B & E California Bound: March 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

Home Improvement and Gardening Projects

We've been working our way through a list of projects generated by the inspection report we got when we bought the house last year. And we've been giving the yard and container plantings some attention now that spring is here.

Erick's projects range from figuring out electrical circuits in the kitchen and reconfiguring GFI outlets to replacing the stairway between the decks. I've completed my project to refinish the outside door to our first floor living area.

Stairway:

Old stairway between decks ripped out

New cement pad visible at top of photo (complete with cat prints)

Getting ready to move the treated lumber for the new stairs

Putting in the first step

New stairway! - after 3 months of drying we we will stain or paint

Replacing a board along the top deck:

Old weathered board removed (just above ladder)

New board in place

Exterior door refinishing:

Before - weathered door, no storm / screen door

During - sanded and stained, storm door visibile on the right

Finished - two coats of spar varnish

Removing an invasive plant from the canyon side yard:

The plant is called Broom and it increases fire hazard

The yellow flowers make it easy to identify in the spring

Pulled plants ready to be cut up and put in the yard waste bin

Unfortunately, working on the sloping ground resulted in a knee injury, but I'm on the mend.

On the decks and balconies:

Pansies on the bay side balcony

Primroses on the bay side balcony

Tower of Jewels plant starting to send up a flower spike

Roses beginning to grow behind the Tower of Jewels

Parrot's Beak flowering on the canyon side deck

Succulents blooming in the wall planters on the canyon side deck

A variety of Ice plant in bloom on a bay side balcony

And a few scenic shots:
(Note: to enlarge any photo, just click on it.)

Morning mist in the canyon

Canyon side panorama

Bay side rainbow

Mount Diablo in the twilight

A bit to the left of center on the Sibley Park ridge are four hikers from our family
(photo taken from our deck with 24x digital zoom)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A Sailing Adventure on San Francisco Bay

A couple of weeks ago, Erick and I saw these tall ships in dock at Jack London Square in Oakland.

The Lady Washington & the Hawaiian Cheiftain

We heard that tours of the ships can be arranged and Erika found the web site for signing up for a two hour adventure tour. http://historicalseaport.org/about-us/our-vessels/

So, on a sunny Saturday, we hopped on a BART train and headed for the Port of San Francisco. Once we got to SF we were dodging trolleys and the crowds along the Embarcadero making our way to the port.

Trolley

Walking toward the main Port building

Once we got to the Port complex, we turned left, heading where we expected Pier 40 to be.

I guess we should have noticed that all the Pier numbers in the direction of Fisherman's Warf were odd numbers. After a brisk mile and a half walk, we discovered that Pier 40 was not between 39 and 41, but in the opposite direction. Since we wouldn't have enough time to walk back, we grabbed a cab and got to Pier 40 just in time for boarding. (We were not the first to have made the wrong turn at the Port building.)

Approaching the two tall ships in dock

We were ready to board and enjoy two hours watching the crew, many of them volunteers, work the sails and entertain us with information about the Lady Washington and sing a sea shanty or two.