Nature MINI Battery Recharge

I dropped of my niece yesterday evening with her parents and when I woke up this morning I had a desperate call to be with nature. Mrs. Dancer was free so we both headed down to Bolsa Chica for some birding, exercise and R&R. Even though it is about an hour and a half south of my new house the drive is still more than worth it. This place it truly magical. Whenever I find myself going off the course and feel ungrounded I always manage to find my roots by immersing myself into nature.

And before I even managed to put the car in the preserve parking lot I spotted a juvenile red tailed hawk perched right alongside the road. I pulled over and grabbed my gear while Mrs. Dancer slid into the driver’s seat. We scooted along getting closer and closer... I managed to get with 10 feet of this bird. A first for me.


RED TAILED HAWK

Every time we got pretty close he would hop on a little further down the road and again we would coast slowly closer and I snapped away. I found it funny that twice he picked perches that couldn’t quiet hold his hefty frame, like this delicate shrub.


RED TAILED HAWK

Or these thin bamboo grasses. And then he launched off further into the preserve... Great way to start a day with close-ups of the biggest raptor at the park!


RED TAILED HAWK

Somehow I managed to leave my main camera body, the 7D, at the Fruit’s house. I know GASP!!! I took the camera too take some photos of the new baby and then was so tired I didn’t even take photos OR remember to bring it home. With my main body out of reach I ended up using our second camera body; that was a lesson in ‘hey you should shoot so much with only one of your camera bodies... I was rusty. I spent some time in the parking lot shooting a stationary California Gull to work the kinks out of how I was trying to use the controls.


CALIFORNIA GULL

After I got the kinks worked out Mrs. Dancer and I started into the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Mrs. Dancer knows practically nothing about birds BUT she is a complete NATURAL. She has really great eyesight, can spot birds from far away and is also interested. I gave her my bird book and kept pointing out common birds along our route.



It was so much fun to have an interested sidekick. When I managed to find a bird who was a slow mover, like the great blue heron I had Mrs. Dancer jump up behind the big lens for a peek. You can see so much detail with that lens!


GREAT BLUE HERON

I love this particular area for birding because they have so many different areas to bird. The initial mile and a half walk in is all wetlands with each part of the wetlands geared to different depths of water for different types of birds. The first part of the hike is the shallow pools of wading water and this is where we find all of the sandpipers and herons like the Long Billed Curlew.


LONG BILLED CURLEW

I really loved the rusty color of this bird flying across a channel of water in contrast to the green algae growing along the banks.


LONG BILLED CURLEW

The willet is a pretty dull grey wadding bird until you see it in flight. I love his black and white wing markings which are completely hidden while he walks and gathers food.


WILLET IN FLIGHT

There is always something interesting going on. Most of the time I don’t have the opportunity to catch those fast action shots. This Snowy Egret however caught a fish that was a little too big to swallow. As I photoed the sequence of him ATTEMPTING to eat his catch a hungry gull tried to sweep in and steal dinner. If I hadn’t already had the camera focused and ready I would have missed this shot which I adore!!!


SNOWY EGRET AND SEA GULL

After the shallower wading waters there are deeper ponds for the ducks and pelicans. Many of these birds I already had photos of but I found myself drawn again and again to this one beautiful Green Winged Teal. You might not realize it but bird feathers are much like peoples hair. Some people have beautiful healthy happy hair, others have over dyed, overblown abused hair. Birds are much the same way and this Green Winged Teal was so pretty he was the Jenifer Aniston of Teal’s.


GREEN WINGED TEAL

I noticed another duck and at first I thought it was a new bird. Normally I do not take my bird book into the field with me... I have a policy where I shoot the photo first and I ask questions later. Normally I just wait until I get home to identify any that I wasn’t sure of while I am out however with Mrs. Dancer there carrying my book I grabbed a photo of this little guy before we looked him up. My hopefully new bird ended up being a she not a he, it is a female bufflehead. One of the greatest challenges of birding is not only to memorize one bird but also memorize the bird in the male/female form, the breeding/non breeding plumage and the juvenile/adult plumage. It’s no wonder even us who know a bunch about birds sometimes still mess up.


