Settling in For Winter

Well, after arriving safe and sound following a taste of real winter, we are beginning to get organized and rolling with things down south. The dogs remembered their California home and quickly settled into their routine here.

As much as he loves riding in the van, Benny loves his bed even more. As soon as he came in the house, he headed down the hall to check out how his bed was. Rockie, meanwhile, headed outdoors and began her yard patrol duties.  Day two, she was frustrated by a gecko that ran through the rocks and must have run up the side of the house. For two days, she stayed outside watching those rocks and the house wall, just in case it came back. Sandy saw one by the back door and called her over. Those little geckos are fast, but so are Jack Russell rat-catching terriers. Sandy says the gecko zigged and zagged, went this way and that, but Rockie followed it, anticipated its next move, and caught herself a little reptile!

Now, I have previously been told that geckos and lizards will drop their tails when in danger. However, when I went to remove the deceased gecko from our patio, the detached tail kept flicking every time the implement I was using to pick it up came near. Yikes!! That kinda freaked me out. Why didn’t anyone tell me that part????!!!  Sandy decided some bird could probably make a meal of the little thing, so I placed it, along with its flicking tail, where it could become someone’s dinner.  A couple of days later, the gecko was gone, but the blasted tail was still there. Kinda reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Tell-Tale Heart.  Ongoing visions of that stupid flicking tail will no doubt lead to the gradual demise of my sanity.

Rockie and her gecko; its body was about three inches long.

We have been getting out on our bikes and building our fitness base before we start some serious work on getting back into shape. We like to go on 80-100km rides while we are here, but after the summer we had, we have some work to do before we will be fit enough for that.  In the meantime, our rides have us exploring the local produce fields to see what is being harvested. An awful lot of manual, back-breaking work is done by the field workers to get the various crops planted, weeded, and harvested; most of it by hand. The first day out, we saw a group of workers sitting or kneeling in a field as they toiled. As we got closer, we could see they were hand picking and bundling chard. Neither of us care for chard, but we can appreciate the work of these people to get it to the market for those of you who do!

Picking chard. It’s not cold, at least not to us.

If you could scratch and sniff the next photo, you would smell one of my favourite herbs, and one Sandy really doesn’t care for. Where would Mexican or Thai food be without cilantro? As we rode passed this field, the aroma had me drooling and Sandy picking up the pace so she could get by sooner.

Cilantro, cilantro, and more cilantro.

We often get to see various interesting things on our bike rides. With the Monday morning ladies ride group we lead, we frequently ride through the nearby PGA West development on our way home.  It sits at the foot of the Santa Rosa mountains, next to Silver Rock golf course.  The Big Horn mountain sheep that live in the mountains like to come down, graze on the fairways, and poop in the sand traps. Apparently, Silver Rock has put up some fences to keep them out, so they are now enjoying the lush greenery inside PGA West. As we came around a corner on our ride, we met up with about 50 of the creatures in a number of groups, just relaxing and chewing.

A few of the Big Horn Sheep hanging out in PGA West.

We are getting back into some of the other activities we enjoy. Every month, there is a Canada Party. This is a pot-luck attended by Canadians, friends of Canadians, and wanna-be Canadians. There is always plenty of good food, and with all those Canadians, lots of interesting people to visit.  To get herself ready for the November party, Sandy completed an appropriate puzzle, provided to her by her puzzle-sharing buddy at home, Dee.

7 x 10 inch mini puzzle, perfect Canada Party prep.

What is Friday evening without a rousing Bocce match? Everyone brings snack food to share and their best trash talk. Sandy brings her best moves. I missed getting a photo of her putting the Manitoba hex on an opposing team member. It worked, our side won the match … at least this time.

Sandy makes a play in Bocce

Although summer here was hotter than hot, most everything in our yard survived. Most importantly, my lemon tree survived! Our gardener gave it a much needed pruning, so we won’t have as many lemons this year as we did last. There will still be lots, however, for me to try more lemon recipes, so watch this space. Although most of them are still pretty green, a few ripening ones fell off the tree last week. 

First lemons of the season

Our tangerine tree is now producing fruit that is just about ready to pick, so we are looking forward to enjoying those over the next few weeks.

Tangerines just about ready.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This update was posted on US Thanksgiving, or as we call it, “Bonus Turkey Day.” Everyday, we try to be grateful for the many good things in our lives:  loving, supportive families; wonderful friends; having had rewarding careers; and enjoying numerous amazing opportunities and experiences over the years.

Thanksgiving, be it American or Canadian, allows one special pause for thanks. The day we arrived in California, we learned that our dear friend, Ian, passed away that morning.  We are very thankful to have been able to call Ian, and continue to call his remarkable wife, Mary, “Friend.” Ian was a retired kidney specialist; I hope I was able to provide my patients the compassionate care I know Ian provided his.  We will miss his impish smile, dancing eyebrows, and wonderful sense of humour. He was a friend we are very thankful to have known. We will remember him fondly and our memories of him will always make us smile.

Enjoying a cold drink with Ian after a bike ride in the desert, winter 2015.