Happy Mom, Happy Kids Young Adults, Happy Dogs!

We enjoyed splendid weather in early February!  On two separate occassions, I got to walk on the beach with my pups and my kids.  It is one of my favorite things to do here in Paradise!

They like to run!

Kibble found a deceased, decapitated seal.  We examined its guts.

And after Kibble's love session with the body, she had to have a good bath. Thank goodness for Wripples Pet Spa!

Get. me. out. of. here.

(All the pictures below were taken by the resident photog.)


Getting there is half the fun!

Yay! Beach time!

If I could just get these open, I can haz sushi!

It was a wonderful low tide, so there was lots of nature to enjoy!

We met lots of doggie friends, including this guy and his stick.

Wet Hobbit Puppy Paws

Not again! Pleeeeez get me outta here!

Do we have to go home?

Thanks for the pictures, daughter!

Winter Days

Winter days and warm hearths -- irresistible!

One more piece to my living room: a new fireplace screen and tools. I love the doors in the screen; it makes tending the fire so easy!

Winter Blooms

When we got back from vacation, it was fun to see the garden had popped out!

The sugar snap peas were full off blossoms and pea pods!

A big surprise was seeing on of our new baby ceanothus all purpley!

The snow flurry ceanothus is busting out in white!

I love the tiny delicate flowers of this Sentinel manzanita.

Bush Poppy

The Monkeyflower had really exploded while we were gone!

Another ceanothus

Canyon Silver Catalina Silver Lace

But I think the biggest thrill of all has been watching my orchid plant. BobBIE had given me this cool orchid back in June when I wasn't feeling well. It had tons of beautiful leopard-like flowers. After they all fell off, I kept gently watering the plant.  Over the last couple months, I've watched tiny buds grow and grow into large buds,

and this is what it looks like today!

I've never had an orchid bloom again! It is really exciting! And beautiful!

ROAD TRIP! Epilogue

I did a JackClassic-like thing and kept track of the miles and the gasoline for the road trip.  Here are the stats.

Total Miles: 2276.8

Total Gallons: 80.77

Total Cost of Gasoline: $264.84

Average Price of Gasoline: $3.27 / gallon
(High - $3.399 [Needles, CA]; Low - $2.879 [Pueblo of Sandia, NM])

Miles per Gallon:  28.43

Cost per Mile:  11.6¢

Add the gas/wear-n-tear with the couple nights at Motel 6 and cheap eats, and you got a much better deal than having your unmentionables scrutinized and your bathing suit areas being groped by the TSA!

I like Road Trips!