Wow It's July
Although I haven’t been around to update a blog in many months, it has been on my mental to-do list. Unfortunately at a lower priority than other to-do’s. I’ll share some of those here.
A couple things stand out when I think about the year so far since my post. Weekdays have been really busy and weekends have been a balance of trying to get things done and trying to still enjoy what I have right in front of me. I got a haircut after like 16 months. I got vaccinated. And yeah, some other stuff below:
My birthday was in February and Mia got me a coffee roaster - so I’ve been buying raw coffee beans sourced from small operations around the world and then roasting them at home. The cost of this works out to about 25-30% versus buying whole beans from the store and the other upside is that our coffee has been tasting super fresh and has a little more thought put into it than just picking a bag of beans with an intriguing logo. I admit that was how I was making my coffee purchase decisions from time to time. Mia also got me a metal trough/tub to take ice baths in. I definitely recommend it to anyone with physical pain who wants to endure even more for 15 minutes. It’s like icing your whole body in one go, quite peaceful though.
We became annual members of the South Coast Botanic Garden which is a huge arboretum that also allows dogs to come in once a month for walks. Some photos from there are included.
For a long time living in this house I felt like the garage lacked decent looking and functional storage - so I got cabinets and a table top and installed it all myself along with some other shelves over the laundry machines.
We’ve upgraded the garden from version 1 to version 2 this spring by adding another 6” wall of board and soil to the garden boxes so that some vegetables will have more depth to grow. I also had to throw a quick chicken-wire fence around it to prevent the local animals from digging at night. In the past few months we’ve harvested a ton of dill, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. Looking forward now to artichokes, zucchini, different kinds of lettuce and peanuts (PEANUTS!).
Also on the subject of the yard, I’ve spent a lot more time cleaning up the abandoned mess beyond our immediate backyard fence. I used left over decomposed granite (fancy dirt) and left over wood from the fence and created a more formal outcropping/walkway with step pads. I also sawed down about 12 large invasive trees and am clearing the next section of the hill of dead leaves and ivy. Slow and steady progress. I also peaked into the spooky hut and discovered more retaining walls and noninvasive trees further down the hill.
Back to biking. I quit my gym membership at the beginning of covid so to workout I have a little creative at-home set up and more importantly the gravel bike. A couple memorable rides was one 82 miler from the house to Will Rogers beach and back. Barely made it home and learned that I need to pack more snacks. Another was an attempt to go south to Huntington Beach and back, however I fell a couple miles short. The major goal is a clean 100 miles and I have my sights on it, but may wait until summer is over for cooler weather. Another fun ride was up in Big Bear in June. I went riding from the lake and up to the summit of some mountains and back, all on sand/dirt fire road. It made for a good ride with sight seeing and it was 95 degrees that day so it was a lesson in how much water to bring as well as how much slower miles are met when riding on dirt instead of pavement. I hope you like pictures of a bike in front of random scenery.
Finally, just last weekend I went to the bay area for the first time in 7 months and hung out with my family, got to see my older brother’s house in San Rafael, enjoy time with friends and homemade pizza in Oakland and also allowed for Finn to get accustomed to more road trips and different situations and people. Success!
