Now for something entirely different

After much deliberation, measuring, theorizing, etc., the new sofa is finally here. And, we are happy to report that it fits well, looks great, and is comfortable to boot. No, it's not as big and squishy as our old one, but it's still plenty comfortable. The Settee portion is really nice, and the ottoman/coffee table works well too. We've never had leather furniture before, so this is a bit of a change, but I think it will work out well.

Size wise, it's perfect. It's actually 1" shorter than our other sofa but has essentially the same seating area. However, it's "smaller scale" looking and without the other coffee table there, the room actually feels bigger. And, three people can fit on it comfortably and put their feet up, so it should be good for movie watching.

The dogs did not immediately jump up on it, and when they did, well, I don't think Decker is quite as enthralled with it as we are. *FYI - remember, you can always click on the photos to enlarge them.

Before.....after

Look at how nicely our Clematis had grown. It's really taken off over the past few months, and despite being attacked by caterpillars, it's growing vigorously and branching out nicely. That is, until the attack of the next biological assailant, which we believe was a Whippet .

I came home from work on Friday and was just checking out the yard. When I looked at the Clematis, I noticed that all the growing tips were wilting. Hm. I looked around the plant, didn't see anything strange and was trying to figure out what could have caused it.

Upon further examination, it seems that some variety of canine, again, we suspect Whippet, spent some time chewing on the support stick for the base of the vine. The problem is, the stem of the plant was wrapped around the support stick. So, while the stick was getting chewed, the vine was completely severed, as you can see in this photo.

Sigh. The good news is there were already several more shoots coming up from the ground, so I'm sure the plant will survive, we just have to start over again. I pulled the vine off the trellis yesterday afternoon, and now it's bare again. I installed an "electric" wire around the plant too. It's not actually hot, but looks just like the other wire in the yard that is hot, so we think it will be enough of a deterrent.

Dogs, gotta love 'em.....

So many things to talk about. Lets start with beets

There were some beautiful golden beets in this week's veggie box, so I roasted them this morning. Not only are they beautiful, but they are so sweet! I'm going to buy some feta cheese, I think, and make a salad with them. Feta or chevre actually, not sure yet. Yum!

The weather has cooled down. SLO set a record at 109 on Saturday. It's just not that hot around here, usually, and while it was sort of annoying, it was also novel enough that I enjoyed it. The beach was *packed* yesterday. It's cooled down today, it's only 72 here today. Big difference. Got two beach walks in already. One with both boys, and a much longer one with Riley so he could get some ya-yas out.

This next picture shows the Noren we bought to go between the dining room and the office. We wanted something to block the view of the computer shelf etc. from the dining room, and this seemed like a nice option. We ordered it from VivaTerra which sells "green" products made from organic and/or sustainable and/or recycled materials. That translates to slow and expensive. I believe this is hand dyed organic linen, but who knows. I like it, but every time I walk through it, I keep waiting to here "Irrashaimase!"

Hot hot hot!

This was the weather at 3:30 on Friday afternoon in SLO. I've seen various reports for Cayucos, ranging up to 107, but for SLO they've been pretty consistent around 112. It never gets this hot here, it's crazy! Can't wait to get home and go in the ocean, although I have a feeling it will be pretty crowded tonight :)

Udvar-Hazy (no, I'm not making that up)

Yesterday, Jeff had a chance to go to the National Air and Space Museum in DC. Mr. Udvar-Hazy apparently donated $66 million dollars for it to be built, so obviously, it's named after him. Sounds like it's a pretty neat place. It's big enough that it has hangars to hold a Concorde, Space Shuttle, and an SR-71, with room for plenty of other stuff. Looks great! He's off to NY today, will keep you posted.

How's the weather where you are? Freakishly warm here - 74 in Cayucos when I woke up, and it reached 95 at the beach yesterday. Yikes. Supposed to be warm today, then cooling off over the weekend.

DC

Jeff is in DC and New York for a flying trip. I asked him to send some photos for the blog. This is the Metro he took to the Pentagon. A friend of his from the Air Force is a Lieutenant Colonel there so he got a bit of a tour. More pics to follow...

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Lunch time nap

No school this week so campus is dead. It's warm and sunny and I'm sleepy, so I found a shady bench to lay down on. This is the last thing I saw before I fell asleep for a micro nap :-)

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Wow

Some friends of ours are house sitting a house about a ten minute walk down the beach from us. We went over Friday night for dinner. As you can tell from this view, it was pretty amazing. This is the great room, which is probably 2/3rds of the house. It holds the kitchen, dining room and living room area, which includes a great fireplace. It was a really neat place. Check out the huge sliding glass doors that open up the room.

The downside? As you can see, the waves were *perfect*. Did I want to be socially irresponsible, bail on dinner and surf? You betcha. Did I? Of course not. And how was I rewarded? Crappy surf for the rest of the weekend. I hate being responsible! Anyway, I have some other shots of the house, but loved this one so I wanted to share. Ahh, the good life is good, especially when you can enjoy little things like this without the price tag of a house on the bluff :)

Lots O' lettuce

Haven't posted the weekly veggies in a while so thought I'd show you this weeks box. Two huge heads of lettuce, cauliflower, kale, garlic, honey - from Cal Poly - carrots, a small head of red cabbage, baby red onions and a few not so hot looking beets.

We love the carrots; they are so sweet, and we are now spoiled by them. It will be hard reverting to store bought when these come to an end. Oh well, enjoy 'em while we can, right? I'm curious to see how the assortment will change as we transition into summer...

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Playin' Possum

I thought this possum was dead. It certainly looked dead. But, it was pointed out to me that it was just "playing possum." How many times have I heard that saying without thinking about its origin? But lets back up - where is this possum, and why is it playing dead in the first place?

We got to Huntington Beach Thursday night after dark. We were unwinding & visiting in the living room when both dogs expressed an interest in going into the back yard. Riley ran right outside, off into the dark. Decker, in a speed belying his age, ran right out after him. It seemed like they were up to something, so Jeff went out to corral them both. Well, here comes Decker with something in his mouth. Just as we are thinking, "what is that?" he drops it at our feet. A lovely present of possum.

Now, Decker is supposed to be a "three way gun dog" which means he is *supposed to* point, flush, and retrieve. Any of you who know Decker know that what he really does best is lay on the couch. He's never retrieved anything in his life before. Throw a ball and you just get a blank look in return. So for him to dash off, pluck this possum from somewhere & bring it right back, well, it was amazing!

We all went inside (after the photos) and in about twenty seconds, the possum starting looking around, then got up & dashed off into the night. It was a fun beginning to a great weekend :)

Purple blooms

The Jacaranda trees are blooming here in SoCal. They haven't started blooming at home yet. They are beautiful, but messy when the flowers drop.

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Roadside diner

Santa Barbara's finest dog diner. On the way to Huntington beach for the weekend, we decided to feed the boys so they wouldn't have to wait until we got there. They seemed to enjoy the novelty of it!

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$$$

I'm sure this is the same for all of you, but boy - it just keeps going up. At this price, it costs me $5.15 each day to drive to & from work. That's $100 a month if I don't go anywhere else! My neighbor and I have been carpooling more, which effectively cuts the price in half, which is good. We were talking this morning about riding the bus. It takes longer and the pick up & drop off points are the best, but we may look into it.

Sunday morning surf check

Still flat. Its been like this all week. Oh well. Its a beautiful day so I'm going to paddle out anyway!

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