First couple of weeks of January

 Evie and her family came to visit Cambria.

Evie was in my school the year I left and her mom, Donna,

and I bonded over our Englishness.

She came to tea with her mom and dad visiting from England.

We had a love for rocks in common.

 Bixby came to stay with us for a couple of days.

We enjoyed beach time and putting together a greenhouse.

 We picked some water cress growing at a fresh water seep on the beach.

It made some tasty watercress and potato soup.

 Lots of rocks and a cave.

 We know about edible plants and

 sour grass is one of Bixbys favorites

 He helped Granddad make his favorite meatloaf.

 And a jigsaw puzzle to work on together.

A few days later the first storm rolled in

and Santa Rosa Creek broke through to the ocean.

 The beach began to collect driftwood

 Waterfalls fell onto Moonstone Beach

 Creatures were washed ashore

 We drove up San Simeon Creek

 Then we were pleasured to have Agnes from

 Holland stay with us for a few days.

We first met her in the summer when camping on our way to Oregon.

She and her friend had gone to burning man

and we helped them try to clean out the fine dessert sand.

When hearing of her interest in Esalen on the Big Sur Coast

we invited her to come and explore the central coast with us.

We enjoyed her stay and she showed us how to dry 

laundry Holland style.We had some great conversations

 and we can really learn from each other. She enjoyed 

full moon drumming with us, beach combing, collecting rocks

and a hike to San Simeon Point. 

 Our friend Ren enjoyed her company also.

 One night we had a nighttime plumbing lesson

from Toby as he fixed a water leak.

 We stopped at Ragged point for lunch. 

The road stopped there due to a mud slide.

 When it came time to take Agnes to Esalen, the road

 was still closed so we went the long way 

up to Monterrey and down to below Big Sur.

It was a beautiful day and we had lunch outside

at Nepenthe. Then we settled her in at Esalen 

for a month long work/study program. 

It is a spectacular place and the Humpbacks

 were frolicking in the ocean below.

A cabin at The Esalen Institute...

not a bad place to spend a month.

 Goodbye till we meet again.

Meanwhile,   back home...

The garden is green

And the wild turkeys are still kings of the road.

They have taken a liking to Mikes car.