Ccino Dradle

T'was the night before Christmas and the cats opened catnip mice, a gift from Larry's parents. Cappuccino was batting it around and tossing it in the air, he was a little spinning dradle himself:

Oh, Ccino, ccino, ccino

my little ball of fur

oh, ccino, ccino, ccino,

he has a frothy purr

[repeat until silly]

Sing it really fast and child-like. Here's the tune to the Dradle song if you need it.

Charger Christmas

It's a tradition to get together with Jay & Reba at a Mexican restaurant for the holidays. This year, they came out to east suburbia to see the new casa and dine at Casa de Pico. It was great to see them and catch up and over-eat. It gets us out of the house, out from under the afghans and kitties, too.

On the way home was this tremendous display of lights on Jackson Drive. I ran down there with my camera to get some pictures and met a neighbor who was out walking. The familiar phrase: He adds a little more each year was mentioned. On closer inspection, you can see that he decorated the ficus as a San Diego Chargers football helmet and on a different angle you can see "him" receiving the football. The motion of the lights and the height of the palm tree lighting is quite impressive too!

Feliz Navidad!

Ratatouille

We had an Italian mouse in the house. I walked into the kitchen and heard crunch, crunch, crunch coming from the pantry. I didn't actually see the mouse, but I had evidence to clean up. He bypassed the sunflower seeds and bit holes into two bags of penne-shaped pasta. I don't know what his preference was, whole wheat or semolina.

I gave the cats one day, leaving the cabinet door open. In all fairness, it wasn't an attraction for the mouse anymore, with all the non-mouse-proof containers removed, only jars and cans remaining. I went to the All Vegan Store in University Height to purchase a Humane Mouse Trap. I baited it with peanut butter on a thin slice of bread (didn't have crackers). How embarrassing that we have to do this with four cats in the house.

Next morning, I had a tiny little mouse in the house, green house trap that is. I rushed over to Cowles Mountain to release him with his little peanut butter snack. He was a tiny mouse; I have no idea if he's part of a family or traveling solo. I'll have to go around looking for dime-size holes to plug up with steel wool. I'll have to get more mouse-proof containers for all my pantry items. This humane mouse trap is really most humane and least stressful for all involved. Wouldn't want the four kitties to get worked up.

Home Sweet Home!

We closed on Monday, moved on Wednesday, and are rather settled in by Friday!

The close in California means escrow closed, loan funded; no documents to sign, no exchange of keys. The seller let us bring over a few fragile items that we didn't want handled by the movers. Otherwise, we had to amuse ourselves until Wednesday morning when the movers came.

Larry headed over with the four kitties at 8:00 a.m. while I stayed back at the condo to help the movers load up the truck. "Why did you get stuck with this?" one mover asked. Oh, no, Larry is on the receiving end. By 11:00 a.m., he called to say it's all unloaded. Wow! Worth every penny! We used their wardrobe boxes (which I had to load and Larry had to unload) to pack clothes right on the hanger, towels, sheets, bedding, and wacky loose items. That was six boxes already unloaded by the time I got home from my shift at the All Vegan store.

Nothing like a move to trigger that nesting instinct. I don't like the transition phase, living out of boxes, so I worked like a true domestic godess to clean and get everything unpacked. Getting the kitties settled was important too. Wooster may loose a little of his belly; he's really loving the extra running room. Percy the lounge lizard managed to get his many hours of sleep on the bed. Puffin the racoon is more nocturnal and mostly hid under the bed until night when he came out to explore. And as you can see by the picture below, Ccino adjusted very nicely just in time to enjoy a sunspot.

Putty-tat packing | Movin' Meow-meows

We're gearing up for the move by finding the finest packing boxes around: empty copier paper boxes. Sturdy. Good size for heavier stuff like books. Uniform in size. and Free. And as it turns out, quite the cat magnet.

Wooster is still the most bouncy and agile cat; the higher the better. Percy, on the other paw, sometimes has trouble lifting his back leg into the litter box. He's thrilled to have a box lid on the floor in a sunny spot.

You'd think we were moving this coming week, but it's not until the day before Thanksgiving. We'll be bouncing off the wall like a Wooster.

