silver hoardings

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

Valentine's cookies at my Valentine's Bunco.
Tasted as good as they look.

Stars in my eyes. Monday 011711

2011-01-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Out geocaching with The Lost Clan. We started our day on top of the world! At Mount Soledad there are several caches I've not found but we forgot the maps and decided to just go for a multi cache. I always bring any visitors to San Diego up here and it never disappoints. Fantastic views all round today. We did another couple of caches around the residential area, there are some beautiful homes and they all must have fantastic views!

We then went into La Jolla and found a cache that I've been too scared to do! I was at George's restaurant on Saturday and noticed this exciting opportunity to meet a real STAR was still active but my family of muggles were not as starstruck as me so I had to pass it by. Luckily The Lost Clan was willing to visit Miss Garbo for a second time and we made our way into the hallowed ground. Mr. Hyosung was very helpful and the required information transcribed. I only wish I hadn't waited for 9 years to make Miss Garbo's acquaintance. How foolish to get a bee in your bonnet about what you think something is going to be and as usual it proves to be quite simple!

Our next cache is called Green Eggs and Ham as it is placed near Dr. Suess' house although we were not sure which one of the beautiful homes it could be. We were at La Jolla Heights Open Space and had views of the sea, cliffs, golf course and the beaches, stunning. Unfortunately the cache, placed in May 2003, was in a very sorry state of affairs, an old rusty coffee can without it's lid. A plastic bag was not much protection for the soggy log book and a few bits. We emptied out the water and as we could not sign the log we put in a new one, I left the can on it's side so that, hopefully, any water does not stay inside. The owner dropped out of geocaching for a while but he has recently started caching again I hope he does some maintenance on this cache soon, it's certainly worth it for the views alone.

Now we were in for a treat as our next cache uses new technology, it is called Horton Hears a Chirp. My GPS does not have Chirp capability and neither does my iphone so I was dependent on TLC for the co-ords! We arrived at the posted co-ords and a few moments later the info was received and we were on our way to the next wp. Took a little longer to find than it should have, TLC walked right past it, as so did I but when I turned around I suddenly noticed it, a nice ammo can.

Next we thought it was time for a walk along a new trail with 6 different caches placed along it. We found Fey Bike Path Sampler #1 without any trouble, had a dnf on a older cache and then as there was a muggle at #2 we decide to walk to #6 and have something to look forward to on the return walk. Sadly we could not find #6. The CO says he did not place any nanos but he had made an exception here and it was a very odourous hide either on or very close to a dog poop bin. Yuck! We did find the rest on the return so that lifted our spirits a bit.

After a quick picnic lunch we decided to start to make our way home the 'scenic route' via a couple of rather interesting caches. Ashes 101 Dalmatians or a puppy as we like to call them, is one of the 101 caches you have to find in order to get the co-ords for Rolly. Ashes had been reset as the original a 5* terrain had been muggled TLC has found them all but I'm still working on the challenge. Ashes is now only 1 1/2 terrain now much to TLC's annoyance and we made a quick find.

Our last cache of the day is near an infamous sculpture. Not really sure what it is supposed to be, there are several ideas being mooted. Wish it was still posted! This cache is called The Turd and you only have to see the sculpture to see why.

Four more caches

2011-01-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

This morning I went out with The Lost Clan finding caches that popped up just after we found the others above Sycamore canyon. Our first cache, CT 12 ~ Following those KM2's was not far from where we parked. We thought we could make it a circular walk instead of two out and back hikes. It was nice to have good start here with a find. Our second cache was along a ridge trail heading towards land belonging to Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar. CT12: Fixing a hole was placed at a gap or hole just before a cache that marks the perimeter of the base marking where no more caches would be allowed.

So after fixing this hole we followed the trail up to the forbidden entrance. A trail went off west towards a power tower but dead ended so we bushwacked down into the canyon towards CT 12: Almost at the borderline II. Not really the most sensible thing to do. It was really steep and a bit boggy at the bottom. I also almost lost my GPS as it got plucked out of my pocket by a bush and I did not notice until we had just started our way up from the bottom of the canyon. A worrying few moments as the chances of finding it were pretty slim but thanks to TLC's GPS breadcrumbs we were able to retrace our steps and much to my amazement I found it.

We were successful in making a circular trip but I don't think it really saved us any distance in the long run. We also, well me more so, got a little freaked out by the howling calls of some coyotes, TLC thought they were well away from us across the canyon back where we started but I think they can move pretty fast through the bush if they want too. I'm sure the coyote are well fed up here, we saw lots of deer prints and some quite big rabbits on the trail ahead of us but they might have taken a fancy to us!

So we hurried, as best we could along the steep track, to the last of the four caches, Ritz Crackers. Habu had placed it to honour the cacher that had put out the super trail (to honor all of those cache owners who provide us so much fun. These represent San Diego’s top cache owners – those who hide the caches we love to find.) that we walked on Thursday. RC was
a bit tricky but we did not want to have to come back, we read the hint but in the end it was a bit higher than indicated. The temperature had climbed to the mid seventies so we were glad to get back to the car for some welcome cold air conditioning.

Tom's A Geocacher

2011-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

I'm not much one for puzzle caches and unless it's really simple I don't even try them but yesterday I was scanning FB when a friend asked for recommendations for apps to put on her new phone. I suggested Angry Birds and Scrabble and another friend gave a long list including one he said would help with some new puzzles. I was intrigued and looked it up and immediately realized I knew at least 3 caches that it would help solve!

I opened the cache page and touched the new app's icon, waved it over the page and wow the hidden coords were revealed! What fun. I also noticed that someone had a public bookmark list of local caches of the same sort so I looked at that and the other caches that I had vaguely remembered were also on the list so I didn't even have to work on finding them! I emailed TLC who I rely on for puzzle cache information and she knew all about them but not having a smart phone was unable to solve them. How nice for me to be able to return a few favours I owe her for all the times she has helped me!!

So this morning TLC changed our plans slightly and looked for CT12: Tom's A Geocacher. We loaded the co-ords and luckily it was not too far and soon we were at gz. TLC made the find quickly and we signed the log. Very satisfying!

We went back to the plan and found a couple more caches. We also fixed one of TLCs caches that had fallen down. TLC also planted an ammo can ready for a puzzle that she is working on. A busy couple of hours. No photos today as I left the camera at home.

Cache Hiders Trail 011311

2011-01-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today we went on a trail placed to honor all of those cache owners who provide us so much fun. These represent San Diego’s top cache owners – those who hide the caches we love to find.

TLC and I left my car at the furthest parking possible and drove to the other end, near our first cache of the day and met today's Thirsty Ladies, The Lost Clan, Luv2bake, lovesflowers, Lionhouse 75, Trixxster and me, six of us today! We set off about 8:15am and walked the sidewalk along the parkway a nice easy trail today. It was a fun trail with lots of variety in the size of the caches and the hiding places and as there were 30 or so caches everyone made a find or two!

We had a couple of side trips to find a cache hidden in the canyons either side of the road, one sadly we did not find but the other was safely found and logged.

We met some other cachers doing the trail in the other direction and stopped for a quick chat. They wondered which cache we were at as they didn't have it on their gps but we explained that TLC had found a cache she had hidden but never got round to publishing. They asked if they could sign the log as 'beta testers' So TLC said that would be OK!

TLC realised it was too close to the newer caches so she moved it two hundred feet north to another site but unfortunately when she went to publish it there was still a problem as it was now too near a waypoint for a multi cache which none of us knew about. We will go back and move it again next week.

We finished the trail at about 11:30am. The last cache was Honorable Mention for all the local cachers who had placed 40 or more caches, TLC was happy to be in that list! We had walked almost five miles, mostly down hill except for the two side trails and had a lovely morning. Now we all got into my van and I drove back to where the rest of the cars were parked stopping for just one more cache along the way.

We decided to go to a favourite Thai restaurant not too far away and had a well deserved and delicious lunch together before going off our separate ways.

It took me almost as long to log them all as it did to walk the trail as the CO had asked that for each cache we could mention a favourite cache that the titled cacher had placed. It was fun though to go back and research the old caches as it brought back memories of fun cache hunts and adventures.

PQ Canyon west end.south side 01/12/11 and 12 of 12 for Jan.12

2011-01-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

Birthday cake

Staircase for challenge

Slippery slope with my shadow

Deep canyon looking straight down.

Another pylon

View across canyon floor, where we cached yesterday.

Industrial buildings.

PQ canyon looking east.

Cooper's hawk looking westish.

Towards the sea.

Snow covered mountains in the very far distance! Mount San Jacinto

Eye sore of dumped mattresses.

So as our caching day ended abruptly yesterday TLC and I arranged to continue today. I had, however, forgotten that it's my beloved's birthday, opps! But as he's going to work I thought I was safe, too much geocaching is discouraged! Any how plans are made but he is not really a happy bunny this morning.

