tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206995342011-12-25T21:11:09.190-08:00News and photos from our lifeJackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.comBlogger2351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-56699912073511309742010-10-24T14:04:00.000-07:002010-10-24T17:48:29.237-07:00

In one of my more craziest moments I decided that I'd order a wormery or vermicomposter to compost our kitchen waste. This is how it gets put together!Step 1Clip all the parts together and line the collection tray with newspaper.Step 2Mix up the coir brick (basically tried coconut husks and soil) with water to hydrate it and add in paper scraps, so it is nice and moist. Add food scraps in one

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-15054881428074158672010-10-20T19:46:00.001-07:002010-10-20T21:16:38.730-07:00

I realized I haven't explained the logistics of the whole garden. The garden is completely fenced by a 6 ft high chain link fence. We have mains water and several places where we can attach the hoses. The hoses and other shared gardening equipment are stored in a shed on site.Here are three of our beds together- all planted.Close up of the raised bed after 10 days- one end...and the other..So, in

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-55226402818739811822010-10-20T18:25:00.000-07:002010-10-20T19:41:48.589-07:00

The bed was full so it was time to start planting. I laid all the plants I had out in the place I thought I'd plant them and then put them in the ground, leaving space in between to plant some seeds too. Ironically I forgot to take a photo that day- this one is three days later and the radish seeds were already up!Here's a few more lots that are now planted. Note the cover crop in the bottom of

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-17875583662250868162010-10-19T19:47:00.000-07:002010-10-20T19:43:19.921-07:00

Four weeks ago, I decided to sign up for a plot at our new community garden in Morgan Hill. This is a new project which involved using a city owned piece of property to build raised beds to grow our own flowers and vegetables.With the wonderful help of lots of community donations, we first had to build the frames from the donated wood. This is the pile after we all raided it!Then fill it with

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-65413099894128783632010-04-18T20:06:00.000-07:002010-04-24T21:20:26.385-07:00

I had planned it.. a train trip down the coast as a surprise for Dick's 40th birthday. Then he started talking about how much he'd like a new mountain bike. So I gave him the choice- a trip or a mountain bike. Guess which he chose? :-) It meant that I inherited his older bike. Part of the new mountain bike deal was a weekend to go and play on the bikes, and Dick decided that a big bike ride on

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-40288604301224841912010-03-21T20:12:00.001-07:002010-03-21T20:48:09.674-07:00

Saturday was exhausting but a lot of fun! However it was really cold..Dick and I went for another careful walk, booked dinner for us all and then headed back to the house to meet the others for some snow mobiling! It was hard work but the scenery was amazing. I never thought I would go both down and up steep hills so fast!!I had lots of layers on!We went home after two hours and sat in the hot

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-33181888283563805192010-03-19T14:41:00.000-07:002010-03-21T20:07:55.672-07:00

Friday we woke up to falling snow! It was beautiful..I went out early and walked the streets with my camera - carefully! It was so quiet...There were lots of bicycles left out in the snow, and I took loads of photos of them. People ride bicycles in all types of weather in Crested Butte.Later in the day the girls went out for some retail therapy..Then we all sat down and watched 'Vertigo'- which

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-28998981765595245692010-03-19T13:14:00.000-07:002010-03-19T14:28:02.976-07:00

Thursday was another warm day and the snow seemed to be melting fast. In the morning the girls ended up dashing to the local supermarket to buy supplies to make chili and corn bread for the Round Up progressive dinner. Between Tracy, Sean and I we made four different chilis. Whilst Tracy finished off and made the cornbread, Dick and I decided to go snow shoeing but we did not have a way of

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-4609929243379565502010-03-18T22:28:00.000-07:002010-03-19T13:11:39.305-07:00

Wednesday was an intense morning! To explain, part of the evening sessions at the Java Posse Round Up are five minute lightning talks by anyone who cares to sign up to talk about anything- literally anything from 'How to shave' (by Sean!) to 'How an engine works', and obviously lots of geeky ones too. So the boys signed the girls up to do one called 'What the girls do while the boys are

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-2454182805727807042010-03-17T21:57:00.000-07:002010-03-19T14:13:46.148-07:00