Boo-wow-wow

Saturday afternoon, the sky was cloudy, but I walked up to Henry's Market to buy some salad fixin's. Scary is the price of lettuce, but if someone can grow it for me, I will pay. On my way home, I saw some great pictures and went back home to get my camera. Alas, it was for my eyes only, but I can describe it.

Behind a cobwebbed gate with signs posted, the seasonal "Enter at your own risk" and the more permanent "Beware of dog", was the sweetest yellow lab sitting in the open doorway of the house. Indeed.

At a house where I took a picture last year of a gargoyle, was still the gargoyle with a black I-don't-know what breed of dog. He was built exactly like that gargoyle: small pinned-back ears, small eyes, smooshed wrinkled face, and sitting a little hunched on the porch. This guardian had a leash on and turned out to be more mobile as he too went inside.

They both probably came out to sniff the air as we had a few raindrops. It wasn't the spring-time fresh smell of rain and not enough fell to drown an ant. I'm going back in too. But I want to post a Halloween picture. Here's what happens when you carve a pumpkin in southern California where the temperatures are still in the 70s. Say good-bye to your pumpkin the next day. It collapses in on itself, turns furry with a black or white mold depending on its mood. Bleah, as one pumpkin is saying.

Face Time, Space Time

I'm dog sitting / cat sitting / house sitting this week. Dylan the standard poodle is very clinggy and needs a lot of face time. Angel, the toy poodle, on the other hand, needs her space. Maybe you can see her above Dylan's nose on the other side of the pool.

Angel and I have made great progress in that she joins me in the living room in the evening to watch some television. By join, I mean that she's on top of a chair by the fireplace and she tollerates me sitting in the same room on the far end of the couch. Really, we've come to an understanding that I can put her on the leash to be taken out, she doesn't like to be picked up, and it's nice to be fed "tv tray style" on the couch. I'm not taking great liberties; her mommy spoils her too.

The trick to getting a good night's sleep is to tire Dylan out. He slept good last night after swimming laps and taking a walk around the neighborhood.

My Dad asked, "Does this mean you'll be getting a dog?" I think this means that I most definitely will not be getting a dog. Got plenty of dog right here if I need a fix.

Home Search

We started looking at houses in a more quiet neighborhood. There are many communities in San Diego and we're now focusing on areas east such as San Carlos and Del Cerro. Mission Gorge and Cowles Mountain are two serious hiking areas nearby.

This property we looked at overlooks a neighborhood park where people can toss the ball to their dogs. There are also hiking trails in the distance. There's a panoramic view of canyons, mesas, and evening lights.

All that can't compensate for the structural flaw, a slab crack. Onward, . . .

Dog Paddling

Dylan is a two-year-old standard poodle. House sitting / Dog sitting for two days was quite a pleasure. Dylan wears a life jacket into the pool, but he is not a natural swimmer and would rather just hang onto you.

Percy by the Pool

Percy has been hanging out by the "pool" on the tile for the past few days because it has been unseasonably warm here in San Diego. Over the Labor Day weekend, temperatures were in the high 80s with humidity over 70%. For a cat who's acclimated to temperatures in the 70s with virtually no humidity, that's enough to make you pant (as we saw Puffin do once). We tried to get the putties to lie on gel ice packs (concealed under newspapers or cat nappers). We had the blinds drawn during the sunny part of the day. The windows opened and the fan pulled in cooler evening air, but it was still thick and heavy. The tropical storm has passed so we may have a few days reprieve before the next storm affects us. I'll still take this over a New England winter.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Beautifully painted electrical boxes brighten the intersections of San Diego. This one may give one pause before dining on pies of poultry. These beautiful roosters are located outside San Diego's Chicken Pie Shop on El Cajon boulevard under the landmark water tower.


Editorial: The Chicken Myth By Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President of PCRM

The Good Good Pig

This was my favorite book read this summer, "The Good Good Pig" by Sy Montgomery. She lives in southern New Hampshire and adopted a runt of the litter. He was named after the conductor "Christopher Hogwood" and lived 13 1/2 years longer than most pigs. Most pigs don't make it through the winter and rather get a one-way trip to the slaughter house. This was a sweet sweet story of how "Chris" started out the size of a cat and was nursed to survive and entertain for 14 years. Neighbors and local restaurants would save their "slops" and Christopher would develop a true foodies palate, rooting out his favorite morsels first, savoring every taste out on "pig plateau." Christopher was not the biggest pig that ever lived, but he grew to estimates of over 700 pounds. "As Christopher's girth increased, so did our doubts about who was in charge at our house. Not only was Chris destined to vastly outweigh us, but we faced a growing realization that our pig was dangerously, possibly diabolically, brilliant."

