Proof of Life

No, not the crappy movie from 2000 with Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, but actual proof of life.

We thought for a while that there were House Finches nesting in the vines over our front door (we even used the back door for a couple of weeks) but we couldn't see a nest and weren't really sure until Brian cut back the vines (after several days of no finches flitting around our porch). There were several old nests in there, and this is one of them. No, we're not psycho enough to let the foliage take over the whole house! We had to cut them back, really!

In other news: we took a quick trip to Marin County last weekend to go to Point Reyes National Seashore. Borrowed a scope from Golden Gate Audubon; in this picture Brian is scoping out a bird on the rocks below which may have been a common murre (but even with the scope we couldn't tell). Cool and cloudy all weekend, but we had a great time nonetheless.






On Saturday we took a walk along the beach to go by one of the nesting sights (in the wire enclosure) of the endangered snowy plover. We were very lucky to see the mother away from the nest foraging for a little while, otherwise we wouldn't have seen anything because the nest is very well hidden and you can't get very close.








We think this was an egret of some kind that we found on the beach.












HUGE amazing thistles. The picture doesn't really convey how massive and thorny they were. You definitely would not want to fall into one of these.










On our way home we stopped at Audubon Canyon Ranch to see the heron rookery. Each of the white blobs in the lower right of the photo is a great egret on a nest, and this was only one of several popular nesting sites at ACR. It was pretty cool








We took the long way home and went over the Golden Gate Bridge, which neither of us had done since we moved here. It is far superior in every way to the Bay Bridge, except it costs $2 more to get on.

Roses Very Beautiful

They're not bigger than my head, but they're as wide across as my hand.

















And then there are the runnunculus...

















And whatever these are...

















And then there are the snails, everywhere...

















And then you get to Cafe Trieste on your way to work and have to wait in line and you know it's all downhill from here.

Easter Weekend - so much going on. Lots of stuff to do at Berkeley Friends Church, Brian's folks are visiting from Baltimore, and Spring has sprung with a vengeance. Not enough time to blog properly, but here are some favorite recent photos:


I was happy to see some lilacs in our neighbors yard, I miss my Midwestern spring flowers! Haven't seen any peonies anywhere yet, though, and they're my favorites of all.










Wisteria everywhere out here (just learned what it was today when Pam told me, I had been wondering because it's everywhere). Did I mention the wisteria everywhere?











The Calla Lily plant in our backyard continues to make huge, amazing blooms.













Most ridiculously phallic blooming plant in my neighborhood so far.













Brian works the scope (borrowed from GGAS - there are some fringe benefits) during a recent birding outting to Martin Luther King, Jr. Shoreline in Oakland.











Morty waits at the Peace Post outside the Farmer's Market in downtown Berkeley (because the People's Nazi Farmers wouldn't let him in).












Is it just me, or is this sign kind of naughty?














Someone tied two Corgis to a parking meter right across the sidewalk from us (Pam, Eric, Brian and I) while we were eating lunch at Metro Cafe in Montclaire today. Cute, cute, cute!

Tax The Dandy

That was the best drink name on the current menu at the Violet Hour, where Jason and I had drinks Friday night. I had a great time in Chicago last weekend, working Open House for Columbia College Chicago and hanging out with my dear friends Jason and Michael. Here are a few photos from the trip:



The big news in Chicago...













Sunrise from the window at my hosts' apartment...













The view up Wabash Avenue, with the new Trump Tower in the center background...













The Eggs Florentine with hash browns, which I had at "Tweet Let's Eat" for Sunday brunch...













...and the big handful of Hollandaise sauce they gave me when I asked for it on the side. I'll be eating a bit lighter for the foreseeable future.

Rainy Day Miscellany

Not much time to post lately; very busy at work and at home. Excited about going to Chicago weekend after this one - I'll be working Open House for Columbia College (and will be busy there, too!). Brian and I do our best to time the daily dog walks between showers, but even when we do it's so wet out that his paws and tummy almost always need toweling off when we get back. And, for the record, french fries that have been laying in the grass for several days in the rain are really, really disgusting.

Here are some photos from recent days:


Waiting for a smoothie at the Jambo Juice in Emeryville (right across the parking lot from Trader Joe's!).













Brian's new favorite place in San Francisco.














When did Pier 1 start selling worse crap than Target? And when did Easter get so scary?














Morty snarls for the camera.

Shouldn't People Who Twitter Be Called Twits?

If you're one of my Facebooks friends and you're already tired of this line of inquiry, my apologies. While I still find Facebook somewhat mystifying (no, you didn't Bob For Apples with me, and if sending each other Little Green Patches could really stop global warming then we should all just sit at our computers all day and give each other Little Green Patches, shouldn't we?), I've been even more befuddled by Twitter. And then it occurred to me that maybe Twitter is like Facebook without all the useless, time-wasting accessories. No Little Green Patches, no Hatching Eggs, no Super Poking, no 25 Random Things I Never Wanted to Know About You.

Anyway, it's just a theory. And, because I can't countenance putting up a post without a picture...

I've been very busy trying to settle into my new job. Feel like I'm making progress, and almost know what I'm doing this week (week 4). The work is challenging, it benefits birds, the people are terrific, you can't beat the commute (5 blocks!) , and, considering the state of the economy, I feel very lucky to be gainfully employed.

Nonetheless, it's been difficult to adjust to working full-time again. I work 9am - 5:30 pm with a half hour lunch break, and the nature of my job is such that I work like crazy all day and never come close to getting everything done that needs to be done. I'm hoping that, at some point, I'll get in the groove and be able to make time to do things like cook and update the blog and get in a garden this spring - which is closer out here than I think. I'm still amazed at mild winters and having tomatoes ripening on the plant in our yard in January. I hear spring migration is about to get underway, and it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to plant outside!

In the meantime, here are a few recent photos that haven't yet made it online:


Saw this van near ultra-trendy 4th Street (maybe I should start a series on super-tricked out autos - there are a lot out here!).













We had a really nice (but too short) visit with Brian's mom, Pam...













...on which we took Morty to the dog part at Point Isabel. (He enjoyed it much more than this photo would suggest. Really.)













On my last free Friday before starting work, Brian and I took the train into San Francisco to see the miniature San Francisco model train exhibit at the SF Botanical Gardens.











Lots of people came to see the model trains (it was a pretty neat exhibit).















One of my favorite random shots in the botanical gardens.












Beautiful ornamental ironwork on the pathways at the botanical gardens.














Carnivorous pitcher plants, with Brian in the background.













We stopped at the merry-go-round on the way back to the train; way cool!