Sept 2: Back in California

 

It's fun to be back in California. The weather is great and I am enjoying getting together again with my kids and California friends. One of the first things I did was purchase a hanging flower basket plant, 

(Posterazzi Russelia Equisetiformis, Firecracker Plant)

 to attract humming birds. The hummingbirds go to each tiny tubular flower until they get the nectar from all of them. Fun to watch. I'm still trying to get a good video. Maybe one of these days.

I had kept my two hanging baskets with dirt from last year in a black plastic bag in my closet. Upon inspection, I noticed my Inca Lolly basket had a root system that seemed to still be alive. I put it out, watered it for a couple weeks and some small shoots started growing! I hope to get flowers soon. The Inca Lolly (Astroemeria) is also a hummingbird favorite.

I also enjoy seeing the tiny Lizard that hangs out on my step. It's very small, maybe 2 inches long.

Ocean view out my window

When I returned to my place, which is on the second floor, I was surprised to find they were still working on the rebuild of the house next door. It is going very slowly. Fortunately, the new renovation will not block my ocean view.

Neighbor's backyard in progress

The back yard has a long way to go. My view looks over the top of everything so although the picture looks unsightly, I'd have to look down from my kitchen window or balcony to see it. 

Of course I walked down the hill to the beach at Swami's. It's a beautiful beach with cliffs and typically surfers to watch. Swami's is a major surf spot for southern California because of the way the land is shaped and the waves break. The challenging stairs down to the beach provide good exercise. On the way back up I realized I need to get in better stair climbing shape!

I made a trip up to see my daughter Rebecca and her two dogs, Trevi and London. They were all excited to see me. The dogs know I take them for walks and Rebecca had a few projects for me. 

Rebecca's newly installed swim spa was another reason I was anxious to get to her house in person. She sent some impressive installation pictures.

Swim spa is in. Stairs and deck to come.

By the time I arrived, there were stairs to get into the spa and it was operational. A swim spa puts out a stream of water at variable speeds so you can swim in place, much like a treadmill. I tried it out. It is quite strenuous at low speed!

Changing the filters in Rebecca's drinking water system was on the list of projects. There are five different filters and the directions were not terribly specific. Fortunately, it was easy to pull the filter system out from under the sink and lay it on the floor to work on it. After struggling for quite a while, U tube came to the rescue. Once I learned a couple little critical "tricks" it was relatively easy. Project completed.

1st bracket installed

It seems like there is always a project in Rebecca's workout room. This time the goal was to install a work out bar on the wall. The directions called for a significant support system that could handle 500 lbs. I checked with my good friend and excellent builder Randy Peterson who was still at the island cottage. He helped me figure out what to use. There are only 4 brackets that hold the bars up. I secured them with 3 inch lag bolts making certain they were in solid studs in the wall. 

The installation went smoothly and Rebecca's friend and trainer checked it out. He is a very good sized former professional football player and he said he loved it!

We celebrated with a great steak dinner. Even London and Trevi got in on the celebration.

Hollywood & Highland Center

The visit was more fun than work. Upon Rebecca's excellent suggestion we went to Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood to see the new Top Gun movie in a 4D theater. In a 4D theater, the chairs tilt/vibrate, etc. Also, there were special lighting and sound effects. Similar to Disneyland rides. It's a great movie for 4D.

There is a huge atrium and mall that is part of the complex where Red Carpet activities take place. The whole complex was recently renovated. Notice how small the people on the second floor walkway look.

Here is a website with some pictures taken before the recent renovation.  Mann's Theater and Mall atrium before renovation

On my way home I stopped to see Karen and Craig in San Juan Capistrano. They took me to their yacht club for lunch. Their yacht club is quite laid back, very friendly and fun. We had a great lunch and walked all around the marina and shoreline walkway looking at boats in the harbor. We of course reminisced about our boat trips. Here's a link with some nice pictures. Marina Pics

We also took a ride to the top of the cliffs to see the remains of the Laguna fire. An electrical failure started the fire, the winds came up from the ocean, went right up the ravine and burned up many mansions. If you enlarge the picture and follow the brown area up, left of center, you can see the black area at the top. The view from there was incredible.

