Category Archives: House

Super Moon

In case you missed this, according to 10 News online: 

“On Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. EST, the moon will reach its perigee, or closest point to Earth, measuring a distance of 221,524 miles away — the closest it’s been since Jan. 26, 1948. The moon was even closer to Earth in January 1912 and January 1930.

The moon officially becomes full roughly two and a half hours later, making this a supermoon and the closest one in 68 years.”

I took this photo at 6am PST so it was already moving away and shrinking.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

Only in OB …

Above & below – Playing (literally) on the drum this morning.


Moonset early yesterday morning. You can even see Saturn.

Debi Lilly about to bloom.

Bad news – Last Friday while I was enjoying lunch at Stella’s with my cousins someone scratched my bumper.  

Good news – They left a note with a phone number.

Bad news – The phone number is bogus.

Here’s Chainee. We Skyped over the weekend. She’s living in an apartment with another girl, working at McDonald’s and just got her first 3 college credits!

Rancho’s – good Mexican food, inexpensive and it’s right down the street from us. We go there a lot and have noticed they have a wide array of table ware. Usually there are a couple different types on the table. The other night we sat at a table set for 4. Of those 4 place settings, not one of the knives was the same.

Not one of the forks was the same…

In fact, there wasn’t a match in the entire bunch. It’s these little things that keep me forever amazed and amused.

Only in OB – The man below is sporting his finest pajamas and tennis shoes as he walks past Shades.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook from ‘nastics with LOVE!

What’s Blooming?

Above – Nice small orchid blooms hanging just outside the back door.

Below – Air plant.

     

More orchids…

  

The large plant in the corner is from Billi’s yard. When we first brought it home it only had some stragglers, nothing nearly like it has now. You can barely tell its growing out of a bird bath type structure.  

This orchid was given to Bruce from Mom when his mom died. It’s been blessing our yard with beautiful, hearty blooms ever since.
  

Another orchid (in Hogan’s yard). It gets limited sun and is thriving there.  

This one is growing on a palm tree in the dog run. It’s got a beautiful view of the ocean but you can’t see the view because of the clouds.
  

I’m in a 5-day workshop that started yesterday. The workshop is mostly philosophy which includes beautiful chanting and a mix of asana (yoga postures). Yesterday we started with 2 ½ hours of asana practice. It’s been pretty intense so far. 

So, if you don’t hear from me in the next few days you’ll know what I’m up to. I’m blogging here on my lunch break.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

Rain, Cold, Wind

Above – Alo Akuch Kando Robb at Tilden Park near Walnut Creek.

Below – Robb and Alo at the German Festival (Akuch and Kando in the background). Looks cold. Robb said it hailed that day.  

  See Lilli in pink and wings.

Alo sticks with the smaller animals. Robb said he wasn’t too sure about the llama (didn’t pet it either).

Meanwhile, back in OB, Maya and Sparty enjoy some puddle splashing.

  

This aloe vera bloom was so beautiful last week. That is until the heavy winds hit Sunday.

The following photos show the upheaval that occurred in our patio Sunday night.
   The entire block of homes to the south of us beginning with just across Narragansett were without power most of Sunday evening. While we had power, I could see candles burning in windows across town. The wind kept me up most of the night. Around 3pm I looked out the window and saw people’s trash cans rolling around the street (Monday was trash day). When I put our trash can out Sunday night I got as far as the stairs before I heard it topple over. I ended up putting it back in the garage. Considering hearing news of a woman in PB being trapped and killed in her car when a tree landed on it and other incidents, we have nothing to complain about.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone and MacBook with LOVE and gratefulness!

Little Mister Poopy Pants

Above – The blimp flew along the coast over the weekend while watching football. I think there was a golf tournament.

Below – Jen sent me this photo of Sparty telling her “one more minute” when she told him he needs to have his poopy diaper changed. Evidently that wasn’t important to him. 

I made chili yesterday and Ron brought the kids over for dinner. Here I was trying to get a photo of both of them giving him a kiss at the same time.
  

Robb and Akuch got their ethnicity estimates back from Ancestry.com. Surprisingly Robb’s got 35% Irish and only 3% Italian. It’ll be interesting to see what mine says because I always thought I was 25% Irish and 25% Italian with a mix of other Europe regions making up the other 50%.

 

This shouldn’t be too surprising. Akuch is 100% African! 

I’m still struggling with head and chest congestion. I went to the doctor yesterday and he claims its a sinus infection. I’m on antibiotics again which I’m not too happy about but this has been lingering for over a month now. The pressure in my head has been intense at times and morning coughing fits aren’t helping that out any. I’m so done with this!

Note to Mom (who’s on a cruise ship down the eastern South American coast) – Did you know you called me twice yesterday? I could hear you (& Maeann in the background), but evidently you couldn’t hear me. If you want to communicate with me, you can have someone on the ship help you get wifi on your phone and send me an email (that little white envelope icon …). However, if you’re reading this blog post, you no doubt are already on wifi. I hope you’re having a great time!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook with LOVE!

(More) Birds on a Wire

Above – Ron & Jen getting ready to play a fun little game of Russian Roulette.

The doves get very impatient in the morning waiting for the food train. Notice the really light colored dove. We have a couple light (almost white) ones that hang around. All of the doves are fat and happy – very healthy.

