« March 2008 | Main | May 2008 »
We're in California for a few more days, continues...
It's been very chilly in the mornings, not much warmer than it is in the winter. There is sometimes a little fog clinging to the ridges across the valley but, unlike in the winter, it disperses quickly. London is cold and wet right now so I'm going to miss the California sunshine, even if summer keeps coming and going. It'll be here for sure when we get back.
We're in California for a few more days, continues...
A few times in the morning when I've been getting dressed I've looked out the window and there was a deer standing in the yard looking at me. The idea of being naked and being stared at by a deer is strange and hilarious. This morning my camera happened to be nearby. I was hoping to get a photo of the morning turkey wake-up caller but he didn't show up today (he is so fired...) so I got some photos of the deer. She was eating grass and stood there for a long time before trotting on down the hill (where I think she lives with Bambi).
We're in California for a few more days, continues...
Summer is almost here, arriving for a few days and then retreating. It was a warm weekend, no, it was a hot weekend. It reached 87 yesterday afternoon and it was delicious. We had lunch at the Marin Farmer's Market with our peeps Victor and Cindy. The market has expanded now that the weather is nice and they have widened the aisles a bit to handle the crowd. We had super-yummy pizza made on the spot. I've been craving pizza but I don't like going to places like Roundtable so I was very happy to get a pizza fix at the market.
John and I spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool. The water is not yet warm enough because the ground temperature needs more consecutive hot days. But I did sit by the pool and put my feet in to cool off and it was great. John actually swam (he's very brave) but admitted that it will be nicer when the water warms up.
A strong, cool wind came in the early evening, the signal that the hot weather was done and the 60's were coming back for a while. The wind made for a very dramatic sky, blowing the clouds in all directions and creating amazing patterns. We opened all the windows in the house and it cooled down within a few minutes.
We're trying to get a few projects finished up before we go to London later in the week. In London we have a few things planned including some travel and an amazing surprise.
We're in California for a for more days, continues...
Since we've been eating at home a lot, last night John said he had a craving for steak so we popped up to Novato to Boca. We had been there once before, right after we moved into the house on the mountain.
Loved it!
The menu was excellent and the presentation was lovely. We ate outside, which is something I don't usually like to do, but it was great since the hot weather arrived this weekend. I got the smallest thing on the menu (seriously, I really did) and only took a few bites of the enormous baked potato. I'm going to lose five pounds come hell or high water but damn that potato was good.
We're in California for a few more days, continues...
Apparently animals love routine. Every morning, the turkey walks past our bedroom and makes his loud gobble-gobble-gobble. I keep forgetting to leave my camera next to the bed to get a quick photo of him before he runs away. He's much closer to the house than in the video. We don't really mind, we're usually awake and ready to get up anyway. And it's not like a rooster; we like the turkey.
Then, about an hour later, when I am sitting at my computer catching up on email and reading my daily feed of articles, etc. along come the deer. I always have my camera handy when I'm upstairs but the deer move so fast that by the time I turn on the camera they are no longer in front of my window. Today I got lucky and got some good ones. Mom came along and stopped on the hill and gave me a look. Then Bambi trotted along behind her and they both stood there for a moment, which was fab so I could really get a good look and admire them. Here's a close up.
People are asking me if I'm excited about going back to London next week. I must admit it: John is but I'm not. I really love it here on the mountain and I'm having a really hard time about going to London, even though it's only for a few weeks. The wildlife there has routines too but it includes screaming drunken songs and breaking bottles in the street at 2 in the morning.
I prefer the turkeys and the deer.
We're in California for a few more days, continues...
Yesterday we drove into San Francisco again.
This time, John was going to the Web 2.0 Expo and then a business lunch meeting. I had lunch scheduled with my friend Christian who was visiting San Francisco with his son Devon.
Since John went to the Expo at 10, I had a couple hours to kill before my lunch at 12. So I shopped. Yea, shopped. Shreek.
I started at Bloomingdale's at the Westfield Centre. Bought a black scarf to go with my new $30 coat from Two Star Dog. Yea, last week I got a gorgeous coat on sale for $30. It was an accident. (The clothes at Two Star Dog are not to my taste but their coats are fabulous, I own several of them.) OMG, I just realized the scarf cost more than the coat. You go gurl. '-)
However, other than finding a scarf I wanted within minutes of entering Bloomingdale's, I had a miserable time shopping. OK, here's the thing: when did shopping become an intrusive, mercenary experience? I wandered around Bloomingdale's and into one of the designer departments I like. The saleswoman came running over, literally running. She apologized for not being there sooner (?) and I told her it was not a problem, I had only just arrived at the department. Then she asked me my name and shook my hand. I was appalled and thought it was completely intrusive. You don't need to know my name and get your hands off me. Sheesh!
