The view from the balcony at our "new" hotel...and Ralph out enjoying it.....

Not long after, we retired inside, and enjoyed the view from the heated room - it was quite cold outside, and the wind was adding to the chill factor.  I did go out side to catch the sunset....

 

Playing with the camera again - this time in the tide pools by the lighthouse...

Ralph got tired of waiting for me while I was out clambering around on rocks (it was low tide - lots of places to explore!) so he took a break on a rock....

And he found the perfect rock....

 

Ralph and I stole a weekend away - and drove up to Crescent City.  The drive up was beautiful - a nice sunny day.  

I had made reservations at a hotel right on Crescent Beach (Ralph's favorite...) so we stopped there on our way in to see if we could check in early.  Good thing we did - they had my reservations for the NEXT weekend....and no open rooms left.  Thank goodness for smart phones!  I snagged a room at a different hotel - a room with a balcony and a view of the ocean.  Not quite the same as being right on the beach, but...better than no room at all!

We got in to Crescent City around low tide, so we grabbed some lunch at the Seaquake brewery (loved it!!!) and drove down to the B Street pier and walked down by the lighthouse.  (Outside dining - due to COVID - sucks in the winter by the ocean!  Brrrrr.....)

Snow Day in Redding!  (Sort of, at lest....)  About two years ago, the day before Valentine's Day, Redding got over a foot of snow, pretty much with no warning.  This year, they over-forecast the snow.  Dire warnings were issued, people were panic buying (again), etc.  Redding got some snow, I'll admit, and the higher elevations got quite a bit, but....nothing like they were warning us about.  I went to bed about 10:00, and we had about 1/2 inch of snow....

At 5:00 the next morning, we had maybe a couple of inches - maybe....

By the time I left for the bank (I did have to physically go in to the bank....) it was raining on the snow, and it was starting to melt quite a bit.

There was quite a bit of snow at the bank - maybe 4 inches in the parking lot.  Downtown Redding had more, and they have hills that make it a bit worse for driving, as well.  

Ralph and I took off last weekend for a break - we went to Crescent City for the night.  It was cold and windy - even rainy on Sunday - so between COVID restrictions and the weather, we didn't get out much.  I still have a ton of pictures to sort through, though.  When we got in Sunday night, my new sewing table had been delivered, so instead of sorting pictures, I put it together!  

There were several times I was not happy with the "easy to assemble" instructions, because "easy" it wasn't - at least with those instructions.  Not enough details given for the small details....that make a huge difference!  After putting the drop-down section in for the third time, I got it!!!  It would probably help if I had a more mechanical mind, or more practice putting things together, but...I did it!  I like it!

I had to stop twice on the way back from Ronna's for sunset pictures...

 

Coming back from Ronna's, I was in the Lake District right at sunset...

 

I have serious quilt envy - Ronna got a new Q-machine for her quilting, and her quilts look better than ever (and they were pretty great to begin with!)

And, as you can see, she too, has helpers for her quilting.  Below, she had to forcibly move Charlie - he kept curling up on the quilt, making it impossible to move....Grute (above) moves on command at least....

I made a quick visit to Ronna's last weekend - Kirby was supposed to come with me, but Joe was in quarantine for COVID exposure, so she opted out.  Since Joe's "exposure" was walking within 6 feet of someone who was later diagnosed with COVID a full week before, outside, while both were wearing masks, I felt pretty safe....He said he was caught on a security camera and they weren't really sure he was even closer than 6 feet, but since he works from home 90% of the time, they just told him to stay home rather than argue...they were actually measuring the height of a tire in the security camera photo and extrapolating the distance....just stay home....  

I made my  normal one-day dash to Ft. Bragg - it is sooo worth it!  I stopped on 20 and took a quick walk in the redwoods.  Nothing smells and feels like that!

 

One of my unofficial New Year's Resolutions (I tend not to make resolutions - I always break them...better to be unofficial....) is to declutter more often.  I was cleaning out a catch-all of on-going crochet projects, and managed to drop a ball of yarn - which Indy was happy to take care of for me.  It's so funny to see him play like a kitten - a 20 pound kitten....and needless to say - I didn't want to use that ball of yarn for anything after he finished with it.

 

Koori has had a hard time adjusting to AJ moving out (and getting a full-time, Monday through Friday job...).  He moved her bed out with him, but every chance, she's back in his room where her bed used to be.....

She did finally decide to sleep in it in AJ's house now....but it isn't the same.....

 

More playing with the camera shots.....what a pretty girl!

Still trying to figure out the sweet spot for action photos - I got a lot of just before and just after photos.

And I tried out the movie option.....

Shasta got some snow too - and can you tell we live by the airport?

 

Saturday was AJ's 29th birthday (I have no idea how that could be, but he assures me it's true) and he had three of his buds over for hamburgers and gaming.  One thing hasn't changed - they still all eat like they are teenagers!  I did manage to issue the "birthday swim challenge" in front of them, so....he pretty much had to do it.  The pool looks so nice at night now...if you ignore the leaves I didn't get cleaned out....

I even managed to get a pretty decent shot of him entering the water - I think I do like this camera!  I didn't have a chance to fuss with the settings either - it was pretty much challenge issued, and he was in the water (and out of it just as fast...)

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More playing with the camera - I think I like it!!!  I definitely need more practice, but I'm good with that too.

Lassen got a dusting of snow in the last storm.

This guy was quite a distance away - pretty cool to be able to capture this:

And the puppies went across the creek (where they could walk across) and when I called them back, they chose to cross where they got just a bit wet....

 

One of the best ways to block out my worries of just about everything (COVID, rioting at the Capital, Ralph's health, etc.) is to just go for a walk with the dogs and a camera.  It doesn't change anything, it doesn't make them go away, but for a little while, I focus on something besides work and all those problems....

And speaking of focus - I'm still trying to figure out the new camera....