Just when you think . . .

Just when you think they can't get any more adorable, there they are! Percy will tollerate Cappuccino within a paw-swatting distance, but only if he is oblivious to it.

Reba send me an email of a 1955 Good Housekeeping article. It spoke of very unliberating tasks for the wife to make the husband's home more of a castle. Have the meals ready, get a fire going on chilly nights, don't bother him with your troubles, make you home a place of peace and tranquility. Put that article in the context of four companion boy cats, and it doesn't seem so outrageous. Unconditional love coming and going, as long as certain conditions are met.

Berubes visit San Diego

Smile! We hooked up with David and Ellen on Friday near the end of their vacation. They still hadn't seen the ocean, so we took them to Ocean Beach and Point Loma. Ellen walked in the chilly ocean at Dog Beach and I rinsed off some pup-kiss (dog slobber). I always have to question the wisdom of walking on Dog Beach barefoot, but I do it every time anyway.

We then drove over to Sunset Cliffs where this picture was taken. It was overcast, so no sunset at these cliffs tonight. It's always fun to see family. Even though we couldn't quite remember the last time we saw each other (at least 10 years ago?), it felt like yesterday. Thanks for the wonderful visit!

Stonewall Peak in Cuyamaca

Last Wednesday, Joy and I enjoyed an afternoon hike up to Stonewall Peak in the Cuyamaca State Park. Surprisingly, there will still several varieties of wildflowers blooming in late June. In one spot, there were dandelions gone to seed. The fluffy heads were ginormous, as wide as three-fingers!

We brought along plenty of water and snacks for a picnic in a field on the way down. After the Cedar Fires of 2003, many of the trees are still charred, but showing signs of coming back. It still has more of a ghost town feel than forest.

Coming from the Northeast, I still have to warm to the Southern California landscape. Lovely to look at, but walking the dusty eroded trail stirred up a lot of dust that found its way into my walking shoes. It's Teva sandals for next time!

From the California Parks website:

Paso Picacho, 5 miles north, sits at an elevation of 5,000 feet. The most popular hikes start from this camp, including the 2 mile hike up Stonewall Peak (elevation 5,700 feet), and the 3.5 mile hike up Cuyamaca Peak (elevation 6,512 feet), both which offer breathtaking views of the deserts to the east, the coast to the west, and Lake Cuyamaca at the bottom.

Balloons for Cappuccino

Our neighbor, Alison, just graduated from UCSD and had a party in the courtyard. This was the first time that Cappuccino has seen balloons and he didn't quite know what to make of them. He hopped up on the chair here and gave a start. He bobbed and weaved, ducked and peeked at the blue and gold orbs.

Just another day of fun and joy shared with companion animals!

Draining the French Press

We three were discussing what we were doing this coming weekend.

"You going running on Sunday?"

"Yup", says Dustine. "Are you?"

Well, I can't run with my ankles, my bike barely fits in the car, all I can do is walk on the beach.

"Well that's something," says Marisa.

"But I wish Larry would get up early to join me in that walk. He takes his time getting up, sitting with his coffee."

Then I get home and see this delicate balancing act on the kitchen counter. Yup, Larry needs his coffee.

Scorpion Bay Hot Sauce

Our friend Rob (see link below for Around and About San Diego) has created three new hot sauces under the name Scorpion Bay. I whipped up a big batch of black beans to try them out. First we tried the HotAcado sauce. It's a complex sauce in that your taste buds are doing a lot of work recognizing all the flavors like yes, some lime or citrus. If there was a thermometer on the bottle, I would guess it would hover somewhere between mild and medium. This is a great sauce.

Today Larry opened the red sauce, De Arbol, to dress up the black beans. I-chi-hua-hua! Yes, indeed, it is a hot sauce. "Diablo" was probably already taken. While it is a hot fiery sauce, it has a rich tomato and tomatillo base. It's definitely thicker than some salsas as condiments at Mexican restaurants.