(This was not my first intrusive experience at Bloomingdale's. I bought a coat there last year and the salewoman was so sycophantic I wanted to slap her into reality.)
I found a sweater I liked and she showed me to the (very nice) changing room. One of the things I love about designer clothes is that sometimes I wear an xsmall. Sometimes even an xxsmall. Hilarious! I am usually a size small, or even a medium depending on the fit. For me to wear an xsmall, one of us is lying and it's not me. LOL!
When she processed my credit card she spent a fair amount of time trying to convince me to open a Bloomingdale's card. Apparently one aspect of this is you get a discount. No thanks. She seemed truly baffled that I didn't want the discount. I explained, no, I don't want yet another credit card, especially from a store that I only shop in once a year, if ever. That seemed to shut her up.
But if only there was a way to shut up all the other salespeople, my shopping morning would not have been so hellish. After Bloomingdale's I went into the mall and was accosted and harassed by vendors and salespeople the entire time I was there. There are carts along the aisles of the mall selling perfume or whatnot and every single vendor pestered me as I walked through the mall. Even when I politely shook my head "no" they continued their harassment to get me to try their product. One guy literally stood in my way. He put out his hand and asked me my name. WTF?! Again? Enough of this already. The whole experience made me realize why I shop online.
(One good thing happened in the mall: I discovered they've opened a Vera Bradley store. Yay! I love Vera Bradley. Most of their stuff is too fussy but I love their microfiber handbags. Simple, elegant and practical; a combination that is not easy to find. The salesgirl was charming (she did not ask me my name) and I told her how excited I am that they opened a store in San Francisco and I'll be popping in to buy their special editions.)
So I finally left the mall because I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted another black scarf so I thought I'd try Neiman Marcus. Wow, I saw so much plastic surgery that my face hurt just looking at the other customers. The scarf selection was tiny but they had one of the most beautiful scarves I've ever seen. $500. I decided not.
But one difference between Bloomingdale's/the mall and Neiman Marcus I noticed, besides the prices (and the face lifts), was that the salespeople were very discrete. No one accosted me. No one asked me my name. Just the occasional "good morning" and they let me walk around undisturbed. I assume that Neiman Marcus attracts a different kind of customer than Bloomingdale's, who are not going to tolerate the intrusive personal boundary-crossing. I'm going to have to make a decision: deal with the overly-personal, intrusion at Bloomingdale's and commercial harassment at the mall, or shop at Neiman Marcus where I'll end up paying $500 for a scarf. That's not going to happen so I'll have to practice my "get the fuck away from me" glare for the vendors at the mall.
Ok, shopping done, time for lunch. I walked over to E&O Trading Company and had a fabulous lunch with Christian and Devon. Christian is an amazing person, so intelligent and fun, I can't believe I know him. And Devon is adorable, I'm so glad I finally met him. Lunch was yummy. Then I got a text from John, his lunch was finished too, so we rendezvoused and drove home.
It was probably our last San Francisco excursion for this California trip and was a really fun day out and about.
We're in California, continues...
One week from today we return to London!
So we were especially glad we could get together with our friends Bob and Teresa last night. We all met for drinks at the bar at Downtown and had some exquisite champagne. At last I have a great photo of the four of us together, yay!
Then we walked over for dinner at Venus. Bob and Teresa are so much fun and dinner was fabulous, as always.
We're in California, continues...
After weeks of continuous sunshine, we finally had a touch of rain yesterday. It has been really chilly, I'm desperate for summer, but clear and beautiful. Yesterday afternoon the clouds rolled in and by dinner time started raining gently.
We were woken by the turkey this morning. I am very amused that the turkeys choose to use the steps to go up and down the hill.
When I am surfing around looking for music to buy, one of the things I often look for are if my favorite old recordings from the 1960's have been made available yet. Many are available on cd but I've been hoping they would be made available as downloads. Yesterday I discovered an amazing treasure: Mozart Symphonies conducted by Otto Klemperer! These recordings were my introduction to Mozart when I was a teenager. At the time, they were a revelation to me.
