What we see when we walk the dogs...

The Veterans' Parkway

A mile marker on the Veterans' Parkway

A bench along the Veterans' Parkway


An interesting root system - not sure what kind of tree, though...

A sweet cottage on a walk street...

The house directly across from the "sweet cottage"...

Turtle sculpture in a yard on The Strand...

Giraffes in the same yard...

Beach Volleyball Courts

Just a few photos to visually describe some of the things we see while walking the hounds. It's a great walk and just choosing a different walk street down to the ocean makes each day a fun experience.

Something kind of cool, though, is that the dogs both know exactly where to turn when we reach the street leading back up the hill to the house...never fails.

A Walk Along The Strand - Manhattan Beach, CA

Every day we take the "hounds" on a lovely long walk. We start our walk along the Veterans Parkway (the subject of another post...maybe) and walk for a mile or so (I should figure that out) and then turn toward the ocean.

We walk three or four blocks down a "walk street" (another possible post) and then head back toward the house along the Strand which is the street right along the ocean. No cars...just pedestrians. It's so pleasant. Once we get to our street we head back up the hill. If you're in shape it's no big deal. I am not in shape so it's NOT my favorite leg of the journey. However, every day it gets easier and by the time we leave, I'm feeling fit as a fiddle. I'm not, of course, but I feel like I am. I really do love that walk.

I took these photos a day or so ago.

The houses along The Strand are unbelievable. Many are huge...some very ultra modern and some ornate in a Victorian or Spanish or Italian architecture. Then there are the beach houses that have been there for decades...little one-story beach houses. Some are well cared for and others are not.

But they all seem to "get along" with each other. So that's nice.

The Strand is famous for its beach volleyball games. There are about 150 volleyball courts.available! If you've ever seen beach volleyball on television or in the movies, there's a better than even chance it was filmed right here.

The Manhattan Beach Pier is 928 ft. long. Fishing is allowed. There's a bike path and walking path. You can rent bikes and fishing equipment and bait if you don't have your own. There's an aquarium at the end of the pier but the one time that I actually walked the entire length, it wasn't open. (Naturally). You're not supposed to walk dogs along the pier and that's pretty much the only time we're there...when we're walking the dogs.

Well, speaking of walking the dogs...that's what we're going to do right now. Will take the camera and see what other interesting sights I can photograph.

Happy Holidays!

There is a wire sculpture of an angel here at the house...don't know who created it but it's pretty. It floats silently from the ceiling...just the natural air flow keeps it turning. Fascinating.

I really like it. So I thought it was appropriate to photograph it for my Christmas blog post. I hope you like it, too.

A favorite Christmas quote is the "Grinch" quote that I posted last year. So I'd just like to reference it this year, too, but this year I really mean to use it as a mantra for 2009.

Jack and I want to wish every one of you a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Our wish for our wonderful family and friends is that we really do practice the "meaning" of the season. All year.

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day; their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men!” ~Longfellow

"Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree." ~ Charlotte Carpenter.

And here's a really good one that I found under Christmas Quotes. It's credited to Oren Arnold who was a writer and newspaper editor. Never heard of him before, actually, but I do like his list of Christmas gift suggestions:

"To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”

Happy Holidays to all...no matter what Holiday is important to you. If it's important to you, it's important to us.

With love from both of us...Merry Christmas.

Street Scene & Rooftops

Just a quick post to share these photos I took this morning. The first is a view of the street from the living room balcony and the second picture I took from the roof deck. Looking at the ocean from these vantage points is really special.

The house is on a "walk street" which means there are no cars allowed. It's sort of like a courtyard for all of the homes on the street. Behind each row of houses is an alley. That's where the garages are located.

I'm going to take lots of pictures while we're here. I'd like to capture all sorts of scenes. I'm trying to learn more about my camera...it's a simple camera but I know it has a ton of features that I've yet to learn.

Here's a photo of a row of cacti that sit on one of the window sills. They're in tiny hand thrown pots. I'm going to do a series of photos on these, I think. So many interesting art pieces in this house.

Well, it's the "day before the day before" and I've got lots to do...it's sunny but cool and it'll be a perfect day for running errands.

Destination...California

Power Plant Smokestacks in Arizona

Palm Trees and Snowy Mountains - Palm Springs, CA

A beautiful sunset - Manhattan Beach, CA

Just a few pictures that I've taken the last couple of days. We traveled on Friday, stayed with Jen on Friday night and came over to the Manhattan Beach house on Saturday morning.

I love the picture of the smokestacks. There was no wind so those three towers of smoke were just suspended in the air. Beautiful pollution, I guess.

The palm trees against the backdrop of the snowy mountain was too good to resist. I mean, how weird is that?

And the sunset picture I took from the rooftop here at the house...I've taken many photos from this roof deck. It's just a fabulous place to sit and watch the ocean or see the sunset or sunrise.

That's about it, for now. I'm really looking forward to this visit. More to come...

Christmas Lights in Mesa

It's been a month since we left home and we just arrived in California. We are happy to be here even though we had a terrific time along the way. We spent one night with Michael in Mesa, AZ after we left Nebraska. I gotta tell ya, the weather was a darned sight better in AZ than NE! Still, it was chilly for the season...just below 60 degrees, I think.


We went to dinner at a local place and looked at some Christmas lights along the way. This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the magnificent display of lights on this building. Michael told us that it's owned by a gentleman who is very active in the community and that every year he goes all out with the lights on his office building.


