OMG a "normal" looking coffee!!

While out with Ashwin the other morning doing some homie biz downtown (paperwork for a work visa - nightmare), I thought we would drop by the local bakery for a pita with zatar ($2 and delicious!) and a croissant (for Ashwin) and coffee. This is a double cappucino served in a regular cup. You see, if you want a double shot you get it in a soup bowl??!! Anyway it was pretty well made for a coffee in the USA - next time I will order it more wet (translation - more like a latte with less froth).

How much can a koala bear??

Found in a glass display cabinet was this little guy sitting on a branch covered in eucalyptus leaves. He seemed quite happy eating away - the branch was the extent of the tree which was a bit dodgy. Anyway my fellow Aussie mate reassured me he would be happy as long as he was eating and sleeping. Whilst this little fella was doing his thing hoards of camera flashes were going off - this guy was popular with everyone! He had a friend on a tree across the way who was fast asleep in the funny way that koalas sleep, they are just soooo cute!

A fellow native

Awwwww look at this beauty - this was planted around the kangaroos in the Australian section of the zoo. There was plenty of gum trees as well, which smells like being in the bush at home - sort of made me homesick (again!!) I wonder how our grevilleas at our garden at home are going??

No cock and bull...

just a peacock! These birds are so glamorous, imagine strutting about all day with that amazing tail of feathers! We did see it do a bit of a dance to attract a pretty lady but the rhinocerous wasn't really into the show. They wandered around freely in the zoo and it was cool to see them doing their thang!

Hey little country boy!

Here is Ashwin ready to go for a spin on the tractor! He is pretty keen and concentrating on driving. If you are wondering if that is a leash attached to James - yes it is as he is a wanderer these days. That is the hoodie I made for him which is way too tight, it is like a crop top - how embarassing!! (OK it was my 1st piece of clothing, so hope I deserve a break?!?!) Anyway Masta Knitter Shona has knit it up again for me and we are waiting for a couple of balls of yarn to complete it again - Take 2 pic 2 come!

Baa Baaa Black & White Sheep

More animals that produce yarn, I couldn't resist these sheep they were so soft. Would love to have some of their fleece but I haven't gone into the realm of spinning yarn. Anyhow next on the knitting agenda is a poncho with some fat yarn again and some lace work. Looking forward to that, after I finish my shawl & James' vest!!

Alpacas are cool!

Check out this little fella with his funky 'do! Alpacas are the cutest animals - there were a pair of them at the zoo. This guy and a black and white one. They are a smaller cousin of the Llama and they have the most beautiful wool - ever so soft and warm. Would love to knit something from this most beautiful fibre, maybe some gloves??

Hoot a nanny!

This little spunky owl was over 40 years old, most of it's life it was thought to be a male. But when it laid an egg, the zoo people discovered it was a female. Even though it was still you had to capture it at the right time, they are pretty quick with their head spins. I enjoyed this exhibit of the birds before we went down the path to the petting zoo for the kids. They had a ball with all the farm animals, still the ducks seems to be number 1 for Ashwin - think it is the fascination with water!

Hoooo r u??

Look at the beautiful feathers on this feathered friend - this guy is indeed an owl! You should have seen the size of him, I have never seen such a huge owl in my life. His head is cleaning under his wing on the right and he had the most gorgeous eyes. We were surprised that all these birds were on show connected to the ground by a chain so they don't fly away... I prefer the birds of prey that flew over your head at Healesville Sanctuary - Melbourne, they were trained for a very exciting show.

Enjoying a Sunday drive...

Kaz (our Garmin GPS) took us out for a drive to the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday with our friends from Melbourne - Kath, Andy and baby Liam. We enjoyed the drive down and some of the sights along the way were very cool - this is of the ocean area, Pacificia which is just near the zoo.

Killer Mackaroni

Here he is just before he attacked yet another bird, he looks so innocent watching the world going by. Soon after this pic he caught a bird! The bird was lucky as it wasn't injured and got away. These days he spends most of his days laying around on the bed - oh the life of a cat, getting lots of pats, eating and sleeping!!

