Watching the Big Dig

Wednesday: (12/30) A nice but cold day I headed off early to a 0930 Kaiser lab appointment for some blood letting. Lou made roast chicken with Spanish rice and Brussel’s sprouts for breakfast. I did a little “supervision” of the construction project down the street. Lunch was leftover enchiladas with rice and avocados.

Thursday: (12/31) Breakfast from Happy donut. My usual sausage, egg and cheese muffin. I watched the construction crew drill the first few holes for the basement shoring. They all went home at noon for the holiday. Lou made Chinese food for lunch. Chow Mein with broccoli beef. I soaked my hands while washing dishes. I think Lou used every one in the kitchen. A relaxing evening. I took a nap early and awoke in time to bid 2020 goodbye.

Friday: (01/01) Granola and banana for breakfast. I relaxed all day tinkering on the computer. Ernie prepared black eyed peas with spinach and corn bread for lunch. Leftovers for dinner.

 

Our holiday dinner from Ernie,  black-eyed peas and cornbread with spinach.

Saturday: (01/02) Granola and banana for breakfast. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. Cold and damp outside. In the late afternoon we took a drive. We drove through the crowded Foothills Park. We came back on Arastradero then up ECR to Redwood City. We noticed the old JJK market is open again. We’ll have to come back to see what it’s like. Since we were in the area, we picked up dinner at Harry’s Hofbrau. Lou got here Prime Rib and I got my lasagna. Back home I tried reinstalling the DChome app for my solar charger monitoring. It finally let me in. Works nicely.

Sunday: (01/03) I ran a battery load test on the RV today. By that I mean I unplugged the RV and the refrigerator load of 27 amps for 8 hours did the job. It was only down to 70% but that will have to do for the exercise. Not much else accomplished. Leftover black eyed peas with fresh cornbread for breakfast. Leftover lasagna and peas for lunch. Ham and cheese slides for dinner.

Monday: (01/04) Beef soup for breakfast. We all took a drive today on this rainy day. We drove up to Daly City then down the coast on Highway 1. We explored various places as we drove down to Santa Cruz. Lou and Dawn explored the Goodwill thrift store there and took a walk as I took a nap. We stopped for lunch in Pacifica at Safeway. Back home at 1700. I had a couple of sausages with cornbread for my dinner.

No photos of the drive but here is one of the construction site down the street.

Portola State Park Hike

 Tuesday: (12/29) A little before noon I went to Portola State Park for a hike. I hiked Iverson trail to Old Haul Road. All trails are closed at Old Haul Road or where they enter Pescadero County Park due to fire damage. Fortunately, it looks like the fire didn’t kill all the trees. I also hiked to the Old Tree and a loop on the Slate and Summit trails. Lou made meatless sausage with baked potatoes and coleslaw for breakfast. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Leftovers for dinner.

 

Nice trails.

 

Some fungi on a log and a trail closed sign where the Iversen Trial leads into the burn area.

Proof that aliens were here.

Post Christmas

Saturday: (12/26) An occasionally rainy day. A relaxing day at home. Nothing accomplished. Sausage with beans and rice for breakfast. Steak with mashed potatoes and roast cauliflower for lunch. Pumpkin pie for dinner.

Sunday: (12/27) I raked some leaves off the neighbors garage roof trying to collect a load for our compost bins for this week. We took a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon. I received my BlueTooth dongle (Renology BT2) to add a link from our solar charger to my phone. I haven't been able to get the app to work yet. Lou picked up breakfast from A Good Morning Cafe. A nice clear day. Roast chicken with rice and corn for lunch. Granola with carrots (not mixed) for dinner.

Monday: (12/28) Rain last night and some sprinkles in the morning. Tamales for breakfast. Lou and I did some grocery shopping today. Chinese for lunch and dinner.

Christmas

Friday: (12/25) A little rain last night and today. Lou’s homemade tamales for breakfast. A nice do little day. I did get some photos added to old post for last year. Ernie joined us for lunch. Lou made enchiladas and Ernie made beans and rice. For desert there was Lou’s mince and pumpkin pies. We did a zoom call with the Hackmans. A tamale for dinner.

Holiday pies, mincemeat and pumpkin.

