For all the sock knitters out there!

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Happy ????? Birthday Son!!!

Happy Birthday -- July 30, 1979.....10 lbs of bouncing baby boy!
2 weeks late and still had to be induced!!!
(and he still keeps to "John Time"!!!!!!)

Catch Up

 Camp Loopy 2013 Project 1

 Camp Loopy 2013 Project 2

Camp Loopy 2013 Project 1 - after receiving approval from Ralph

Weekly Roundup

Babysat the boys this week. Took Ralph with us so we went on a walk. See that speck in the middle just below the tree line? That was what we think was a bobcat - loping away in the opposite direction from us. We know there are bobcats in the area 

 Jack walking Ralph

 Connor walking Ralph...why didn't I get a photo of Luke walking him? Bad MeMaw!

 My birthday present - e finally got it hung up!

 I don't know - this just makes me smile - I don't even care if it is phot shopped or not - I just love the picture!

 Look what I did with my new sewing machine! I sewed the lining for this purse I knit for a swap present! Still looking at taking a beginning sewing class - but of course the perfect times for me, do not coincide with the classes!

 Love how this turned out - even tho it is blues!

 Silly Luke - with the swim cap inside out and on for no apparent reason!

 After a while, even a puppy needs some alone time from 3 busy boys!

But they did a good job tiring him out - this is him on the drive home!

Well, hubby finally got his schedule for orientation - and it is not when we thought it would be, which would have been much better. Instead of starting August 4, he is starting Aug 18 and will be gone for 3 weeks - including over the weekend of our 40th Anniversary. Oh well, what will be, will be.

The only other issue is that last week he is gone, we agreed to babysit our granddog. Which means I will be leaving 2 dogs home alone all night for 3 nights. Wonder if they would do okay outside? Cause I am not sure our little guy can make it inside for 14 hours....maybe, hopefully, cross your fingers, I can get some call time those 3 nights which would shorten the time they are alone.

Had a nice lunch this week with 2 friends from my old job. Then we went to Demi's house to pilfer through a box of yarn sent to her by a family member. Sharon got 2 bags full of yarn for her Teddy Bear project. Much to hubs dismay, I came home with a bag and a half!

Today he is at the last swim meet while this afternoon I am going to the Unitek Pinning Ceremony! I am excited to see who is there and who made it! Ran into a bunch of "my" students while I was going into work one evening this week - man oh man do I miss them and being with students!

But this week was a good week after last week....last week I worked Sat, 6 hours Sunday, Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun. I literally spent all week asking people what day it was.....this week I had no every other day and altho I think they tried to kill me Thursday night, that is so much better! And the commute is better - having more days off/week is better - the benefits are better...yes, it was a good, but poignant, choice to make.

Now I really need to do some house work cause daughter & her family are stopping over Tuesday night on their vacation....and I need to finish Project 2 for Camp Loopy after ripping it our (over 500 stitches!!) a couple of times cause I was not happy with the edging!

What will I do with myself those 3 weeks hubs is away?? Hopefully make a huge inroad on the dump room upstairs!!!

Mini Vacation Is Over....SIGHHHHHH

 Took Highway 1 home.....no hurry...because of course hubs wanted to stop in Monterey and eat late lunch there....

 Not sure what these are? Llamas???? Something with horns? This is the best close up I could get, they were probably about a mile off the road....

 Lovely twisty, hilly Highway with the most beautiful views in the world

What?????? A stop light on the Highway 1? And a very long one.....

 Oh because they are building this new bridge/tunnel......just north of Limekiln Beach... very pretty!

Another traffic jam because of yet another stop light (they are doing other bridge/road work). This guy had the smart idea!

And yes, we made it to Red's just before they closed and got some of their leftovers (none of my son's favorites tho!) to bring home to son to thank him for dog sitting (he also got some Hearst Ranch jerky!) and then, after shoe shopping at the Rockport/Nike outlet for hubs, he got his favorite meal.....Calamari Siciliano (they took it off the menu and you have to ask for it special). I had already had squid (and a lovely lobster pot pie at The Sow's Ear in Cambria) so, since they no longer made their sand dabs my favorite way, I opted out just for pizza. I love fish but two days in a row is about my limit.....

And then patiently (HA!) drove in the traffic home, and back to real life....sorta....hubs is in a Golf Tournament today and I work tonight...so one of us is back in the real world!

Sigh......

The Castle

 Land lots of land....oh, they own(ed) so much!

 I am so glad hubs finally took me here....cant tell you how many times we have been back, but this place astounds me.... the wealth....the absolute amazing amount of wealth....and yet people lived here just as we do in our oh-so-not-similar house/life....

Again, we have been on every tour, some more than once but you always see/find something new. This was a new tour for us - a longer tour (320 steps to climb!! LOL) and saw areas of the castle we had never seen before. This, and the Evening Tour, are now our favorites!

 The Neptune pool.....I cant imagine what it would be like to swim in these pristine water! And I am not going to try and find out how much it would cost to do so! LOL

 Sorry...it ended up here twice.  We got to go into one of the cottages we had never been into (see the open door on the right?)

The details everywhere are amazing....the genius of the collector (as well as the untold wealth) and the genius of the architect....match made in heaven! You have to remember to constantly look up and down, as well as all around

 Floor inside one of the rooms

 This is a fireplace detail

 Ceilings....each ceiling more spectacular than the last

 Amazing doors

A

A couple from NYC said this bathroom was as large as their apartment....included closets, cupboards, a glass enclosed shower, and a tub....very feminine

This one was very masculine and included closets, cupboards, and a shower as well as this tub. Notice the detail around the heating vent! This is all part of the North Tower which we had never seen before - and unfortunately was not completed nor occupied by WR & Marion before his death. These suites they believe were meant to be for them....the bathrooms were much more ornate than others we have seen there

 Got to go in the back way to the Roman Pool. Saw the changing rooms - 20 'stalls' each of which had places to change clothes & hang clothes; and each of which had its own shower. There (supposedly) were 20 because that was the max # of guests invited at any one time....

 Beautiful beautiful gold leaf tile....and of course, had to include a photo of my friend the crab!

 They have changed up the tours a bit.....they don't take you right from the bus to the tour and right back on the bus. Once the tour is complete you are welcome to wander about the grounds for as long as you want!

 I don't know, but this snail looks suspiciously like one I have seen in Disney movies!!!

FINALLY got to see the zebras! Altho WR sold off most of his zoo during the Depression, some animals remain on the property - elk, long horned sheep, etc. But sightings of the zebras have become quite common recently - and I was so thrilled that I got to capture them on film! They mingle with the cattle on the Hearst Ranch

Flowers at Heart Castle

 Beautiful beautiful bougainvillea everywhere - love these flowers - but I call them the devil flower because until I got up & personal with one, I  never knew the deadly thorns these things have....

 Love love love fuschias.....hard to grow where we live because of the heat

This one was actually outside our door at the B&B ....best place to stay in Cambria: J Patrick House....cant tell you how many times we have been there - enough to have spent 1 vacation in each of the rooms, and some of them more than one....quiet....clean....great breakfasts.... nice wine and hor d'oevre time in the late afternoon....homebaked cookies & milk for bedtime! I totally recommend this place.