I'm saving the best for last. We haven't opened it yet. The Chocopotle hot sauce with a hint of chocolate. This sauce starts with a base of tomatoes and three different types of chilies and peppers. As recommended on the bottle, I may have to pick up a pint of Soy Delicious vanilla to try this flavor out! . . .

This is/will be the secret ingredient in my black beans. Stir in just a teaspoonful for every cup of black beans, perfect. As for ice cream topping, add the Chocopotle to chocolate syrup "just enough to taste the heat" and then top the frozen dessert.

Happy Mothers' Day

Four generations of Brown, Rau and Brigham women were alive in my early days. Sorry, great-gramma Brown, I would need some past life regression or hypnotism to remember times with you. I do have lots of memories of my gramma Rau who passed away when I was eleven years old. And my mom and I will be making memories for years to come.

When I was offered some iced coffee recently, I was reminded of how gramma Rau enjoyed hers with some half-and-half in a tall glass with a sprig of mint on top. And she probably had a Kool cigarette in the other hand, sitting on a chaise lounge in the backyard. Completely unrelated, she made the best stuffed animals. They made some amazing fake fur back in the 70's. She found a brown-grey-black-white checkerboard pattern to make a family of raccoons. They had to be stuffed a certain way, not too firm, not too soft, but just enough to feel like it was giving you a hug back.

I smiled for my mom today. I began walking in the early morning again. I pulled out the talking pedometer that she got me for my birthday. I brought the manual with me in case there was an equipment malfunction. It's a talking and also a music-playing pedometer. It would be fun to walk down the street and have people think that the ice cream truck was coming, but not at 7:00am. But if I do find that ice cream truck tune, music will be set to "on". And what goes better with ice cream than cake!! I was titling family slides that I scanned recently. Of course the camera comes out on occasions such as Christmas and birthdays. I love the look on my mom's face as she presents us with our birthday cake. Our smile is wide and our eyes are bright with anticipation of that sugary treat. Thank you mom, I feel the love.

Happy Mothers' Day!

A great dog party!

Happy Birthday to Annabelle who turned 1 human years old on Sunday. Down the street from us is Original Paw Pleasers in North Park. My neighbor picked up a doggie cake for the dogs in the complex to share. Her mommy said the frosting was very tasty and gauging the tongue action, so does baby Belle.

Getty Museum

Larry and I drove up to Los Angeles yesterday to visit the Getty Museum. The grounds are beautiful with their high-maintenance immaculate plantings and water features. We did not partake in any of the free tours, just crashed at the end of the day. We lied down on the lawn adjacent to the water pool and listened to the birds, tho' we could not see them.

Many of the museum's buildings housed older paintings and photographs. The exhibit most to our liking was the contemporary photography. An artist named Humble took a series of photos along the Los Angeles river. In another series, he contrasts making the most of your home in an urban settings. Many homes under powerlines or freeways still had that homey touch, like a vase of flowers in the window. Great observations and contrast.

Benny there, Hadley done that

Yes, yes, it's been a few weeks since I've posted a picture. My friend back in Connecticut is sending me her spring garden pictures. I can reciprocate and post what is flowering now here in San Diego. There is one house that has pansies planted along their walkway. Pansies make me smile (like palm trees.)

My new job assisting two Real Estate agents keeps me busy three days a week. My co-workers, Haddy and Benny, two English bulldogs, keep it interesting. Like Ellen DeGeneres in the Amex commercial, my life-long dream to work with animals has come true.

Another beautiful day in San Diego for Linda

I could also post sweet classroom pictures from 1st grade, that's how long I've know Linda. She lives in the Bay area now with her hubby, Dave, and two girls. Dave was snapping photos, so why not make them interesting in true 7th grade drama class form.

They came down to San Diego for a family vacation and we hooked up on Thursday night. We drove back down to my neighborhood and had dinner at Spread. It was a great place to have a casual dinner and get caught up, as Linda wrote in her review.

Yes, too much time flew by and I hope to explore more of the west coast and catch up again with her soon.

Wooster-quarium

Wooster likes getting to high spots. He likes a challenge, so we change things up periodically. Altitude adds to the appeal.

