Under the shade of a eucalyptus tree...

We have found a grove of some beautiful eucalyptus trees in a local park we visit. Here is a pic of the trees in the background. Underneath the trees in the foliage are tons of gumnuts (that Ashwin loves to play with) and the smell of the leaves just takes me back home. Looking forward to coming home Christmas this year!!

Tennis balls rool!

Sunday was a family day and we went to visit friends of ours - fellow Melbourians who have an 11 month old little boy. As it was a lovely sunny afternoon, we thought we would go for a walk by a lake that led to a very cool playground. It was a lovely park with a water reservoir where you can go sailing and some beautiful eucalyptus trees. The little ones enjoyed themselves there playing in the sand and climbing on the equipment. We had found this tennis ball in the grass and Ashwin decided that it was the best thing so he had to hold it constantly. Even when he was on the swing he's swinging with tennis ball in hand.

Discover the inner rockstar...

Last Friday was another day out for Ashwin and as we have a membership at the Childrens Discovery Museum, we may as well use it! The days have been a bit chilly of late and temperatures have dropped below zero so hanging out at the park is an uncomfortable option. Downtown San Jose a short CalTrain journey away is the museum where lots of fun can be had for the little ones. As Ashwin is now walking and becoming quite an independent spirit, each time we go to the museum there are new things to try out. This time we visited the water play area that includes a water vortex that babies put balls in and they get sucked down and out through the bottom. This was loads of fun especially for a baby who just loves water! We were at this area for ages so Ashwin could enjoy himself and get totally drenched in the process. The other pic is Ashwin as a 15 month old rock star with his furry vest and striped top - he kind of looks like he is from an indie band with his pet dog but missing the guitar and the "sad bastard" expression.

A Squirrel Tale...

On an adventure to a new park the other day - we encountered a renegade squirrel! I had been told by my neighbours about the squirrels at this particular park and warned that a squirrel has even biten a child, so look out! So with that in mind Ashwin & I had our snacks before we entered the food prohibited zone... Thinking all was OK with taking the snacks that were left in a zipped up bag - we were supposedly safe??!! As it goes this "cute" little squirrel had broken through the bag. Whilst trying to get the squirrel away from the pram with a stick, Ashwin was laughing his head off at what was going on. Little did we know the plans this squirrel had as he had sniffed the bag of baby biscuits remaining in the bag! So the panda lunch bag is no more and the little renegade squirrel feasted happily on some baby snacks.

Here is a link to some action of the aftermath and the squirrel enjoying his feast and little Ashwin doing a runner away from the vicious squirrel - 'Vicious squirrel chases baby!'

Meat is murder...

yes Morrissey I am there with you!

This great example of typography is typical of American signage. Neon - give me more neon! Anyhow I was looking at that pig thinking 'this piggie isn't too keen to be turned into a sausage?' But look closer the pig is dancing!!

Mission Complete!!

Finally after days and nights of editing and storyboard writing, my obsession with my movie is over! Sure it is a bit much to get obsessed with our art but sometimes you just cannot help yourself! I had promised the family a movie of our Christmas time and what the Amercans call 'Holidays' - so here we have 'Happy Holidays from the U S of A'. I was very happy with the outcome and I certainly hope my family & friends enjoy it as well. Ashwin is featured in the movie stepping out for the first time, as he took his first steps on Christmas day.

Culture Club

Last Friday we went on a trip to the San Jose Museum of Art. This was Ashwins first gallery experience. The plan was to try Ashwin out at a smaller gallery first before taking him out to the SFMOMA in the city. Mmmmm lucky I did this trip first as babies get bored at gallery spaces. My favourite piece at the museum was an installation called 'Listening Post' which is very mesmerising to watch - so much so that Ashwin was watching it and fell asleep having his milk. I found it very relaxing sitting on the couches and watching LED screens alternate words with a soundtrack in the darkness. The best bit was when you moved your eyes around really fast in the dark you could follow flashes of light across the room - whoo man!!

I really enjoyed the museum and there were other works that had beauty of their own in the form of paintings and photography. Another standout installation was 'World Processor' with a room full of globes with fascinating facts and figures mostly about the perils of the world. By the end of the day Ashwin had well and truly had enough and I had a fix of art to last me for a while. Next stop the SF Mumseum of Modern Art!

Candy, candy , candy I can't let you go...

