Just Hatched!

As most of you probably know, a hummingbird nest was miraculously spared a drastic pruning that was inflicted upon a small tree at my Dad's business. And today I found out that one of the two eggs has hatched. Here's a picture of the nest.


The blackish blob at the top of the nest is the baby hummingbird. You can just barely make out the closed eyes to the left. It kinda looks like a leathery poo with a sprinkling of feathers. The nest itself is about 1.5" in diameter so the baby is TINY!

Sad day :(

Life ain't always easy! And one of our loved ones needs a little support right now. So if you see him, be sure to give him a hug!

I gave a bee a ride to work today

Yup, that's about it! It just wouldn't let go of the windshield wiper. So if I get nothing else done today, I will have given a bee a ride to work.

Father's Day From Far Away... Again

Dad and B. Working on the car

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Well once again I'm in Eugene on Father's Day. Catherine and her folks and I are here for the week-end for the U of O commencement ceremonies. It was a beautiful, and I mean Beautiful day, that I will have to leave the details to another post, but unfortunately attending Catherine's Graduation prevented me (once again) from being there with my Dad to wish him a happy Father's Day in person. Thank you Dad for all your love and support, and patience, throughout the years. Thank you for your example, I hope someday to be a father as good to my children as you have been to us.

Busy, Busy, Busy, But I Think It's Slowing Down

Well since our return to California our lives have been a whirl wind of events. So much so I can't even keep them all straight. I have so many times during the last few weeks said to myself "I should blog about this," that now if I were to make a post for each time I said it, It would take me forever to get them all done. So here in short is what we've been up to.

The week after we moved back we were traveling once again. We flew to Detroit, MI. to visit Catherine's Grandparents and her Aunt. It served as a needed vacation and diversion from our hectic move, and it was great to see Cat's grandparents and Aunt again and in turn they were glad to see us. We were able to help her grandparents with a few errands and on our last night there, they treated us to a concert performed by the local Dearborn Symphony, which sound was very professional for a local symphonic ensemble.
We made it back in time for Mothers Day, and it was so nice to be there with my Mom to say Happy Mothers Day in person. Two Days after Mothers Day was my parents wedding anniversary, and after there anniversary date my parents helped me make a planter box. Catherine wants to try her hand at growing eatables, So we are starting out with some pepper plants and bush beans. It just so happened Catherine's Mom was getting rid of a little miscellaneous clutter from there garage, and among the items was some lumber. Two 2X6's and one 2X8's all 10' Long, that was once used for doing roller blade grinding tricks by Catherine and her brother Nick. Those three boards made a 2'X5'X2.5' planter with only scraps of wood left over. So Catherine and I now have our own little garden.
That same week I also started some odd jobs for my Father in Law, at his companies office. They recently relocated into a space once used as a restaurant, After a year or more of renovating they finally moved in just a few months ago, and there are still (as anybody familiar with the construction process knows.) a number of details to attend to. Since Catherine was involved with the initial design of the project, and is currently employed there. She volunteered us both to complete these last "little" projects. Its been fun, and a good experience for us both. These projects have ranged from Landscaping to some Framing, Installing built-in shelving, Caulking and even painting... we are currently still finishing up the last of these projects but after this past week-end, now have the bulk of them completed, something we are both very happy about.
In the middle of last month, the same week-end, but the night before Cat's "Trip to the Races" with her Father. My Father and I had an outing of our own. Being back, I was able to go this year to the annual Fathers and Sons Camp out hosted by the church. It was held at Gaviota State Beach, (why so far away? That was the question many had that evening, except those who wanted to kayak.) It was neat to go someplace new though. I've driven by there thousands of times, but had never stopped. The camp site was very full, which made it interesting. Its known to be a very windy spot, and that evening was no exception, but welcome because it was a warm warm night, even on the coast. It was a different Fathers and Sons Camp than what I remember, partly being older and partially the circumstance, but it was still fun and a good memory with my Dad. The next morning, after a short walk we headed back to the Lodge, and watched the old Disney movie "The Shaggy Dog" w/ Fred MacMurray, It was so hot we stayed in most the day to beat the heat and also to enjoy the addition to the Young's Lodge, The new LCD TV. That was what my parents got themselves for their anniversary. Now they can see the TV from across the room.

