72/365 Love is all around...

You just gotta open your eyes... :)

71/365 Sheepwalking....

Caught the neighbor girls walking their sheep today... cracks me up!

Wrong lens, and too far away, but how often do you see someone walking their sheep down the street?

70/365 Big Day for Louis

Louis had surgery today to remove a growth on his left front leg. The bandage you can see is from the IV. He came through with flying colors, but is taking the evening to sleep off the anesthesia. I was a nervous wreck. It's hard not knowing the vet and everyone else... I just don't trust anyone but myself, and the vets I used to work with when it comes to animal medicine!

69/365 A few of my favorite things...

SHORT NAILS...

I had the idea to start an occasional series of some of my favorite things. The thing that inspired me to do this? I cut my nails today.... Ever since I was in the vet tech program, and they made us keep our nails flush with the tops of our fingers, I haven't been able to let them get much past that before I just HAVE to cut them again.

I do a lot of typing these days, and short nails make that a lot easier too. They just feel really good when they're all short and smooth!

68/365 When you least expect it...

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

~Dolly Parton

Not every day is an easy one... but if I concentrate on being grateful, no day is a total loss. Caught this one on the way home tonight, I was wiped out and uninspired. This was a good lesson in being present. I'm sure most people totally missed this on the freeway today. I'm grateful to have seen and enjoyed it.

67/365 Beach Day...

I played with making a simple photo mosaic... would have messed with it more, but I'm tired! Fun day on the beach, Beedge met us down there... isn't it weird how just being out in the sun all day wipes you out???

66/365 Brian in action!

I'm annoyed with myself for forgetting to put this up last night, but we went out for dinner and a movie (the new Harry Potter) and we got back later than I expected and I was so tired, I went right to bed! ANYway.....

Brian played in the Oxnard City Championships Tennis Tournament. It was a close match, with really good plays made by both men, and even though Brian did not come out on top this time, it's always great to see him compete! He got game!!!

65/365 Surf's Up!

The weather reports said a swell was coming in, so I decided to go check out the local surf scene this morning... it was a bit cloudy and foggy, but I got some ok shots... I'll definitely try this again! (You'll want to click on this and view it large to appreciate the multiple shots)

64/365 Baby Moon...

Caught sight of this little guy tonight from the backyard, I'd lost track of the moon phases, so it took me by surprise... Pleasantly! I just love our moon. I'm really going to miss the views we've got when we move...

63/365 Attack Mechanic

So... since starting this project, I've taken to riding in my car with my camera in my lap (yeah, yeah, so much for hands free-but you never know!). I passed this guy on the freeway, then noticed the little warning on the back of his truck, and had to slow back down and get behind him again to take the shot... it totally cracked me up! Click on the picture to see it bigger... :)

62/365 Ant"clonio"

Clones, back by popular demand... this time another co-worker of mine is my model... Antonio, giving a lecture to a room "full of himself".... :)

61/365 FIRE... BLAH!!!!

So, before I moved to California, I was mostly worried about earthquakes... turns out a much bigger natural disaster threat here is fire.

This one blew up today a bit too close for comfort. It's just down the hills from us where Ojai meets Ventura, and this was the view I was treated with as I drove home today... yes, I'm heading straight for the fire, and I actually drove past it on my left. We live up over those foothills where the fire currently is burning. It makes for REALLY crappy air quality, if nothing else. Luckily for now, there is little wind and it's in a remote area, no structures threatened. We pray the wind does NOT pick up and they get it under control fast. 

We've had to close the house all up, and we don't have AC.... it was like 97 degrees today and it's a bit toasty in here, my eyes are already watering... UGH. 

60/365 Another day in Paradise...

I may already have used that title, but it really was a nearly perfect day... great friend, good food, perfect beach weather... :) It would only have been more perfect if the rest of my family were there!

59/365 Leapin' Lizards!

A couple of days ago, Brian found this under his piano... YIKES! It's a molted lizard skin, it's got the feet and toes and tail... pretty freaky to think that lizard sat there and molted on the porch and we had no clue. It's pretty big too, about 8 inches long. Big for one of our lizards. We hope it's not in the house anymore, but....

58/365 Pomegranate Fizz...

Tasty beverage... TGIF!

EarthCam - Lake Michigan Cam

EarthCam - Lake Michigan Cam

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57/365 Artists....

Not an uncommon sight on our riverbed walks... an artist painting. I always love to see the light they are capturing.

There were reports of mountain lion tracks by horseback riders we saw on the trail, but we couldn't find them... riders have a better view for tracks from up above the trail. 

But it made for a kind of exciting walk for a bit! Not that I wanted to SEE a mountain lion, but it would have been cool to just see the tracks.

56/365 Nature always finds a way...

“It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun” 
~Henry Ward Beecher

55/365 reality check...

I'm fully back to work... This is my school after a late student kept me there until everyone else was gone... 

54/365 Squash Blossom and Pesto Pizza

I was inspired by Steve in San Francisco... so today we made our own pizza! Normally, I'm lazy and get an Amy's or Trader Joe's frozen and add toppings... but not today! It was pretty yummy... but filling!

53/365 Beechey Ground Squirrels...

So... we have some new yardmates... a little family of ground squirrels. There are 5 that we've counted, this is the littlest baby. Brian's seen a Yia Yia watching over the rest of the group at times... they are very fun to watch! 

Ashley thinks they are weird... they are too small and skinny!  

:)

52/365 Winchester House

Today on our way home from San Francisco, Ashley and I went to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose... REALLY interesting house, built by a pretty eccentric woman!

She had a thing for the number 13, daisies, and spider webs!

These are some of the windows she had made for the house...

51/365 The Palace of Fine Arts

The romantic Palace of Fine arts, in neo-classical style, with its classical Roman rotunda and curved peristyle of Corinthian colums, evokes the melancholy of ancient times. It was originally built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and restaured in the 70s. Nowadays, it is part of the Presidio of San Francisco.

If you look really close toward the bottom, you can just make out Steve and Ashley... This place is HUGE!

50/365 710 Ashbury...

Every true Deadhead already knows this address and the lore behind this house. The Grateful Dead actually only lived here between 1966 and 1968 but that was enough time to make this home a semireligious spot people trekked to from pretty much every corner of the earth.

49/365 We're HERE!!!

We finally made it to my friend Steve's house in San Francisco... this is the view from his street, Stanyan Street. Such fun! They are so patient with us "tourists"....

48/365 Brian's back!!!

Brian and Marcus played tennis tonight at Libbey. Ashley and I enjoyed the show and shagged fly balls when needed, we're practicing to be Wimbledon ball kids next year... ;)

47/365 Horseback ride!

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.  

~Winston Churchill

46/365 Another day in paradise!

My fingernails are filthy, I got beach tar on my feet
And I miss my clean white linen and my fancy French cologne

~Joni Mitchell

45/365 Independence Day 2009

Great day for photos! Too many great shots to choose from, so I'm posting two... One is from the parade this morning, an Aztec dancer, the costumes were AMAZING!

Then, a classic from the firework display tonight, great place to watch the show, good friends to sit with, PERFECT!

44/365 4th Of July Prep

So Ojai has this crazy tradition that they can only get away with since it's such a small town... tons of people put out chairs along the 4th of July parade route up to a week ahead of time. The first year we were here for it, I just couldn't believe that people were so trusting... but that's Ojai... 

43/365 Planet VRCHS!

You really need to click on this and view it large to appreciate it!

42/365 Trees

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.
~Kahlil Gibran