Check out the candy store at Fishermans Wharf down at Monterey, here is Ashwin and James busted wandering in. See what happens when a baby enters a candy store - he's mesmerised by all of the lollies! We bought some salt water taffy (Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy. When this process is complete, the taffy is rolled, cut into small colored pieces and wrapped in wax paper to keep it soft. It usually has a fruity flavour, but other flavours are common as well.) They were pretty average, most of them tasted like crap. I mean who wants a lolly that tastes like sarsparilla - fowl!!

Lemon, Lime & Bitters thanks!

We had lunch at Monterey in an English theme pub and we had some hot chips - NOT FRIES. I ordered a Lemon, Lime and Bitters and they had no idea what it was, so they asked for the ingredients and here is the concoction of a huge shot of bitters - yuck! BTW it is an Aussie drink check out the Angostora website, it's a cracker!!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

With the Christmas holidays in full swing we enjoyed the time with some daytrips out of town. As we had heard some good reviews of the Monterey Bay Aquarium we thought let's take Ashwin he's sure to love it there! As it turned out he enjoyed checking out the fish and his favourite being the jellyfish. Only problem was that it was very crowded and to look at any exhibits you had to sneak in from behind or the side as people were just everywhere. Ashwin soon got sick of the crowds and we had to go outside for a breather. The pic with the whale gives an indication of the people that were there. I just love seahorses so the bottom pic are some Dwarf sea horses with their tail hitched to some sea grasses - they were so gorgeous. The other favourite exhibit for all of us were the Sea Otters, they are furry little guys who cruise around on their back looking oh so relaxed... as one observer at the aquarium said "they have the right idea about life!"

how's it hanging?

by a thread and to the left, you say...

Along with the cold came some strong winds over the holiday season. As you can see a sign was hanging in the balance just over a main expressway - the road was blocked off just in case it fell on someone or something coming by!

Gotta keep on nerding it up!

My husband has said that I have to out my inner nerd as I enjoyed the trip to Fry's electronics to buy a cord to plug into the stereo for the Airport express x'mas prezzo I received. The idea behind the airport is to listen to some sounds from my fave dj from triple r radio in Melbourne ennio styles on the website straightup.com.au. $200 later and we were out of there not just with the cord but with a swag of other goodies - an external hard drive, camera battery and DV tapes just to satisfy that nerd inside!!

Japan comes downtown!

Here is a pic of our Japanese Christmas feast of mainly sushi and other Japanese delights including plum sake. As we had a roast with our neighbours just before Christmas we thought we would try our hand at making sushi. As you can tell by the centre pic there is an art to making sushi. That was my first attempt at sushi rolling and I did not read the instructions properly and made a massive roll of rice with the seaweed just attached to the outside. Still it was tasty, we had mostly vegetarian with some freerange, organic teriyaki chicken as sushi ingredients. The best was the California roll - our stylee, with avocado and chicken with Japanese mayonaise. Ashwin was enjoying the festivities as well and he had his own little surprise rice balls wrapped in nori - he loved taking them apart and ended up being covered in sticky rice :) We enjoyed 2 bottles of white wine as well - our favourite being the Californian Gewurztraminer.

X(mas) marks the booty!

Here is a shot of our small lucky bamboo christmas tree and our booty of prezzos from here and abroad. Of course Ashwin had the most booty of all and was a bit overwhelmed by everything - he enjoyed playing with the paper and the boxes his toys came in.

That's a mighty neighbourly dinner...

For a pre-christmas gathering of the neighbours. We had a feast of roast freerange, organic chicken with tarragon, some roast veges, salad, plum pudding with custard and cheesecake together with wine and of course a cuppa to help digest all the goodness.

If you're going to San Francisco...

...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

Here's Mr Ashwin in a new outfit from his grandparents in Qld - "Little Star" striped romper! He was trying to eat the dying Gerbra which is why he is holding a droopy flower. We have been getting some beautiful cheap flowers from the Farmers Market to help celebrate the festive season. This week we have some fuschia and white tulips fresh from the flower farm, awwwww :)

shu shu shu shu shu shu sugartown!

Yep that Nancy Sinatra lady is spot on - this place is sugartown alright. Here is a fine example of the types of sugar that the Americans have to offer... starting with Root Beer (great name for Sarsparilla!) "Wanna root, beer?", truffles, cupcakes, brownies, cookies and petit fours (a cake with fudge in the centre, covered in cream). The pic is a bit blurred, but man that is just how I felt after eating all that sugar!! Think I am allergic to high fructose corn syrup HFCS - google it & c what u get, scary!!