A night on the town!!

Friday night was a big one downtown. We went to see Armiel (another Aussie who works at our local cool coffee shop - Dana St Roasting Co.) sing a jazz set, very impressive. I enjoyed getting out with Shona and leaving the boys at home, then we hit the main drag and tried to find a cool bar to no avail.... Oh I miss Melbourne!!

Hey Mother Goose

As we were trying to get back to the car to go home after our picnic we were delayed by the ducks and geese enjoying their lunch. Ashwin went right up to this goose that was sitting on the grass - lucky for the goose was that his mates flew overhead and the goose got away before being poked!!

Cute as a muffin...

captured in the grass! This was a moment of cuteness when Ashwin stacked it while eating his lunch - he can't stay still even while eating these days. I cannot stand the grasses this time of year as my hayfever goes crazy and I am trying a homeopathic remedy which is taking it's time to activate. Rooibos tea is an excellent remedy for allergies too so I'd better get drinking and start having some tea parties... Hopefully I can breathe again soon!??!!

Picnic by the lake

My hat is taking a pic of us hanging out on our picnic blanket by the lake. We had a bit of a dramatic morning and had to get out of the house for some peace and quiet. Sometimes Ashwin does get a bit bored hanging around inside with the cats, but he can never get enough of the Teletubbies!!!

Rice cake face...

Here is Ashwin eating his favourite food - rice cake with marjarine (thanks to his Dad enjoying them as his after work snack!). We went out last Friday for a picnic to enjoy a lovely spring day at Shoreline lake. Here is Ashwin (on our awesome picnic blanket - thanks Pricey!) in the shade of the pine trees.

Brighter than a butterfly

Finally I managed to score a picture the most ephemeral of creatures the butterfly. On my wanderings around the place I have seen a few butterflies flitting by - the one I would love to capture in pixels is the Wanderer (maybe 1 day). This luminous marvel is spreading it's wings in the bright sunlight posing for it's short, yet beautiful life.

1st knitted hoodie... Take 1

Here was the finished product of Ashwins first knitted hoodie by Me! About 2 months ago when I bought the yarn and the pattern the size fitted Ashwin just right but now as he has had a growth spurt - the hoodie is a bit small! It looked just gorgeous but when he wore it - it was way too small and was like a cropped hoodie with 3 quarter sleeves!! So I decided to frog it (rip it, rip it) and get da knitting master Shona to resize it slightly bigger. We will see Take 2 in a future post and fingers crossed it fits the little rascal...

Abstract musings

This blog has now transformed to a site for pics of whatever fills my week. The good thing about having a digital camera is that you can take loads of pictures and you don't have to worry about running out of film. The only problem you have to deal with is battery depletion - think it has issues with the power supply over here (110 volts).

Maple leaf close up

I have been playing a lot with the macro setting on the digital camera (I have an excellent macro lens for my Canon SLR but that is an old skool camera these days!) and zooming in on life.

Take a leaf out of this book...

We have had a bit of rain on and off so the plants are very happy! While we were in the Japenese garden I spied new growth on one of my favourite trees - the Japanese Maple. Now that I am out and about enjoying the days (full time mum!), I am learning to appreciate nature and life around me.

Not another snail...

... hehehe, this isn't another squirrel, for a change of creature we have a snail, caught on macro digi zoom. Thought this was interesting as you could see the trail of the snail on the plant. I had chased Ashwin to the Japanese Garden in this park near the library (as he was following a squirrel) and I found this! If you found this guy nestling on a plant in your own garden I am sure you wouldn't be so thrilled. I remember watching Vassily's Garden (Ch 31 in Melbourne) and seeing an excellent snail catcher.

He's nuts!

He's a bit of a charming old squirrel with crinkly ears! I saw him running across the green grass and up the tree and little did I know he had a nut in his mouth - ready to snack. As it was a warm day there were quite a few squirrels around the place all searching for their stash they buried over the winter.