Every year Dick and his Java Posse friends (Carl, Joe and Tor) go to Crested Butte, CO to do a 'Un-conference'. This year, the girls (Me, Tracy and Jill) decided to go with them. Sean, Carl and Tracy's son also came with us.On Sunday morning we got up at 3 AM, (which was actually 2 AM as the clocks had just moved forward) to catch a shuttle to take seven of us to San Jose airport. As predicted we

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-9081781743542040892010-03-07T18:37:00.001-08:002010-03-07T19:25:01.242-08:00

Dick got a new mountain last weekend- an early birthday present for his 40th birthday. That meant that I inherited his other one- a Specialized FSR XC (something that means a lot more to him than me! :-) He spent yesterday making all the necessary adjustments to fit me, so I just knew that today would be a biking day! We cycled from our house up the LONG hill to Anderson Dam, and I made it all

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-78205650546650391892010-02-14T19:59:00.000-08:002010-02-14T20:10:41.478-08:00

I've been a green tea drinker ever since living in Hong Kong 15 years ago. A couple of weeks ago my boss bought me some flowering green tea..Almost too pretty to drink!

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-72878839700162402512010-02-14T19:44:00.000-08:002010-02-14T19:58:59.247-08:00

We love driving along this stretch of coast line..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-2757082797630098952010-02-01T20:14:00.001-08:002010-02-01T20:25:12.819-08:00

I may just come and talk to you..Can I make it across the pole??I don't want to look at you..oh, okay then..Smile!Can I just play with the vine instead...??

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-56512293803105775482010-02-01T19:58:00.000-08:002010-02-01T20:13:49.229-08:00

The weekend of January 23rd/24th. We took a fast drive down 101 on a Friday night to spend a weekend on the central coast with our friends Joel and Stevie. We based ourselves in Cambria. We stayed in a hotel resort- where they have lots of rooms in a main building and several individual units. Therefore they have to have signs everywhere. Dick was having silly moment:At lunchtime on Saturday we

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-26127547727883872732010-02-01T19:46:00.001-08:002010-02-01T19:56:55.434-08:00

I forgot to post these photos of the same Gaudalupe river trail the day after the BIG rain..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-30046535672623440232010-01-19T20:14:00.000-08:002010-01-19T20:23:27.685-08:00

California has been hit by a series of storms this week- one after the other. We do need the rain but must they come all at once???These were taken at the Guadalupe River trail today..Normally it looks more like a stream but it was built for flood control, so it was doing its job nicely.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-11022575889642618682010-01-19T19:58:00.000-08:002010-01-19T20:13:54.274-08:00

A couple of weekends ago we went house hunting with some friends in Sonoma county. I am always amazed at the odd things you see..This one was just prettySomeone trying to be philosophical..Head decapitated.. voodoo?Fire barrel..Hobbit hole or wine cellar?

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-48202443070460038562010-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:002010-01-19T19:57:57.743-08:00

On January 7th, I received a text from my sis in England with a pic of my nephews again in the garden.. I was flabbergasted!OK, so they do get snow in England, but not this much! Check out this satellite picture..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-17010541259878102292010-01-02T18:58:00.000-08:002010-01-02T19:26:37.182-08:00

Well, another decade is over. I asked my Facebook friends what they were doing ten years ago. We were living in Berkeley Lake and had a party at our house on New Year's Eve to celebrate the millennium. It culminated in setting off some illegal fireworks in our front yard (fireworks are illegal in Georgia). We tried so hard to be safe, but at least one firework took off at the wrong angle and

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-70596874278566737362010-01-01T15:51:00.000-08:002010-01-01T16:05:49.340-08:00

I left work at 1:30 PM yesterday and therefore did not get my lunchtime walk in. So when I got home I convinced Dick to walk to our closest local winery (Guglielmo)- about a mile away, to get both a walk, pick up some Champagne and maybe even a wine-tasting.We set out about 2:40PM and it took us about 20 minutes to get there, so we got there at exactly 3 PM- closing time :-( Luckily, another