Here, I placed a plastic container on top of the TV cart. So Wooster can spring up four feet to the pillow and step into his new favorite sleeping spot. There's a fleece blanket inside and it probably collects some radiant heat from the television. It's very amusing to be able to see the cat sleeping, but have him feel protected by the sides of the cat-quarium, as Larry has dubbed it.

Low Tide at Sunset Cliffs

This past weekend was very low tide in San Diego. It won't be this low again until October.

So Larry and I took a long walk along the shore, exploring the new worlds exposed. We saw fish darting in between rocks. Sea anemones and barnacles were more visible. Dogs and families were enjoying the fresh terrain and fresh smells.

I spoke with a surfer who said that it was very glassy out in the water. How does the low tide affect surfing? There are smaller swells. Still, there were many surfers out enjoying the conditions.

It was a gorgeous afternoon to just take in all the beauty and contemplate all the amazing details.

Happy Birthday with no work scheduled

It's nice when you're not scheduled to work on your birthday! So I filled my day with things I like to do, and then some.

Ikebana flower arranging is a very popular class (over 30 people) held in Clairemont. Here's a picture of me with our Sensi, Akiko Bourland. This week's arrangement included forsythia, dutch irises, and solidago. The irises are open today and perhaps the forsythia will leaf out more.

After class, Janice and Norm took me out to lunch at the nearby Thai Time III off Genesee Avenue. They have a very nice lunch special which we all enjoyed. Norm and Janice both tried the green curry with tofu. I tried the spicy basil dish vegetarian style (all vegetables.)


Later that day, I went up to the Toby Wells YMCA to try their cycling class. That was the first time I tried a "spin" class and I liked it very much. The music certainly helps and the instructor mixes it up nicely. The hour went by relatively quickly.

I EARNED some dessert! Our neighbors, Reba and Jay, and Larry and I went over to Heaven-Sent Desserts in North Park for an evening birthday treat. Larry and I split the vegan pecan cookie and a cup of decaf. We need to walk, go to the gym, or clean house furiously to work off calories at the wonderful dessert places available in town: Extraordinary Desserts, Heaven-Sent, and the dessert case and vegan soft serve at Kung-Food.

Dat Phan's Birthday Party

World Famous is the restaurant where Dat Phan chose to host his birthday party this year. One degree of separation from this celebrity: Larry is his web programmer (along with Carolyn, a graphic designer on the far left.) Dat won "Last Comic Standing" in 2003.

As you might imagine, many of his friends are associated with his line of work. So half the room was filled comedians, writers, and significant others. Many social gatherings have witty banter, but it was taken up a notch today. Maybe they can't help but try out new material. The funniest comments were directed at the police officers patrolling the beach, presumably for open bottles. In our space, they were hitting on young girls. Hard to replicate the exchange here. Go see some of the comedians at the Comedy Store in La Jolla.

Carlsbad Marathon

It was a beautiful morning for the Carlsbad Marathon! Here's a picture of our intrepid Organic Athlete group who participated in the half marathon: Cynthia, Marissa, Dustine, Jim, Kathy, and Michele. Marissa and Jim were there to support the team, having joined us as "sweepers" on their bicycles during the Sunday training runs.

Dustine said that she found the last three miles very challenging. Congratulations to Dustine for finishing the race, even though she had a strained IT band three weeks prior to the race and got to ride on the back end of the beach cruiser for a portion of that 12-mile training run.

Kathy rode for 50 of the 100-mile Stagecoach Century ride the weekend before. She took a spill and bruised her ribs. A big organic carrot to her for running and finishing this 13.1 mile race!

Michele also rode in that chilly Century ride last weekend. Perhaps she would have been well protected from any fall with her 7+ layers of clothing. The Marathon race weather was much more ideal.

Congratulations to all Organic Athletes and I hope to train with you and participate in the La Jolla Half Marathon in April!

Muchas Smooches

What would life be without animals? That was the title of the chain email I received this week with a dozen cute animal pictures attached. Pointedly, one of them commented on the large hat-slash-mask on a kitten that some people should not have pets. Most of the pictures were of what pets do best: snoozing, relaxing, eating.

Here, Wooster and Cappuccino have know each other for at least 7 years now. But it doesn't hurt to get reacquainted now and again.

We moved the furniture around (again) which exposed a nice big sunspot area on the rug in the front of the room. The kitties were taking advantage of this new paradise (see Percy in the background.)