View from my balcony

A couple weeks after I returned to Encinitas, I heard heavy equipment outside one morning. I thought they were working on the house next door. Turned out construction was starting in the relatively small backyard across the alley behind my place. 

Scott, my wonderful landlord filled me in. Turns out there is such a housing shortage that the city is encouraging additional housing be built in peoples' backyards, The city even supplies 6 options of architectural drawings for free. Because the city provides the drawings, permitting, zoning etc. are a breeze.

Latest view 

As you can see, the backyard is quite small. There will be very little yard left. The owners bought the house as a rental investment so I am certain the investment return was the highest priority. I wouldn't care for how closed in everything will be but it does provide more housing for people.

Cabbage rolls

I started thinking about something fun and good to cook. I know Wendy likes my cabbage rolls so I settled on those. They turned out great! I use an entire cabbage so there were 18 cabbage rolls. They keep a long time in the fridge and also freeze well. We had a great dinner with the addition of golden beets and mashed potatoes. I remembered why I don't make them very often. They are very good but labor intensive and take a long time to cook. But they are worth it.

It was time to get back to bike riding. I like riding to the San Elijo Lagoon. When I first started going to the lagoon parts were closed and everything was just mud due to a complete renovation designed to return the lagoon to its natural state.

It has been fun to watch the successful outcomes over the last two years. Here is a picture from a couple years ago. 

San Elijo Lagoon during the renovation

There was a lot of new growth at the lagoon. A river comes down on the way to the ocean so there is water for the plants. The water goes up and down abut tree feet with the tides.

There are typically various birds hanging out in the lagoon. The bright white Egrets are almost always around.

Cindy sent me an aerial photo of the Island cottage site. It shows how beautiful Lake Temagami is.

 

She also sent pictures of the installed, sink with running water, and shower in the newly constructed guest house bathroom. 

I like the sink and faucet Cindy and Randy picked out. They have a great cottage look.

They are still waiting on delivery of the incinerator toilets. Here is more information than you probably want. How incinerator toilets work

 

People have asked what I've been doing. I've spent a little time working with Mychael virtually to get Yesterday's Dream turned over to him. He's been great about going thru everything to help me determine what I want to keep. There isn't too much, so Mychael said he would pack things up and ship them to me so I don't need to make a special trip. I might go for a visit sometime this winter but the work will all be done! I've also arranged the sale of my Nissan to Sailor Dave and his wife Kelly. Yet again, thank you Mychael. I was able to give him power of attorney to complete the paperwork.

I've also been catching up on some paper/computer work. Linda always took care of all our financial needs and I sure do miss that. But I'm getting there. I discovered that I made an error on my tax filing related to the required minimum withdrawal. I was able to take care of that with some help from a patient Vanguard representative. Now I know why Linda spent so much time on the computer! She enjoyed it, I don't. My tech people, Matt and Wendy are wonderful. I was saving a list of questions about how to do this or that and they graciously provide assistance. In my defense, I almost always try to solve problems myself before asking them for help. Its amazing how much I've learned by asking simple questions on Google. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my cousin Marialice is always willing to provide tech advice also.

It seems like I've spent an inordinate amount of time catching up on some overdue "body maintenance tasks". I've had an eye exam, which is leading to cataract surgery in 5 months, (I have to not wear my contacts for 5 months to let my eyes go to their natural shape), an annual dermatology screening, all is well there, several dental appointments for some old silver filling repairs, a hearing test which ended with me getting hearing aids and I travel to Cleveland next week where I'll get an overdue physical. I'm closing in on everything and its nice to be getting it done. So far all is good.

In my down time I have been working to complete the puzzle my sister Terri gave me. I started it last Winter and started working on it again when I returned in July. It was quite challenging due to all the blue and grey, but I finally finished it.

I was able to get a still picture of my hummingbird. This is a cute little female. A very colorful male comes by also, but no good pictures of him yet.

Moonlight Beach

Fortunately, I also am back to playing pickleball, walking the beach a lot and riding my bike. There are actually two beaches in addition to Swami's that I like to walk on. Here's a picture of Moonlight Beach, just north of me, and just south of me is Cardiff Beach.  Cardiff Beach pics.

I'm heading to Cleveland next Friday where I'll visit with family and friends. Then I'll travel to Burlington, VT to spend a week with the Scott family.