Cannon Battles in San Diego Bay

The U.S. Coast Guard's Eagle in San Diego Bay

The tall ships sailed into San Diego Bay last week on their tour of the West Coast. Usually we have a few rigged sailing vessels at the docks just a quarter mile from our apartment; they are part of the San Diego Maritime Museum. The most famous is the Star of India, which has the distinction of being the world's oldest active ship (1863). In the summer of 1996, a year after I moved to Los Angeles, I drove to San Diego to meet up with my uncle Paul, who was in town to captain the Star of India on one of her semi-annual voyages.

The highlight of the San Diego 2008 Festival of Sail was seeing the U.S. Coast Guard's Eagle. My uncle Paul captained this tall ship from 1976-1980, and it's played a part in family christenings and a wedding. We went by the ships in the early evening of the first night, and there were Navy, Coast Guard and Colombian Navy (I think Navy, but definitely Colombian) service persons and a host of other people dressed up for cocktail receptions on a few of the ships. It was fun to watch. We didn't pay the $65/person fee to sail on the ships during the cannon battles, but we could hear them from our place. A cannon going off is quite a distinct sound.


Current me by the Eagle's figurehead (Colombian ship in back), and just a few years ago in front of the Eagle with some of the Welling women. I'm the one in pigtails with my hands over my head. Aunt Shelia is holding my hands, and then there's golden-haired, baby Martha, Aunt Joan, my cousin Andrea, my sister Carolyn (in front) and then my mom. I love this photo.

Anniversary Balloon Ride

Matt and I were treated to an anniversary balloon ride by my very sweet mother (yeah Anne!). We had seen balloons frequently in flight a little before sunset by the Mormon temple off the 5 freeway, and we'd always thought they tracked close to the coast. When we were planning an activity for our second anniversary, I immediately thought of the hot air balloons. I had only been once before in Palm Springs, and it wasn't very scenic. Since I was with my sister then, of course it was fun, but landing in a field with shot-up fridges and sofas just took away from the experience.



We met our fellow flyers and crew in a Vons parking lot in Del Mar--this may sound unappealing, but it gave us the opportunity to grab some appetizers at a kick-ass Persian restaurant nearby (the herb salad made our breath smell like mint and basil for hours). We were trucked over to a launch site, where I'd say about five other companies were getting their balloons ready. Although the area wasn't anything special, it was fun to see the balloons being inflated and lifting off. Ours was the last to take flight, so we got a nice show. Matt was a little nervous, as he has issues with heights when he feels unsteady. The initial moments were a bit hard for him, but the rest of the flight (minus the HARD landing) was smooth and he enjoyed it.


Our launch and landing sites--we certainly didn't escape civilization.


The balloons being unfurled, and our ride is just about ready to go.


Matt, trying not to think too much about what he's about to do, and I'm adding another layer of sun protection.

Some of the others in our group were, like us, a bit surprised at how we flew mostly over developed areas. We should have expected it--San Diego is built up and the winds blow us east, away from the water. Still, the balloon companies do over sell (surprise!) the idea a coastal excursion.


San Diego, a city of subdivisions, and a reason not to go skinny dipping before dark (you never know who is looking or from where).

However, the views west towards the coast were just beautiful. Fog covered the coastline, and surrounded some of the low hills. We were also able to see how SD is really a series of developments tucked into narrow canyons. From where we were, we didn't see a large, flat basin like you have in Los Angeles.



Sunset.

The experience was fun and relaxing, and though tired and a little dusty, we drove up to the North County beach town of Encinitas for a late dinner at Q'ero, a Peruvian restaurant I read about. It was certainly the type of place that once you enter, you know the meal and experience are going to be memorable. The colors were rich, the space cozy but not crowded, wine was present on many tables, and people just seemed happy and content. We thought that a table of "nice but crazy" Peruvian women (as described by our server) was a good sign as to the authenticity of the food. We slowly enjoyed our ceviche, filet, and fish prepared in Peruvian and South American styles. We also partook of a Patagonian Malbec--it was a night to celebrate.

... and it wasn't over yet--an unexpected adventure awaited us. One of Matt's coworkers lives in Encinitas, and we were going to meet him for a quick drink. The place he suggested was kinda horrible--beach town sports bar, hook-up haven on a Saturday night. Ick! Luckily he was delayed by a "heavy metal band", and we decided that sounded better than the bar. We joined up with him and found ourselves at a Future, Space Age, Retro keg party, with many of the guests and band members wearing some sort of metal or foil.


