby. Please! It was 85 out when we checked in and its not even Thanksgiving yet :-)

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Never a dull moment

Riley "de-sheathed" one of his nails last week. That means he pulled the nail off the quick while he was running in the beach. Poor little guy. We left it a lone for a while, but he was licking it too much. So, off to the vet. They removed the nail & bandaged him up. This is what the vet called his "boxing glove." You can't see the cone he has on, but he's wearing one. Talk about a P.I.T.A. He walks around, bumping into everything & scraping the cone all over. Oh well, supposedly it's only for a week....

Off to LA this afternoon. Seeing Ben Folds at the Wiltern tonight & then spending the night there. Going to hang around LA until mid afternoon then venture home. I'll try and post from the road. It's supposed to be in the low 90's today and tomorrow, both here and in LA!

Roll with it

I don't bake very often, but for some reason (ok, because 8 whole wheat rolls were $4) I decided to try and bake some whole wheat rolls. I had all the ingredients, so why not.

I found a good recipe that interestingly uses some dried potato flakes in it, I gather to keep the rolls soft. I had yesterday off for Veterans' day so I had the time make these. They turned out great. A bit crusty on the outside, hearty, but still soft & tasty. A winner. Most ended up in the freezer, but I kept some out to enjoy with the white bean soup I just made.....

Before.....After

We tried, we really did. We re-sodded once, and then when that started to die, we tried to re-seed small areas. Apparently, 140 sq feet of lawn isn't quite big enough for two dogs. Well, it is big enough...if you don't want your grass to grow :)

So, after talking about it, and talking about it some more, we decided to go for it. Behold the new "lawn." It's 3/4" river rock, and we have to say, we are quite pleased with how it looks. Certainly more Palm Springs than Cayucos, but I think it works ok. It was a fair amount of work, but less than we thought it would be. The whole project, inlcuding running drip lines to the new plants took about 6 hours.

We still have the sprinklers in place and they will be running briefly twice a day to flush the toilet, as it were. The dogs have been using it just fine so far. We went with this size rock so that when we were picking up after the dogs, you wouldn't end up getting a bunch of gravel with the debris. So far, so good!

Thanks, California

Thanks for passing Propositions 2 and 8. This only confirms that the majority of you think it's more important for chickens to have expanded rights than it is for gays & lesbians. Good grief.....

I'm going to KFC for lunch, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.....

I am in awe

It's 9:22 pm on Tuesday night. We just watched Obama's speech. I am floored for a several reasons. One, I remember telling people back in the primaries that yes, he was electable, and I love finding out that I was right :-) Two, I can't believe that we have the first non white president in the United States. Certainly, this is a historic night, and maybe being hapa, that means something more to me than to you. And three, well, for the first time in, oh, 8 years, I feel hopeful. I know that how somebody campaigns isn't necessarily how they will govern, but I am hopeful that President Obama can inspire us all to work for a better United States.

I won't babble on, but truly, right now, I have tears in my eyes, and I am thrilled.

Now, we have to wait for local results, and see how 8 does. I'm hoping for good news all around tonight.....

Fresno

I'm on campus at Fresno State for a conference today. I've never been on campus before and to be honest, its not that exciting. I'm sure its a nice school, and I know they have great sports teams, but I'm not walking around thinking "I'd like to work here." They do have this nice fountain though and I enjoyed watching it while eating my box lunch. Not as exciting a the one at the Bellagio, but it will do :-)

You did vote today, right?

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Hmmm, interesting

So, I just looked at the Blog. I realized that I only posted twice while we were in Vegas, and both were pictures of food. I have no explanation for that, other than maybe the only time I felt like posting was while sitting a table? To flesh out the trip a bit more - we had a great time. Weather was warm, but not sunny, so we didn't hang out by the pool. That was the only downside. But, it was great weather for walking around, and we did our fair share of that.

We hit the usual spots we like: The Palms, Caesar's Palace, Belagio, and also checked out the new Palazzo, which is an addition to The Venetian. It was very nice - understated, but elegant. We only gambled a bit there, then wandered on.