Ink pink U stink...

that's what I think! Here are more bloomin' blossoms in the same park. I love the silhouette of this tree against the blue sky. The tiny flowers are just beautiful on the dark branches.

Glorious

Here is the tree in all it's glory and if you look closer, the figure of the little baby is Ashwin wandering around in the grass. It is no wonder we were 'blinded by the light' of this snow white tree in amongst the sea of green. There were a couple of other trees near this one and this one was the most outstanding.

Blue skies shining at me

Looking up into the blossoms from the branch below was like being under a tent of speckled light, filtered by the flowers. Petals were falling like snow in the breeze. We had parked underneath the tree for a while before the explorer Ashwin was bored and ran off somewhere else in the park.

Hello Blossom!

When we went to the library the other day we were greeted by trees full of blossoms. This particular tree was glowing white in the sunlight and the bees were buzzing around while we were beneath.

The message...

'It's a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder why I keep from goin' under' yep Grandmaster you said it. Here is Ashwin sitting on a message we received from another dude at the ridge - it was an arrow pointing to a small bit of space where we could have parked closer to the barrier so he could fit his V8 in. In the end he parked so close to our car we could hardly get in!

da Posse of hikers

Here's the hiking crew after lunch ready to take on the elevation on the journey up hill to get back to the car. At this stage we were ready to take a nap after relaxing by the lake but we still had to get back to the car and then home. It was the babies who had a nap in the backpack!

Camoflague in the moss

Look closely at this pic and you will find a frog and a newt out looking for some food. I saw the frog grab a fly snack and then take a dive into the water and disappear. There was a whole posse of newts swimming around the area and this muddy swamp (off Horseshoe Lake) was alive with life.

Reflecting

We had lunch by this lake called Horseshoe Lake (think because it is in the shape of a horseshoe?) Anyway it was a very peaceful place to have lunch and enjoy the cool shade of trees. While we were there, we saw a couple of hawks flying overhead looking for some lunch too.

Vista-licious

Here is a pic of the fog floating beneath the ridge. As we were driving up to the ridge we could see in the depths of the mountains the fog slowly burning off from the warmth of the sun.

Reflections

This is the first lake we saw on our hike on Russian Ridge - Alpine Lake but around the edges it was quite stagnant, so we renamed it Cesspool Lake. We did manage to see some fish in amongst the weeds and slime - maybe there were 3 eyed fish in there too like the one in The Simpsons!

2007 - a hiking odyssey...

Here we are going for a hike with our friends from Australia - Kath, Andy and Liam (13 mths). After a drive involving lots of twists and turns we arrived at the top of the ridge - Russian Ridge where the mountain lion roams. Looks like a few astronauts are ready to take off - space gear and all!

Peek a Book I C U

'My what big pupils you have!' After my visit to the optometrist the other day they dilated my pupils for a test, here is the evidence. Oh & check out the flickr link for some new pics too!

A new discovery

As we were on a mission to find some yarn for an extra special project. We found this great yarn store that is just down the road from where we live - they stock yarn from Australia, beautiful & pricey!

Magic eye architecture

Look closer, go cross eyed and you will see name De Young on the wall. I have boosted the colour to make it more apparent. I really enjoy subtle nuances in contemporary architecture.

The sign of our day...

Here is the sign for the gallery with Ashwin in the pram below. At this point we had seen a portion of the exhibition and had to leave to give Ashwin a feed and we needed some food as well. Still $9.50 for a wrap was a bit of a rip-off so we went for cheaper option of a $4.50 potato salad and some tuna sushi which wasn't too good. Ashwin had chips and a danish - healthy!!

Going inside...

Here are Shona and Ashwin on the way in to the gallery. This is the side view leading to the entrance. The previous pic is of the exit to the sculpture garden, which is a great place to eat lunch - as we discovered. We were very excited to see the Vivienne Westwood exhibition, which we enjoyed. 36 years of fashion from the punk era to her current designs. She was so innovative with her uses of fine fabrics and cuts - with videos of the shows the exhibition was a feast of fashion!

Da De Young...