FEMALE BUFFLEHEAD

Leaving the estuary behind you end up wandering in some fields of light woods and native California grassland. This is where we spent most of our time, it’s in the back of the park and takes a while to hoof it back there but today we struck it lucky with a few good birds.


GRASSLANDS, ESTUARIES AND SOME LIGHT WOODED AREAS CREATE A HAVEN FOR WILDLIFE

Once you know a park pretty well you can start predicting where you will see certain birds. There is one pocket of shrubs submerged into the water where I always find Black Crowned Night Herons. Today Mrs. Dancer and I spotted eight, this one only sitting a few feet away. Although I always see them here I can never usually get a decent shot, they like to really hide where the branches are thick. Although this isn’t an amazing shot technically I still like the mood of it and the light shining through the feathers ruffled by the wind on his back.


BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON

Going slowly through the woods and scrub grass you can find a ton of little guys not suited to the open wetlands like the Bushtits, tiny little guys bouncing from branch to branch in a pack. This guy was partially usual because of his black little face mask. I am pretty sure it’s a bushtit because of his size and behaviour but that black mark is throwing me for a loop. Any ideas?


BUSHTIT

I really got a kick out of this shot of a hummingbird taking off of its perch, sometimes the photos of something a little more unexpected make more interesting shots.


ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD

And then there are those birds you see a million times. There are so many Savannah sparrows at Bolsa Chica that I almost never photo them, that is until a few days ago when I noticed that the best shot I have of these guys isn’t quite up to my new standards. I got this photo of a bold little guy sititng pretty close to me and was happy with the composition and the background. Now I can replace this new Sparrow with the older not so great one.


SAVANAH SPARROW

At the far back of the park just as we were about to turn around I spotted a Coopers Hawk. Of course his back was to us but he was very cooperative and waited while we slowly circled to the front of him for a better photo.


COOPER’S HAWK

He took off and I let go of the breath I was holding. Cooper’s Hawks are pretty skittish and I was surprised he had stayed so long. While Mrs. Dancer and I were looking him up in the book I heard a noise. I looked up to see the Cooper Hawk not only returned but landed on a lower branch closer to where we were standing. Why thank you very much for the kick butt photo, didn’t know he wanted to be a model right!


COOPER’S HAWK

With only a little light left we started back. Within a few moments I spotted an American Kestrel perched high in a tree. He was soaking up the last rays of warmth for the night and the color of the sunset on his breast was simply gorgeous! Four raptors (Red Tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, American Kestrel and Harrier Hawk which I didn’t get a great photo of) in one day is pretty rare, even in an amazing park like this one.


AMERICAN KESTRREL

The light after the Kestrel went away and it wasn’t worth it for me to photo the wildlife anymore. Because we were still in the back of the park we had about a two mile walk to get back to the car. With the sun rapidly sinking and the temperature dropping quickly we had to hustle.


THE SUN IS RAPIDLY RUNNING AWAY

You know I loved having Mrs. Dancer come with me. Not only was it good company in the car and in the feild, it was fun to spot birds with someone, to have an extra pair of eyes out there to see what I may have missed and best of all she offered to carry my big ass lens for a while on the way back to the car. That thing is about 25 pounds... she is AMAZING!!!




IT WAS A LITTLE HEAVIER THAN SHE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE

Sometimes if I am lucky on the way back to the car, as you walk into the last rays of light, you are able to see incredible sunsets. Rainbow like sunsets that make my heart do a little pitter patter in ecstasy. I didn’t bring my landscape lens out with me, I only had my small little point and shoot, but oh tonight’s sunset I think was my favourite ever and the little point and shoot... it didn’t do half bad.