We spent the majority of our gambling time at Ellis Island, which is a tiny casino behind Bally's, where we stayed. It wasn't fancy at all, but was clean, had cheap food, *plentiful* beer - that they brew there, and the gambling was good. So, we abandoned the glitz of the strip and spent two nights at Ellis Island. Say what you will, but it was really fun. I mean - normally, at the bigger casinos, you are lucky to get one drink an hour when they are busy. I would say double that, at a minimum for Ellis Island. Plus, you get a pint of Micro Brew beer instead of a bottle, which was really nice.

My plane was late out of Vegas, so I didn't get home until 7:00. I'm off this afternoon for Fresno. I'm attending a management seminar tomorrow, so I'm spending the night, attending the class, then driving home after. Then, I'm home for a while.

Election day tomorrow - I've already voted, please make sure you do!

Early morning breaky

It's 1:14 Sunday morning. We are having late night /early morning breakfast. I'm not hungry at all, but it seemed like the thing to do! Another fun night. No big winners, but no big losers either so we can't complain. I'll try to sleep in tomorrow, but I have a hard time with that :-)

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They still exist...

Bargains in Vegas that is. Behold, the $6.95 steak dinner at Ellis Island Casino. It includes a pint of beer they brew on site. Can't beat it! It's 11:00 Halloween night. Back in the room for a piece of pizza, then off to check out costumes out and about on the strip!

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That time of year....

It's not winter yet, but we are coming in to the time of year where the sunrises are amazing. I always want to stop the car and take pictures. This picture was not taken from a parked car, but I *was* wearing my blue tooth headset, does that count? As always, my Blackberry can't do justice to the real thing, but this gives you a general idea. It was lovely, and kept changing all the way into work. Not a bad way to start the day!

We head to Vegas tonight for a little debauchery. Going on the cheap (well, as cheap as possible) for a few nights. It's supposed to be in the mid 80's all weekend, so looking forward to laying by the pool & relaxing. I suppose I'll find some time for drinking and gambling too ;-)

I feel better now

After a "chat" with the Yes on 8 gentleman in front of the grocery store two weeks ago, I've really felt compelled to do something. So, I did. I've got a "Defend Equality: Vote No on 8" sticker in my car window, we've sent additional money to the HRC for the No on 8 campaign, and I wrote a letter to the editor, which they ran today. You can read it here if you scroll down a bit. None of the three things may make a difference, but I had to do something, and I feel good now that I did....

A lovely weekend

Well, the weather on the coast wasn't lovely, but the weekend overall certainly was. We had an entire weekend at home, which was great. Got a number of chores done around the house, did a lot of relaxing, and went to AG Saturday night for dinner with friends. Saturday, we headed up to Paso & Templeton for a few errands. We stopped at The Little Market in Cayucos and grabbed a sandwich for a picnic. On the way to Paso, we stopped at Donati Family Vineyards, which used to be Mostantuano, and used their picnic area. It was nice out - maybe 78 or so, and it was great just to sit, relax, and eat.

While in Templeton, we stopped at a landscaping materials place and looked at gravel. I think we are ordering gravel to replace the lawn this week (the work won't happen until 11/8 though). I'll keep you posted on that....

Hilltop sunset

Jeff took this last night from the hilltop. Beautiful! I was enjoying the same view, but floating on my surfboard in Cayucos, watching the dolphins frolic and (I'm pretty sure) procreatin'. Happy Friday!

The contradictions of Fall

This is a spot I frequently walk by on campus. I think the trees are Liquid Ambers, and they are one of the only trees to show true "Fall color" around here. Yet, even as these trees are looking a bit like New England, we've been roasting here. OK, not roasting, but it's been in the 80's in SLO, and the 70's at the beach. Plus, the off shore winds have been ripping. They've been so strong that we are having to shut doors and windows at night because everything outside is flapping around & it's really noisy. The problem is, the winds are also really warm, so we've been waking up to the house in the low 70's, which is a bit toasty.

