New Bellhops Location

I'm trying a new blogging service for Bellhops.

http://bellhops.wordpress.com

Bookmark the new location. Maybe you can follow my new site, too... Not sure how that works yet, though.

Yup, Almost a Whole Freaking Year!

Yes, I know, it's embarrassing. Almost a whole year since I posted anything to Bellhops. In fairness, most of the last year I was swallowed up in Salesforce related work, which translate as: "I'm too tired to do anything. Ever."

But I'm not doing Salesforce anymore. New job, new responsibilities. Much better.

If any of my 8 readers are still out there, I'm reading a memoir right now titled "Let's Pretend This Never Happened", by Jenny Lawson. Read this book. Laugh. Get stomach pains from laughing hard. Seriously.

Other news: I learned just recently that Storehouse is shutting down. This is sad news. While I didn't find Storehouse as useful after they locked things down, it was still an amazing tool and I loved using it for the stories I did publish. It was an easy to use, intuitive app and the results were beautiful. In the beginning, when it was more open, I loved seeing what others were doing - many of those stories inspired and excited me. I never really understood why they shifted their model - their reasoning at the time didn't really click for me - but that was their business decision. Regardless, I hope MK and his folks will move on to wonderful and exciting things as they are clearly a talented bunch.

I'm still taking photos, though I have been a bit lazy lately. No excuse. I did take a class on digital photography at RayKo, and I learned some new things, I will take the level 2 class in the fall.

Trying to use the iPad with Blogger still sucks, even using Chrome's Request Desktop Site feature.

And just because:

Sea Ranch Voyage

A few weeks ago, Linda and I went up to Sea Ranch for 5-days of relaxation. We did the usual things: wine tasting at Annapolis Winery, ocean watching, drinks and dinner at the lodge, Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino. It was a perfect holiday for two friends who just wanted some quiet time.

On our way up we stopped in Point Reyes Station and Bodega Bay for some supplies. I also made sure to pause at The Timber Cove Lodge so Linda could see Bufano's impressive Madonna of Peace.

We had a great little house - very cozy with a view of the ocean and easy access to all the bluff trails. Linda went for long walks every morning while I slept, but I did take a little walk of my own to Pebble Beach, near our house:

Sea Anemone!!!!

Exposed Barnacles

Love the Bishops Lace is all over the place.

Not sure what plant this is, but it is lovely.

Cedar fences give Sea Ranch such a nice vibe.

Beach Shwag

Then we had our day trip up the coast. First stop, Point Arena Lighthouse:

Alien Glass

We didn't hear the fog horn - no fog!

Then Mendocino, where we had lunch at the Mendocino Hotel before walking around town and doing lots of shopping (and I mean a lot of shopping!):

This is what I want my backyard bench to look like (when I get one, at least).

If I ever have a tank like this, I'm copying!

Every bookstore should have a cat!

In Gualala, Linda made me take photos of the dinosaures for Kathleen and, of course, we had to visit the local bookstore, The Four-Eyed Frog:

A big pup managed this bookstore (better a pup then no fluff at all).

One day we had planned to visit Fort Ross, but it turns out the place is closed during the week. Instead, we stopped at Stump Beach in Salt Point State Park:

In Sea Ranch I had to make sure Linda got a chance to see the "Witch's Hat" chapel:

As we left the chapel we discovered a little hitchhiker, but when we stopped for me to take some pictures of the Big White Barn, he hopped off.

Linda chillin' at the Lodge:

Twilight from our porch:

It was a great trip. Nice day trips, good food, great company, much relaxing. Linda's visit with me would have been perfect if we hadn't both come down with a bad case of food-poisoning when we got back to the city. We are both on the mend. I just hope Linda will still vacation with me in the future!

Hakone Saratoga Gardens

Today Abby and I drove down to Saratoga to visit the Hakone Japanese Gardens. It was a perfect day for such an activity and we got there just as it was opening, so there wasn't much of a crowd. This garden is different then the one in Golden Gate Park. It's a hill garden with stairs and paths that wind up and down a steep hillside. The bamboo garden was especially serene. I love the sound of the bamboo leaves when the wind blows and the light clunky noises the trunks make when they come into contact with each other.

I've posted the pictures to my Flickr account, so go there to see them all! Here's a few to whet your appetite.

I got a souvenir From the gift shop for my garden... Maybe he'll bring me garden prosperity.

 

 

Thumbs of Death Attempt Rehabilitation

The truth of the matter is that I've pretty much killed every plant I've ever had, including cacti, succulents and other death resistant plants. Usually death comes by way of unintentional neglect. Like I forget to water the plant. Really, I'm horrible.

Despite my murderous tendencies, a friend of mine believed I could be rehabilitated. Over the years of suggestions, hints, offers to help, assurances that I could keep plants alive and happy, he finally got me to a nursery. Now I have a garden.

It's been about a month since I started. Granted, that's not much time, but if you can believe it, I go out every morning to visit my plants. Even if I'm running late for work, I make sure to go out back. Mostly I talk to them. I tell them how beautiful they are, how in awe of them I am, how amazing it is that they are growing so well.

In the evenings and on the weekends I look out on the garden and think of all the possibilities. I have a big backyard. Though there are three of us in my building, I'm pretty much the only one who ever uses the back. I like BBQs (except when my friends are trying to burn the place down) and having little gatherings outside. So thinking of the possibilities of a beautiful garden is easy. Right now I'm imagining more garden gnomes, Buddha sculptures, a fountain and a bench. How nice it would be to have a garden with a bench.

But it's not all chats with flowers and day dreaming. I've been filling up a lot of composting bins with weeds and ivy and trees that have gone wild. I've been terrified - and have terrified - spiders and beetles. I was pruned by a tree I was pruning - and yes, I was wearing gardening gloves! I've had a lot of hot showers to ease aching parts of my body not used to such labors and I've depleted my Advil stash. It's been worth it.

I know, you're thinking, "Don't get too excited, Beth, it's only been a month."

Yes, that's true. And I am a Sagittarius and therefore I am prone to getting very excited about something only to lose interest when the next exciting thing comes along. So I'll admit, you shouldn't hold your breath. But still. A garden! Flowers! Gnomes!

In the beginning there was chaos... And, frankly, a big mess...

The Corner of Dread

And then we cleared and dumped and clipped and potted and there was something like order...

The Corner of Dread not so dreadful any longer!

Okay, not much order, but it was a start. Things started to grow, I pruned, and I added a few more plants...

Beautiful things made their presence known...

I added more things, pruned more things, and arranged things, and puttered... I hear gardeners putter...

We aren't getting much rain and it is California, so all that green will soon go brown. I'm not sure what the potted plants will do but fog should help and we did try to find drought tolerant plants. I'm sure that if I keep visiting them each morning they'll survive my deadly instincts. That's my hope.

It sure is nice to have a garden.