My life had been changed by Switched-On Bach, which not only got me excited about Moog synthesizers and Bach but about classical music in general, inspiring me to explore various composers, making discoveries, and buying LP records (LP records ?!?!). At the same time I was buying The Beatles, Donovan, The Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, etc. so my family and friends thought I was pretty weird buying Bach and Mozart records. I was not impressed by peer pressure as a teenager, I had a plan for how I wanted to live my life and I pretty much stuck to it.
So I was ecstatic when I discovered that these gorgeous Mozart records were available as downloads. They don't sound anything like newer classical recordings. The reason is that it's a huge, lush 1960's orchestra recorded on 2-track analog tape. Recordings now are digital and orchestras have fewer players and often sound very "crispy." Although I do love the recordings by the new guys (Trevor Pinnock, Neville Mariner, etc. BTW, why are they all guys? Where are the gurl conductors?) and have a zillion of them, I have a special place in my heart for those old Klemperer recordings. Having them in my music collection again makes me very happy and more than a little verklempt.
We're in California, continues...
Trees and sky in Real Life and Second Life. Trees everywhere in both lives. Today is about the trees.
We're in California, continues...
Yesterday we drove into San Francisco to go to a concert by Magnatune artists Music of the Spheres. It was hosted by another Magnatune artist, Kathy Perl as part of her house concert series.
It was a completely gorgeous afternoon. As always, the drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and views of San Francisco were spectacular. We parked and walked around the area a bit and the view of the city and beyond from the top of the hill was amazing.
The concert was wonderful, with beautiful music and excellent performances. They are amazing musicians and we feel so lucky to know them and to have an opportunity to hear them play. The fortepiano was lovely and had been beautifully restored by Janine Johnson, another Magnatune artist.
After the concert we drove over to the Castro section of San Francisco for dinner at Lime with our friend Cary. The restaurant is really cute and mod and the food is fabulous.
Then another drive over the spectacular Golden Gate Bridge, with great views of the bay.
Oh look, someone was waiting at the gate when we got home.
He's not Clyde, he's not friendly, but he's a cat and that's good
enough for me.
We're in California, continues...
Apparently the hill in front of our house, which is the view outside the window where John and I sit at our computers, is a deer path. They scurry past pretty quickly so it's often hard to get a photo. There's a new addition to the mountain and it's the cutest ever.
We're in California, continues...
We're in California, continues...
Yesterday was Marin Farmer's Market day, so John and I went to stock up. Thursday's market is not at the Civic Centre but is instead next to the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium (a pity about the name). The auditorium is also a saucer and looks like something from the future.
I like the Thursday market better than Sunday's. It's smaller, with fewer vendors, but the crowd is smaller too so that works for me. The views around the market are also nice, there is Mount Tamalpais in the background behind John.
Living on top of the mountain means driving to everything which we don't enjoy so we eat at home every day. During our last London trip we went out every single night for seven weeks (and I gained eight pounds that I still have not lost). So between needing to lose weight and not wanting to drive, we are eating at home in California.
Sometimes we just can't stand it anymore and crave a posh dinner. So last night we went to The Lark Creek Inn. We had been there once before and enjoyed it so we thought we'd give it a try again. We loved it. The food was great and the restaurant is lovely. The service is a bit eccentric but I guess that's better than bad service. One thing we thought was odd was when we arrived the hostess greeted us with an exuberant "How has your day been today?!?!" Er... that's a little intrusive, imo. She was sweet but needs to dial it back a notch. =:-0
It's kind of like the chronic "greeters" that appeared in stores a few years ago and aren't going away any time soon. I will never get used to walking into a store and being greeted like a long lost friend. Half the time I'm just looking for the bathroom. My favorite is when they are hungover or tired or just have a bad attitude: "welcometomacy'spleaseletmeknowifyouneedhelpfindingwhatyouneedmumblemumblemumble..." Ooo, ooo, my other favorite is when they greeted you with "let me know if you need help finding what you need" and then when you ask them for something they have no idea where it is and aren't even remotely interested. Yea, that cracks me up. I really do prefer catalog shopping. '-)
But anyway, the Lark Creek Inn: we really enjoyed it and had a great dinner, with champagne. No dessert. Seriously. John and I are both still working off the pounds we gained in London and want to lose it before we go back in a couple weeks. I'm already thinking about sticky toffee pudding.
We're in California, continues...
I can't believe I finally got some video of the turkey. Yesterday I heard gobbling coming from the area behind our bedroom so I grabbed my camera and ran to the door. There he was, the turkey.
Both the turkeys and deer use that area as a path between the forest ravine behind our house and the front hill. Most of my photos of them are from that area.
