Seals (sort of)

[olmue]

So, if you had just spent two years in a house with a wooden shower, how enthusiastic would you be about a house with carpeted bathrooms? Yeah, I thought so...

Did I mention that my sister-in-law had a baby girl yesterday? Girl cousins are in short supply in our family, so the girls are excited. These cousins even live right here, so we get to see them.

Speaking of babies--the fog finally cleared off today. We spent the morning moving a retaining wall and then went to see seals in the afternoon. I thought we were just going to a nearby beach, but apparently if you go to Carpinteria, there is a beach park where they all come back to have their babies (they have their babies within 100 yards of where they themselves are born, according to the nice man whose spot we sort of invaded. Oops.) Last month my inlaws took the other cousins out there and they saw 60-70 of them. It seems that they have all moved out, though, because we only saw about six. But they were nice, and it was a nice day, so it wasn't entirely wasted. Some pictures:





Eucalyptus is such a lovely, peely tree, don't you think? The smell makes me think of Chile. (Actually, this whole area looks EXACTLY like Chile.)

This is where your produce comes from:



Wild anise:



I know it's only grass, but this is what July looks like to me--all whispery dry and grassy:



The beach itself:







And finally, our best shot of a seal.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Love your photos, Rose! Six seals is good sighting. Congratulations on the new baby girl cousin. Carpeted floors, boodles of kids, oh, my. Glad for your mini-mind-off-house-hunting break. ~ Sandy

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's been very cloudy/gloomy this summer (marine layer), so when yesterday was finally sunny, IT WAS TIME to get away and take a break from both the clouds and the house hunting.

[lillpluta.livejournal.com]

Lovely photos, especially the seal.
Congrats on the girl cousin.
My boys have NO cousins whatsoever ....well not first cousins ... no one in their generation ... because neither my sibs nor dh's sister ever had children.

Yes, I had a house with a carpeted bathroom once ... one slim bit of tile right beside the tub .. we had it all tiled. That was a brand new house.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

My kids have 12 cousins on one side and three on the other. Since my inlaws come from families with five (six?) and eleven kids respectively, I think they feel that "only" 17 grandkids is slim pickings. I suspect most people are between you and me in numbers, though!

If I had carpet in the bathroom and I owned the house, it would be the first thing to go for me, too. Ick!! I am hoping and praying that we find something better, because I don't really want to live by a paint store, a canal, have wonky wallpaper and carpet in the bathroom, and share a parking lot with a bunch of trailers...

[angie-frazier.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the new niece! How exciting :-) Great pictures too. I love how you describe July: "whispery dry and grassy." Very true :-)

[olmue.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem to matter if I'm living in a place with 50" of annual rainfall, or 15"--July is always just like that!

[boreal-owl.livejournal.com]

Very cool! Congrats on the baby cousin!

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[robinellen.livejournal.com]

Very nice :) As a child (and teen), we went to S. CA every year at least once to visit family, so pictures of the CA coastline and beaches are familiar and happy :)

[olmue.livejournal.com]

There's a very definite color scheme, isn't there? I think if you used it in your house it would be very soothing and pleasant--not to mention remind you of, as you say, happy memories!