B & E California Bound: July 2016

It's official - we are looking forward to being grandparents in early December! Of course, this calls for a very special project.

The plan - woods are maple and cherry

Sides assembled

An end piece

Erick is doing the fabricating. I'm helping with sanding and staining.

Local birds: I'm always on the look out for chances to get decent photos of the birds that keep us company here in the Oakland Hills. (Click on a photo to see a larger version.)

A family of quail in the yard of our neighbors 4 lots away.

Close up with zoom lens

We see and hear the ravens daily

This one is in a large Monterey pine next door

Steller's Jay feeding in a tree at a distance (zoom)

Steller's jay - head toward camera
We occasionally see just brief glimpses of these jays.

Sometimes I can get a bit closer.

Hummingbird on Parrot's Beak plant

Hummingbird teasing our cat Sunny on a misty morning

Hummingbird headed for a geranium flower

House finch taking a drink

House finch is the reddest bird we see here

Female finch on the feeder near our new patio space

Three or four scrub jays visit us regularly -
often taking peanuts from our hands.

Scrub jay trying to decide whether to try for a second nut

A look at what our plants are doing in July:

This agave is sending up a shoot - bottom center

This succulent reminds me of an anemone

We chose this one because of the striking burgundy color

Bower vine in bloom

Succulents and cactus along the driveway

Cushion bush flowers

Cyclamen - happier now that it's been moved into the shade for the summer

A young manzanita that was growing under the deck

Views from recent walks - Redwook Park:

Redwoods

"Horse head" - downed wood

Steep path

Downed branches

Cherry tree

In a residential area off the Montclair RR Trail:

An agave in bloom - quite a flower spike!

Close up of agave flower spike

Along Manzanita Drive:

The glint from a metal tag on this dead tree caught my eye

The evening sun on a tree trunk, with Erick stopping
to look for a potential path into the Huckleberry Regional Park

Views of the canyon and bay:

Cows across the canyon in the evening sun (zoom)

Clouds over Mt Diablo at sunset

Sunset with low cloud across the canyon

Daytime clouds over the Bay

Bay filled with mist near sunset

A typical clear, hot day sunset

The wedding of Erick's grand-nephew provided a prime opportunity to visit his family and a few of our friends in Michigan this month.

My first visit was a hike with with my friend Jane in the Nan Weston Nature Preserve south of our old home town of Chelsea.

(Click on a photo to see a larger version.)

If you support the Nature Conservancy, you can take some credit for this one.

Jane on the boardwalk over a marshy area on the trail.
Sun filtered through the leaves gave everything a green glow.

Mill Pond at one edge of the Preserve

The next day, I visited Chelsea Farmers Market in its new (to me) location. It was good to see it thriving. I knew I'd see friends and colleagues from my Chelsea Community Kitchen days there.

Suzanne who was on the CCK board with me, and Lisa at their booth

Then a bit of shopping at Global Marketplace, one of my favorite stores.

I was happy to see that the crane sculptures are
still around and sporting their unique outfits

Lunch at Mike's Deli with friend George and dinner at Glenda and Rick's new place rounded out the day.

Sunday we drove to Tustin for Kyle and Sofia's wedding. There were lots of Erickson's - spanning four generations - to catch up with. I took so many pictures that I had to put them all in a separate folder online. (Just ask if you'd like to see them.)

Us with the groom and bride
Photo by Kayleigh Green, Kyle's sister

We visited Tustin again on Monday and spent some time in Cadillac walking around Lake Mitchell.

Eagle sculpture by the lake

Tuesday, it was time to head back to Detroit Metro for the evening flight home. We were delighted to be able to spend some time with Carol and John at their home in Okemos on the way. Lunch, a tour of the gardens (wish I had unpacked my camera), and good conversation.

Now for the project - the indoor portion of repairing damage from the leaky roof (now history) over the front door. (Detail for DIYers; others may skip to the last couple of photos in this section.)

Damaged drywall area

Damaged drywall above and to the right of the door removed

New drywall patched in

Drywall mudded

Sanded and ready for texturizing

Texturizing done

Drywall repainted

Putting the last piece of trim in place

Inside repair finished!

Inside

Outside - repairs finished about a month ago

And there were some "while we have the ladder out" side projects - painting the bottom of the trim along the upper railing, and sprucing up the bulk head leading to our living area.

Love that Frog Tape

Bulkhead cleaned and re-stained

Meanwhile, outdoors, Friends of the Montclair Railroad Trail board members met for some ad hoc thistle removal along a portion of the trail frequently used by kids from the nearby elementary school.