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-83341804257715447752009-12-29T19:52:00.000-08:002009-12-29T20:12:24.913-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-81935334508023098152009-12-29T19:38:00.000-08:002009-12-29T19:52:34.099-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-49643436397667804662009-12-22T20:17:00.000-08:002009-12-23T18:53:21.589-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-32409689856663684712009-12-22T20:11:00.000-08:002009-12-22T20:14:39.092-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-90197768292311901652009-12-22T20:05:00.000-08:002009-12-22T20:11:39.449-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-31597213274371170532009-12-22T20:01:00.000-08:002009-12-22T20:05:00.731-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-49920842421540223242009-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:002009-12-22T20:01:18.657-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-26081995144407341472009-12-22T19:45:00.000-08:002009-12-22T19:50:57.838-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-58479584467105025662009-12-22T19:32:00.000-08:002009-12-22T19:44:51.987-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-84839150454569670522009-11-18T13:23:00.000-08:002009-12-18T17:58:24.347-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-90847746675788320012009-11-18T13:14:00.000-08:002009-12-18T17:52:25.640-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-84253948066965555692009-11-18T13:07:00.000-08:002009-12-18T17:45:24.597-08:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-79014310476013083442009-10-18T19:51:00.000-07:002009-10-18T20:47:54.366-07:00

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..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-15077417204864502862009-10-17T21:03:00.000-07:002009-10-17T21:20:18.481-07:00

I could spend hours here taking photos...

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-85286992881252100352009-10-17T20:55:00.000-07:002009-10-17T21:02:22.187-07:00

Yet another great photograph opportunity :-)

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-50929263271292060402009-10-17T20:49:00.000-07:002009-10-17T20:54:01.802-07:00

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

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-28469717412902629532009-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:002009-10-17T20:48:40.584-07:00

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./s320/IMG_0341.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393780897392717634" />It was still fun to take photos though!

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-88297476733177260782009-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:002009-10-17T20:38:04.737-07:00

Playing with my new camera in Capitola, a pretty town on the coast, south of Santa Cruz.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-80859969580899456332009-10-17T20:13:00.000-07:002009-10-17T20:29:11.511-07:00

We continued the weekend with a peaceful drive up to Mount Madonna to a Buddhist monastery. The views were wonderful above the clouds..Their statue of Buddha is huge and is guarded by lions..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-18431028078931555682009-10-17T19:57:00.000-07:002009-10-17T20:13:18.764-07:00

Deborah came to visit for a weekend with Kiwi..Deborah bought Kiwi along when we went wine tasting with a group of friends. No she didn't have wine but she was interested!Mashing and turning the grapes at SYcamore Creek winery..We finished off the day with a BBQ at our house. This is Dick and Big Carl relaxing.. :-)

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-76407224723710298972009-10-17T19:52:00.000-07:002009-10-17T19:56:14.117-07:00

A gently used Canon Eon 40D :-) A birthday pressie from my hubby..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-41561784466180011142009-10-17T19:36:00.000-07:002009-10-17T19:49:43.716-07:00

I can truly say that I have still been taking photos. Admittedly not every day but quite a lot anyway. I've also managed to take my 365 personal pics just about every day- it's just been about having the time to post them. I have some good excuses for not having the time to post, but I'm forgiving myself and moving on. What follows is a summary of the last month, but first let's start with today.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-1824492626969046592009-09-21T19:51:00.001-07:002009-09-21T19:51:36.682-07:00

I'm trying to find ways of updating my blog more easily, like on the bus from my cell phone. This time I'm trying by email. Let me see if it works!Today is my birthday :-)Sent from my iPhone

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-82772907324653299452009-09-21T19:41:00.001-07:002009-09-21T19:41:24.464-07:00

Ok. This is a test to see if I can post to my blog from my cell phone by text.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-33310952094996551582009-09-09T20:16:00.000-07:002009-09-09T21:06:32.065-07:00

Plan B was to drive over the Sonora Pass instead- a route a little further north. So the next morning we drove the very twisty windy and beautiful route. 9624 feet up.The down side was it took us several hours. A long drive through western Nevada and we finally saw the eastern side of Lake Tahoe. So blue! We were staying at Northstar- a ski resort which turns into a mountain bike and hiking haven

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-15555436988059661772009-09-08T20:25:00.000-07:002009-09-09T21:06:02.415-07:00

So yes, we've been away. We had a great time, and there is lots to tell, so here goes. We left rather late than usual on Friday lunchtime, having made a detour to our local bike shop to buy another bike rack. Dick was taking his mountain bike with us and we couldn't find a way to put it in the car safely. We bought the perfect rack and got going. The plan was to drive to Mariposa- just outside