So, there is Tom Turkey, walking around the area near the solar panels that heat the pool. The female turkey was no where to be found. No surprise there '-)
Once he saw me he went under the solar panels and then you can see him pop out to the left and then proceed up the hill, with a couple more gobbles. At one point halfway through you can see him fluff his tail feathers. I thought I was going to get video of his spectacular display but he didn't do it. I was happy enough to finally get some video of him at all. Most of the time we can hear him but not see him.
He's loud, he's proud, he's a turkey!
We're in California, continues...
Our amazing contractor send us some photos of their progress. They had rented a digger to pull up the dead tree trunks and roots in the forest behind our house. There is our fab contractor Liam in the digger as the back is lifted off the ground by the force of the tree trunk being dug up in the front. Hilarious! Of course, Liam and the digger won. Whew.
Once they cleared out the forest of all the dead debris, they started the walking path project. It's coming along nicely and is nearly done. If there is such a thing as "done" when it comes to this sort of thing. Every day we think of new things for the contractors to do '-)
The renovation of the cabin is progressing, as well, including extending the deck. It's going to be such a fun place to hang out in this summer.
We're in California, continues...
Well that was quick.
It went from being 82 for several days to 38 yesterday morning and then only into the 60's. I guess that is normal for this time of year but everyone was really enjoying the warm weather.
Yesterday was incredibly windy. But the sun was shining so it's all good.
We're in California, continues...
We're in California, continues...
The temperature for the last couple of days has been a delicious 80. Yay! Plus it's the weekend so John, of course, suggested heading up the mountain. I've had enough hiking for a while so he suggested taking our Segways on one of the hiking trails. It's actually the trail he uses to go to the grocery store in San Rafael. ?!?!?! Seriously.
This trail was very different than the one we hiked on last week and goes in the opposite direction, toward civilization rather than the water. On the trail we met quite a few hikers and bikers who were mostly very friendly. The forest and views are gorgeous and I loved it.
When we got home it was such an amazingly warm day we decided to hang out at the pool. The water is not yet warm enough for swimming although it's getting there. There I am, my first pool experience of the summer. Ok, it's just my feet. Later I heard splashing and looked out the window to see a very brave John swimming! He said it was cold but fine once he got into the water. I'm really looking forward to lots of pool time when the water gets warmer. And I still have a few pounds to get rid of before I'll fit into my swim suit. Sigh.
We're in California, continues...
I continue to be captivated by the animals here at the house on the mountain. The only problem with the animals is: they immediately run as soon as they see me.
A couple days ago I actually saw a cat! Of course, as soon as he saw me he ran away so I only have a photo of him fleeing. Sigh. The cat is probably feral, one of the neighbors mentioned they had feral cats to deal with the rats. Seems to be working. Even though I miss Clyde desperately, I will probably not try to befriend the local black cat. If he is indeed wild then he will have flees and worse and the chances of his wanting to cuddle in the big yellow chair are slim to none.
While at our computers in the upstairs John and I heard thumping on the roof. We looked out the window at the shadow of the house on the ground and could see something perched on top. I went outside with my camera and there was one of hawks sitting on the peak of the roof. Of course, as soon as he saw me he flew away so I only have a photo of him fleeing.
The deer still occasionally make an appearance. And also run away immediately. At least they stop for a minute and take a look at me so I can actually get a photo of them. Same for the lizards. There are a lot of them. They are usually sunning themselves on the back porch but also run away as soon as they see me.
And of course, my beloved turkeys. I have seen them each individually but haven't seen them together in quite a while. We often hear the sound of gobble-gobble-gobble! coming from the woods and it totally cracks me up.
I love my animals. Even if they do run away as fast as they can whenever they see me. ;-)
We're in California, continues...
Another in-progress project at the house on the mountain:
Since there was already a path that leads to the cabin we decided to put more paths to make it easier to walk around the woods behind our house. First our amazing contractors cleared out the dead tree stumps and fallen dead trees. Then John put little flags on the ground and raked some paths to try out a few locations. Now our amazing contractors are putting down wood rims along the edge and flattening the ground a bit to make the paths. It's going to be really nice to stroll, er... ok, walk energetically, through the beautiful forest.
We're in California, continues...
John has been installing applications on his iPhone that do amazing things. One of them takes photos differently than the photo program that came with the iPhone. This one takes them in rapid succession and you just touch the screen to take the photo. Very cool. And it has a black and white mode.
Like movies, there's something so artistic about black and white photographs.
We're in California, continues...
Last night we went to the theatre, a rarity when we are in California. We went to Berkeley Rep to see Carrie Fisher!