Once we reached the bridge, just outside of the parking area at Bolsa Chica we sat to watch the last of the light fade away. Mrs. Dancer even snapped a shot for Facebook, because this is a digital world and because we can! That little cell phone even took some kick butt photos.



We got into the car for the hour and a half drive home exhausted but oh so happy. It was a fantastic day and we chatted happily the whole way home. I walked into the door, crawled into my comfy clothes and sat down for a night of anticipated relaxing and photo editing and that is when I got the emergency call that changed all my evening plans...

To be continued

The Music Box

I love my niece, I adore having her around; she manages to fill dark little places in my heart that no one else can seem to touch. For a three year old I find her viewpoint of the world so uplifting. Everything to her is beautiful, everything is fun and just being around that innocence is like sinking into a rainbow.



However with all good Yins must come Yangs. And oh has my Yang runnith over!

It has been 4 days now and there is so much noise. Too much noise. Noise blocking noise. The singing, the singing, the constant singing, and the talking and the chatting and the questions and the make believe words in between; a nonstop deluge of noise. Quiet is something that I cherish, in the quiet I have lived for years, quiet is comfortable, quiet is safe. Unless there is so much quiet. Too much quiet. Quiet blocking quiet until it also becomes too loud.

That is what I have in my life right now. Black and white. No child, no noises, just the deafening quiet until the quiet takes over my soul and becomes too heavy to bear. Silence living in my soul, silence filling up the walls until I am drowning in a sea of quiet. A silent world where I find myself begging for noise. Then I pick up Ms. Bambi and my order is blown to bits. I have three year old who brings her brightness and noise into my life. Brightness that I am not used too, like a cannon ball into a cold pool, I become her temporary everything and I find myself yearning desperately for the quiet.

It is hard being dropped out of my comfort zone, hard to face challenges that I am not used to, at times it becomes overwhelming, and my soul is a delicate flower.

As the hour draws near where I have to drop off Ms. Bambi with her parents I find myself counting down the hours, counting down the minutes until I get my quiet back. Then dropping her off, walking out of the house sans child, the instantaneous release. What I didn’t anticipate was the hole I felt driving away from her house.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Wine O’clock

Its Ms. Bambi’s third day here and we are having so much fun. Today after being cooped up in the house because Ms. Bambi wasn’t feeling well we decided to venture outside. It was a little chilly out in the backyard but bundled up we were fine. I took photos as we chased bubbles and took turns blowing. Cute cute cuttier than cute! Can of bubbles, .99 cents, hours of enjoyment and adorableness... priceless.







Indoors we played with toys, watched Disney movies and spent a ton of times with crafts. My mother took time to sit with us as kids for hours and hours creating crafts out of simple household things. Ms. Bambi and I made a noodle board, we played with old toilet paper rolls, but she had the most fun with cutting out shapes. I simply asked her what animal she wanted, drew it out on construction paper with a crayon and then she cut it out. HOURS I tell you with nothing more than a pair of children’s scissors, some crayons and construction paper.



When I ran out of ideas, or lets be honest I ran out of patience, we went to the mall a block away from the house. There they had a really cute play area with oversized food products the kids could play on. She ran, she jumped, she climbed, she went through tunnels and then she did it over and over again a hundred times. Let’s just say naptime today was EASY, she was exhausted after an hour here.



And then in times of the most dire need, when I just wanted a moment of peace, a moment of quiet I whipped out Ms. Bambi’s iPad. Geniuses that created this are my new heroes. That thing gave me the moments I needed to regain my sanity... or shop... or drive. LOVE YOU IPAD!!!



After a very long day, running, catering, wiping, entertaining, scrubbing, crying, and cleaning it is finally time for Ms. Bambi’s bed routine. After she is sleeping, after the whole house is silent it is finally my time. I pour a glass of wine, I put up my feet in my husband’s lap and I am complete. Let me tell you THAT time is all the more special because there is so little in the day for just me. Wine O’clock is more wonderful after a long day like today.

