sunset at the beach - friday foto

who doesn't love a good sunset?

what do you do

with a beautiful day off?

well we went for a "scent"ic drive out to the beach.
we being the dog.
and me.

she loves to stick her nose out the window and smell where we are going.

we took a few lonely roads.



ok, so maybe like 10 little roads.
i make turns at random when i'm not in a hurry.



and can you blame me?
just check out the view!



it really was spectacular.



i would love to live out this way!



we finally arrived at north beach in point reyes national seashore.
they have a few beaches where leashed pets are allowed.



i snacked on a quick lunch of tomatoes, figs, raisins, and almonds
(from the farmer's market again)



then we headed down to the water.



my baby is 12 and she's never seen the ocean. i must be a terrible mother or something.
she was just staring and staring. she couldn't get enough.



after repeatedly chasing and running away from the waves for a half an hour she was content to just sit back and relax on a dune.



and then she stood and told me it was time to go by waking toward the car.
kids.
i think she was just tired out.
she slept the whole hour and a half it took me to get home.
via a different wandering path :)

friday foto - pumpkin time

fall is pumpkins and squash, indian corn, and crisp air. i can't wait to head out to the pumpkin patch to pick out ours next weekend :)



and as a bonus a funny story for you.

when i was little mom used to volunteer at my school. she always helped out when they did hearing and vision tests at the beginning of the school year. she recently told me a funny story about one of those years.

she was working with a little girl who just wouldn't speak. mom asked her her name. she wouldn't tell her she tried laughing with her and telling her a story but nothing doing. finally mom asked her what her mother called her at home. to which she replied "puuuunkin." and she didn't say another word the whole time ;)

ah you have to love the south :)

never

and i do mean ever
drink coffee at 9 pm.
no matter how good it would taste with smores pie.

i promise you'll regret it at 2 am.
i promise.

the good news.
although shari's took over the baker's square down the street, there is still free pie on wednesdays. we were skeptical, but the food is still good. even though it took half an hour to pick out dinner since we were unfamiliar with the menu.

the bad news.
there is free pie on wednesdays.

getting organized

so about a hundred years ago when i was in school i had a handheld computer. it helped me keep track of birthdays, addresses, assignments, and my high score in bejeweled...

today it came out of the box in the back of the closet for the first time in i don't know how many years. you see i think i'll be needing to keep track of my bejeweled scores in my new position.

no?
k, how 'bout this? i think i might need a better calendar than my free hallmark one. in the past it has served me well. until now i was able to write down my schedule and then scribble in schedule changes in those one inch squares. i could happily cross off days until vacation started. i could draw lines through days i couldn't work for some event or another. i could even fit in knitting night notices and the occasional lunch date. alas i think i'll need more space now. there will be actual stuff happening during my days. more stuff than making coffee that is. (i'm kinda panicking here can you tell?) i saw my training manual when i picked up my schedule yesterday-not only are there 40 hours on that schedule-that book is 5 inches thick!

so it was either crawl through a stack of boxes for the old clie or head to the office supply store and shell out cash for one off those paper planner jobbies. heck no. i'd rather use my completely defunct piece of technology thank you very much.*

have you ever noticed how long it takes to get organized?
i spent about 5 minutes putting my work schedule into the computer. then about 5 more looking up birthdays in my address book. i'll do the actual addresses another day i think. it will take an hour i'm sure to get them all in one place. then i spent 20 minutes getting the updated info on all the knitting events in the area and adding them in. i marked when dave's family is coming to visit. and then a couple of weddings that are coming up. finally i hit the little blue button. and wonder of wonders - it actually syncs properly. i'm amazed. and then i spent about 2 hours looking for games to put on the handlheld. what can i say? i have to see how high i can get that score on bejeweled :)

*thank you very much to dave who found the software to get it to work on my much newer but still dinosaur of a computer. you've gotta love those technology guys who can get this reluctant stuff to talk to each other. he's better than a therapist!

farmer's bounty

i think my favorite place this year may just be the santa rosa farmer's market.

it has been fantastic to pick up the freshest produce week after week*. not only does everything taste great, the colors are fantastic.



i just love heirloom tomatoes



there are every shape, color, and size imaginable available



the best part today was the tomato tasting...i think i ate 2 or 3 whole tomatoes worth. well if you were to glue the hodgepodge of types they had into one fantastic fruit!



there are also all kinds of squash



beets and radishes, carrots and more



and the peppers!



purple green red yellow orange



sweet hot and everything between


and the best part
well best after tasting everything
(i love samples)
is bringing home your favorites



2 kinds of pears, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, black mission figs, apples, nectarines, plums, basil

i see fruit salad and pizza in our future!


*oh, and its not just the best place for produce, there are also: preserves, honey, bread, pies, olive oil, vinegar, cheeses, cider, fresh fish, and plants. the veggies i didn't get include: lettuces, shitake mushrooms still on the log, tomatillos, melons, every potato ever, fresh cut flowers, salad greens, fresh eggs (duck and chicken). and the list could go on. you can see why i love this market! and it happens twice a week!

friday foto - fall

it's official; fall is here

breaking radio silence

i know it has been a little quiet around here.
but i was trying not to spill the beans.
i've been teetering on the edge of my coffee house seat here for a while but it is now official.

i've made assistant store manager!

it's really exciting and a little bit scary. i'm moving stores again which is sad. but it is a move in the right direction.

yippee!

friday foto - tule elk

a couple of weekends ago we headed out to point reyes national seashore and caught sight of some tule elk. i'd never seen this kind of elk before,

there are some ladies off in the distance if you squint you can almost see them lying down...



but this guy is on the wrong side of the 8 foot livestock fence and the other side of a cattle guard from the girls hanging out with a bunch of cows...



silly guy

if only

if only i could stop reading for 5 minutes
i would have time to knit.
that is if i could stop stitching for 5 minutes too :)

friday foto

harvest moon.

mike over at friday foto proposed a labor day theme this week and this is what i saw tonight.
moonrise over sonoma mountain.
school is in full swing.
and its getting crisp at night.
i don't see labor day as the end of summer but more the unofficial start of fall.