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-8351108857048936792009-09-01T20:28:00.000-07:002009-09-01T20:53:15.334-07:00

My boss brought me in a very heavy "thing" yesterday from his mum's garden...It is next to two large cookies and my 24 oz water bottle to give you an idea of its size. It weighs about 10 pounds- really! and it has sharp spikes. At first I thought it was a pineapple, then I realized that it was a kind of pine cone. But it really s VERY big for a pine cone. It turns out it comes from a monkey

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-64292699930047939912009-09-01T19:47:00.000-07:002009-09-01T20:28:07.713-07:00

I work for an aviation company, and at the end of last week, I had to take lots of pictures of the artwork for various reasons. While I was wandering around I noticed the number of model planes in just one cube...alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376703404317192386" />

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-68265265873180533622009-08-30T18:57:00.000-07:002009-08-30T19:09:56.989-07:00

We've had a weird summer in terms of weather. It's either been very hot for a few days at a time or really cool (relatively so for us) for this time of year. Already it is feeling more like Autumn- we get cool nights all summer, but now we have the heavy early morning fog. It was really warm Friday and Saturday. At 3:35 PM it was still..hot! On those days we hunker down at home and catch up on

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-27183662526496424502009-08-30T18:45:00.000-07:002009-08-30T18:52:07.830-07:00

Yes, I am addicted to Scrabble on my iPhone! I'm told it is good brain practice, and I even managed a seven letter word for my first word last week..I also found out that my iPhone can take pictures of any screen. Excellent!

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-55422286618513145962009-08-30T17:06:00.000-07:002009-08-30T18:44:30.636-07:00

Being on the top floor of a building means we hear all the sounds funneling up to us. Last week we had sirens blasting continuously. Eventually we worked out the commotion was coming from a building across the way from us. We couldn't see that they had evacuated the building but one of the engines had an extendable ladder, although it only managed about 8 floors. I counted 12 emergency vehicles

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-12481443937017758962009-08-30T16:47:00.000-07:002009-08-30T17:03:20.924-07:00

Meet Moses- our neighbors parrot. He was a cheeky thing. His millet seed string was empty within a day or two of us looking after him and every time we went into the house, he nudged the empty container. Dick ended up going to the pet shop to buy him another one so he didn't nag us ! This is Jonesy. She was supposed to be put outside every morning, and be let back in every night, only she decided

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-32936755308702876732009-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:002009-08-20T20:14:35.854-07:00

My favorite fish/meat shop is Poppy's in Morgan Hill. A couple of weeks ago, Mike the owner, said he had signed up to join the Morgan Hill Police officers and have his head shaved in aid of St Baldrick's, a kids cancer charity. Very impressive to have 18 police officers do this I know, but my first thought was their hair is pretty short anyway. Mike however had LONG hair- way past his shoulders,

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-73216626250491817632009-08-20T19:28:00.000-07:002009-08-20T19:38:15.659-07:00

I get off the bus in the morning in San Jose a few stops early to walk the last 10 minutes to work. The walk involves walking behind the convention center, and often there will be a tour bus parked. Yesterday it was Green Day..I walked at lunchtime too, and saw that the bus had moved to the HP Pavillion.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-87240160806223670312009-08-18T19:28:00.000-07:002009-08-18T19:51:34.379-07:00

We are die hard home made pizza fans, and make one once a week- usually Friday or Sunday nights. They normally consist of a pizza base made in the bread machine, with toppings such us onions, peppers, mushrooms, and some kind of sausage with a good layer of fresh mozzarella. For a long time, Dick has tried to convince me that shrimp is good on a pizza, but I just didn't even like the sound of any

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-66247832520698676562009-08-17T20:52:00.000-07:002009-08-17T21:05:41.318-07:00

I started my photography project on 15th February. At the time I was trying to decide whether to do a photo blog or a 365 self-portrait project, and ended up doing both. I was off sick at the time and so had a little more time on my hands. Little did I know this would become such a big project. It's been fun in lots of ways- keeping family and friends up to date and trying to find different ways