Apart from keeping busy with the odds and end jobs in past few weeks for my Father in-law, we also have been getting all our ducks in a row, to say, California registration, license plates, drivers license... As part of that process I was told it was necessary for me to have a birth certificate. Mine was lost in the flood, of the Quonset Hut. So I went down to L.A. to get it in person, and it was relatively quick and easy, which is good because It turned out I didn't need it. But its a good thing to have a copy of any way. I was also able to visit my Grandma while down there and even though she has been having troubles of her own she seems in good spirits. I was able to go visit her again last week with my sister, to visit, number one and second to help out any way possible. I couldn't help but feeling in our own ways, her and I are going through similar situations, change and uncomfortably situations. Not exactly the same of course, I just felt as we visited that we both had something else on our minds, and I'm very sure it was true for us both, but in varying degrees.

A few weeks ago Jen, Cat and I went on a hike to Two Trees, which you can find a link to my sisters blog, on the post below. Also that same week-end was Memorial Day week-end and we had a great visit with my family at my sisters house, near the beach. It was a great day. That morning Marc and Jen and Cat and I took a walk on the beach. Catherine and I took photos of Jen & Marc to get a anniversary picture of the two of them. It was a very beautiful morning and made me so happy we moved back. Later that afternoon Nora and my Parents came and we had good old fashion hot dogs and Jenny put on Pixar's "Finding Nemo". It was a very relaxing and fun afternoon.

I hope things will start to so slow down now, however the daunting task of the job hunt is still before us and that is enough to keep us plenty busy. We are finally settled in to my in-laws, Catherine's parents home, (for now). Nagi is "Queen" over her two feline counterparts at my parents house, at least she thinks she is, which is enough to make her happy. Today marked the completion of the largest of the tasks at my F.I.L.'s office. This afternoon driving back to Catherine's parents, I had the window down in the truck and the AC off and it was so pleasant, it was slightly hazy ( no not smog, water vapor ) , yet you could still see the mountains in the distance. The sun was out and warm and the air was just the perfect temperature. Catherine and I took advantage of this weather and the pool here this evening. As we sat immersed in the warmth of the water, above us were long streaked cream colored clouds, against an amazing vibrant azure sky, with the jet black silhouette of birds flying way over head. The sun, low on the horizon bathed the near by homes and palm trees in a golden hue, It was indeed a beautiful evening. It was in this moment that Catherine said she had seen a weather report for Eugene today and told me it had been rainy there all week and is forecast to continue at least another. I apologize to any one reading this from Eugene. Please, I mean no offense, but I am so glad to be back home in Southern California.

Two Trees / The Laziest Post Ever

I was just thinking about how we should really do a post about our hike to Two Trees on the Saturday before Memorial Day. And then Jen went and did all the work for us! Check it out! Thanks Jen!

A Predominance of Poofy Clouds!

Well after the first week of collecting data for our Weather Log the results are in! We've got a resounding consensus for Poofy Clouds! As everyone knows we've had some wonderful weather lately, but I'm still holding out hope for a gloomy June in Oxnard. :) Thanks for all the input from Carpinteria. (Yes, I am aware that Carpinteria is in Santa Barbara County...I just like to pretend it's a part of Ventura.)

If there are any requests for additional choices for weather style just drop a line in the text box at the bottom of the form. For example, Ben took exception to the "boring blue sky" so in the spirit of fairness, now survey participants can chose the alternative "beautiful blue sky" (I do think there is a difference). And don't be shy. If it's a day with predominantly blue sky but there's some haze in the distance, you don't have to chose, just go ahead and select both!!! I know I do!