 

Lou's enchiladas green on left, red on the right. 

Pre Christmas

Wednesday: (12/23) I spent some time in the garden weeding. Lot of pesky sprouts. That made me quite muddy so I cleaned up with a shower and relaxed the rest of the day. I plan on adding two more garden spots about equivalent to the existing two spots so this will be even more work in the future. Soft boiled eggs for breakfast. Zucchini noodles with meatballs for lunch. Rice pudding for dinner.

Thursday: (12/24) Happy birthday to both Lou's and my mothers today. Both would have been 110 years old today. Both missed out on normal birthday recognition due to proximity to the Christmas holiday. 

A nice clear day. We took a walk around the neighborhood. We checked out the construction project down the street. They were making noise this morning after being quiet all week. I thought that meant they wanted to be ready for some work next week. I was right. They moved in drilling and cementing equipment in preparation of shoring up to dig out the parking basement of the apartment complex. Goody, let the show begin. It was almost like Christmas today. Three deliveries by UPS and Prime and one from the Post Office. Lou and Dawn made roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and corn for breakfast. Lunch from Los Altos Taqueria.  

 

The rabbit keeps enjoying his pumpkin. I received the new screen door handle, finally. It disappeared in the Post Office for more than a month then suddenly made it out and to here.

 

The garden spots look better with less weeds.

 

The apartment building being built on the  corner moved some equipment onto the site this morning. The drills and cement mixer for the shoring. We didn't get down to inspect until after they were through moving it. We can expect some more noise for a while. 

Bay Trail Bike Ride To Alviso

Tuesday: (12/22) A nice sunny day. I did another bike ride today. I had grand plans of riding the Bay Trail down to Alviso and doing the Alviso Slough Trail loop, then returning. That didn't work out. I didn't check the status of the trails there and the Alviso Slough Trail was closed in both directions due to levee reconstruction until 1/21/21. So, I enjoyed my trail snack lunch then toured Alviso before returning home. It was still a 24 mile ride. I was riding my fat tire e-bike using the lowest assist setting and returned with 30% of the battery capacity left. So, I still haven't maxed out the range on the bike. Riding uphill like last week really sucks the batteries down but today's ride was almost all flat trails right by the bay.

I had leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Tuna trail snack for lunch. Baked potatoes with roast beef and cheese for dinner. 

 

The skeleton of hanger One at Moffat Field. on the right, more bay view.

Even the birds are social distancing in the water.

More Security Cameras

Saturday: (12/19) Lou made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I installed a camera for the front yard view which covers the RV and Jeep as well as o two street parked cars. I also got Ernie setup to be able to use the cameras. Lunch and dinner from Harry's Hofbrau. We all took a walk after lunch.

 

The front camera mounted above the porch for a nice view of the front yard. 

The view on the front camera.

Sunday: (12/20) Another sunny day but the ground is still soaked, or at least that’s what I determine. So no digging or outside work. I did sweep out the RV Mostly tinder on the computer and watched TV. Chili beans for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Granola for dinner.

Monday: (12/21) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Crackers and cheese for lunch. Granola for dinner. Notice we have reversed our meal types for the last couple of days Our breakfast is a normal dinner and vice versa. I did a little work in the yard. I trimmed the neighbors' wisteria and potato plants growing over the fence. I also trimmed the geraniums from the front flower bed so it cleared the walkway. I also blew the leaves from the walkways. 

Bike Ride To Arastradero Preserve And A Walk

Friday: (12/18) Lou and I headed off to the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Santa Clara. It’s our ham store. We got a few other things as well leaving over $120 there. Back home Lou mode breakfast of beef noodles. I got my bike out. It’s been nearly a month since I took it out. It just hid in the shop since I repaired the flat tire. 

 

I rode up to the Arizona Cactus Garden on the Stanford Campus. The light on this bright day made it look really good. 

 

Some nice flowers on display. From there I rode up Sand Hill Rod into the hills then came back down and out Alpine Rod into Portola Valley.

 

 

I ended up at my destination of the Arastradero Preserve.