Every square foot, all around the building was decked out. All four sides. And it's a HUGE building. There were angels and Santas, reindeer and sleighs, candles and soldiers and nativity scenes.


Now, I would argue that it's not the most environmentally friendly display but...and you all know how I feel on this subject...I figure it's just for a couple of weeks and it makes a lot of people happy. Including me. It's the kid in me, I'm sure. Aren't we all just kids at heart over Christmas?


Is that caving? Probably. Oh well...nobody's perfect. Least of all me.

Mea Culpa

Okay, mea culpa is probably a little strong. I'm not really "guilty" of anything but I am about to admit that I was wrong about something.

So we're traveling along and I said to Jack, "Well, I did a blog post this morning about that awful time we were snowed in at Santa Rosa at that disgusting motel."

"You mean the time you totally disinfected the entire room?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't Santa Rosa. It was Rollins, Wyoming."

"WHAT?? No, it was Santa Rosa."

"Nope. In Santa Rosa we woke up to a ton of snow and were stranded for several hours. Disgusting hotel was another year and it was Rollins, WY."

"Are you sure?????"

"Yep."

Hmmmmm. Well, that does sort of ring a bell, now that I think about it. Okay, I was wrong. I am very sorry.

Lesson learned? Always get your facts straight before running off at the mouth.

We are for sure not going home through Rollins, Wy.

On the Road Again

Just a quick post. We're leaving Nebraska in less than an hour and have Santa Rosa, NM as our first stop. I'm not entirely sure how long it will take us to get there...10 hours or so, I think.

I'm not looking forward to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, to be perfectly frank. We were snowed in there a few years ago when the interstate highway was closed and we were on our way home from California. It wasn't pretty.

First of all there were about a hundred eighteen-wheelers stranded as well as dozens of other travelers besides us, and I'm pretty sure we got the last motel room in the area. The managers were from some obscure country and didn't speak English. I have no problem with that except that it was difficult to let them know how disappointed we were with our accommodations.

It was so incredibly dirty that the windows looked frosted. With gray frosting. I made Jack drive us to a grocery store where I purchased disinfectants and household cleaners of every sort. Handi-wipes, too. Got a bottle of wine for myself, too.

I sprayed every possible surface in that room. We slept in our clothes on top of the bed. Luckily we had our own pillows. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that it wasn't a romantic evening.

We didn't get out of Santa Rosa until early the next afternoon.

Not looking forward to tonight. But I will post a report tomorrow night when we reach Phoenix. IF we reach Phoenix - ha!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Just a quick post because I'm in the middle of a fast kitchen update at Stef's house. But I thought this was just too good not to share.

This is gymnastics for four-year-olds and it's just a riot to watch them. They actually have several routines that they follow...this photo shows stretching before their workout. Anyway, our particular precocious four-year-old calls the workout an "obstacle course".

Last night at dinner she announced to nobody in particular, "Here's another way to say 'What are you doing?'...'Whatcha doin'?..."

Here's another gem: She decided she needed a break for some reason or other while her mom was reading a story. As she hopped up to leave she asked, "Can you pause the book?"

Now that's a 21st Century child.

Basement Before and After Pictures

Before...

and after!...

Before...

And After!...

And more "After"!...

Just a little project I had while I was in Kansas City...daughter Margo's basement was an unused space. It goes without saying that in any house with children unused spaces are simply not acceptable. Or sensible.

Besides, the soon-to-arrive Thanksgiving company would include two year-old twins. Put two year-old twins together with a four year-old incredibly busy boy and an eight year old girl and you have a recipe for pandemonium. The only sensible solution was to fix it into a play space. So Margo and I stained the floor in a very cool terra cotta shade. Then Margo painted the walls a cheery golden yellow.

She added some comfy furniture and some end tables and a coffee table and it was looking good. I don't have any photos of that space so you'll have to trust me. But there was a space at the bottom of the stairs that was begging for a little something extra.

So.....why not make it a little indoor "porch" space? With a little Italian/Spanish/French country flair? So I painted some faux brick walls and we hauled in the patio furniture and hung a cool lamp (which is not pictured). We also hung a leaded glass pane in the window. I didn't have time to take pictures of that before we left but maybe I can have her take a photo or two to add at some later date.

The cool thing about the lamp is that it belonged to an aunt of Margo's husband. It's rustic...bronze-toned and is kind of a lantern in a Spanish or Moorish style. There are four bulbs and they flicker when the lamp is turned on. It's really the finishing touch in that space. It hangs in the corner near the window. She's going to hang more lattice on the ceiling and embellish it with grapevine and little twinkly lights. And hang some artwork. Very clever decorating for very little money.

That's it for now...on to the next project, I guess. Will keep you posted.

Random Thoughts on December 1st

It's been difficult to post the past couple of weeks. Not being home contributes, of course, because I'm out of my element.

I've actually taken the time to put together a list of my Squidoo lenses. It's called a Lensography. A work in progress because you add to it each time you create a new lens. Duh.

Anyway, the link to my Lensography is here if you'd like to check it out. I've got tons of ideas for more lenses. Just need to commit to writing them. What I need is to have about eight hours a day for a month. All to myself. I think I'd actually get something worthwhile accomplished. The chances of that happening are "slim and none".

I hear footsteps...someone else is up and I think I'll go find out who it is. Maybe have a cup of coffee. Then I need to pack up my stuff 'cause we're heading out again on the second leg of our trip to California.

More to come...