TLC and I are on a quest to find the last one for her PQ Hall of Fame Challenge, Spider Wasp's Lair and it is well deserving of the high terrain rating but not so much the difficulty rating, thank goodness! We had found the trail head yesterday so knew where we need to park. We made our way down yet another steep and slippery trail, the recent rains have eroded the trail in places and in some places the ground has subsided, I have visions of the ground giving way under our feet and causing a mud avalanche to the bottom of the canyon taking us with it! But although it is like walking on jelly sometimes, we make it to gz. The power lines are making our numbers jump around and lead TLC astray but I carry on a bit further and we realise we have a little further to go and with a bit of bushwacking TLC finds the cache.

I remind TLC about a couple of photo challenges that we try to do are posted so we are taking lots of photos. We can see the steep trails that we took yesterday from over here and walking along the trail to another cache we can see a long way along the PQ canyon. We can see the glittering sea to the west and snow covered mountains to the north, I think they are the Mount San Jacinto Range. As we walk I see a rufous sided towhee, humingbirds and a Cooper's hawk perched in a tree.

Our third cache has been placed near a heap of discarded mattresses which is rather sad to see up here. We don't want it to be there so it's the last place we look but sure enough it's under the mattress, yuck! Such an eyesore. We walk to the end of the ridge but the view is not so great here as the eucaliptus trees block the way. So we turn to retrace our steps back to the car. TLC thinks that this trail would sustain another cache and we look for a suitable place for an ammo can. We need to check there are no puzzle caches up here before making a final decision.

Mr S phones me to let me know he has decided to take the day off work and suggests we have lunch out to celebrate his birthday. TLC and I were only going to be out for a short time today so we choose 2 more quick cache and dashes and make that 5 for the day.

PQ Canyon west end. 01/11/11

2011-01-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Lost Clan and I are working on the PC Hall of Fame Challenge and only have a few at the west end to find to complete the challenge, in fact TLC has less than me to find as one of the hardest is WAR and she found that years ago! Our trail to the few caches we need is a bit unconventional and we use a trail head with a cache that TLC found using google maps. The sign said that it was a viewpoint but we thought we knew better and followed the trail to the edge of the canyon and a fence, opps! Not to be put off we explore a bit further but can not find a legal way down so we ducked under the fence, I must admit to being more worried about the ranger catching us off the trails than falling over on the muddy track. (there were no signs on the fence) We followed a steep and slippery trail to the bottom of the canyon, around another short fence and a sign facing away from us says 'Keep to the trail'. An easy cache we are after is right there and we quickly sign it and moved on.

Now on to WAR. I knew it was tricky but when I saw the trail my resolution wavered and as TLC had already found it I gave her the option, well me the option, not to proceed, my that trail was steep but TLC was not having me chicken out and led the way! Very nice camo and worth the climb.

TLC and I had both loaded our pocket queries for the canyon last night but two more caches had been published this morning, seems to be a theme lately, so we had an extra two miles round trip added to our plan. We decided to go for the furthest one first so we would have something to look forward to on the return trip. We were slightly hoping for FTFs but you have to get up really early around here to get those! We got to The Long Gone Bridge and spotted a little red bus toy wedged in some branches, this had been left by the CO as a ftf prize, so we were still hopeful. I spotted the cache really high in the tree and although there were some 'steps' we are not tree climbing sort of girls. After a moment or two's foolishness, climbing the 'steps', we well I, decided to take a chance and dislodged the cache with my stick and luckily it fell where TLC could reach. Sadly we were not FTF but someone had found it 30 or so minutes before! We signed the log and managed to reposition the cache. It's a shame that it was a micro as this area could hide an ammo can really easily.

The second new cache was in a bush, again fairly high above the canyon floor and took us quite a while to find. The cache name 'There used to be a bridge here somewhere' gave us pause as we were nowhere near the water but we checked if it had been found on my iphone and sure enough the ftfinder had logged it without comment, so we carried on searching. Methodically searching, we circled the bush until I was almost to where TLC had started and BINGO there it was, bigger than I expected but well camoed.

We have decided not to go back the way we came but to take an official trail up to the mesa which passes by one of my caches so we stop to check it out and also to catch our breath. Back at the top we don't have as far to the car as I thought and we are soon there.

We decide to have a break and stop at a Starbucks but TLC forgot our plan and directs me to a parking lot that has has a couple of caches in it, she certainly has a one track mind when it comes to caching! We find the caches and go on to Starbucks. We are all set to carry on but our earlier climbs have worn us both out. Just one or two more we discuss but as I left the parking I got into the wrong lane and could not get over, oh well it seems that we are done for the day after all! It wasn't meant to be.

Hawkwatch at Ramona 1/8/11

2011-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

We received our annual newsletter about the Hawkwatch event in Ramona and decided to attend this weekend. We had a great time watching the free flying prairie falcon and other hawks being shown by their handlers. There were several wild hawks and eagles perched in trees and on rocky outcrops in the grasslands for the scopes to be trained on including a golden eagle.

We always like to see the burrowing owls that are on the property, not sure if they are really wild or contained is some way but unfortunately they were being shy today and staying in the burrows. While we chatted to the docent we were lucky to see three immature bald eagles fly overhead, two of them circling around each other in a playful manner. A volunteer we spoke to who had lots of experience was really excited and exclaimed she had never seen three 'baldies' in the sky at once before.

As we were leaving I asked about the barn owls that I'd overheard someone mention and they were just over our heads in the huge palm tree in the yard.

Back at the car Simon got out his telescope and had a look around and we at last saw a burrowing owl as will as some western blue birds then we drove down to the pond and did some bird watching. saw lots of western meadowlarks, ferruginous hawks, snow geese, white-fronted geese and various ducks. Well worth a visit and so close.

San Diego's Cache Placers Thursday 010611

2011-01-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today's plan was to do an easy paved trail of caches 'This trail is to honor all of those cache owners who provide us so much fun. These represent San Diego’s top cache owners – those who hide the caches we love to find. But at the last moment TLC had noticed that there were three more placed in the canyons beyond the pavement. Some of the honorees of the series had been busy doing what they do best, placing more caches!! We met up with our group of friends, hikers and cachers, we call The Thirsty Ladies.

We set off and as we had not met as a group since before Christmas we had a lot to catch up on. The trails are mostly access roads to the power line towers criss crossing the canyons. Our first cache MCAS Borderline I was the newest cache so we hoped for a FTF, first to find, so skipping a couple of older ones we made straight for it but we had been beaten to the punch by Ritz Crackers the CO of the 'cache owners' power trail! We then retraced our steps and found a couple more caches.

It had been a cold start but we had warmed up by now so walked back towards our cars to off load our hats, scarves and coats. We then noticed a car on the trail on the next ridge and guessed it was another cacher, we waved even though we did not know who it was!! It turned around and parked up behind us and turned out to be Harmon of the SDRowdies, a veteran cacher well known for his photoshopping skills on the forums. As we stood chatting I noticed a SDG&E truck pass and go through the gate Harmon had just driven through, close and lock it. I think we just saved Hamon from being trapped on the wrong side of the gate!

Harmon joined us for some more caching and we also met a couple of cachers on bikes who stopped and said hi and who, later on, we also met at a cache. The caches with CT12 prefix (Covering Tom's 12 mile) are being placed as a friendly challenge for one our keenest SD cachers, flagman, who tries successfully to keep the 12 mile radius of caches around his home found. The next ridge trail only had one cache at the furthest point so Harmon was going to place some more caches along the way but luckily as it turned out he left them in his car because three quarters of the way along we met another cacher, Lulu499, who excitedly told us she had just had 3 FTFs on caches that had been posted while we had been out on the trails and we had just passed one of them!! Good thing Harmon had not dropped his caches or he would have had to come out again and pick them up!!
Nancy shared the new cache details with TLC and I checked my iphone and put the coords in my GPS. I love my iphone for paperless caching, reading hints and previous logs but prefer to use a 'real' gps to actually find the box.

It was now a lovely warm morning and lots of fun going on. At one of the newest caches ahead we could see a cacher searching, no doubt hoping to be FTF. We did not recognise him and cheerfully called out as we approached, 'have you found it?' he did not seem pleased to see us!! We introduced ourselves and spread out to help him. I made the find but felt bad that we had spoiled his fun! He did not want to join us for the next closest one and strode off back towards the other caches! Oh well, he obviously was very keen FTF seeker!

Harmon needed to turn around and find the caches we had found earlier so we said our goodbyes and made our way back to our cars. A great morning's caching, meeting cachers on the trails is one of my favourite things! Oh and along the way TLC drooped a cache to add to the mix!! Not many photos today as we were too busy.

