Sunday, October 28, 2012

More Discoveries


While David and Maria are out bike riding to Tres Pinos and beyond


I will take the time to ready this "picture rain"


for launching!


There is no particular subject,


no particular theme,


just images that caught David's eye.


There was a bit of rain during the week.  The second rain since our arrival.  With it's accompanied rainbow.......


The trees were happy and we were too.


Our daily walks takes us past amazing scenery.


Past yards that are meticulously decorated.


Past the two eighteen hole golf courses.


The manicured grass.


Adorable Halloween decorations.


Flowering front yards.  This particular plant makes me think of Sweden since it is so prevalent there.


Sand traps......


a textured, weathered fence,


shadows dancing on a wall,


amazing statuary....... this girl in copper, with her doves ... truly beautiful even if she seems a bit ostentatious,  this  life sized figure by some ones front entrance ....

Back Home
Now Ralle is ready for a snooze. :-)  Mister Cat is waiting for breakfast ^..^

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Ralle's New "Hood"


It is with great pleasure we go off on our Ralle walks, something we naturally do every single morning after that first dose of coffee while Mister Cat guards our place.


There has been a tinge of autumn in the air.  Yesterday we could see Ralle's breath!  Soon there could be frost on those pumpkins in the early morning.


This post does not require many words.


Just wanted to  have you "tag along" on our walk


"sharing" our views with you, so to speak.


No matter what time of the day we take our gorgeous irresistible Ralle walking in our new neighborhood we meet lots of friendly people who often stop and ask if they can meet him?


There is something new to discover here everyday.  Different routs, different streets to take.  We have walked past homes with Norwegian, French and Italian flags as well as a house with a large Dala horse as a welcome sign!  It is fun making these discoveries.


Presently we pass homes with fall decorations galore........ pumpkins, gravestones, spiders and sculls.....  and Mother


Nature herself is dressing up!


Here you see


a few of Davids pictures


as we meander between the two golf courses


every day!


Today we had some rain. :-)


The trees are happy!


This little enclave, a community consisting of +1000 homes-


a mix of single family dwellings and clusters of Townhouses on and


around two golf courses one named Gabilan and the other Diablo named after the


mountain ranges on either side.......


We like it.  Ralle does too. :-)

Saturday, October 13, 2012

People, Pumpkins, and Pomegranates!


It is fall once again!  Four years ago we had just arrived in Sweden....... Looking back I am still reeling at how excited we were then..... Well, we all know things do not always end up the way we want or the way we think.  It was a learning experience.  I am so glad I did try and glad I had an opportunity to live where I truly thought I "belonged," sad to say I found out that the country I came from, the place I dreamed of returning to, was no longer right for me or us.  Perhaps I should correct that by saying it was not exactly the place that was not right,  it had more to do with the culture and personal experiences relating to people!  We were too different and unwilling to change, assimilate on principle and/or what was right for us.  I have been away from "the swedish way" a long time and have had such a different exposure to life, the way things might be done, the views on service, work,  differences in relationships and friendships and yes even family relations.


Soooooooo.....Now  that we are back on this side, there is so much I/we miss, so much we truly admire and treasure from our "swedish experience," some awesome people, some tight wonderful relationships that we developed.  We are eternally grateful for their kindness and hopefully lasting friendships.  Yet we also had amazing and for us hard to understand experiences to the contrary.


A new chapter.  Thinking I am on chapter number Forty-Two or somewhere thereabouts!


We have just moved into a house in an unusually lush and green California landscape as we live right near two golf courses.  A truly wonderful place to walk with Ralle!

Presently front yards and homes are decorated with pumpkins.  Trees are loaded with pomegranates, the flowering myrtle trees are coming to the end of their season, while the roses are blooming as well as the bougainvillea,  even in our courtyard!


Slowly we are getting organized and settled in a nice little house that is light and has a pleasing open floor plan.  Mister Cat has his own house, Ralle is back to being "an only" dog child and life is good in our new neighborhood!


Maria drops  in often for tea or a soda.  We walk the dogs together.  Perhaps tomorrow we will walk on the beach in Monterey?

Now it's time to fix dinner..... a small pork roast, a bit of sauce glorifies with some dried chanterelle mushrooms courtesy of Ann-Britt and Bosse our ex-neighbours.  Brussels sprouts cooked in a grill pan with a tiny bit of bacon.  A crisp and crunchy Asian Pear Salad typical for autumn, made with sliced and diced celery, a couple of scallions, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, and of course the STAR ingredient Asian Pears tossed in a light dressing consisting of lime juice, rice wine vinegar and finely grated fresh ginger.......... Aaaaaah.......  Det kallar vi fredags mys!  Have a great week end everyone.