Saturday mornings

On Saturday mornings we now have the luxury of choosing to listen to a radio program for a complete hour. Our favorite is "Beatles Brunch" by Joe Johnson. He includes many actual interviews from the Beatles. I always find at least one thought to ponder. Last Saturday it was a gem from Paul who explained the simple idea that when he writes songs he often believes that "the first thought is often the best thought". He referred to the line in "Hey Jude" : "The movement you need is on your shoulder" He didn't know what he meant by this line at the time but he left it in the song. he then keep thinking about it over time and came to the conclusion that he meant that "the answer was already with you" He wrote this song for Julian Lennon to console him through the difficult time when his dad left.
   Speaking of John Lennon, in one of his interviews he explained "Revolution" was his thought of "Don't do something that destroys, work for subtle changes instead"
    I realised that I don't always listen carefully to the words of songs and I love hearing what the writer meant in his own words. Below are photos of the view from our bedroom window. We often take our  coffee back to bed, listen to the radio and watch the birds. What a luxury !!!

 

Building a chicken coop

We have been helping Kelly build a new chicken coop. Kelly has degrees in Architecture and City Planning so of course this is no ordinary chicken coop.

 

                                  
                                    Bixby observes everything the adults do and has to help.

                                                      Until he goes off to explore the lumber.

                                               Then he just had to be at the top of the ladder

                                                                I know how to do it Granddad !!!!

A perfect Sunday

Today was a perfect Sunday. It began with planting Monterey Pine trees in nearby Fern Canyon. Mike and I had promised to plant 12 trees to replace the 3 we had to remove (this is what the county requires). We had met some new friends at a fundraiser for the Friends of the Fisalini Ranch on Saturday night. They invited us to help them plant today. We selected a lovely little area where the trail crosses over the creek. We cleared out invasive ivy and poison oak (We took precautions and are not itching yet!!!). We planted our trees and some sticky monkey flowers. We have volunteered to tend them and will visit them often as this canyon is just a couple of streets from our house.

After a soapy shower we headed to meet our friends at Las Cambritas for good Mexican food and great music (A Sunday tradition). Some of us danced and the company and conversation was good. One topic at a break in the music - Do children have an instinct about what they will do when they grow up? Interestingly the men seemed to know eg: David always knew he would be an engineer, Chris wanted to drive trains and he did, another knew that one day he would play in a group and our friend Fred who is a falconer (works with birds of prey to protect the vineyards) always was fascinated with birds and things that fly. The women's answers were different. Ruth wanted to be a native American and was told by a teacher that she couldn't be one. Lin said that she wanted to be a Queen and again a teacher explained to her she couldn't ever be one. Both these women still remember the disappointment they felt. They grew up to be great women anyway and I relish conversations with them. The conversation began because we had heard a great interview of John Lennon and he said that even though he was very shy from a very young age he looked for his name in the art and music reviews and he knew someday it would be there. Instinct or self fulfilling prophecy? Food for thought while you enjoy my pictures from today.

   The engineer and "The Queen" dancing above and the train driver and Mike ordering from our favorite waitress below.

 The end of a perfect day- Mikes Taco soup by the light of the fire and our living Christmas Tree

On the ranch

While Cameron and the boys were here from Ohio we enjoyed many hikes on the bluffs at the end of our street. We climbed up high into the trees. The toadstools were fantastic.

Elephant seals

So the massive male elephant seals are beginning to arrive at Peidra Blanca just north of San Simeon. They draw Mike and I up there at least once a week to "touch base" with them. Then last Monday we continued up north to the little "town" of Gorda for pie and coffee. We stopped many times to check out future hikes and wait for the sunset.
 The male below had just arrived after weeks at sea coming from Alaska. He seemed exhausted and just wanted to rest. He will conserve his strength for his battles with other males to establish his harem. They don't eat while here in Cambria and will lose a great deal of their weight.
  I like Mike having a new camera because I am now in many of the pictures, unless he tells me to move aside so that he can get the scenery !!!

 Mom and baby from last year enjoying some time together before mating season.

There is one spot where discovered that you can get quite close to them. Of course we are always respectful of their space. The male below is beginning to grow his long nose. The older they get the longer. They make the most amazing noise as they snort through this nose.