FTF at a Spa

2011-01-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

Met TLC at our usual P&R and then she drove up to Starbucks to meet wl. We had a slow start, chatting about our varions holiday activities and then TLC mentioned we needed a FTF to keep up our run of one every month for a challenge we are working on. wl reminded us that a cache published earlier was very near by, so although it was not on the plan we decided to go for it just in case!

We took our time, finishing our various drinks and then made our way to wl's car, transfering our stuff and greeting the geodog, gomez, and making ourselves comfy! TLC navigated us to the cache area but we overshot the turn and almost decided to do another cache first. The road led back to the cache but we had to go 'off roading' along a muddy trail to get close. TLC got to gz first with wl approaching from the left, we read the hint and I made the find! I handed the cache to TLC and she unrolled the log... a dollar bill was rolled up with the log, so this was handed to the driver for gas and ta dah an empty, clean log sheet!! Happy dance all round, a FTF for us all!!

We went on to find a few more driveby caches and then we knew we were in for a treat, a cache by Redrox was next. Her caches are always special and we were not disappointed! The ammo can was hidden in plain sight but the paint job matched so perfectly that only a cacher would see it. Inside were several TBs and a coin. One of the bugs was a book and a few people had signed the sheet inside thinking it was the log book, opps. I signed us in to the correct log book and wl and I took a tb each and I took the coin leaving two tbs for the next visitors.

A few more straight forward caches followed and then it was time to have a go at finding a trailhead for cache that had previously thwarted us. We had found a way onto the area but as we got closer we realised that there was a fence preventing us by about 30feet from getting to gz. TLC had since checked on google earth and was convinced she now knew another entry point but when we got the end of the cul de sac there was no way through and another possibility was flooded. We drove along the perimeter of the site noting the No Tresspassing sign at one end. But at the other end it was clear there was a trail leading towards the cache about .20 of a mile away. Made our way towards gz and we were on the right side of the pesky fence! I stayed on the main path with the geodog while TLC and wl bushwacked to the cache. Sadly the well cammo'd cache was completely full of water, even the baggie the log was in had water in it. They managed to sign the log and put it back together. Hope we don;t have any more rain as many of the caches we found today had soggy logs and we only carry a few spares.

Found a few more caches, one TLC found after wl & I had exhausted all possible places because she put her fingers down a spidery place that we were too chicken to do! It had a dnf on it so we were pleased it was still there.

We had taken picnic lunches today and were getting hungry. Our next cache was called Bone Yard and was a hidakey on the fence. We had parked in the cemetry under a shady tree and it seemed the perfect place for lunch.

Sadly our first cache after lunch was a dnf but we think the rains had washed it away.

Our afternoon soon passed finding all sorts of caches and soon the sun was setting. The last two caches were in a very interesting area, it looked like it was private property but there were no signs saying so or explaining the site. Most of the area was covered with fruiting cacti, prickley pear, I think. TLC found both caches which were enormous tubes, known by some as Yuma micros! They are former missile holders so look a little intimidating!! Last cache of the day.

The sun was setting and it was a beautiful sunset but it meant our day's caching was at an end.

Hiking Sunday Jan. 2nd 2011

2011-01-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

Mr SH had set his sights on the top of Mount Woodson after our easy hike around Poway Lake on Thursday. I was not so keen as it was a 5 mile round trip and most of that uphill. But in the interest of a happy start to the New Year I looked up the geocaches and found there were a few I could use as breadcrumbs up to the summit. Sadly I downloaded an old pocket query which did not have them on and only found a couple of them! Oh well that just means another great hike to the top is in my future.
We had a late start and didn't get to the parking until 11 am. We found the first cache quickly although I sent Mr SH up the muddy bank unnecessarily as I spotted the hidey hole behind a boulder along the trail where I was standing, oops!

Continuing up the trail we are passed by several people who are walking much faster than me!
The second cache was hidden in a crack between huge boulders overlooking the fast moving stream in the canyon. The tin was a bit rusty and tricky to open but while Mr SH scrambled over the boulders I signed the log book noticing on the cover the clues to another cache. So I took a note of them for another time.

This is where I notice that there are, surprisingly, no more caches! Convincing myself that the reason is that there must be puzzles that I'm not aware of and I've found the caches on a previous trip at the top from the other side of the mountain I simply did not think to check on my iphone!

It's a long, steep and difficult trail to the top but with much encouragement and frequent stops 'to look at the view' I make it!

We have a picnic lunch at about 1:45pm sitting on the footings of one of the many towers at the summit. We sit looking west towards Black Mountain and south towards San Diego, Point Loma and the Coranado Islands down Mexico way!

Getting very cold now and we can see storm clouds gathering, so gather our things and start down the mountain. The park closes promptly at 5pm and we don't want to get locked in, so Simon sets a fast pace. About a mile and a half from the lake it starts to drizzle and the last part around the lake it's really raining, a first for us to be out on the trails in the rain in California.

The park rangers are making announcements to the fishing boats out on the water to come in and that the park is closing in 1/2 an hour and we hurry to our van in the nick of time!

My legs are shaky and I'm cold and wet but feel a good sense of achievement at climbing to the peak of Mount Woodson. The trail was longer than the 5 miles I thought, closer, in fact to 8 further than I have walked for a long time!

May 12of12 2009

2009-05-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

My friends, TLC and XX and I start our day at Starbucks and then drive down to IB to find the Bird Watch series of geocaches and a few others as well. They are well spaced out and we probably walked about 3 miles around the marshy estuary. The weather was perfect and except for the noisy helicopter that was practising landing and taking off and seemed to always fly right over us when we stopped to find a cache we were almost the only people about.

Sad news

2009-02-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

Just returned from an unexpected trip to the uk to help my mum as my dad died on the 3rd February. We had the funeral on the 17th and scattered his ashes at his favourite place on Friday. It's been a busy few days. Flew back to LAX on Saturday and have a great deal to catch up on.

PAD

2009-01-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

I'm doing Photo a Day on my photoblog page www.photoblog.com/epiphany4sb
I'll save this blog for 12 of 12 and Stu's pad challenges.
My water themed photos were taken at Brighton W. Sussex January 15th 2009

Fungus for Henners

2008-09-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

12 of 12 August

2008-08-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

I went geocaching for the day with my friends TLC and XX, we found 17 caches 2 of which I had found before. NCC have a challenge running at the moment called 52 Pick Up. 53 caches have been hidden and I quote the write up of one: "This cache is only one of a complete deck of hides placed around Northern San Diego County, from Del Mar to Oceanside, to Carlsbad, to Escondido, by members of North County Cachers. Thirteen of us have each placed one set of caches, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Clubs, of varying difficulty and size. The first three are traditional hides and each will reveal clues to the fourth card -- everyone’s Club card -- a puzzle cache.
Only by collecting the information you find in all 13 Club caches (Ace through King) will you be able to determine the location of our final, ultimate challenge -- 52 Pickup: The Joker!" As we are only doing easy ones in the heat at the moment it will take us a while to get them all but we are slowly working on them. Today we found 4 including one of the puzzle ones. None of my photos give away locations!

June 12 of 12

2008-06-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Not just another day but my dd's birthday. But lucky for her and sadly for me she's off to Las Vegas for a long weekend and I didn't get a chance to take any photos of her before she left!
I did however go geocaching with my new geocaching cohort The Lost Clan. We had a mixed day with 9 finds and 6 DNFs (did not finds)in Escondido. I drove and she navigated.

My van's mileometer is not quite right but I took this at the start of our morning.

TLC's first find of the day. The next find was much the same.

Big & Red, a find after a DNF

TLC had offered to replace this cache as the original had gone missing. I still claim it as a find of course!

This took us a little longer than it should have but it was a very pleasant area and we were being serenaded (or was it mocked) by a very noisy Mockingbird on the telegraph pole by us!

This was near another DNF the clue was 'A Pie' I thought of apple pie when I saw this but could not find the cache by Condorman. I did see a lovely Red Tail Hawk though.

I think this was the only find I made, too many Nascar caches in Temecula made us expect something else from the name of this cache!

This one was in a drain and even on a beautiful day like today I was a little wary of a flash flood so did not think to take a photo until we were almost back at the van. No hints in these photos!

Our final cache of the day was also not found. TLC and I have looked for this twice now and have even had further clues from the placer but again we came up empty handed. Someone has found it in between our DNFs, so we are feeling that we must have missed something totally obvious!!

Linda and I went our separate ways and I came home and made myself a toasted chicken and cheese sandwich, I like them extra crispy!

After lunch I made a scrapbook layout which I posted on my favourite Lifetime Moments board.

my cousin Marion

2008-05-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

May 12of12

2008-05-12T18:01:00.001-07:00

Twelve favourite things in no particular order
Playing Scrabble on my Palm.

At last we have framed 3 photos that my dd took for her photography class. The frames were a bargain find, brand new at the thrift shop. Please excuse the ugly cables, they link variousl computers, modems and the like!!