We love seeing live music, and this was no exception.

The host welcomed us in--he welcomed everyone from 20 somethings, to a homeless man, to a late 50s couple that loved to dance. It was awesome. The band, wasn't really playing heavy metal--Doors, Led Zeppelin, "Let's Get It On", and such. They certainly knew how to work with the crowd. I was impressed that they had a dedicated theremin player, who resembled a glam version of Harry Shearer in "This Is Spinal Tap". Another charming feature of this community is a lady who goes around to parties on weekends selling homemade egg rolls for $1.

I can't wait for next year's anniversary!

Green Home Ec 101

Pasta water cooling and, later, watering the sago palm out on the balcony.

I've read that using the leftover pasta water for your plants is an eco-friendly way to provide hydration, and that the plants like the starch. I don't make pasta very often (gluten-free spaghetti/ fusilli/ macaroni are fine, but I have yet to see gf ravioli or tortellini), and the last time I did make it, I remembered this eco fact after dumping the pasta into the strainer with the water heading quickly for the drain.

This most recent time however, I was prepared. I had the bowl from our rice cooker, which still had a thin film of rice starch, to catch the water after it passed through the strainer (the thought of dirtying another bowl to catch the water seemed to take away any eco benefit to the project). After letting the water sit and cool, I used it to water our herbs and sago palm.

I was feeling very good about the entire deal, until Matt's coworker asked if I had salt in the water. I did, though not very much. He pointed out this actually is very toxic to plants (kills the roots I read later). To undo my good/bad deed, I made sure to water the plants very thoroughly over the next few days. I'm glad to report, that everyone is doing well--the basil even started to flower.

Now there are plenty more suggestions for collecting gray water for plants (putting a bowl in the shower to collect soapy water, using a tub in your sink while washing dishes and then using the remaining water and bits of organic matter, using leftover salad spinner water), but we don't have that many plants that need regular watering. Having to think about such things constantly, is reason enough to only plant succulents.

Big and Beautiful

paws that is. Titchou's general daintiness belies her formidable footing. Here are a just few pictures showing off her polydactyl loveliness (26 toes in all).


Using her paw to absorb the heat of the sun and chilling out on a bar stool.


One of my favorite pix of her since we moved to SD--she must feel comfortable with the crab since it has big claws.

Gas For Under $4/ Gallon!

Chevron station at Rosecrans St and Sports Arena Blvd

Actually this was one week ago--and today I refilled the car for $3.89/ gallon. Of course we have to seek the cheaper places out, and gas was less expensive when we arrived in February. We're still painfully aware of the price of gas--especially with a 20 year old car that gets 23 mpg, on a good day--so we're part of the millions of Americans conserving in little ways: Matt's been carpooling lately, I take the Coaster to class on Tuesdays, we drive slower (65 vs 80 mph on the freeways) and I certainly think about my routes and trip chain whenever possible. New to trip chaining? Here's a little blurb about it from the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

"In 1995 this term was used in a study done by the U.S. Department of Transportation to study the declination of personal trips carried out by public transit. Every stop was considered a chain along the entire trip, from the moment you left the house until you returned.

The term is now used to describe the ideology of combining all of your errands into a planned out route that will save you time and money, something familiar to most all of us in our busy and increasingly expensive lives.

UPS has taken this method and implemented into its daily operations. Truck routes are now preplanned utilizing only right turns to avoid waiting at left turn signals. They estimate they are saving around three million gallons of fuel per year with this plan."

Kayaking In La Jolla Cove

We gear up before heading down to the water, and the La Jolla Caves that we weren't allowed to approach beyond this point.

About a month ago, our friend Nico visited from LA, and the three of us joined a group to go kayaking to the La Jolla Caves in La Jolla Cove. Why I thought our group was going to be the only one, I have no idea. There are a number of outdoor adventure shops in the area, this tour was our company's most popular, and it was a (mostly) sunny Saturday in July--something should have warned me to expect to see more people than wildlife. Maybe it was this picture on the Hike Bike Kayak web site that allowed me to envision a more peaceful outing.



instead of


I don't mean to make it sound like we didn't have fun. It's just that we spent a good portion of our time being kept in a tight space so that they didn't lose track of anyone as we waited to individually go into this one cave for less than a minute (btw, the cave smelled like bird poop). First we had to let another tour group from a different company go through the same process. Matt kept straying out too far, requiring the 17 year old secondary guide to paddle out to usher him back. Matt actually got called a trouble maker. Ha ha!

Nico and Matt paddling in perfect sync.