Babysitting Lesson #246

So I am watching my niece Ms. Bambi, the Fruit’s three year old, while they recover in the hospital with the new baby. My husband came home from lunch one day and I gave him the option of watching Ms. Bambi or making lunch. He decided to watch Ms. Bambi who was in the highchair contently coloring. I literally walked down the stairs and had only time enough to take out the bread when he yells down the stairs:

Mr. Rogue: “Ummm is Ms. Bambi supposed to be using the markers on her face...”

I didn’t even bother to respond I just ran up the stairs. I left a little girl contently coloring in her book and I walk into a room with a child covered in marker. Ms. Bambi was so proud.

Ms. Bambi: “Look at my pretty makeup!”



I guess I didn’t give Mr. Rogue specific enough instructions of how to WATCH a three year old. They only need a moment to get into trouble.

I tried super hard to be stern but I ended up laughing so hard when I saw her little face but she had done such a great job of putting on her makeup! I was happy to at least have the erasable markers. Thank goodness for Crayola. I was worried I would have to really scrub, even though it said washable, but with a little soap and water it came off without a problem.

A Hospital Meet and Greet

We didn’t want to overdo it, not the baby and the baby moma’s first day, but both parents wanted to see their daughter Ms. Bambi. With all the rushing and hustling there wasn’t a ton of time to prepare, plus we were all bursting to see the new baby, or at least I was.



Born a nice 8.5 pounds Baby Fruit had his mom’s eyes and mouth and dads nose and chin. He was adorably PERFECT and even though he didn’t wake up for the half hour we were there I was already in love. I could have stayed holding that baby all night.



They lucked out with a large suite with a pull out bed. Mr. Rogue refused to hold the baby, he was terrified he would break him. So I just snapped a shot of Mr. Fruit, proudly holding his son, his brother... my husband smiling on. Oh Mr. Rogue I hope you will be holding MANY babies very soon, maybe even triples if I had my way, just you wait.

Baby Fruit's Shower: The Baby Crasher

So much went down today so allow me a moment to untangle the past 12 hours of emotional ups and downs. I went to bed last night with a heavy heart. It is all so hard for me, these wonderful women all around me getting pregnant, and with Mrs. Fruit it’s even harder because this pregnancy happened the same time mine did. I went to bed last night with mixed emotions. I was excited for the shower, happy for the baby to get here, but also a part of me was very very sad.

All I can say is that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

I woke up this morning to a bright and sunny day, a day full of light and love, a perfect day for a baby shower. Mr. Rogue and I were still curled up in bed when I got the phone call. The baby, who was NOT invited to the party decided that he was just going show up anyways; as in Mrs. Fruit’s water broke a moment ago and they were on the way to the emergency room.

I will let that sink in for a moment. The shower, which was supposed to be today at 1, can’t exactly go on without the mother-to-be. I briefly thought about shoving a pillow up someone else’s dress as a stand in, but that would never work right?

Mrs. Fruit and I spent the next twenty minutes calling everyone invited, calling the caters, calling the balloon company; of course it was too late to stop the orders, it was only a few hours to the party. The guests were all understanding but I would need to figure out what to do with the food.

As I made my phone calls I rushed into comfy clothes, ignoring the new dress and heels hung up by the door. Hair in a ponytail, not a drop of makeup on my face I ran out the front door and rushed to the hospital. By the time I got there an hour later the doctors had checked out both momma and baby and both were doing great. However with the water broken and the contractions coming every eight minutes they had made a decision, an emergency caesarean was scheduled for 1:00PM; the exact start time of the baby shower... the humor was not lost on me.

I swooped up their three year old, Ms. Bambi, wished them luck and shot out the door. I picked up the catered food and decided just to bag it all up in zip locks and chuck it into the freezer. Food for 25 people takes up a ton of bags and space in the freezer but at least now, when the Fruits come home from the hospital, they will have precooked dinners for a month.