Dd made this in a pottery class in HS a few years ago and it's one of my favoutites!!

This watercolour was painted by my father in law and was given to us after his death.

My friend Elizabeth and I spent a couple of hours on Sunday making these potpourri sachets for the GS Leader award ceremony next month. Girl Scouting is a favourite activity.

I picked this Travel Bug up at a Geocaching event on Saturday. It was a World Wide Flash Mob on Coronado Island. Dh and I had fun meeting lots of cachers and finding 4 geocahes close by.

Ribbons are a favourite embelishment used on my scrapbook layouts.

This was the best Christmas gift ever from my MIL, a beautifully framed photo of Ted in the cockpit of the Concorde.

Coco.

My most recent scrapbook layout with photos of my dd & ds 17 years ago!

My beverage of choice is always a nice cup of tea in one of my favourite mugs.

My scrapbooking tote. All I need for a great evening's cropping, just add photos and paper.

12 of 12 April

2008-04-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Had a great day going to Balboa Park with my dd. She had free tickets to see Art Alive at the SD Museum of Art.

A slight drawing in of breath at the price of gas this morning, it cost $57 to fill the tank. But after a beautiful drive down to the park we forgot about that! Parked in the lot just by the Veterans Hospital and caught sight of the breathtaking view of Coronado Bridge spanning the bay below us while waiting for the free Park Tram to take us to the centre of the park.

Across from the tram stop was the entrance to the museum.

We handed in our tickets which were ripped in two, sad for a scrapbooker! Did not take any photos at first as it is usually not allowed inside art galleries, but noticed others were not concerned, so asked a docent who said it was OK as long as the flash was off. I took several photos of the exhibits that took our eye and were not surrounded by onlookers.

We then went to the Botanical Gardens and looked at the beautiful orchids that were on display.

As we walked back to the tram stop it was getting hot so we decided to catch the first tram that came along instead of walking around a little more. Back at the car the temperature was 99*, phew!

Thought about going to the Little Italy and getting cold sodas and ice cream but because of possible parking difficulties we went to Old Town for a Mexican lunch of tostados, quesadillas and carne asada fries, more that we could manage really.

Back home, Coco our cat was pleased to see us and rolled over to show us how handsome he is.

A lovely day, just like a mini vacation and I'd remembered that it was 12 of 12 too!

12 of 12 2008

2008-01-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry I can't figure out how to turn the photos the right way!!

First thing this morning dd gave her dad a present of a bottle of whiskey and a brandy from Peru.

Today is my dh birthday. We went shopping for his present. He decided on a Birding scope and a tripod. Which we got at Scope City. We then went to Walmart and Costco. We also called in at the Lightning Brewery for a taster and a couple of beers to bring home.
At Costco we bought a glass bowl of tulip bulbs and ds suggested we took a photo of it every week to record how it grows.

I took some photos of the layouts I have made for the LM WSF and have posted two of those.
Out in the garden I could hear a very noisy hummingbird so I took a shot of him. The lavender is flowering very early and I added that too. My camera is indicating that it needs new battereies but I managed to take all these photos before putting in the new AAs.

Eggstrordinary Egg

2007-04-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

J has been given a huge Easter Egg.

12 of 12 last three

2007-04-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Fairly well stocked fridge.
Dinner frying in the pan.

Me exhausted after all the work.

12 of 12 next 4 photos

2007-04-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

12 of 12

2007-04-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

One of my friends on the LM board does a challenge to take 12 photos on the 12th day of the month. The idea/challenge comes from Chad at http://chaddarnell.typepad.com/runchadrun2/This month I remembered about it first thing today. I usually remember when it's too late to take any photos. Thursday I do my weekly shop and thought it would be fun to document this exciting event.
I always make a list throughout the week, so I have an idea of what I need to buy and I also do a rough menu for the week but it is not fixed and I do shop for bargains when possible.

2006-11-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Shoelace cache in this photo

2006-11-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

Autumn colours are rare in CA

2006-11-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

roadside cache near here.

2006-11-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

We went to the Observatory at Palomar last weekend. Found a couple of geocaches and had a lovely walk around the valley.

2006-11-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dave Crossing the Golden Crack

2006-10-18T07:07:00.000-07:00


The Golden Crack is one many obstacles along the 3rd most difficult offroading trail called the Golden Spike trail located in Moab, Utah.

It's Alive!

2006-08-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

S was out of the op theatre by 11:00am and in recovery for about an hour. Then I went up to meet him in his room. He was a bit groggy but wouldn't stop talking as he's normally quiet, I guess that was an effect of the drugs!! The surgeon was pleased with his work and said that they had been able to add about 2cm length to S's leg. He should be up and walking today!! but will have 2 more days in hospital before they give him the all clear.
He has a lovely room overlooking Torrey Pines golf course and the sea beyond. He can also see the hangliders that fly from a gliderport just to the left of the golfcourse, so lots going on. He had a fair night last night but the nurses kept waking up to turn him and check his bp etc. Glad that's over but I think the recovery is going to be something else.

a long day tomorrow

2006-08-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. We have to be there at 5:30 am. S's op is scheduled for 7:30 and it takes 4 to 5 hours then there is 2 hour recovery time.
It's going to be a long day!

Hip Replacement

2006-07-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

S has a date for his hip op and he has had a trip to the hospital where the op is going to be done, so that on the day we can find the way OK and to make sure he is healthy enough to be operated on. It's a huge hospital and the main entrance and lobby area is like walking into a really posh hotel but once you start going down the stairs to various departments for cardiogrphy or xrays it's just like any other hospital, long, gloomy and smelly coridors with everyone except you knowing where they are headed!!
Yesterday S had to go to another hospital to give the blood that he might need back during the op. He was to give 2 units ( 2 armfulls) on 2 different days but when he arrived they said he could give both together.
Now-a-days they can draw the blood, separate it, keep what they need and put the rest back all at the same time. Quite amazing really but as S is a little screamish he didn't like watching it happen, and it cost over $500! Hopefully that little expense will be covered by our insurance!
I've been reading a few blogs by people who have had this op and it's all a bit scary. I think it's going to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride.

2006-06-22T19:41:00.001-07:00

My neighbours tree in full bloom

2006-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

June 22nd 2006.

2006-06-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

April 9th 2006

pirates arrr

2006-06-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Anne Bonney

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

MTRP Armistice

2006-05-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I've been following the 'war' at MTRP on the fori and all the new caches in that area so it was with great delight that I attended the bbq that celebrated an end to hostilities!! All in fun as the 2 main protaganists are great pals really.
So it was that at 8:00pm S and I tagged along at the rear of the 'ghost train' that another cacher named the long tail of cachers along the trail, but soon veered off to take the trail less travelled (and less steep) did a nice circuit of the grasslands and back to the camp. We could see the odd flash of light from cachers up on the hills but it was very creepy wandering around the grasslands in the dark. Great fun but utter madness really!! On our way home along the 52 we looked up and could see a long line of lights going along the trail to the top, it was really surreal!

Long day

2006-05-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Although I have all the filing up to date and can leave this afternoon knowing that everything is tidy, today is really dragging.
I felt hungry and ate my lunch early which was a bad mistake.
I'm going to get my hair cut on the way home today.
I have a GC BBQ to go to tonight and have to make or buy something for that and download all the data into my Palm.
So that's my day so far!

2006-04-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

Red rattler or is it? we were not really sure it was real. It was near the 3rd wp of a cache we didn't find after crossing this creature's path. The trouble was the clue was 'snakes egg' we tossed a couple of pebbles at it and after one landed on it the snakes seemed to move but it never rattled. We were to scared to get closer. So we gave up and found 3 caches else where. Cachers round here can be pretty sneaky and another cache on Black mountain is in a fake snake but not a rattler. So what would you have done?

Mindless Vandals

2006-04-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

My dd car got vandalized last night while she was staying overnight with friends.

It's so awful! The mindlessness of it.

They smashed all the driver's side and the back. Luckily we have good insurance and only have to pay $100 and not the $1410 that it will cost to repair. They even smashed the tiny triangle quarter window, which alone cost $200 because of it's shape. The back window is $800.

Poor dd has only had the car 6 months.

We had to knock out all the glass so that dh could drive it home and put it in the garage and it will take 5 days to get the glass.

So now dd is trying to learn stick shift so she can borrow my car for school next week.

Four other cars and a limo also had their windows smashed too around the neighbourhood.

2006-04-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is the back window.

2006-04-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

J's car had the drivers side and the back window smashed by some mindlless vandal during the night.

