that's our garden which we share with our next door neighbor. if you squint real hard you'd see that there are three raised planters to the left of the picture and one ground level trough to the right. the barren surfaces you see are actually covered with sprouts. here are some from our, mine and jg's, planter.
cucumber
arugula
bean
carrots
pea
i took these pictures on sunday. i had to replant some of the seeds that didn't sprout. our planter box is the most shaded of the three so our seedlings aren't as healthy as the neighbor's. oh well.
we have a dozen resident mallards hanging around the creek. they're always fighting over the females. a lot of ruckus.
i got out of bed at 7:30 this morning. i made coffee before heading directly for the planter boxes. today marks exactly three weeks since we started the seeds. everything has sprouted except the broccoli, thyme, and basil.
oregon sugar pea
we planted two seeds in the pea square but only one germinated. i re-seeded one last sunday.
green onion
bell pepper
mesclun
(one square of green, one of red)
carrots, complete with pests
cilantro
spinach
the one vegetable that's growing like a weed is the arugula. first to sprout, and possibly first to be harvested.
schmee loves arugula
last week, along with the one pea, i also re-seeded one broccoli. today, i sowed another set of thyme and basil seeds. i don't care so much about the thyme but i'm rather bummed about the basil. it's my favorite herb. why isn't it sprouting!
incidentally, i found a new skype buddy with pet this morning. we chatted for a good while but i completely forgot to take a picture. next time.
cactus flowers at 9:24 am
pea plant at 9:28 am
the following were taken while walking around on hendry's beach:
cormorants at 2:48 pm
pelicans at 2:51 pm
infinite pelicans
eucalyptus barnacles at 2:50 pm
unidentified birds at 3:00 pm
see them?
very detailed sand art at 3:12 pm
things like that are pretty prevalent in san francisco. i was a bit shocked to see it here. at first glance i thought: that's an odd looking heart. i had to take a couple of steps back to see the whole thing.
i watched these two guys take their time righting the tree and tying it to its stake. i wanted to run out and hug them. anyway, the tree had been whipped loose by the high winds we're experiencing in sb.
some three hours later...
11:22 am
both tree and stake were down. i pointed this sad scene to my colleague erkan and he promptly googled a phone number for parks+recreation. he read the number aloud and i made the call. i was dispatched twice before i could report the situation. i left the office at 5:30 and the tree was still lying there. i hope the parks people will get to it before the it uproots and rolls down to the beach.
that's jimmy with his dessert: bittersweet chocolate waffles with butter pecan ice cream. g treated us to a four course dinner at sbcc last night. what an experience!
the jester beyond jimmy is actually a very attentive chef/waiter/student. he probably prepared jimmy's dessert.
braised fig appetizer
i had a difficult time ordering my dinner. i think we all did because there were at least six choices for each course. i don't think we could have gone wrong with any of our choices. everything turned out delicious.
my first course: smoked salmon wrapped asparagus on crostini
second: sauteed frog legs with purple potato and chanterelle mushroom
i like ordering unusual stuff. this is the first time i had frog legs. we were told that they're from washington. i hope it's the state, not some biology lab.
jg (and wild boar ravioli)
g's main course: chinese pork chop
we were all shocked by the size of the chop, but we were pleased that there was enough for everyone to sample a good bite. it was tender and yummy.
my main course: roast duck breast
oh my god, best duck ever! i've had duck in many different cuisines but this has got to be my most favorite. i don't know what magic they put in the marinade but i even loved the fatty skin. and the braised cherries, sensational!
g was very pleased with her decadent flourless chocolate cake (which would be a lot better described as death by chocolate).
that's my dessert: chocolate bread pudding. it was steaming hot even after i doused it was the chilled cream sauce. so good!
jimmy and g
i should add that a different wine was served with each course. except dessert, which was served with coffee.
i had a truly enjoyable evening. hard to believe that we were on a college campus. everything was first class, even the service. the staff was friendly and informative. the whole experience was so polished that we could very well have been at a five star restaurant.
about three weeks ago, i came home from work to find this:
jg had decided that there's not enough natural light in that one bedroom. he ordered a window which arrived this past week. yesterday, the home improvement plan proceeded at full speed.
take that, osha!
after that shot, i put the camera down for about 30 minutes to help hoist the window into place. there was caulking and nailing and a bit of swearing before this next shot.
i stopped taking pictures around 2:30. jg continued working on the window without my interference. around 5 i made him get off the nightmare that is the platform.
this morning he made me give him a hair cut. then he made his daily pilgrimage to ace hardware. here he is, getting ready to resume work.
that's me harvesting arugula yesterday. we planted the seeds exactly five and a half weeks ago. it's the only thing that seems to be growing in our square foot garden. jg and i had it with dinner. needless to say, it was the best arugula we ever tasted.
the following pictures were taken today:
basil
at least i hope it's basil and not some weed. i'm becoming hopeless about growing herbs. i've already given up on the thyme, which i reseeded along with the basil two weeks ago. as of today, not one single sprout.
ken and theresa drove out from bakersfield to hang with us for the weekend. we've asked just about everyone we know to come visit us but so far, they're the only people who have taken up our invitation. they're our relatives so i guess they really couldn't refuse.
dinner at moby dick
hanging with moby
pa putting up with junior's shenanigans
sunset over land
pinkberry for dessert
sunday morning we hit our favorite joint for breakfast. it was quite unusual to have the entire restaurant to ourselves. a bit sad, too.
no egg benedict?
i made jg pose with the captain's hat and, much to his dismay, the captain just happened to have a spare one to give.
senior and junior
after breakfast, we went for a stroll on miramar beach.
tailed stone
there he goes with the rope again
i lagged behind taking random pictures of found objects on the beach. i caught up with everyone on their way back.
"oh, am i blocking the shot?"
trespasser
that's the last shot i took before ken and theresa left sunday afternoon. i still can't believe it's been five years since they last visited us.
these were all taken this past sunday at miramar beach, where i lost the eyecup to my camera. i've gotten a lot of nice pictures of the sea. it's only fair that she gets something in return.