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-90197810354753074902009-08-16T20:32:00.000-07:002009-08-16T20:58:08.619-07:00

This morning we went for a ride on our motorbikes, and I started off really well. I even had to do a quick stop when a traffic light changed, so I was feeling pretty confident. Maybe a little overly so. Going up a hill I took a corner a little narrower than I should have and almost fell off but just recovered myself in time. I was a little shaken and Dick had seen it all in his mirrors (he was in

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-76537786376411472982009-08-15T17:05:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:52:24.870-07:00

...and my photograph every day for my blog has slipped a bit recently. I still take at least one picture every day because I do my 365 self portraits. I belong to both the main 365 Flickr group, with currently 14,556 members, and to another smaller group with only 216 members. The latter are very supportive and fun, so we comment on each others' photos and it is quite an incentive to post one.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-13606573105521296972009-08-12T20:14:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:50:13.091-07:00

This should say it all...

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-67371448906846130792009-08-12T19:56:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:49:48.956-07:00

We went out again on our motorbikes on Sunday. I have a new seat for my Suzuki, which is about an inch lower then the original which gives me a much better stance when I stop. This time we went further and on a route with quite a lot of stopping and starting. I'm still trying to get used the clutch control so it was good practice. We also had several twisty roads, so it was a lot of fun, but I

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-15129678289807516992009-08-12T07:00:00.004-07:002009-08-12T19:55:26.214-07:00

For some reason, it was very hard to get up Thursday and Friday, and we were both very glad to have a short work week. Dick's week did however not stop there, as they were trying to meet a deadline and he ended up working from home most of Saturday. I, in the mean time, went and did the usual Saturday morning jobs- market and supermarket. Whilst out I discovered that the tomatoes, apples and

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-28638276125983874562009-08-12T06:52:00.003-07:002009-08-12T19:04:43.079-07:00

After a reasonably good nights sleep, having now got the hang of clambering onto the top bunk and able to just about ignore the noisy passengers getting off the train at 6 am in Sacramento, we finally got up and prepared ourselves to go back to work. I even had a shower- and quite a good one, in the larger than expected 'dressing room'. After breakfast and good views of the bay, I went again for

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-35384519481866221102009-08-12T06:11:00.008-07:002009-08-12T18:53:57.790-07:00

It's already been a week since we came home, but I still have the trip on my mind. Tuesday morning we were up early, and headed down to Pike Place Market to find some food. After a fully loaded bagel and some coffee, a quick trip to one of the market stalls to pick up some fresh fruit, we headed back to the hotel to pick up our suitcases. We had decided to walk to the train station to stretch our

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-14590357940405205522009-08-04T13:14:00.006-07:002009-08-15T17:41:59.819-07:00

After a very nice breakfast, we wandered into the maze of the famous Pike Place Market. This is one of those places where you never know whether you have seem it all as there is so much of it and lots of passages and corridors hidden here there and everywhere. A labyrinth. We spent at least two hours there and could have spent the whole day, especially if you were in the mood for shopping, as

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-64126075213352103102009-08-04T12:40:00.005-07:002009-08-15T17:44:55.849-07:00

We then walked even further uphill to the Queen Anne area of Settle to a well deserved pint of local beer at the Hilltop Ale House and some lunch. It was a very pretty neighborhood, and nice to see a non-touristy spot. After a bus ride back down the hill, we went to the Sci-Fi Museum and geeked out for a while, though I must admit I did not recognise anywhere near as much as Dick, which was not

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-89587537004030940092009-08-04T11:28:00.008-07:002009-08-15T17:42:59.433-07:00

We stayed in the Hotel Fairmount Olympic- must posher than our usual hotel, but we were celebrating, and it was very nice after the rather narrow bunk beds on the train! In true Wall family tradition we were up early and out for breakfast bright and early. Breakfast was overlooking Puget Sound, at the beginning of a very nice sunny and warm day. Seattle has had overly warm weather for this time

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-74133995345725888702009-08-04T10:58:00.007-07:002009-08-04T11:28:24.073-07:00

Climbing out of bed to go to the loo first thing in the morning was an adventure in itself on the train, but then we were able to watch the sun come up over Mount Shasta..We headed for the dining car for breakfast and then into the observation car to just watch the world go by..I took lots of photos through the very dirty windows on the moving train just see what they would come out like but some