Hunt for Red October

2006-04-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

It took three visits to the preserve to find the 14 wp and final cache of this reincarnation of an old cache called Chupy #4 The Walkabout. The first visit I knew that the first wp would be up a very steep trail to the top of the mesa but swore I would not go down that way whatever the cost! True enough after a couple more wps it looked like that going back down was on the cards, however we know the area quite well and knew of an alternative albeit longer way round and as the evening was drawing in knew that was the way we had to go not only to find the next wp but to get back to the car. When S found the wp we punched in the coords and ironically it pointed back the way we had just come. But the light was going so it was back to the car. Our next chance to collect a few more wps was on Wednesday, the park is still 'closed' but it has not rained for days so we felt ok to continue our quest.
It was 3/4 mile as the crow flies to the new wp we had just entered but that would mean going up and over and down the mesa so we walked around found the next wp which again was up another steep slope but luckily a zigzag path made it easier. I noticed that a couple of caches we had not found were close by so while S concentrated on the main objective I set my GPS to goto the nearest cache and we passed right by it so we were able to stop and find it. a very clever hide that we had not come across before. Next wp led to another famlier area where an archived cache used to be but we came to a Y in the trail my GPS said the another cache was just off to the left but our prime objective was to the right, so we split up I found the cache and S found the wp. We met up and the next co-ord led down into the canyon past the pond and up the other side so we decide that again it would be better to go back to the car the long way round as time was getting short and there was no telling where we would get to if we carried on. When we were home we studied the map and decided to approach the park from the north instead of the east and I found a cache that had the parking coords for that side although the cache it's self was one of the 3 or 4 puzzle caches that I can't do. Grrr.
As I sat looking at this puzzle cache I suddenly found the answer! Sunday we made our way to the new parking area, as we had never been I used the GPS to direct us for the first time. It was so cool beeping at every juction even when we missed a turn it directed us to do a u turn as quick as a wink!!
To be continued!!

2006-04-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Found the Jeep TB in the cache Hunt for Red October

Clever Waypoints

2006-04-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Gosh, where did March go. In like a lion and out like a lamb and no bloggings from me.
Sunday evening dh and I thought that as we had the extra light we would have another go at a geocache that we could'nt find the second waypoint for, and yes I did put a note to that effect on the page.
I got a nice email from the placers with a further clue so even though it was somewhere I thought I'd already looked...
Even with the clue it took a while to find the co-ordinates for the next waypoint, very clever use of existing signs. The next wps were all different and very clever but it was getting dark by the time we found the fifth one, not knowing if the next was going to be the cache or yet another wp we decided that going on was not a good idea and turned back. As we were walking along a trail by a lake it had not only got dark but also had that damp misty feeling and there were bats flying around us too. we set a good pace and were very relieved to get back to the car!!
We plan to finish the cache on Wednesday evening, luckily it's in a beautiful area with lots of birds to watch so well worth a third visit!

Lodger

2006-02-18T08:35:00.000-08:00

LH comment on my blog reminded me that I had'nt blogged for ages!
My news today is that we have a lodger. I don't know how long he will be staying. A's friend, P has been 'thrown out' by his dad. He has a job and has just bought a new car so I feel he is a responsible and respectful kid. It's just his dad has a drinking problem and can't see beyond the very long hair and endless 'working' on the computer.P's family came to CA from Russia about the same time as we came from England. P is very bright and could easily get a degree but wants to work for a while building up some capital first. I presume his dad can't or wont' support him at university, so I don't really understand. I know if A showed any enthusiasm for university we weould do all we could to help but he is the reverse of P and seems to heve little ambition, quite happy to toddle around at community college to start with.

funny thing

2006-01-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

I went to work at my usual time Wednesday and while sitting at one of the 20 or so sets of traffic lights on my way I noticed the car in front of me's registration LH*****. I used to live in the same street as LH and although the car changes the reg does not!! Her husband was driving it today and as he does not really know me I did not wave or toot my horn! On my way home I went to Kohls to buy S's birthday present, what a deal $35 for 3 very smart pairs of cords! As I left Kohls, which is high up above P, there was a really beautiful sunset and I could see a hot air ballon floating over Blk Mntn. I made my way home and at the almost last set of lights before our house I noticed that the car in front of me was LH***** again!! Well I thought that was interesing. Oh and the hot air balloon had to make an emergency landing in the middle school's playing field right by the road.

two blogs in one day

2006-01-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

When I got to work today I noticed that the tree outside my office window had been TP'd again!!
What a waste of time!! Three people have now had to spend a lot of time and effort getting all the tatty toilet paper off the highest branches and clear up the mess of paper and cardboard rolls left strewn around the grass.
Will post a photo it possible later.
Tchoh!!

vandalism

2006-01-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

S leaves his car in a car park everyday and takes a van to work as part of a group of car sharing collegues from work. Just lately there has been a spate of vandalism and Friday it was his Volvo's turn along with 5 other cars. All had either their lights, mirrors or windows smashed. Some idiot had tried to smash the Volvo's front windscreen 8 times but was unable to do more that make a dent in the glass. What a waste of time. S phoned round and got a few quotes and ended up with a quote for $160 if we could get the Volvo there by 8:00am Saturday, so that was the end of any thought of a late start Saturday.

S wanted me to follow him down to the Glass repair shop incase the Volvo broke down, it's not terribly reliable for long trips, which is why he uses just to go to the car park. S is not one for keeping to the speed limits and so he bombed away down the free way. I was just beginning to lose track of him ( I keep to the speed limits!!) and thought if I don't get a bit more of a move on I'll lose him!! So started to speed up a bit when I noticed this Beemer appear in my rear view mirror out of nowhere and behind him a CHiP on a bike with the lights flashing! Talk about heart attack!! for a moment I thought the CHiP was after me but I saw him wave the Beemer over. Made me all shakey, talk about ironic if I got a ticket for speeding, the way I nag S about it when he's driving!
Anyway I did lose sight of S but luckily I had memorised the way to the repair shop and did'nt get lost. We got a new windscreen for the Volvo.
So now I have to get up at a very early hour to take S to catch his van poolride. I hope that now the kids are back to school the vandalism stops and S can start taking his car in the mornings again.

Fancy restaurant

2006-01-07T20:25:00.000-08:00

J, A and his girlfriend and I went with S for his birthday dinner at a fancy restaurant on the boardwalk at Pacific Beach! It was the best!!

We got there just as the sun set and really enjoyed the ambience of the place. The food, presentation and service was all excellent. The dessert was chocolate heaven

My dd told her friends that she half expected the girls from Sex in the City to walk in it was such a cool place! (not our normal type of place at all!)

Thank goodness birthdays only come once a year!!

Back to work

2006-01-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's torrential rain today dawned bright and clear so of course that means I'm back in the office!!
Sunday I went geocaching and found 2 of the 3 caches. The DNF was an older multi and although we found the first wp which was a card taped to the underneath of a rock in a mass of rocks, the second wp was well off the trail in another mass of rocks with many possible hiding places. I logged it as a note and received a nice e mail from the owner with a more detailed clue but as we felt we had searched every possible place it may well be missing altogether. The owner said she would walk the trail and check it was still there when the weather improved.
Monday S had to go to work so I had a very lazy day, watching the Rose parade while snugged up cosily in bed. Later I went out for lunch with J. We went to the Olive Garden. Then I did some scrapbooking, working on the challenges set by the cybercrop at my favourite online store.

Unexpected Treat

2005-12-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

J called me at work and asked if I liked Neil Diamond, thinking she was asking for hints for a Christmas CD I said not really. Oh she said I have some tickets to his concert. So I backpedaled and said well he's not that bad! She could not go as she was working until late and thought that S and I might like to go. We arranged that she would leave the tickets on the kitchen table and I would see if S wanted to go at such short notice. When I got home I couldn't find the tickets and thought she may have forgotten to leave them, as I had not been so keen at first. I had resigned myself to not going, until I went to make the tea and found the tickets, she left the tickets by the tea tray! When S arrived home he was more enthusiastic than I expected, so I quickly rustled up our dinner and off we went.
We arrived safely at the venue and after a bit of a scramble in the parking lot found a space and joined the line of folks waiting to enter.
After a lecture on no cameras and a quick peek in to my handbag on entering the arena we easily found our seats overlooking the side of the stage up high on the terraces. S and I settled down to play scrabble and read the English paper while waiting for the show to start. Gradually the seats below us filled and then around us people were making themselves comfortable. A group of 4 quite large men came in and arranged themselves in front of us. Laughing and joshing with one another one of them complained that he was squashed, as I knew the seat next to me would remain free I suggested that he moved, introducing himself and his friends he did so. In fact they introduced themselves to everyone and chatted to people all around asking if they were fans of ND and so on. It transpired that one of them had been to 35 Neil Diamond concerts and knew the back up singers!
The stage looked a bit empty with just a few coloured lights swirling on it.
But suddenly the arena lights went down and the show lights came up and the stage floor opened up and in three or four sections the band and back up singers arose from beneath the floor. The audience cheered and applauded and as the music started loads of people got up and started dancing including the enormous man in front of me!! But it was ok as it all just added to the fun. After a nudge from his friends the three oversized fans decided to move onto the stairs at the back where they could sing and dance to their hearts content. They really made it more entertaining for us and the one sitting next to me said it was like having our own floor show!! their enthusiasm was infectious and we sang along and really enjoyed the show. ND sang all the old favourites.
After a safe journey home I phoned J and thanked her and Jm for the tickets, what a wonderful and unexpected treat.

technology is wonderful

2005-12-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I blogged! Everyday I read other peoples blogs and think of something to write in mine but don't get around to doing so. Have been very busy and had lots of photos to download but........... well enough of the excuses!