The seals, sea lions, cormorants, and brown pelicans were in abundance, and a sea turtle (spied by Matt and Nico) and tiger sharks made an appearance. The three of us really enjoyed being out on the water--Matt so much that he jumped in when given the chance. If the day had been warmer, I would have joined him. But then who would have been there to take these photos?


Matt making his way back to the kayak, and there he is sporting his super white legs.

Green Home Ec 101

My mom had instilled in me the need to reuse plastic storage bags--but I had never found a convenient way to dry them. Ideally I wouldn't use them at all--but they are so handy and don't take up much space. I had tried hanging the washed out bags over the ends of pots that I had in the drying rack, but they always seemed to fall off and get wet or dirty again. I think I washed about one out of 10 bags, and I gave myself a good dose of Catholic guilt for the other nine bags I threw away.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading architect Michelle Kaufmann's blog (green ideas, sustainable, modern design, fun eco-friendly projects), and she had a post entitled "green it yourself: planted bag dryer." Finally, an easy, cheap, water-friendly and aesthetically pleasing way to dry those bags.

easy=I didn't even bother with the wire hanger, just used two chopsticks we already had.

cheap=The succulent cost me around $2.

water-friendly=I'll never have to water the succulent, as it receives it's minuscule amount of necessary hydration from the drying bags.

aesthetically pleasing=The plant is adorable, and I haven't even covered the pot with stylish scraps from design magazines. I may not as the Asian-esque plate it's sitting on works well with the chop sticks.


My version of the planted bag dryer.

Now, am I reusing more plastic storage bags? Absolutely! It's only if raw meat has touched the bag that I'll throw out a bag in good shape. I just get squeamish about such things. However, I mostly put such items in glass bowls, so I'm at about nine out of 10 bags being washed and dried. That one bag that gets thrown out is most often the one that finally gives up and tears.

I'm certainly not making a big dent in helping San Diego's water crisis, but I'm happy with my baby steps.

Summer Refreshers

Kukicha and mint tea cooling off.

I've never been a tea fan of any kind, and even after a year in Cambridge, I only made it as far as drinking hot herbal teas once or twice a week. Upon return to the States, I could only find my favorite herbal tea, Decaf Earl Grey Roobios, in loose leaf form online, so I ordered some and a sampler of caffeinated teas for Matt. Surprisingly, I really liked the nuttiness of Kukicha, a Japanese blend of green tea made from twigs, stems and stalks of the Camellia sinensis. Kukicha actually means twig tea (I think). It has the lowest caffeine levels of all traditional teas, which is probably one of the reasons that I like it.

Fresh mint growing on our balcony, and the Kukicha and mint ready to be steeped.

It has been quite warm here lately. I've been craving a refreshing drink and hot tea just isn't appealing. So I am now one of the legions of Americans who brew hot tea and enjoy it later, once it is quite cool. Our version is not only different because of the choice of tea, but we're also using fresh mint from our balcony herb garden. Mint certainly does grow like a weed, so there are always enough leaves to throw in with the twiggy tea while steeping. Green tea should only steep for three minutes, and we've found that although the mint and tea are removed at this time, the mint flavor is stronger once the tea is cold. I guess the mint oils just continue to infuse the concoction.

While this is my new favorite anytime summer refresher, I have to give a shout out to the Cucumber Cooler I had at lunch on Saturday at the Montage in Laguna Beach: cucumber infused vodka, champagne and elderflower syrup served over ice and fresh cucumber slices. Oh my, that's a heavenly drink!

Thursday Stroll to the Farmers Market

Weekly haul from the local farmers market.

With so many fruits and veggies in season, I had to start bringing the red cart to carry home my weekly farmers market shopping. (And for those who noticed--no, I don't consider Whole Foods to be a farmers market, I was just reusing the bags). While 'in season' is a subjective term in Southern California, I didn't see corn, raspberries, melons (loving the cantaloupe and honeydew hybrid) and peaches in the winter/ early spring. Actually, this Thursday market that I walk to doesn't have much produce at all before May--just flowers. Too bad I never learned to can fruit.

Our favorite now has to be the fresh kale and chard. I just chop it up into small pieces, mix it in with whatever other veggies we have, drizzle some dressing on it and call it a salad. When I went to the market last week, I thought I arrived too late to get the kale. Turns out the local growers are only allotted a certain amount of water (San Diego is officially in a drought), so they can't plant as much as they'd like. Doesn't make sense that people can water their lawns but farmers cannot water their crops.