The trade off though, is the beautiful evenings. Last night was so nice out. I got in a short surf and it as just beautiful!

At least somebody is relaxed

I know, I've been bad about updating lately. I've been busy, but not with anything terribly Blog worthy. Well, *almost* nothing :)

So, I give you this picture of Decker dog, doing what he does best - relaxing. Now if that isn't the good life, I don't know what is.

The weather has still been warm, and I got two days of surfing in this past weekend. It's been windy after work, so I've pretty much been limited to paddling out on the weekends. Maybe I'll get lucky a few days this week and have somewhat glassy conditions at 5:00. Not too much longer before after work surfing will be on hold until mid February. Once we have the time change, it's not light enough after work to surf until about Valentines day.

Debate-able

So last night was the last of the three presidential debates, and frankly, I'm glad they are over. I watched all three of them. I have the VP one recorded - but haven't watched it yet, and at this point, I'm not sure I will. I don't know why, but I find it kind of exhausting watching the debates. And to be honest - the only people they are going to sway (I think?) are the people who are undecided. I seriously doubt somebody registered in one party is going to vote for the other party after watching a debate, unless somebody *really* flubbed up, and I don't know that either party did. Do you know anybody who has changed their opinion after watching a debate?

As always, a good resource is www.factcheck.org. You can click here for a direct link to their analysis of the last debate, and here to get to their home page. I think it's a great website and I hope it's as unbiased as they claim to be.

Seal Beach

Well, Huntington was a blow out mess this morning, so I headed north a bit. This is the Seal Beach pier. Much more protected so the conditions were clean, but just waist high waves dumping over. I went for a nice beach walk, but didn't paddle out. Maybe tomorrow...

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Flatz

A little excitement in Ventura :-) "What was that noise?" Blow out on the 101. Fortunately, an easy change to the donut and we were off. Just dropped $450 on new tires in Huntington Beach. Just doing my part to help the economy.

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The Barn

On our way south for a few days. Quick stop at the Avila Barn for cider and apples. Its hay ride/pumpkin patch time so even though its a weekday morning, there are families and children everywhere. There are some darling pygmy goats in the petting zoo though :-)

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Fall

This was taken this morning at 6:20. 70 outside, 72 inside already! Ahh, Fall. Yesterday, the offshore winds were ripping, today, it's pretty calm, but still warm. Yesterday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, but I don't know, today is starting out with a bang :)

Kelp

The first big swell of the season is winding down. It uprooted a lot of the kelp that's grown over the summer, and deposited it on the beach. This makes for tricky beach walking conditions, as you have to do a lot of winding around if you don't want to trudge through it. Lots of bugs buzzing around as well. No big swells on the horizon for now, so with some high tides, a lot of this will wash back out to sea....

Grape juice....mostly

We went wine tasting on Saturday at a few places. This is a nice time of year to go because they are still harvesting some of the reds and you can frequently see some of the work in progress. This is at Hugg, in Paso. The sun was out, so they brought the fermenters outside to warm up & help things along. A couple of times a day, they use this tool to push the "cap" down into the juice. The cap is the grapes, stems, etc. floating on top of the juice. This picture doesn't do the color justice - it was beautiful! These are Cabernet grapes, and we got to taste some of the juice. Still about 60% grape juice and 40% wine. It's sweet still, but starting to take on the characteristics of wine.

Here's another picture of the action. The setting at Hugg is not particularly romantic, but they make excellent wine - so we don't mind. The gentleman in the baseball hat on the lower left is the owner & wine maker. Edgar, doing the work while we watch, is the assistant wine maker.

Ahhh, Fall....