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-50154548303018437192009-08-04T10:35:00.005-07:002009-08-04T11:27:15.271-07:00

Yes, I am a few days behind but I have a great excuse. A couple of weeks ago, Dick presented me with a surprise trip to Seattle, WA by train to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary :-) Friday was leaving day! We both went to work as usual and then Dick came down by train to meet me in San Jose. The intention was to go for a walk around and find a new restaurant but we didn't get very far- we

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-21211338747528603122009-07-30T20:12:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:55:28.196-07:00

Why is it all or nothing with tomatoes? I grow mine in containers or bags of soil (or both), and this year decided just to do the small cherry tomatoes, but they all seem to have ripened at once.. and why just the day before we are going away for a long weekend?My peppers are looking pretty good though!

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-52700012312062551122009-07-28T20:57:00.005-07:002009-08-15T17:41:32.628-07:00

Back in my blog "My picture came to me" (March 24, 2009) I talked about the first crow that came to visit me on the window sill at work- on the 16th floor of the building I work in downtown San Jose. Since then, I've seen them several more times and finally got used to these big black birds appearing right outside my office window. Today however, I got the most unexpected visitor, and was SO glad

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-69036803462788676472009-07-27T19:58:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:56:44.940-07:00

This evening I was changing out one of the heads on the sprinklers in the front yard when I noticed some smoke down the end of our road. I didn't take much notice as I though it was someone's barbeque but before too long it was thick black smoke and obviously more than that. About ten minutes later the sirens started and CalFire turned up. It was a piece of ground with long grass and trees that

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-11234552780234873942009-07-26T14:38:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:56:13.466-07:00

This morning we were up early enough to get out before it got too warm and we decided to go and play disc golf. This meant we were also close to the Metcalf Motorcycle Park, so we just had to go and see what it is like. It is a 459 acre dedicated off-road vehicle park with over 20 miles of trails. Most of the people up there had trailers with off-road bikes. This is definitely not somewhere I can

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-33690174589752718622009-07-25T15:05:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:57:30.465-07:00

This morning Dick and I went out on our motorbikes for a ride on the roads around where we live. We even went on some twisty roads up to a trail head and then stopped for a break. I followed Dick on the way there, which I like because I learn from what he does. On the way way, he watched me, to give me some advice and that worked well too. We rode about 38 miles in total. Now I can't wait to

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-25086673980904399532009-07-25T09:56:00.002-07:002009-08-15T17:58:13.793-07:00

I got my days a bit muddled up this week. On Thursday I went to a different Department Of Motor Vehicles to register my bike. I had all the documentation but not original signatures, so I have to go back again.While I was in there I decided to take a picture for my 365 project. I do find that me taking a picture of myself does cause some questions, and this time was no exception. I caught the eye

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-53566516879927339322009-07-24T06:54:00.002-07:002009-08-15T17:38:50.732-07:00

This is my third day trying out a new way to commute to work for me. The Monterey Salinas Transit. It's another bus service, but with more comfortable buses and a WiFi connection, so I am actually typing this whilst on the bus on my laptop. It does mean that I have to bring my laptop but I can also catch up on my photos and my blog- it's a bit wobbly though!

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-73527122122966571552009-07-22T20:00:00.002-07:002009-07-22T20:52:47.349-07:00

Sunday morning Dick and I went out on our motorbikes. Not far, just around a local industrial estate which is empty at the weekends. I went in front and played with the gears and practiced stopping and starting etc, while Dick followed me and gave advice. And we both survived! After, he took my bike out to an off road trail he really wanted to explore but it was closed...