Last night my daughter made cookies, a seemingly domestic event but brought screaming and kicking into the modern way! First she had her laptop sitting on the counter set at Martha Stewart's site for the recipe for sugar cookies. Her mobile phone at her side buzzed to let her know an email from the boyfriend had arrived, which she read using the phone. The cookie making progressed in the normal way and and with some guidance from me she cooked about 50 cookies and iced about half of them before I had to go to bed at 11:00pm. This morning I recieved an email
I quote "Hey Mummy, I loved baking with you tonight i took pics with my phone, sent them to my website tmobile photo album saved them and i will send them to you... technology is fantastic!!! I love you. cant wait to finish decorating tomorrow. J."
I loaded one photo as my work pc wallpaper and the other I uploaded to Simong's site to put on his advent calender!
I agree technology is wonderful!

Sarah's blog inspired this!

2005-11-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

You are the Sun card. The light of the Sun reveals
all. The Sun is joyful and bright, without fear
or reservation. The childish nature of the Sun
allows you to play and feel free. Exploration
can truly take place in the light of day when
nothing is hidden. The Sun's rays fill you with
energy so that you may live life to its
fullest, milking pleasure out of each day. Such
joy and energy can bring wealth and physical
pleasure. To shine in the light of day is to
have confidence, to soak up its rays is to feel
the freedom of a child. Image from: Stevee
Postman. http://www.stevee.com/

Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Coco

2005-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

Our cat has a poorly ear. I thought the awful ‘cat with no tail’ that attacked him at the w/e had bitten him. So this evening I decided I should take him to the vet. First I hid the cat basket in the downstairs’ loo ready for action. Then I lured Coco into the kitchen with sweet words and a cuddle. I felt such a traitor; he was purring and enjoying the attention until I took him into the loo. He started yowling and puffed himself up, with his tail like a bottlebrush! Took six attempts to get him in the basket. I tried lowering him in feet first and head first, then cornering him with the basket but he spreads out his claws and arches his back. Eventually I managed, at great personal risk, by holding his back legs and tail in one hand and his front paws in the other and lowering him into the basket, just about getting my hands out of the way to slam the door shut!
I had a very noisy trip to the vet’s, which luckily is not too far, with Coco yowling away beside me all the way.
Once at the vet's we were quickly ushered into the office and the nurse came in to see us. It took almost as long to get Coco out of the basket, as no doubt he knew exactly where he was and didn't like it at all. She took him to be weighed and then brought him back. If the door to the basket had been open Coco would have been in there like a shot! Anyway the vet came in and checked him over, looked in his ears and after cleaning some grunge out of his ears and looking at it under a microscope, the vet prescribed 2 shots and an ear wash with some drops to follow and a weeks worth of antibiotics. He had’nt been bitten but did have an infection. That'll be $189 thank you! Also Coco's teeth need cleaning and yearly shots are due, probably another $500 approx! Can't afford that at the moment! Must put toothbrush for coco on my shopping list. Coco got back into his basket without a struggle and we came home.

Carved pumpkins

2005-10-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

carved pumpkins
Left pumpkin is S's work and middle pumpkin is J's work.
As you can see I have not carved my pumpkin yet.
I still have to decide what to do with it.

2005-10-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

before carving

supermarket

2005-10-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter is learning how to be a cashier at our local supermarket. Seemed like an easy job to me but it is surprisingly difficult. She had to learn 50 code numbers for various fruit and veg and scored a 95% on her test! I helped her learn the numbers with flash cards and repetition and still only remembered about 5 numbers by heart at the end of an hour!!
She's been reduced to tears by two customers so far. Very Rude Women thought that the wine she had bought was on sale (it wasn't) and demanded J correct the mistake. It was a matter of $5 and as a man it the line commented, remarking at the VRW's expensive designer purse, she looked as though she didn't need the money. against company policy, the manager gave the women her money back. I can't remember what Very Rude Man's problem was but apparently he is KNOWN in the market and always has a GO at the cashiers. VRM ended up apologizing and offered to give her a hug(!) which is also against company policy(!) Who knew!! But if you knew J you'd know why he wanted to hug her!! I hope J manages to get a thicker skin as I think she'll need it for this job.

new saucepan

2005-10-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have to buy a new saucepan today. Last night just as I was going to bed S asked what he was going to have for lunch Thursday. I said I had'nt any thing readyn but would he like me to make some pasta. As he said that would do very nicely I put a pot of water on, waited for it to come to the boil and put in the pasta. When it boiled again, I turned it down to a simmer and went to bed! About midnight A came in from walking his friend's dog and said there was something awful in the kitchen and the whole house was starting to smell. I leapt out of bed, and ran down stairs, the pasta had boiled dry and was burning, I ran the pot under the cold water and dug out the burned pasta and sent it down the waste disposal. Oh the smell was indescribable!! It was a good thing that A had been up late or the whole house might have gone up in flames!!
Sprayed the house with Lysal as I thought that would help get rid of the smell. I tried to get back to sleep but it was a long time before I was able to stop thinking of what might have happened. S went to work without any lunch this morning!!

2005-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

You scored as Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax. You are Granny Weatherwax! The most powerful witch on the Disc! You often use headology rather than actual spells, and are a very good witch, despite the fact that you sometimes wish you were a bad one. You play a mean game of Cripple Mr. Onion, and have a very powerful stare. By the way, you should really get that broom fixedâ?¦

Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax

69%

Carrot Ironfounderson

50%

Death

44%

Rincewind

44%

The Librarian

38%

Gytha (Nanny) Ogg

38%

Commander Samuel Vimes

31%

Cohen The Barbarian

31%

Lord Havelock Vetinari

13%

Greebo

Which Discworld Character are you like (with pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

door handle

2005-10-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

The locking door handle on our back door has been getting more and more difficult to turn and I have been careful not to shut it behind me when going out into the garden for fear that it would shut and lock me out.

Any day I could have been stuck outside while going to get milk from the fridge in my nightie or feeding the birds a crust and noone would have been home to hear my cries!!

I have mentioned my concern a couple of times to S but as he seems to have no trouble with it, he nods his head with that knowing look and ignores me.

Today that all changed. S went out side, in his pjs, to check on his hanging baskets and lo and behold he could not get back into the kitchen. Luckily I was near by but before I let him in, through the family room's sliding door as I could not open the kitchen door, I laughed.
Later S went to Ace and got a new handle and fixed the door. Why do men wait until it breaks on them to fix something?

pain

2005-10-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

This tiling is going to be the death of S. He sanded the floor and was down on his hands and knees for ages, the perfectionist that he is. Taking no notice of the pain he was having. Ofcourse he has pulled a muscle and is in terrible pain.
Can hardly walk and using his walking stick to get up and down the stairs.

PLAN

2005-10-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Bad news on the car repair. More extensive damage has been found under the bumper and the frame may be damaged. Repairs will more probably be done by the 14th.
Thinking about our minor flooding really puts perspective on what people in New Orleans must have suffered.
I saw a program on emergency preparedness today and am going to turn our downstairs bathroom into our emergency shelter and make a PLAN as advised. We had a fire close here last month and several small earthquakes so I don't think I'm panicing!

Bathroom Renovation

2005-10-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

Today in the light we surveyed the damage and have decided that it was not that bad and that the water must only have been running for about 45 to 60 minutes.
The bathroom carpet is really beyond repair and I've always thought that having carpet in there was yucky. The water also ran down into my laundry room and flooded over into the downstairs hall but we've had a highpower fan on it all day and it seems to be drying nicely. So S and J went to home depot to price up having tiles instead. They chose some really nice ones and now S is having a quick lesson in Bathroom Renovation! If I like the results I might encourage more tile laying in the family room which I've always wanted tiled and that would mean the kitchen would have to be retiled too as we wouldn't be able to match what's already there. Gosh that could get expensive!! But it's an ill wind............

peaceful

2005-10-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Having a nice peaceful day, doing domestic things. In the afternoon I was pursueing my hobby of scrapbooking when all hell let loose. S yelled up the stairs for me to check the kids bathroom and I could tell by the panic in his voice that it was an
emergency. I dashed into the room and found to my horror that the toilet was overflowing, the carpet wet through to the hall and water gushing outside. S dashed outside and turned the water off at the mains. Water was pouring through the garage ceiling and down the electric light cables, so the electric had to go off too.
We did the best we could ripping out carpet and underlay and I think we saved the ceiling from further damage by our quick reactions. It got dark quickly and we got an extension cable and borrowed elctricity from our neighbour until S decided it was safe to turn the power back on. Shame really I was looking forward to an evening of scrabble round the camping gas lights!! But that aside it was a bit of a disaster.