Here is the gallery in all it's glory - from memory the collections are vast and check them out on the website. I can't wait to to again as there is so much to see, I am really looking forward to seeing the textiles floor. You can visit the top floor and get a fantastic view of Golden Gate Park. This pic does not do justice to this incredible piece of architecture. Even when you go in through the entrance there is so much to experience with the use of rocks and plenty of greenery. Ashwin loved the huge windows inside to view the ferns and rock gardens.

Nude boy!

Tues :: Shona, Ashwin & I went for a trip to the De Young fine art museum in San Fran to see the Vivienne Westwood exhibition. I love the sculpture garden and this is my favourite. This gallery is incredible, I really have to go by myself one day and enjoy it. It is very difficult taking a toddler to an art gallery, he just wants to be just like this nymph and ride his seahorse and take off. We spent a lot of the time outside letting Ashwin wander through the sculpture garden till he got drenched by the sprinkler and ran to mummy crying!

Hey wassup dudes!

Ashwin has a new sign - well we are trying to teach him sign language to communicate. He seems to be learning a few but think it has to be done constantly to see any real 'signs'. Here he is doing his own sign for I had a good time. We have been trying to get him to do the peace sign but he can only manage to use one finger. Alternately he can do a rabbit sign with those fingers but the hands have to sit on top of each other and the fingers are ears. I have a couple of DVDs that he just enjoys watching so that's a good thing that it's educational as well.

A Golden Moment!

Finding familar flora is a good thing and seeing some wattle shining in the sunlight takes me home. The weather here for Australian flora is just perfect for the plants to thrive. I have seen many gumtrees and now that spring has sprung, bursts of yellow are everywhere. Only problem is my hayfever at the moment!

One enormous tree...

We came across this redwood wandering along the trail - you can't really see the sheer size of this but if you look here you can see me doin' da 'hiking reprazents' pose in front of this tree. At the base of the tree it was burnt out though the tree was still huge and healthy - it's roots spreading out from beneath. The interesting thing about Redwoods is that their roots are very shallow to gather moisture. We climbed the tree's embankment & went behind to see what wonders this giant held and there was another little cave burnt out.

Only for the hardcore...

...Mr Ashwin climbing down a small hill under a giant redwood - I wanted to see the size difference between Ashwin and the tree. He was being very brave wandering down by himself. He loves to go up to trees and pull their bark off or touch the texture. He did have a couple of stacks coming down the small hill, still he'd get up and continue to come down to us. He seemed so small among the giants in the grove but wait till we go to Tasmania with him (hope the trees are still there??!!)

It's a Wunderlich world

Hungover and happy we were booked with our meetup crew to go for a hike early Saturday morning. We went to Wunderlich County Park only to get there late, the crew was still there, organising. It was funny we were with the 3 mile posse and then they took off and we were left behind, all alone... So the three of us plus Ashwin in the backpack set off - seeing horses and a couple of amazing huge redwoods that plus loads of gumtrees. We decided we'll go on up to the Alambique Flat, as the loop trail was a bit dull and short so we went hardcore and walked for miles to see a grove of redwoods sitting by a small creek - very tranquil, except for Ashwins screams of excitement!

La Fiesta - yum!

As an opportunity to meet more Aussies in the Valley we went out to dinner with Alex's mates to La Fiesta in Mountain View. They make the best margaritas there and I had a couple and felt very happy. The food was delicious and we all enjoyed the mexican staple of nachos as our entree. James and I did vegetarian which is really not a problem with Mexican food as long as you like beans :) I loved the sign of the bullfighter getting his pants bitten off by a bull - Alex and I found it highly amusing that night, think we were v. happy! There's Ashwin choosing what he would like for dinner, reading the menu upside down. Still he enjoyed the tortillas, cheese and rice that came his way.

Tanty Pants

The time has begun to enjoy the "terrible twos" - as Ashwin will be 2 in October he has started chucking tantrums here and there if he doesn't get his way. Here he is at his final Kindermusik class (he was in tanty mode here) which he really enjoys going to - we have moved up to another level for 17 months to 3 years, time to grow up a bit!