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-44277356670408034722009-07-22T06:55:00.005-07:002009-07-22T19:56:03.416-07:00

This past weekend was one of those amazingly busy Morgan Hill weekends. It all starts with the Friday night music series. Everyone sitting around with their chairs or blankets at the small outdoor amphitheater behind the Community and Cultural Center watching and/or dancing to the live band. Everything from country to R and B, Blues or Rock and Roll. I've now come to prefer this location to the

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-16381879212928560182009-07-22T06:46:00.003-07:002009-07-22T06:54:24.804-07:00

On Thursday last week we celebrated my boss's 30th service anniversary. We planned a surprise "This is your work life" party with cake. We read 30 historical details and fun memories of him and the place we work in. As each fact/story was read, we presented him with a balloon. At the end he stood there holding every balloon with a huge grin on his face. I took some good pictures of the event but

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-6144944927567718992009-07-22T06:40:00.002-07:002009-07-22T06:46:39.973-07:00

I see this man regularly in downtown San Jose. Normally he is intent on a task- writing in his journals, exercising, doing his chores. Occasionally he is just riding his bike. He sure is a big collector of objects for his bike and personal comfort. I always wonder how he ended up in this kind of life and what he writes in journals.

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-33217987932562916752009-07-20T20:56:00.003-07:002009-08-15T17:58:58.575-07:00

Sunday night we went to see the bike I described last week. It was a little rough around the edges but in great working order. Dick rode it for 10 minutes, and declared it perfect. He rode it home and it was in its new place in the garage before we went to bed! For the bike geeks out there, it is a 2005 Suzuki DR-Z 400.The bottom picture is a application on my iPhone called Photo Sketch, which

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-28304278896762485382009-07-20T20:38:00.006-07:002009-08-15T17:53:14.325-07:00

Oh boy, a week behind and so much to catch up on...Firstly.. last weekend. The Sunday Friends Foundation. I spent a little over two hours at a wonderful "working alternative to charity". I have never been so impressed by a charity. "Sunday Friends provides a safe place where very low-income families come together with volunteers in a secular community setting. Children and their parents are

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-68344315435295797492009-07-11T20:52:00.002-07:002009-07-11T21:57:17.181-07:00

Since Thursday we've been looking on the local listings for bikes. Waiting to the weekend to go and see them, so today we started the hunt. First we saw a bike that sounded good but wasn't once we got there- it needed lots of work. We left several messages at other hopefuls later, but nothing came of them. So we started looking in some local bike shops in case they had any ads etc. At one we saw

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-61530366569481461662009-07-08T19:43:00.006-07:002009-07-08T20:09:26.449-07:00

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is one of the many government agencies that is having to put up with short weeks (no Fridays or Saturdays) due to the huge budget deficit. Which means therefore that more people have to go in a shorter timeframe. It is also the school holidays, which I had conveniently forgotten. I must admit I was still horrified when I got to the Santa Teresa office

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-16445436884512745502009-07-07T20:14:00.003-07:002009-07-07T20:24:17.634-07:00

On July 4th, whilst waiting for it to get dark enough for the fireworks, I wandered over to the new Morgan Hill Skate Park, this time with my 35mm camera. I could have stayed for hours but the boys (and yes I think I only saw one girl actually skating- the rest were hangin' out with their boyfriends) stopped and asked me a couple of times why I was taking photos They relaxed when I said it was

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-44317024364224653612009-07-04T22:59:00.004-07:002009-07-04T23:30:42.286-07:00

Oh where do you start after a two hour parade- everything from a fly over by four bi-planes, marching bands, dogs, horses, soldiers and Elvis?

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-68278888718509925812009-07-04T15:21:00.005-07:002009-08-15T17:34:56.917-07:00

The wonderful thing about living in Morgan Hill is all the events that happen. Last night the annual 3rd July street dance. There are food and drink booths selling their wares for charity and a band. They close off all of Monterey Road in Downtown, and thousands of people turn up to drink, dance and socialize. It is a great atmosphere!People are very serious about holding their spot for the

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-34738097753437514452009-07-02T21:37:00.002-07:002009-07-03T22:29:58.440-07:00

Thursday is pick up night for my CSA veggies. I had to get my old bike out because it still has the panniers on it. This time I took pictures of what I see when I arrive and how it is normally packed etcStacked against the wallSome people get flowers too:Swap box:Inside the box:Packed and ready to go:

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-44057174144511493882009-07-02T21:14:00.003-07:002009-07-02T21:34:44.303-07:00

On my way to photography club last night I had to go past the new Morgan Hill skate Park and it was extremely popular- everything from young children to young adults on scooters, bikes and skate boards. I didn't have my camera with me but I did have my iPhone..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-47418698855782126282009-07-02T20:58:00.007-07:002009-08-15T17:45:58.358-07:00

This photo tickles me, just because it is so my hubby. Preparing a Java Posse podcast to upload. However this time he was part of an experiment I did with a new app on my iPhone. I had heard that ShakeItPhoto was a great way to get a really clear photo, so he is one photo taken with the app and one without.. what do you think?The colors are clearer but I don't like the cropping...