Santa claws is coming to town!!

You'd better watch out as Ashwin has a fear of Santa Claws! We took him to a Xmas sugar feast on Sunday & realised that whenever he laid eyes on da big fat man he just looses it and screams and cries. Here we have a pic with Santa (who was very lovely by the way) and Ashwin not wanting to even look at the fat man in red. The pic below is the aftermath and daddy trying to calm Ashwin down.

The same thing happened down at the library as Santa was doing his downtown visit Ashwin was checking out the traps and Santa said hi, and the same thing happened. In the silence of the library Ashwin just screamed when he saw Santa - poor little guy, no more Santa this year please!

it's a family affair...

This must be the worst family photo we have ever taken - the flash of the camera seems to have affected us all. Ashwin looks the best with some food in his mouth! Well the pair of us look wasted & no we hadn't been drinking - "man that light was waay too much!!" I had to post this pic as it is sooooo bad!!!!

Cruising at Nifty 50!

This was a night out the other night for a friends 50th birthday (that's Conrad on the left) in da city. It was very exciting to go out and listen to some music, eat, drink and chat. There was a live drumming band which rocked that including a didgeridoo player. The bummer was that Ashwin was tired and had to go to bed (he ended up sleeping in the car on the way home). Oh and is that my husband in the pic?? He recently went number 2 and got rid of the hippy hair - so he needs a beanie now, don't think I'll be able to knit one up before winter is over!!

How are you ducky?

Well, this poor duck is not too good as Ashwin has taken a liking to sucking the water out of its body. At one stage the whole duck was in his mouth and all you could see was the ducks head popping out! Ashwin likes his family of ducks in the bath now - this little fella we scored for free from the Childrens Discovery Museum :)

min-nee Ashwin

This is the only good pic I found of Ashwin in his min-nee tee sent from our good friends in Melbourne (who designed & illustrated them too!) I am very impressed with the tee of the elephants bum but unfortunately he wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot that afternoon. He has to layer his tees now as the weather here is a bit chilly, so we have a skivvy underneath. Lucky for me I got this pic because as soon as he had his dinner he spilt soup and crumbs all over the front & that would not have made it online!

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it

When Ashwin & I went wandering around the park the other day there were many a squirrel to be seen. It was great fun looking for the different species as I hadn't seen many black squirrels before this was a great opportunity to snap a few in action. This gorgeous ginko tree is where we found a black one & I got some great pics of it with the digital camera. The squirrel wasn't too far away so I managed to get some great shots of it having a bit of a clean before it took off. The other grey squirrel was pretending to be a branch of a tree & I found it striking a pose. Lucky for the squirrel that it was just me who saw it as I saw this guy & his dog sniffing around for some squirrels to startle.

A future tree hugger!

There hasn't been much action here of late of going to anywhere out of town. We've been taking it easy and enjoying a bit of gardening - a little bit of gardening that is... Winter isn't the best time to plant many things but we now have a window box with Italian parsley, rosemary & arugula AKA roquette/rocket. So they look quite cute out on the balcony - it has been good to get into the swing of gardening again as I miss having a garden to look after. We even have a Camelia tree in a pot which is like we had at home - this time of year they come into bloom & there will be some lovely red flowers just in time for christmas. Not that we can sit outside & enjoy the day here as it will be chilly willy, so looks like we'll be enjoying a lovely roast of some kind in our heated pad. Our little christmas tree of a lucky bamboo is going well so far & should enjoy itself long after christmas has passed.

Ashwin & I went to join a mothers group the other day but for some reason no one showed up - lucky it was near a beautiful park full of squirrels and amazing looking pine trees. So
we took the opportunity to hang out under some pine trees in the morning light. The other lucky thing for us was the sightings of many a squirrel out playing in the the sunlight.

Dazed & Confused - Happy holidaze...

Christmas or the Holiday season as it is known here is looming closer & closer! A hint for all Xmas shoppers in the U S of A is to avoid the shopping malls at all costs! It is just insane, trying to get a park is a nightmare, here is a pic of us going to a Westfield shopping centre on a Sunday afternoon around 4pm. For some reason when driving around in a carpark there are no laws & consume mode sets in, that is, consume all others esp when trying to get a carpark!!

