Friday, May 27, 2011

Saturday Hike

So a few Saturdays ago it was really overcast and basically perfect weather for a hike. Not too cold, not to hot and no beaming sun on a path with minimal shade.

We decided to do the Echo Mountain hike we've heard so much about. The trail head is only about 2 miles from our house and leads straight up into the mountains where an old, now destroyed mountain resort used to be. A small railway used to bring up the guests. You can read more about it here .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_Mountain.

We reached the power lines which seemed like a good spot to stop and take some pictures.



 This is taken looking up while standing under the tower of power.


The building you see there in the center among the trees with the red tiled roof is the middle school right next to our house.



The vein along the mountain is the trail we took up.



Almost there!

So here we are. The first sign of civilization is the remains of an old rail car.



And some miscellaneous machinery





Nice view from the top of basically all of LA. It was too bad it was cloudy for pictures but I think we would have died if the sun was beating down. I'm certain that on clear days you could probably see the ocean.



...And the obligatory couple picture. Steven considers this the successful one...



...but I like this one better.




Here we have some rubble rubble.



And this area was the most in tact. It used to be the rail station.








There was a sign saying that there were remains of a fountain down a path so we found it. I told Steven to pose sexy and this is what happened.


So all the previous pictures were facing south from the mountain. If you turn north this is the view you get. The moster mountains that span higher and farther.





Here is Steven using the echomaphone (not actual name). Apparently the boy scouts have gone around placing these at all the "sweet spots" of Echo Mountain for which it is named.


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Spring is here!

In the spirit of Spring, Steven and I decided to do some gardening. It isn't much but since we don't really know what we're doing, we're starting off small.

Steven's been preoccupied with the grass. He built aerating shoes so that he can "stomp the yard".

No, not this kind of stomping the yard...


More like this:





The result are holes for seeding.


The grass looks pretty lush in this picture but if you look at it from above you'll see how sparse the grass is. You're basically getting the comb-over view here.

We also got some hanging planters. This one has strawberries growing.


And I've started some seeds for different types of tomato to hang as well.

In addition to the hammock we already had (which by the way, Steven got me a hammock stand for my birthday!), we also got a hammock chair. Here you can see the hanging hammock chair in this picture, with the hanging planter up in the tree.











Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Dang!

Just as I feared! Steven and I have totally run out of things to write about. We are officially boring.

I might as well talk about one issue that is bothering me and that is how babies and animals fall in love with Steven.  Bowie for sure can not resist Steven's charm and our friend's baby, Mia, asks for him by name (or so we are told)!





Now with Mia, it could just be that my name is harder to say. However, apparently she was working on a collage last weekend and when asked who she wanted to give it to, she said STEVEN. Not her mom, not her dad, not her best friend at school. She made it just for Steven.



Bowie, on the other hand, is just unacceptable. He is MY cat! I pay his bills but when it comes to who he will cuddle with, Steven is always winner.

When I am home alone with Bowie, he'll want to be in the same room with me because he is very social but he doesn't have to be all up ons me. If I get up and go somewhere else, he will remain there. With Steven, it is a different story. Anywhere Steven goes, Bowie goes. Even if there isn't enough lap space for Bowie to be on Steven, he will find it.

Case in point:


 Computer time? Not without Bowie

 TV time. Bowie's favorite

more TV time 

 More lap time while Steven is on the computer.

Dinner time? Nope, it's always Bowie time!

When I work my late shift, Steven sends me these pictures weekly. I think they do it just to drive me nuts.

Bowie used to wait at the doors or windows until Steven comes home. That has stopped to some degree.




Anyway, that's my beef with the situation. Just needed to vent.