Thingers

2005-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Thingers

the journaling in the tag reads:
I go to a chatroom owned by
Simong. On his website he has
The Great Favourite Thing
Experiment. It started out
that visitors to his site could
suggest their favourite thing
and he and other visitors
too, would try the thing and
report back their results.
This was called 'thinging'. Then
someone suggested that
visitors could meet and do
things together and they
became 'thingers'.
I had mentioned on
Simong's site that I was
coming to England and
would like to have a meeting.
We arranged to have lunch at
the Anchor, as Henry moors
his boat nearby lo and
behold 6 Thingers turned up.
Most Thingers use nicknames,
which I will use here.
From front to back,
left side:
Simong, JG, MMM with MM (j)
J and A.
right side:
Ned, Henry not the Thirst,
Trouty, Simon and Vodka Mick.
While we were waiting for
lunch
j enjoyed playing in the
puddles.
J, August 29,2005

Last night

2005-09-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last night S was pottering about in the garden when he suddenly called me out to see this fantastic sight. A rocket from VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE caused a rainbow of colours from the setting sun to reflect off it's twisting trail. We even saw the two stages separate with a cone shaped whoosh of vapour. luckily I had my camera handy and we were able to get a few photos shown below.

2005-09-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

rocket and trail

2005-09-23T17:51:00.001-07:00

trail

2005-09-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

trail

Hav'nt even made the first payment

2005-09-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

End of last month J bought a new car using a little money that she received from her nana as a deposit. Today we had a little rain in California and on her way to college she got rear ended and the back bumper was totaly crushed and pushed under the car, so sad. Luckily she was not hurt, I took her to urgent care just to make sure. She feels a bit sore but I think that will soon wear off. Don't know how much real damage was done as we hav'nt had the estimate yet. Insurance, hopefully, will cover most of it but it won't be the same anymore. :(

Exhausted

2005-09-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

Had a very busy day. A had been asking all week if he could drive to a desert camp with his friends but as it is about 120miles to the campsite we had decided it was a bit too far for a first long drive. A had a flying lesson and his friend P had a lab. So it was decided that we should let him drive our van with us as passengers, so that we would drive home and he and P would come back with the others on the camping trip.
But I've got ahead of myself as lots happened before we even left!
One idea put forward was that he might fly to the landing strip near the campsite for his lesson but that still left P without a ride. So S took A for his flying lesson at 9:00am and I went with J to the Zoo to study monkeys for her anthropology class. Great fun to not feel obliged to try and see every animal in the zoo and we spent a very enjoyable 2 hours watching how the monkeys interacted. At one we started for home and I phoned to see if S A were still waiting for me as I was a bit late. No reply so I thought I'd missed the run to the desert but a few moments later S called and said they'd just got home as A had had an "adventure'. I said I'd prefer to hear his story when we got home.
A had an exciting lesson, he had taken off and they were flying ove the mountains to the SE of SD, M was just explaining a new maneuver when suddenly oil stared to spray all over the windscreen of the airplane. Oil pressure did not drop but visabilty was bad so Mike called for an emergency landing at the closest airport, answering no to the question of whether fire engines would be required, they were given the all clear and landed safely on the runway. An adventure indeed, A's first emergency landing, I think he learned a lot!! Anyway they taxied the plane over to maintenance where the chief machanic had a quick look at the engine and then as M & A needed to get back to SD the machanic offered them his car to get them back! They phoned the airport to let them know the situation and to ask them to let S (no cellphone) know they would be late!!
About 2:30 we set off for the desert and had a good ride through the beautiful area. A did a good job driving and safely got us down the steep winding grade to the desert, I think he was surprised at how far the campground was and was quiet tired by the time we got there. As we were dithering about at the entrance to ask the Ranger where A's friends were camping, along they came, as they were setting off to the mudcaves, fed up of waiting for A & P (we were about 2 hours late)Quickly we loaded all the camping gear onto their truck and waved goodbye!!
As Simon got into the drivers seat we both suddenly noticed that the KEYS were gone. A had gone off with them in his pocket!! So there we were stuck at the entrance to the campground in the desert. The Ranger was very helpful and found the phone number of the father (I suddenly realised what a bad mother I was I did not even know the name of the people that I was leaving my son with!) We called but there is no reception in the desert so our only option was to just sit and wait for them to return, the Ranger said they would likely be about 3 hours!! Luckily we were soon in the shade as the sun set very quickly behind the mountains although it stayed light until 7 which just happened to be the time that the campers returned!! They were so suprised to see us. JM kindly offered us dinner before setting back and we had a very enjoyable campfire dinner. We left about 9:15pm and got home just before midnight. Exhausted!

IKEA

2005-09-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

Had a nice trip to IKEA this afternoon with J. We needed to get some curtains For A's newly decorated bedroom. He has chosen a Chillie Red for the walls with a Cappuchino Cream for the trim and door. So I had in mind a black and white or gold pattern and found exactly what I wanted. The curtains are black with gray and white circles. I also needed the pole and finials. So we were able to get it all at once.
J and I also went into the IKEA cafe, J had coffee and a slice of cake and I had tea and a marzipan tartlet, delish!! and all for less than $5, fantastic value!!

SS

2005-09-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

I had to take my kids to the Social Security office to get the ID cards changed to show they were valid for employment. We had to take the green cards and other ID to prove they were who we said they were. J got asked when she was going to become a citizen and although she felt like saying "when America admits to Global Warming" or something along those lines she held her tongue as she needs the card for the job at Vons that she has accepted.
As we approached the building my tummy was churning and I felt sick. Why do offical places make me feel like this. I'm a legal resident and all my paperwork is good and yet I feel like I'd imagine an escapee from Colditz would feel as the solders calling "papers please" comes nearer! SS indeed!

comments

2005-09-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

I've nothing to blog about today. I have changed the comments feature to show a verification thing as I recieved my first spam comment.

2005-09-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

Fire seen from our home

My Birthday

2005-07-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

Your Birthdate: July 24

Born on the 24th, you have a greater capacity for responsibility and helping others than your may have realized.

You may also become the mediator and peacemaker in inharmonious situations.

Devoted to family, you tend to manage and protect.

This birth date adds to the emotional nature and perhaps to the sensitivities.

Affections are important to you; both the giving and the receiving.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

HP and the chocolate factory

2005-07-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Friday evening J and I went to B&N to pick up the wristband we needed to get our pre ordered Harry Potter and the half blood Prince. It was very busy but there was a lot going on. As we entered the shop we were given HP specs then we got the wristbands with the date and an owl on it. As we explored the shop we had our photo taken and made a wand!! J got some tattoos and I got a HP poster. It was still early as the books were not to be handed out until one minute after midnight. so J and I decided that we would go see Charlie and the chocolate factory. The show that we wanted to see was sold out so we had to see the 10:45 show. This is the latest I've ever been to the movies!! It was very good. I had'nt seen any reviews, only really went as Johnny Depp was in it and he was very good. Made me think of Micheal Jackson!! The Oompa Loompas were much the best part of the movie, very cleverly done as they were all the same person!! The movie finished at 12:50 so we went straight over to B&N to get our books, not much of a line now, so we soon had HP & the HBP tightly in our grasp! As we walked over to the car a passerby jokenly said we should be careful that our books would not be snatched from us as people were so desperate to get copies, which had been a thought going through my mind too!

busy

2005-07-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

S is back from his work trip to Oregon. So now he is fixing J's alternator belt on the Volvo. Getting in a right tizzy as the stupid Kragan guy gave him the wrong belt, which ofcourse he did not realise until he was blue in the face trying to get it to fit.
Next he is rebuilding the column on the front porch, which is a major job. lots of wood working, sawing and 45* angles to do. It looks grand now. Just needs a coat of paint and it'll be as good as new.

knickers

2005-07-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Just before going to get dh from the airport I asked ds to vacunm the floor. when we got back he had started but had not finished as the Dyson had stopped working. Dd's friend Stan offered to help fix it. Much to our amusement and A's embarrissment. Stan unravelled a pair of J's very skimpy knickers from the rollers!!

freezer

2005-07-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just filling up the freezer with the weeks shopping when I realised it did'nt feel very cold. At first I thought it had blown a fuse and then I remembered that ds had a friend round the night before who needed to charge up his battery with our battery charger. Ah Ha I thought, did those idiots unplug my freezer?. I called down A and asked if he had unplugged anything when helping out his friend. Noooooooo says he, but I'll just go check. Surprise. He came back from the garage saying it was all fixed now. good thing it was the end of the week and only had bread and a few now soggy chips in it! Boys!

airports

2005-07-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Had to wake up at 4:00am this morning to take S to the airport.

porch saga continues

2005-07-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

J took our van to work today. S worked on the porch. A sat at his computer all day and played world of warcraft. I did a pile of ironing and got S's clothes ready for his business trip, fed everyone at fairly regular intervals and did some scrapbooking.