It hasn't been the most typical Fall, but we have been having more warm, sunny days than not. Jeff took this at the beach on Tuesday, around 11:00 AM. that's Riley wandering around in the water. Small waves, but look how glassy and beautiful it is out. While he was walking with the dogs, I was sitting at my desk, looking at this picture, trying to will myself there....but it didn't work. Ok, it did work, but not until 5:00 ;-)

Back at Work

Well, you gotta love the Internet. Here's a clip somebody shot at the show last night. This is "Across The Wire" and the sound quality is pretty darn good. There are seven guys on stage. The two guys playing trumpet play a number of instruments when they aren't playing trumpet (marimba, accordion, percussion, keyboard...) and there is a slide guitarist on the right hand side of the stage. The bass player alternated between a stand up & regular bass, depending on the song. The level of musicianship was outstanding:



When we walked out of the show at midnight, it was still a balmy 70 or so in LA. There were a few street vendors setup, and I was drawn to the Mexican hot dog stand. Imagine a hot dog wrapped with bacon, then grilled until it's crispy. Then, served on a soft bun with mayonnaise, and topped with grilled onions. Let me tell you, it hit the spot and was mighty tasty!

Great show

It's just about one A.M. And I'm back in Ventura. The show was fantastic, worth the drive. The venue is really nice, we had great seats and the acoustics were really good. I'll post a bit more tomorrow (today!), but I wanted to have something for you early birds. You know who you are, Sue :-)

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Pre show French Dip

Actually got to Hollywood early enough to eat. Had to go to the world famous Phillipe's for a French Dip. They claim to be the originators and I have to say, might tasty! Its right across from Union Station, downtown more or less. At The Music Box now and have great seats!

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Pretending I'm still young....

So today, I'm going to pretend I'm still young and have lots of energy. I'm leaving work at 3:30 to drive to Hollywood to see Calexico, a band I like a lot. I mean, I must like them a lot to do this. Here's the itinerary: Leave work at 3:30, drive to hotel in Ventura, arrive about 5:30. Check in, change, get on road by 6:00 for Hollywood. With no traffic, Ventura to Hollywood is supposed to be 1:08. I'm guessing it's going to be more like 2:00 with traffic. Get to The Music Box at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood about 8:00, just in time for the doors to open. First band at 9:00, Calexico will probably take the stage around 11:00. I'm guessing the show will be over around 1:00, drive back to Ventura, get there maybe 2:30. Sleep until 7:15, get up, shower, grab free breakfast at the hotel then drive to work, arriving about 10:00.

So who is this band that you've never heard of? You can read about them at Wikipedia here , but in a nutshell, they are a rock band that is pretty eclectic in their sound, but with heavy leanings of Mariachi. I know, sounds wierd, but it's good. Here's a Youtube video of a live performance of the song "Sunken Waltz."



Another live clip, this one recent, performing "Two Silver Trees" from their new album

Muy delicioso!

I realize this photo makes everything look kind of beige, but I assure you it was tasty! Those are the tacos of rajas con queso. It's the chilies I roasted the other day cooked with a very large onion that was sliced and sauteed for a long time, served with queso fresco on corn tortillas. Queso fresco is really good - I think it's what is usually used in chile rellanos. It's texturally like a soft feta but slices a bit easier. It's very mild and nicely salty, so it goes really well with the flavor of the chilies.

The tacos are served with black beans cooked with a bit of garlic & cumin and some squash (from Cal Poly, of course!) sauteed with garlic, red chili flakes and cumin. It was all delicious -and with leftover tacos to boot!

Fall..

Today is the first day of fall, I think, and amazingly, our first day of off-shore winds. They started around 4:00 AM, and when I got out of bed at 5:50, it was already 67. This weekend, it was about 55 at 8:00 AM, so they definitely make a big difference. Fall always means off-shores; it's just funny that literally, they started on first day of the season! We should have a really nice month of warm weather and clear skies to enjoy, and I'm looking forward to it!

Pick a pack of......

