a visitor at our window

I think this guy is posing for the camera, but he got a little shy when I tried to snap a shot of him grooming himself.
Luckily, the dog has not seen this yet or else she would be going ballistic right now!

Scavenger

When your husband tells you he needs you to go to the beach,
you must always listen.
You see, the boys are on this silly lobster-hunting kick. This tradition has been going on for quite a few years now, and well, let's just say, I've never seen any lobster come home to my house! I was teasing Sean last night that maybe he needs lobster-hunting lessons. Hah! Joke's, on me. He tells me he has already had lobster hunting lessons! So, obviously, it must be the equipment's fault. And so, I was sent on a mission to scavenge along sunset cliffs to see if I could find any lobster buoys that had washed up on the shore. I too, came back empty handed, except for these few pictures to capture the day.

Autumn sounds better than Fall

Dear Autumn,

You already know I don't like you very much.
I can't go swim in the ocean; I can only watch while the dog darts through the waves like a seal and comes back to me shaking due to the short hair, begging to let me under the towel.
My internal body temperature does flip flops at night; too hot when I'm covered up all the way and too freezing when part of my body gets exposed due to someone stealing the covers.
My vast array of tanktops must now be overlayed with some sort of covering; Scarves, hats and big sweaters make me feel like I'm suffocating.
Fresh scents are best; Cinnamon & spices and warm & cozy are not my thing.
Your colors do not seduce me like those of summer and spring.
However, I must admit, you produce a lot of important crops and I do like pumpkin pie.
The man at the pumpkin patch told me my solo little pumpkin would make a perfect pie. Hmmm, didn't think of that when I picked it out. I just loved the variegated-ness of it. And those hybrid pumpkin / gourd / squash things provide a bit of comic relief every time I look at them. See, Autumn, I can find some good in you. I hope you'll stick around for a while. You sure have a lot of things to discover.

S

Testing out my special effect skillz

The Men in Blue

A mellow Sunday evening stroll.

Apple Pickin

My nephew, Robby, a Nascar-lovin', roller-coaster-ridin' 6 year old decided that he wanted to go apple picking for his birthday (over Sea World, I might add).
We arrived in Julian to find it about a bazillion degrees cooler than it was yesterday down the hill. And boy, was it breezy up there. After a quick trip to the candy store in town, we headed down to Calico Ranch in Wynola to do some apple picking. I suppose after studying apples in school for 2 weeks, you either learn to hate them or embrace them. Robby chose the latter. I kid you not, he was jumping up and down with excitement while picking apples! And since we had an extra visitor on the trip ("Birthday Bear") it just made it all that much more exciting. In Robby's kindergarten class, each child takes the bear home with them on their birthday to have a birthday adventure. Once the adventure is completed, a journal entry is made into a notebook (accompanied by a picture or 2, of course). The next child to have a birthday gets the bear and notebook passed on to them for a new adventure. Not only did this bear get to pick some apples, he also got to meet some goats, pick a pumpkin, climb a rock, jump in a bounce house, and my favorite, prospect in a sluice box at Julian Mining Company.
At the end of the day Robby proclaimed, "I want to do this every year!" I'm thinking his tastes will probably change by then, but I'm all for it. I love this place!

Buggn'

1 Floatable Boat, 4 Goons, 5.5 hours, 7 Hoop Nets on the season opener last night.

Sleeves are Necessary

I changed my mind.
I don't think the dog is chasing rabbits.
Every time I've seen a rabbit, cross my path, it's waited until the dog has crossed its path. She's not even close.
I think it's the wind. The wind plays tricks on her. Anything that the wind touches - well, she thinks it's a critter she must either point at or chase around. I couldn't even photograph her today she was so wild. Like, in circles kind of wild. Or maybe it's the cool weather that makes her go bonkers.

Feeling less like summer

As much as I love summer,
I have to admit I'm loving the recent weather.

Coffee

Coffee:
It's great for long days at the computer
and creative artistic endeavors.
Not so good for sleeping at night.

...and before you ask,
"no."
The dog did not get any coffee.
She doesn't need it