Jackie's Blog

On Boxing Day (that's the day after Christmas for the American's amongst you) we hiked in yet another park that is only a 10 minute drive from our house. The park itself was really nice. Rolling wide open fields that made it feel like Yorkshire without the stone walls. Great views of the reservoir and valley. We saw more cows than people.. It really made us think how lucky we are to live so close to so many great places to hike!

This is one of those hikes that you spend the first half hour walking uphill at various angles, from meandering to steep. We were going out to brunch, (or more like afternoon tea),to celebrate a friend's birthday at the Marriott Hotel in Half Moon Bay. Therefore we had to do quick 3.5 mile hike. It was however lovely and quiet. It had rained a few weeks before, so the moss on the trees was beautiful..

I love this picture of my nephews n their back garden in the snow..

Taken with my iPhone whist at a traffic light. A full bright rainbow..

This is only really amusing to members of my family, but may may more sense if I tell you my maiden name is 'Culley'... :-)

We put our tree up two weeks ago, and I still like it :-)

After my normal CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm finished their season at Thanksgiving, I decided to try a different version of the same principal. This time, we chose from a menu of options. The biggest advantage being no more veggies you don't really want, and the quality was really good too :-) http://eatwiththeseasons.com

This just made me smile.. a small winery in Santa Clara Valley

I just took this picture at Thanksgiving because Popper looks so relaxed in front of the fire..

A few photos taken from the roof patio of our office building of the parade in downtown San Jose... a bird's eye view.

On the Thursday before Halloween, we left work early, and headed up through San Francisco to the Sonoma coast. It wasn't the best timing as the Bay bridge had just been closed due to some cables coming loose so the whole world was on the Golden Gate bridge and it took us a couple of hours to get just across the bridge. The coast however was stunning as the sun went down. It was a good job we got there before the sun set as the road leading to the house we had rented was very dark and bumpy. The next morning however we found the views were worth it. We walked from the house along the coastal path.. stunning. That evening the fog came in and created a ghostly evening. The next morning was a great opportunity to take photos of the coast as the fog was lifting.

During Mum and Ron's visit, we've had lots of things going on, so I have not taken as many photos as I'd like. I have almost managed to take a self portrait picture every day but not as consistently as I have been. Anyway, we went on several hikes. This time to Alum Rock park. Another park where dogs are not allowed but a nice hike along the old train track and then along the river and finally a long zig-zag hike up the hill to some great views.

For the last three weekends we've gone on a hike every weekend. The first week it was Uvas Canyon County Park (waterfalls and trees), then Calero County Park (great views and hiking around the reservoir) and today Mount Madonna. It was a fairly steep walk to start with and quite humid after last weeks rain but worth it..

I could spend hours here taking photos...

Yet another great photograph opportunity :-)

There was a small bird of prey show at the Taste of Morgan Hill too...

This weekend was probably one of the hottest of the summer- temperatures of 105F+, so we decided to go early on Sunday morning. It was still too hot really and we were glad that the car show was not as big as it had been the day before. It was still fun to take photos though!