Beauty in the Oakland Hills & an Active January

We continue to be treated to lovely winter sunsets and sun and moon rises here on the ridge. And we had a decent amount of rain for which we're grateful.

(Most photos taken with my Olympus SH-1, a few with my iPhone 7's camera.  Click on a photo to see a larger version.)

A raining morning, canyon side

Rain on a spider web

Rainbow tinted cloud

Mt Diablo with cloud cap

"City in the Sky" - clouds over the ridge

Full moon January 1

Mist in the canyon

Mt Diablo mid-afternoon (first iPhone 7 photo)

Mt Diablo mist and clouds

Sunset reflected on the bay

Sunset in pinks and blues

Glowing mists at sunset

Sunset with wispy clouds

Sunset with mackerel clouds

Sunset with unusual cloud patterns

Crescent moon at sunset

"Supermoon" rising January 30

Supermoon details, using  full zoom

There's always something in bloom here - outdoors and in.

Narcissus and rosemary bush next door 

Paperwhites in our front yard

Jade tree in bloom on the living room balcony

Dark red orchid beginning to bloom

Dark red orchid flower spike

Close up of dark red orchid flowers
Blooms are ~ 2 inches

Dark red orchid near full bloom

Light purple, fragrant orchid

Light purple orchid close up
Blooms are ~ 3/4 inch

A lot of activity around our house is generated by our soon to be 14 month old grandson.

Riding on Gramps

Getting taller by the minute

More interested in the fork than the lasagna

Experimenting with using a spoon

Stepping out in his "Chaos Monkey - nothing is safe" T-shirt

Erick and I continued our volunteer work - outdoors on the Montclair RR Trail and indoors at the Montclair branch of the Oakland public library.

January's Friends of the Montclair RR Trail
work day featured post-rain planing 

Yes, that's deer fencing in the foreground

Photos of the finished lighting project  at the library -
replacement of florescent fixtures with new lighting in
the historic style of the 1930's when the library was built.
Erick provided labor during the installation. 

We recently finished three jigsaw puzzles, numbers 25, 26 & 27.

This was our first "What If" puzzle. 
The box has a clue to the finished puzzle. 
But there's no picture to work from.

A very special puzzle - a custom-made Ravensburger
from a photo of our Thanksgiving dinner table.
A gift from Carol & John.

This charming puzzle was passed along to us
 by our friends Kathy and Bob.

We hope that, wherever you are, you're enjoying the local beauty and your daily activities.