The Cry

A short video about the future of whaling!

A video made for a Greenpeace global action - if you have time, click on the link and comment. There are loads more to look at as well. Support anti-whaling!!!

Stairway to Heaven

Here's James & Ashwin climbing yet another set of stairs on our hike at Muir Woods. We ended up travelling up the wrong way on the path - instead of the easy option of going down the stairs we were going up the stairs! And Ashwin was getting heavier with each step. It was certainly worth the hike to go up the path as the changes in humidity were very noticable & was much warmer the higher you went. When we reached the top the sign was on the ground (pic below in previous entry). It felt like being in a fairy tale grove of trees up high in the sky!

Get straight on the Golden Gate!

It was very exciting the other day going over the Golden Gate bridge and finally seeing the San Fracisco icon first hand. It was an amazing view of the city and north of San Francisco from there but it was over in minutes. One day we will have to do the walk across the bridge or even ride (but that might be hard with Ashwin!) I can see how the bridge needs to be painted constantly, as being up close you can see the faded orange vermillion. I promise once we get a good vantage point there will be some better pics on offer!!

Land of the giants

This is a young giant sequoia tree that was on display at Muir woods. These trees grow to be the worlds largest tree (in terms of total volume). They grow to an average height of 50-85 m and 5-7 m in diameter. Looking forward to our next trip out to the forest to Yosemite National Park which includes the 'Grizzly Giant' tree, the largest in Yosemite. The groves are in the Sierra the eastern part of California... cannot wait to see these giant trees in real life!

Walking on sunshine

Here is a my fave pic of the moment. A maple leap that landed gracefully on a fallen log and through the canopy of the trees there was a ray of sunshine which brought this leaf to life.

If you go down in the woods today...

Welcome to Muir Woods National Monument!

"This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world," declared conservationist John Muir when describing the majestic coast redwoods of Muir Woods.

Here are some pics of Muir Woods north of the Golden Gate bridge - so called Muir Woods National monument after a conservationist John Muir. As the story goes this rich guy purchased the land many years ago and then named it in honour of Mr Muir. And what a monument it is - it is old growth Californian Redwoods, simply breathtaking!

I have been down to Tasmania & also to Victorian old growth forests but this place is just incredible. Redwoods are so straight and when they are this old they are so tall, you practically have to bend over backwards to see the top of the tree!

Pics are of a grove of trees in the forest, a banana slug (that's a big slug!), ladybirds settling down for the winter. Bottom pic is a sign to no where, we climbed up many stairs (blog entry to follow) and found this sign - man where do we go from here!!

In the hanging garden, please don't speak

Here are some pics of us at the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Fran. We travelled there courtesy of our new Aussie mate Shona in her cool Subaru with GPS attached.

It is just so peaceful there with it's bounty of trees & water. Ashwin was having fun in the pram & as soon as we had a bite to eat he was off & wanting to take a bath in the water. This time of year the colours are spectacular and everything had an autumnal glow.

A hiking we will go...

Our first real hike with a group of people from meetup.com (this is the Silicon Valley way to meet people here). James' mate from work was a member & told us about this 'moderately easy' hike on Sweeney Ridge, San Bruno. A drive down the 101 got us there & we drove up some hills of some cool 50's style houses to get there. We were rearing to go with Ashwin in his little backpack & water & snacks in our pack. Off we went up a paved trail & when I say up - I mean up! There was a portion of this hike that nearly killed me, there was this fairly steep area where it seemed to go on for ages - as I couldn't breathe properly! But once that was over the hike was cruising along and we got to the top of the ridge to see a foggy view of the beach. After the sightseeing of this magnificient spot we wandered up to a monument for a dude who brought up thousands of people to experience the panoramas. This is when we went off road up a trail that took us to a dead end - which was funny because this area was fenced off & said 'No Loitering', didn't seem such a good place to do any loitering anyway!

The hike down was pretty good as the fog had 'burned off' (this is SF speak for the fog dispersing) and there was much more to see in the valleys. We saw a huge reservoir on the other side of where the ocean was & there was also a grove of some huge gum trees, that I imagine will just love the weather here. Ashwin had enough of the backpack by then & was having a ball on Dads shoulders - pulling James'hair & laughing away as the ride was pretty bumpy!

It was a great hike & would be worth another viewing on a day where there is less fog - mmmmm this is San Francisco so that might be very unlikely :)