So, I guess I exagerated a bit when I said I must have a dozen peppers in the fridge. Turns out it was only nine. Still, nine, twelve, it's a lot of peppers. I cleaned out the BBQ Saturday (wow, Weber makes that easy to do, thanks!) and while it was hot decided to roast all the peppers I had. This is the before & after. I realize the after doesn't look super appetizing, but boy do they smell good.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them until about half way through the cleaning process. There are a couple of taco places in Santa Barbara we like, including the famous Super Rica, and they server tacos made with "Rajas con Queso." They are simple - but delicious. Sliced and sauteed red onion mixed with roasted peppers, served on corn tortillas with queso fresca or Jack cheese. Decision made - dinner one night this week. I can hardly wait :)

Nobody I know, but....

I'm sure you dog lovers will appreciate this. I just love the look, "What, I wasn't chewing on your lipstick. What are you talking about?" Too funny. You know the owner was torn between being mad and laughing.

The last of the veggies

Well, not the last vegetables we'll ever eat, but the last from our Cal Poly Organic Farm CSA. I can't believe it's been 6 months! We've got some purple potatoes in here today - not grown by Cal Poly, but I'm looking forward to trying them. And - oh boy! More peppers. I swear, I think I have ten peppers at home in the produce drawer. They are all getting roasted on the grill this weekend, and I think dinner one night next week is sausage with grilled peppers & onions. That sounds good, doesn't it ?

It's been a really neat experience, and I think worth the $$. We've tried some things we never had before (like Turnips) and had to get creative with some things that we used to only buy on occasion - but ended up getting a lot of (did I mention peppers?)

We did not sign up for the fall/winter session. It's my goal to try and get to the Morro Bay farmers market, maybe every other week, and continue to buy fresh, local produce their. So, I hope you've enjoyed the veggie chapter....who knows what's next!

Note to self: Secure the roof next time....

Oh boy - this is one persistent dog! Really brings the concept of escape artist home. I love how the other two dogs are watching at the end...

An old fall tradition

Behold - apple bars! When we were growing up, these were a family favorite. This past weekend, my mom was here, and it's apple season, so hey - put those two things together and look what you get :) The apples are from See Canyon - of course. We made these together so I could learn the ancient art of apple bar making, and except for being a bit heavy on the icing, they turned out great. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make more sometime soon.....

Basil experiment a big success....

We planted this basil not knowing how it would do, and not having had much success with basil in the past. Obviously, this one did very, very well! Too bad it's not the classic Italian type. This one is an Asian variety and it's pretty strong. Truth be told, we've barely used it. Next year, I'll try a standard basil and hope that it does this well. If it does, well, I think we'll have more pesto than we know what do do with, but that's not really a bad problem to have, is it ?

Home sweet home

Made it back. It was so nice out when we got home, we had to take the boys out for a walk. This is Riley, patiently for the ball to be thrown...

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One more

I'm fairly certain this is Mt. Rainier. You can see another mountain in the background too, not sure if its Mt. St. Helens or another one.

We looked at the prices for food and wine and calculated we each ate & drank over $60 worth of food in first class, so we did pretty, but next time we'll have to try harder :-) Incidentally, first class was completely empty on this trip.

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One more

I'm fairly certain this is Mt. Rainer. You can see another mountain in the background too, not sure if its Mt. St. Helens or another one.

We looked at the prices for food and wine and calculated we each ate & drank over $60 worth of food in first class, so we did pretty, but next time we'll have to try harder :-)

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Second class

Our plane for the journey home. No first class this trip, but we did pay $$15 extra for seats with more leg room :-) So far everybody associated with Virgin America has been friendly and helpful. I think its safe to say we would fly them again if we had the option.

We should land in LA about 1:30 and get home in time for a beach walk...or a surf!

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More Museum of Glass

The tower you see in the background is actually the flue above the studio area from the previous posting. This is a great place, well worth visiting!

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Museum of Glass

Inside the "hot studio" at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. One of the few places you are allowed to take pictures. I know this isn't a very good photo, but this team was making a giant orange pear. Very cool! Will try and post another picture of the place...

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Pike Place Market

Some of the lovely flowers for sale - cheaply, I may add, at the public market. Most of the bouquets are under $10, pretty amazing!

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