California Dreaming

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

6 Beaches in 7 Days- and so much more!

It has been a fun 10 day stretch of company and activities! We finally got to meet Summer's Mike and we approve of her choice. Summer is our DIL's sister who lives in CA but a long ways from us. And our co- in- laws came to stay for a night also since a funeral brought them to our area of the world. That was a bonus visit for us ;) Cathy arrived on Monday and I whisked her straight to Oceanside Beach ( beach #1) from the airport.

Brenda and Randy- the couple that raised our wonderful DIL

Randy chilling on our patio.

Tuesday we had to stay home to wait for the carpet to be installed. We had lunch at Pedro's in Fallbrook- fish tacos of course since this is S. Cali. Cathy got the free tour of Fallbrook- very exciting!
And then on to Fro Yo for dessert. I know I am supposed to like frozen custard best but I do prefer frozen yogurt.

Wednesday was a new day with new adventures.... we hopped in the Mini Cooper and cruised up the coast while listening to the Beach Boys. Laguna Beach ( Beach #2) was our destination. First a little shopping at our favorite store and then on to lunch at....

The Beach House where the view is fantastic and the food is fabulous!

Lobster quesadilla

Love the ambiance in the entry way

I never tire of this view!

The seagulls at Laguna Beach are very experienced thieves. We watched them steal a bag of crackers right out of a beach bag!

On Thursday Randy arrived and Dave took him directly to a golf course from the airport. Cathy and I explored Temecula and met some lovely ladies for lunch. Then home for dinner on the patio.

Really not sure why Cathy had the entire plate of snickerdoodles :)

Friday we dropped the guys at another golf course and headed to Solana Beach ( beach #3).

Coffee and a little shopping first.....

Then to Fletcher's Cove.

Friday night we had dinner at some of our friends- Ann and Joel. I still don't know why Randy blamed me for ratting him out.... it was his bday the next day and Ann was serving cake so it seemed appropriate! The cake weighed about 25#-SERIOUSLY! It was delicious but so rich I was afraid I was off chocolate forever....

Our host and hostess on the left and our fellow cake eaters!

Saturday was another perfect sunny day and we headed to Peterson's Donut Corner since Randy is a dount freak and it was his birthday.

Hiked Torrey Pines.

Jacinda joined us for the hike.

This picture is worth a 1000 words....

After the hike we "beached it" at Torrey Pines ( beach #4)

On to the glideport....

Then La Jolla ( beach # 5) We watched lifeguards rescue two guys from being smashed on the rocks!

Sunday after gospel meeting we headed to the coast again. Cardiff by the Sea ( beach #6). Watched the sunset and then dined at the Beach House.

The Beach House- we ate outside on a beautiful summer evening.

A suitable ending to a fabulous week!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Stumpy

Meet Stumpy! I never know if I am seeing the same lizard over and over but I can tell who this guy is.... he must have quite a story to tell about the traumatic event of losing his tail.

We had the privilege of helping Keith celebrate a milestone !

The lovely couple

A day at Oceanside Beach

Hmmm....

I started with a pattern and then totally altered it. Kind of proud of my first ever sweater that I crocheted. I think I might even wear it!

Gorgeous new hibiscus

" Built" me a purse too!

I have a new weight loss program for you all. Quit paying your gym membership and do day after day of yard work and house cleaning- it is working well for me! (maybe it is the crocheting too) By the way, I found a new type of avocado at the farm stand " lambnass". The strawberry season continues- started buying from the stands in Feb and still buying in end of August. Sure beats the quick 2-3 week season in Wisconsin!
So a new week begins. The house has recovered from the flood and new carpet on Tuesday will complete the work. We are all prepared-we now know dependable landscapers, plumber, general contractor but still don't have a dentist or doctor out here! We are enjoying the company of our friends and co-in laws from Colorado. Funny thing is Brenda grew up in Fallbrook! Tomorrow my BFF Cathy arrives- Yipee- let the talking begin :) Heading right to the beach from the airport!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Things I have learned lately...

- There are MANY versions of avocados when I thought there were only Haas. So far I have tried Fuerte, Bacon, Reed, Gwen, Pinkerton.... all grown in our very own Fallbrook and surrounding areas. So far the very best is the Reed. I even eat avocado on toast for breakfast like a native!
- The UV index is very high here- 11 which is listed as "extreme" This means I will never have to try to get a tan. It also means that Dave can burn right through his biking shirt- this is what he learned on Saturday!
- Water is very destructive! Water is so awesome in it's proper place ie: pipes, swimming pools, oceans....
- Related to above: pressure regulators can fail between the time you have a home inspection and 6 months later. 110# of pressure coursing through pipes can be disastrous!
- Allstate seems to be as good as their mayhem commercials say they are.
- Good friends will come to your rescue at 5 AM when you call!
- Crocheting is addicting.
- I can give up my camper that I love for the promise of more plane tickets to see my children :)
- The weather in S. Cali is amazing- I keep relearning that!
- No mosquitos makes for lovely days and nights on the patio. Instead we have cute little lizards that scurry about.
Sorry this is not so exciting.... if I think of anything truly astounding I will let you know!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Mayhem!

Back of shirt

I just had to share my present from our Allstate agent! Love the T shirt.... if any of you haven't seen Mayhem commercials you need to google them. Drywall repairs started today-yay!

Front of shirt

Sunday, August 12, 2012

New front yard!

After my " Disaster" post I thought I would show my faithful readers the part of our property that looks really good now! The first several photos show what our front yard looked like before. This all came about because we realized how much we liked to sit in the front and how private it was....so Dave suggested making this our entertaining area. Brilliant! We had a landscape architect come and draw us a plan based on how we wanted to use the area. There was a brief moment of insanity when Dave thought we could do this project ourselves. After watching all that went into the project, we realized that would have been a bad plan! We did end up doing most of the planting ourselves which helped keep the cost down.