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-65870502841457036662009-06-29T19:16:00.004-07:002009-08-15T17:44:04.482-07:00

Last night I suddenly realized I was due to go to the dentist this week and it turned out to be today.I had a funny conversation with a bus buddy this morning, about his wonderful dentist- about the fact that his dentist and the whole practice was really friendly and helpful. He said they had a massaging chair, they let you listen to your own music and even their receptionist was wonderful. I

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-66913232886908029192009-06-28T17:31:00.006-07:002009-08-15T17:36:38.735-07:00

It all started Thursday night- 4:40 PM to 10 PM - the Motorcycle Safety Foundation basic rider course classroom instruction. The instructor, Skip, kept the pace going and was a lot of fun too. Gave some very down to earth advice, and the evening flew by. It ended with a written test. Thanks to some studying before and some good teaching, I got 50/50. Saturday was day one of the actual riding part

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-67951221923740698462009-06-28T17:21:00.003-07:002009-06-28T17:30:47.556-07:00

Our friends, Joel and Stevie live in Pasadena and were going up to Sonoma wine country for the weekend, so we said they could stay the night on the way up there if they bought their dog with them, so we could dog sit for the weekend. I was so used to having an beautiful but slow old lady around, I forgot how much energy a younger dog has, and how much hair they leave around the house :-) Popper

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-76377216600270344002009-06-26T20:10:00.002-07:002009-06-26T20:14:08.163-07:00

I had to have a new photo taken for the internal web site at work today, so I took one with my iphone too for my 365 days project..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-79528520684475593872009-06-26T19:43:00.005-07:002009-06-26T19:58:10.738-07:00

Up at 4:50 AM (should be banned!), drove into work to start at 6 AM (too early and I hate driving in!) Hit the ground running. Worked until 1:30 PM, and left for an appointment at the chirporactor. All straightened out and then home, picking up the CSA farm box on the way. Back out the door and driving the mustang (Yay- the best part of the day!) down to Gilroy arriving at Gavilan College at 4 :

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-655977472230667892009-06-24T19:32:00.003-07:002009-06-24T19:43:58.990-07:00

Back in March (20th) I noted that a builder had started to build some new homes near where we live. There were seven of them. On May 5th they were just abut finished and I wondered how long it would be until they were sold. Now they have completed the final touches- the gardens etc, and three are already sold! Now I'll be keeping an eye on the other new development near the train station...

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-61507897330330267572009-06-23T20:04:00.003-07:002009-06-23T20:25:27.976-07:00

Please tell me I'm not the only one who never gets around to reading all her magazines.. this is just the latest three and I haven't opened last months yet! Keeping life "Real Simple" is not so easy when there is "More"- my poor "Body and Soul" ;-)

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-2348922515144236792009-06-23T19:17:00.002-07:002009-06-23T19:31:40.125-07:00

I rode my new bike to the bus station the last two days. This is when I finally realized that I do need a stand! I'm scared it will fall over and damage it. It is so much lighter and easier to ride than my old bike..

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-18196123519600079452009-06-21T16:58:00.002-07:002009-06-21T17:34:16.823-07:00

Pinnacles National Monument is in central California, 50 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and 140 miles south of San Francisco, and today we went hiking there. It is a strange place- rolling hills, rock spires, monoliths, canyons and even caves. An unspoiled wilderness. It is the remains of an ancient volcano- proclaimed as a National Monument in 1908. It was quite a steep hike to start with

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20699534.post-91317302414999303132009-06-20T20:38:00.003-07:002009-06-20T21:22:51.684-07:00

This morning we did our normal chores and then went to pick up my new bicycle. I forgot to mention that yesterday. I got a new commute bike :-) It is much lighter than my old one and has brakes and gears that work properly, which is nice for a change. Must remember to take a photo of it tomorrow! So of course, we had to go for a bike ride. We decided to explore a new section of a bike path that

Jackiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16496767488833957955noreply@blogger.com0