Below – A little “down time” with Maya – watching a movie after ‘nastics.

It’s going to be a quiet weekend for me. After teaching this morning I’m going to hunker down in the house and rest up to see if I can get rid of this nasal and chest congestion that’s been haunting me for the past two months. A good reason for football and popcorn!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook with LOVE!

Green Flash or No Green Flash. That is the Question!

Above – Yesterday the ocean was really clear looking down at No Surf.

Below – another view I never tire of. This photo is cool because of the rays of sun and pelican flying through one of them. 

Looking north from the foot of Hill Street.

Same spot looking toward No Surf, and there really was no surf.

Another shot zoomed in looking north.

Last night was the perfect night for a green flash, or was it? I took a burst of 63 photos from just before the sun disappeared to several seconds afterwards. Here are the before, during and after shots. Looks to me like a yellow flash, and it isn’t even a flash because as you can see it was a yellow burst throughout the entire sun-going-down process. Never a green flash. I have seen a million sunsets like this one, looking closely for a green flash, and have never seen a hint of green. Yellow, yes. Green, no. I therefore believe there is no such thing as a green flash OR I am color blind from looking at the sun too long!

  

I picked Ron, Jen, Maya and Sparty up from the airport this morning so they’re all home safe and sound.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook with LOVE!

Walnut Creek – Day 3

Above – Group photo on Angel Island with Belvedere and Tiburon across the bay.

Below – on the ferry ride from Tiburon to Angel Island.


  

From the dock looking across to Tiburon.

On the tram. It was cold!

One of many deer sightings.

Panorama from a lookout to the northwest looking at Sausalito to the south and Tiburon to the north.

From another lookout, in this panorama you can see Oakland to the far left, Treasure Island, Bay Bridge, San Francisco with Alcatraz in the forefront, Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito. With the sun above in the center of the photo, it casts a beautiful light behind the tree. The day was beautifully clear, crisp and cold.

Robb and Alo from the same lookout.

One more closeup of the Bay Bridge, the city and Alcatraz.

Alo on the tram.

At the dock – waiting for the ferry to come pick us up.

Back at the house we decorated the tree and took some photos.

Yesterday morning in “our living room” aka the hotel lobby. We had the place all to ourselves as we waited to leave for the airport.

Robb and Akuch followed us to the car rental return where Alo joined us for a ride on the shuttle to the airport. He looks very serious, but he took some time out to sing the Wheels on the Bus song. 

Back at the fort we were welcomed by another beautiful November sunset.

We will miss our Northern California family, but look forward to seeing them here at Christmas time. I can’t wait!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook with LOVE and thanks for being blessed with a beautiful family!

Goodbye Moon

Above – Moonset this morning from the house.

Below (L-R) Barbie Kramer, Cheryl Odell, Mary-Louise McPhee, Chris (Cheney) Bayley, Gretchen Church & to the left of me is Linda Haselton Burke. I’ve known Linda since before I can remember, Cheryl and Gretchen from elementary school, and the rest from jr. high and high school. Linda and I reconnected at the 2015 OB Street Fair and have stayed in touch. Monday night Linda held a little get together at her beautiful University Heights home to celebrate my birthday, even though it was really an excuse to get together with long-time friends.

I do believe this was my Girls Scout troop 393!

Joanne, Jen’s mom, sent me these photos of the Ohio Thanksgiving vacation. Maya and Sparty have a lot of cousins there.  

  

Fun times yesterday waiting in line (outside the door) at the DMV. I realized around noon when I had to show my ID to have my signature notarized that I totally flaked on renewing my drivers license which expires Saturday! Already a bit on the stressed out side working in the office, trying to get to see Bill, teaching yoga at both lunch and in the evening and not being anywhere near packed and ready to go. So, I packed up my stuff, went to the hospital to see Bill only to find out he was in dialysis and they wouldn’t let me go in to see him, and waited in the sitting room for the doctor to respond to a page so I could talk to her (which she never responded to). So I left the hospital, drove to the DMV (now about 3pm) to find no parking places in the lot. I had to park a block away on the street and then wait in this line just to get to the information desk. By the time I was issued a number, there were 45 people in front of me. I got that mission accomplished, but failed the vision test so I’m now required to wear my glasses while driving. Whew! Hmmm … do you think that was too much information?

Finally, rest at last. At least for my students. I could have used those restorative poses myself!
  

After class we drove back up to the hospital to see Bill (9pm) only to find him sleeping. Another missed opportunity. He looked very peaceful an content and that was good to see.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook with LOVE!

Peace for Paris

Above – Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning (taken from bedroom window early this morning) …

Below – Red skies at night, sailors’ delight (taken from bedroom window last night)…

This must mean rain!

The OBYoga Water Bottle on vacation again (must be nice …). Here, relaxing at Joshua Tree courtesy of my student, Merle who is on an artist retreat.

“Would you look at those crab legs!!!”

Antonino Tarantino says hi to Robb, Akuch and family.

Robb, Akuch & family reciprocate from the floor in their cozy apartment.

Chinese Fire Drill!! (Is that politically incorrect?)

Hey, the light’s not going to get any greener!! hahaha. I guess you had to be there …

In this YouTube video published September 10, 2014, young British Muslims at Active Change Foundation show their solidarity against ISIS and its actions.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone/MacBook in deep sorrow for those in Paris with LOVE!