 

I parked the bike and took a walk to rest my but and get circulation back in my hand. It was only a 45 mile walk then back on the bike toward home. I stopped and said hi to the Bol Park Donkeys on my way. I was home sometime after 4pm. I had a beef pot pie for dinner. I received two more cameras from Amazon. These will be for the front yard view and an inside the house view. Now I have seven cameras.

New Glasses

Thursday: (12/17) Lou made roast beef with baked potatoes and green beans for breakfast. I was off early to Kaiser Optometry to get my eyes checked. I ordered a new pair of glasses. Then I took a walk around downtown Mountain View. 

Interesting pruned vine wall art on one of the pedestrian pathways. I've never seen such detail of a vine growing on a wall.

On the way home I stopped at the Grocery Outlet for humus. Can’t get by without hummus. Lou and Dawn were off to the dentist toy. They had lunch out. I had some guacamole and chips for lunch. 

I worked on the blog much of the rest of the day. I added the words and photos for the past 5-6 weeks. Ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. 

Security Cameras

 Friday: (12/11) Banana bread for breakfast. Occasional rain showers today. I started to do a few things outside but changed plans when the rain started. I did get one of the greenhouse patio drip lines relocated to the new position of the planters. I also added some tie down ropes to Lou’s tent. I should be wind safe now. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chili for dinner.

Saturday: (12/12) Banana bread with cream cheese for breakfast. Another rainy day. Not much but a wet day. Nothing accomplished. I did setup the wireless security camera I got yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I can get it mounted somewhere in the yard.. Ham and cheese sandwich with an avocado for lunch. Salmon soup for dinner.

All the plants from the arbor and greenhouse patio awaiting relocation sometime in the future. 

A patio succulent planter. One of the new solar lights on the right.

The garden globe in its new home in the garden. It used to be on the sidewalk going to the greenhouse.

Sunday: (12/13) Lou made tacos for breakfast. Another rainy day. I installed the security camera in the backyard. Most of the effort was trying to get the WIFI to work for the camera. Still working on that. Crackers, cheese and beef log for lunch. Chili for dinner.

Monday: (12/14) Up early and off to Walmart early to get in just as they open to avoid the crowd. I had to return three pairs of jeans I ordered online. I tried to avoid a store visit. Unfortunately, even though I ordered the same size as I’m wearing and all my other pairs, these were at least 2-3 sizes too small, all of them. So after returning I bought one pair of a different brand one size bigger. Back home I tied them on and the fit was only slightly too big, which I seem to be moving toward. We also did some grocery shopping there and at Safeway and Sprout’s. We bought a nice breakfast at Good Morning Cafe on our way home. We had some chili beans Lou whipped up. I mounted my Outdoor WIFI access point on the TV antenna mast. Hopefully that will improve the signal available on the outdoor cameras and the RV.

Tuesday: (12/15) Cloudy day but little rain. I made a shopping run. First to Walmart to get a second pair of jeans of the now tested jeans. The dressing rooms are closed at stores so the only place to try things on is at home. Biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Guacamole and chips for lunch. Soup for dinner.


Wednesday: (12/16) A nice sunny day. Relaxing morning. I had my usual morning webinar. I tinkered with the WIFI and security cameras testing the solar panel to charge two cameras. I also installed the cable to the outdoor WIFI repeater. I also filled the compost dumpsters by cleaning out behind the playhouse cottage and the tent. Chili beans for breakfast. Lou picked up some dim sum for my lunch. Lou made nice green salads for dinner. 

Three of the new security cameras.

Lou nd Dawn erected a Christmas tree in the front orchard.

Foothills Park Hike

 Thursday: (12/10) PBJ toast for breakfast. I headed doff to a hike at Foothills Park. I hiked many of the fire road trails, I haven't hiked them before. Really nice views from the mountain ridges on the fire road. Nachos from Los Altos Taqueria for lunch. 

One of the benches along the trail.

Fire road and a street sign in the middle of nowhere.

Flowers and the fire road on the ridge.

Some nice views near the fire road.

The track for the hike nd some hike stats.

I joined Lou and Dawn and we visited Bol Park to see the newest donkey, Buddy. Buddy replaced Jenny who died recently. He gets along well with Perry. Buddy came from a ranch in Portola Valley. Tomato soup with toast for dinner.

Buddy and Perry (non left), donkeys at Bol Park