At 1:45PM I got the call; the newest addition to the Fruit family was born. Both Mrs. Fruit and Baby Fruit were healthy and happy.



A new little one in the family, a new child to cherish.

Preparations for Baby Fruit Shower – Part 2

With Mrs. Fruit’s baby shower tomorrow there was still some things I needed to get done. With a mixed crowd of Phillipine and American cultures Mrs. Fruit decided to just make it a whole lot simpler and cater the food for the baby shower. Since I then only had to worry about the deserts I wanted them to be a little better than the average grocery store sheet cake. Mrs. Dancer found a fantastic place that sold mini cupcakes and I knew I wanted to bring Macroon’s.

One of the girls in book club last week brought the most delicious delicate Macroon’s I have ever tasted. I liked Macroon’s before, but can I just say that I am now deeply in love. I want to learn to make Macroon’s just like these, goal number 7,983. Anyways since I don’t have time to learn to make these between now and Saturday I just decided to order them from the same place. Lette in Beverly Hills... I die... welcome to the Macroon Mecca!



Since I was trying to be a bit less last minute run around I arranged to pick these up early this morning. Mrs. Dancer and I swung around on our way to Mrs. Fruit’s house. And I just couldn’t help myself I grabbed the 50 macroons I ordered for the party and then I ordered four more to go, just so we could all try them after lunch. I just couldn’t resist their gorgeousness. And with the Macroons picked up the only thing I have to do in the morning is pick up the balloons. SCORE!

We got to Mrs. Rambo’s, who is on bed rest, with all the decorations for the shower. We hung the sign, then re-hung the sign, and then gave up on the tape and re-hung the sign once again with thumb tacks. We put together centerpieces and brought out supplies for the games. We smiled over setting everything up, it felt good to be all ready for the shower.

After we set up for the shower we ran upstairs. Mr. Fruit had painted the nursery, Mrs. Fruit had purchased all the decorations, and now it was just time to put it all together. Mrs. Fruit was delegated to the chair, she opened boxes and made suggestions and even jumped up a few times to help before being coaxed back into her seat.



Mrs. Dancer and I hung paintings, we put together the mobile and then we struggled to put the entire freshly washed sheet set on the bed. Why oh why do they make these sheets so tight, and all these ties on the bumper when it needs to be changed so often. Crib sets = torture in my book.

We left the decals for last. Dinosaur stickers to fill up the wall, that got stuck, and then rearranged, then unstuck and then stuck again. It shifted for a while until we were all happy.



We said our goodbyes all wrapped in smiles excited for tomorrow to come. My last thing on the list to do for tonight, make ham appetites as an additional finger food for the party. I finished at 9 with plenty of time to spend with my husband, relaxed in the thought that everything was ready for the party.

Taste Buds: Fresh Roasted Vegetables

I haven’t really been inspired to cook, all my cooking/baking got sucked into the marathon holiday cooking 2011 and I guess I needed a little bit of a time out from the kitchen. For the past two weeks we have been ordering in or eating sandwiches for dinner and frankly I am sick of it. So today, when my plans for this evening got cancelled, I decided to make something fun for dinner tonight.

It has been so warm here, even for LALA land. With temperatures in the eightys it feels more summer than winter. I went to the market and picked up some nice yummy vegetables. I wasn’t picky I just picked up things that looked good and then I came home to play. This recipe is deceptively simple but by roasting them you get a fantastic full flavor of summer on your plate.



I made a grilled salmon and served the vegetables over rice. Best meal we have had in a while.

RECIPE: FRESH ROASTED VEGETABLES INGREDIENTS any vegetables you have on hand 1 tablespoon of oil ¼ teaspoon of thyme generously salt and pepper DIRECTIONS 1. Set the oven to 400 degrees 2. Mix oil, spices and cut vegetables in a bowl. 3. Lay it out in a large baking dish 4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until fork tender.