2005-07-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

J's car broke down on the way to work this afternoon. The traffic to the fair was so bad it had taken her nearly 3 hours to do the 10 mile drive and that was mostley in the last 2 miles!! Luckily she managed to pull in to a garage before the car stopped altogether, one more set of lights and she would have made it to work!! But instead she had to call out AAA to tow her home. S is being stubbon and refuses to look at the car insisting that the porch column is more important.

Termites

2005-07-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

S discovered a damp spot on the column supporting our front porch, thinking it was just damp from over spray from the lawn irrigation, he pulled back a slat and found termites. so that was the end of any ideas that we might do any geocaching this w/e.

Where the surf meets the turf

2005-07-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the Del Mar fair this evening and saw Bill Engvall. The kids have seen him on blue coller comedy. It wa OK, typical American humour.
We had fish and chips from one of the stands before the show and looked around the exhibits afterwards.

amazing

2005-06-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

Amazing how time slips away from you. Had such a busy time lately that blogging just got forgotten.Maybe I'll do some retro blogging later this week.
I enjoy reading other peoples blogs but sometime it feels intrusive.
Sorry to hear about Richard Whiteley this morning, when did 61 get to seem like it was too young? I will miss his loud jackets and wonderful ties.

Earthquake

2005-06-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

I's J's birthday today!! She woke us up at 6:00am as she has work today and was very pleased with her presi! After she went to work I phoned my mum and while I was on the phone we had an earthquake!
It was quite scary, I did not know wether to drop the phone or sit it out!! S moved away from the window and A who was sleeping on the floor next to my bed woke up and I held his hand (for my comfort not his!!) My mum was very surprised, she could hear the windows rattling over the line!! after about 20 seconds or so the waves of the earthquake subsided and I finished chatting to my mum. Poor dad had another fall this morning and had hit his head on the bedside table. It's such a worry, mum's doing the best she can but one day she will not be able to help him up and then what? The Dr has arranged for a nurse specialising in Parkinson's to visit next month, hopefully Mum and Dad will listen to her recommendations instead of trying to struggle on as if it (PD) did not exsist! Anyway the earthquake made her call exciting for her!!
After we turned on the telly to see if they mentioned it, sometimes they just ignore them and carry on their arranged programme but today as they had felt it in the studio, KUSI had an 'expert' who said it was a 5.6 which is about as big as it can be without damaging buildings!! No one was hurt. So all round a busy morning!

Skunk

2005-06-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

I was sitting quietly in our family room tonight, when suddenly I could hear food being eaten in the garage. I knew both my cats were in the garden waiting for their supper so I wondered which one of the pesky other cats from the neighbourhood could be in there.
I switched on the light and opened the door quickly so as to catch the culpret red handed and found to my surprise it was a skunk!!
It rushed towards me and then turned round and I thought for one dreadful moment I was going to get skunked!! But it was just hiding under the shelving. I opened the garage doors and closed the house door in the hope it would go out that way. After a while I went back, closed the door and gathered up the cat food that it was stealing and heard a noise under the boat so I guessed it was still in there. The skunk must have worked out how to go through the garden door's cat flap so I locked the cat flap from the garage to the house and hoped the skunk would go out the way he came in.
Sunday morning Coco was in the garage and there was no sign of the skunk. I have now locked the flap and hope that the skunk stays outside where he belongs.

Twix

2005-06-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

Oh dear I have succumbed to a second Twix from the vending machine here at work. It's all that Simong's fault talking about them in his blog!! and the fact that recently a new owner has started filling the vending maching with a more tempting selection than the moldy old buns and crumbling crackers that the previous owner had. Also i forgot to have any breakfast this morning as I spent a hectic 20 minutes trying to find my car keys. We searched high and we searched low. Even A was getting worried that he would be late for school and he suggested that we wake the Kraken, otherwise known as his sister, from her den and borrow her car. As I tentively knocked at the door and asked to borrow her keys I could hear some mumbling from the depths and stood back as she opened the door with MY keys in her hand!! she had been late in and on locking the back door with my keys she had foolishly taken them with her to her room!! Well at least we found them.

2005-06-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

extractor fan

ceiling fan

2005-06-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Dh spent the w/e putting a ceiling fan in dd's bedroom. She's been asking for one for ages now but we said she couldn't have it until her room was tidy! As in 'when hell freezes over' but it must be jolly chilly in hell right now as over the course of a month or so, since the bf left for a six month tour of duty, J has been steadily clearing out all her old stuff and making her room habitable! J helped her father install the fan as much as possible and they are both very pleased with the result.
S also installed an extractor fan in our loft. That was a mammoth event but well worth the time and trouble. It gets v. hot in the loft and that keeps the rest of the house hot too. It starts automaticly when the tempreature reaches a predetermined height, which at the moment we have set at 90*. We are lucky that this house stays cool most of the time until later in the day and although we do have AC we don't have it on more than 2 or 3 times a month during the height of summer. We have a rule that we all have to be home before it's switched on during the week! We are a little more lenient at w/e's and hopefully with the new fan we might not need it even that much!

yay

2005-06-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

I won a prize on my scrapbooking site!! We had a cybercrop which is a way of motivating people to actually get on and put some photos on a layout !! The organisers set out some challenges and give points for items used on lo and then everyone with 200 points or more gets put into a raffle. It's all done on an honour system and although the owner of the site does provide prizes and ofcourse all the facilities to host the crop, it's mostly done by volunteers who donate a lot of time and some of the prizes for these events! My favourite challenge was spelling out the phrase
ALWAYS REMEMBER AND NEVER FORGET using items used in the making of the layouts!
So many e's and a's!!
A alphabet diecuts
L Lollipop uppercase (sizzix)
W word dots A acid free paper
Y yellow chalk
S sliders
R Ribbon snaps
E Elements premium brads
M Mobe fun stamp:!:
E Emily paper
M making memories brads
B bazzill
E eyelets
R Rub on
A adhesive
N Nick Bantock Ink
D Disney font
N Numbers (mobe)
E Ethan paper
V Vintage Cutouts (the open road)
E Epsom printer
R red brads
F forest of plaid (scenic route)
O Orange cs
R red photo corners
G green cs
E embossing
T Traditional Dot (daisy d's)

quiet times

2005-05-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report. Had a very quiet weekend as I hate going out when it's a holiday! We did do a little geocaching and I picked up another TB. Can't seem to find a cache suitable for the one I already have but I can't resist a TB when I find one. This one had been in the cache for 2 months so it needed a change!

Spent most of my w/e sitting at my desk scrapbooking. Managed to do 3 one page lo's and 3 2 pg lo's for the cybercrop at LM so I'm very pleased about that.

S was recording some more of our old LP's to make them into MP3. We were listening to a range of music from Dr Hook and the medicine men to themes from the Bond movies and Paint your Wagon!! Dione Warwick, Cher and Andy Williams were also recorded. Great hearing all the oldies!

Star Wars!!

2005-05-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

A arrived home about 2 this morning but from what I can gather he had a good time. His date did not dance with him so he danced with some girls who did not have a date with them. Her loss!!
A and I took the tux bacjk and I almost left $40 in the pockets but on double checking found it in time!!
Then we went down to Pt Loma to get some fitting for S's windsurfer and I thought we were going to have a meal out at the Brigantine. S changed his mind and took me to a grotty place that sells real ale that he goes to with his sailing buddies. Perhaps we got there at a bad time but the tables were dirty and the place looked worse for wear!! And we still hav'nt seen Star Wars!!

Prom

2005-05-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Much rushing about getting Tux and flowers. Nearly all came a cropper because A had not written down full address of the girl who has organised the limo and a party after the prom. But we drove slowly down the street to find the house with 665 as the last 3 digits and as A slipped inside with nery a glance back at me, I guessed we'd found the right house!
I must say he looked very handsome and well turned out in his tux. I was very proud.

wedding anniversary

2005-05-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

It is our 22nd wedding anniversary today. Because of the Prom tomorrow we are not going away for our traditional weekend. We did not exchange cards as we don't normally bother.
We shall have a meal out somewhere nice and go and see Star Wars whe all the rush is over.
S bought me Phantom of the Opera DVD and more Ram and a video card for my Peecee, Yay!!

2005-05-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

One for the road