First we had dinner at Downtown, one of our favorite restaurants in Berkeley. We got to the restaurant extra early because I wanted to have plenty of time and not have to rush to get to the theatre. It was yummy. We had pink champagne and, yes, we were very bad and had dessert.
Then we walked across the street to the Berkeley Rep Theatre to see Princess Leia, er, Carrie Fisher. She was great. It was just her, talking about her life, with some hilarious visual aids and a little audience participation.
I have actually seen Postcards from the Edge so I knew some of the scandals/stories about her. She went into more detail and it was a combination of sad and hilarious. She's very clever and has a quick wit. Of course, she made fun of her role as Princess Leia, including a wig of her famous bagel hair style. It was really fun seeing her on stage and a fab evening excursion!
John made funny faces when I took photos of him, as usual, so of course I had to make a comic.
We're in California, continues...
While we were in London last time, our amazing contractors finished the cd shelves. I spent a few days last week unpacking and organizing. Well, more than a few days, many days.
As I was unpacking I realized that there weren't going to be enough shelves. Yikes. They are happy to build more shelves for me but I didn't want to give up the opposite wall space because that is where I put all my Doris Lessing first editions and other rare antiquarian books. When I moved the cd's around to organize them (alphabetical by genre) I saw that if I took out my J.S. Bach cd's then I would have enough room for everything else. Ah ha!
In our old house I had separate shelves for my Bach cd's because I have a lot of them (hundreds). In the photo you can see the Bach cd's at the far wall on one of our old crappy shelves. While we're in London in May the contractors are going to build shelves for just the Bach cd's, yay.
I rarely buy cd's anymore because I buy downloads. But there are still a few musicians/bands/record labels who do not offer their music online and I have to buy the cd. The shelves are mostly filled but there are a few sections remaining empty, so I'm glad there is space for the few cd's I'll end up buying. Yea, I'm a music addict.
We're in California, continues...
Yesterday John suggested we walk to the Marin Farmer's Market at the Civic Center and have lunch. Wait, I just had deja vu.
I declined this time, so he went. There is a hill behind the Civic Center so John decided to take a look. The path takes you all the way up to the roof level. Apparently there is a lunch area up there for employees. It's all fenced in but yesterday it was unlocked and open so John went in and took a peek. Wow, it's amazing.
He got home in record time and took a yet even more difficult route back to the house. No trail and straight up, emerging at the end of our back yard. And he brought me lunch (he's a saint).
Speaking of the hills, last night we had dinner at Leyla's and Stephen's house. It was super yummy. I didn't lose any weight yesterday but it was worth it. And I got to have some quality cat time with their two adorable, gorgeous cats.
We're in California, continues...
We're in London, continues...
When we opened the pool a couple weeks ago we discovered that the drain cover was missing. Also, the pool cover was having problems opening and looked crappy so we decided to get a new one and that was a color that would help heat the water.
I called the pool maintenance company and they said they would send over a diver. A diver? Yep. He arrived and changed into his wet suit and dived to the bottom of the pool with a screw driver and new drain cover. Problem fixed. It was a nice day but the water was still very cold. He was really nice about it and had been diving into cold pools all day. Yikes!
I asked him about maintenance for the solar heating for the pool and he flushed the system and turned it on. So the water should warm up a bit. You can see the water churning in the photo from the air being flushed out of the system. Sometimes I'm happy to have evidence that something is actually working. So many things are buried or hidden and work so mysteriously that I really wonder if they are working at all '-)
Then the pool cover company arrived with the new cover. It is dark blue which is supposed to heat the water (well, certainly more than a white one did). It will also show the dirt less (well, certainly less than a white one did). Looks nice. We're really looking forward to spending some time in the pool when the weather gets warmer.
We're in California, continues...
Yesterday John suggested another walk. I'm still aching after the last one but he said this would be much easier and would only be on official walking paths. I am determined to get into shape so I said yes.
We started by riding our Segways up to the top of the mountain. We left them by the side of the road and then walked one of the official paths into China Camp Park. It was gorgeous with amazing views of San Francisco, the Bay and Richmond bridges and even Oakland. There is forsythia everywhere right now, I love it.
The walk was indeed much easier than the other day but I was exhausted walking up the steep inclines. I know I really need to do this and am going to make the most of it while we're here in California.
Below is some video John took of me on the Segway heading back home. LOL!
We're in California, continues...
We're in California, continues...
We're in California, continues...
Click on the photos for larger version.
Flickr
