Some flowers and a beach. A lovely week.

There have been some pleasant photo taking opportunities over the past week. I have witnessed blooming plants, a beach visit and even a trip to Ikea. Wednesday afternoon saw the departure of James back to Washington, which was extremely sad. Dear Jacki leaves tonight. It has been a spectacular two weeks of friendship and memory making. I'm feeling refreshed and very excited to get back into some projects that have been on hold while they've been visiting.

Last week we were able to squeeze in a trip to Manhattan beach. James read and Jacki drew while I decided to wander about in search of seashells. I've always been a big fan of shells. In Washington there are so many beautiful oyster shells, but they're not allowed to be removed from the beach. Down here I've found an abundance of clam shells, but they're tiny! I'm used to the mammoth clams of the Pacific Northwest. Down here most of the shells I've found have been smaller than a quarter! I don't know very much about common ocean life in Southern California, but I must say I am heavily disappointed in their sea life sizes ;)

::: Jacki frolicking and making a triforce for us

 ::: Soakin' up that sun

::: My shell collection! I found a button, too!

It was quite the trip to be at the beach and be in shorts, a tank top and super warm all while remembering that it was early November. The "warm year round" thing will take a long time to get used to.

Over this past week the weather has cooled down significantly though and we've had wonderful, life giving rain. Some wind storms too! This was greatly appreciated by me, until Andrew informed me that my tall (and top heavy) plants in the garden had been knocked to the ground by the gusts. Fortunately they weren't broken and the roots remained firmly in the ground. I've had serious issue getting them to remain upright ever since though. I bought support sticks from Home Depot, but the plants are just so heavy. After trial and error and the addition of bricks, I think I finally have them good to go again.

::: Some fun detail shots of the 'Love Lies Bleeding' variety, as well as a newcomer.

::: They're taller than I am. Note my brick stacking handy work

::: If Jacki is around while my camera is out then she will have her photo taken

It really has been such a nice two weeks. This last week was amazing for some solid BFF bonding time. I was sad to see James go, and I can't believe Jacki will be back up in Washington tonight *cry* The silver lining is that they were able to visit at all and I managed to get some really fun photos of us all. Plus, I can't forget how seriously revved up I am to get kicking with some sewing, crafting and papering! The hope is that next week's entry will be boasting some completed (or nearly completed) projects!

::: Just for fun! A shot of Jacki being cold outside of the Ikea. Love you always P2!

-MJ

Ireland Day 75 - Around Connemara

Today saw more exploration adventures!

I mentioned recently that I hadn't been out and about lately. I've been sticking around town and tending to my current routine, not having many chances to do anymore touring. Funds are tight and I'm not interested in doing tours by myself. These aspects do tend to restrict my options!

Tra Sáilín, a small beach past Spiddal. 

However, knowing that I'll be back before too long makes me feel less sad about missing out on popular places. There will be time! :)

After spending some time with Miriam she asked me if I'd had a chance to see Connemara yet. I told her that I had not but that I wanted to, just didn't want to do a tour alone.

So, she ever so kindly offered to take me today! And we had a very nice time.

We explored down a random road and met this nice fellow here.

One thing that I miss out on while being part of a tour? Stopping wherever I want. Miriam was awesome; she stopped wherever I asked her to and even pulled off on a few places that she knew of that she thought I'd enjoy.

Since she was in no hurry I was allowed to take my time photographing one thing over and over again and stopping randomly in the middle of a conversation.

Joy!!

For the most part we had very fair weather. The first half of our excursion was almost too warm. There was mist hanging over the ocean and it was beautiful. On our way back down to Galway clouds and fog started to settle over the landscape, obscuring the views rather heavily.

Another random stop shortly past Maam Cross. I wanted that valley in the background and this is where the sheep ran from me!

A few times we passed some pretty spectacular views but the lighting was just so bad that I didn't bother to have her stop. It wouldn't have hurt for me to snap a few shots, but I knew I'd be disappointed with the results so meh.

I got a lot of shots that I'm very happy with! My only let down is my lack of sheep photos D: I badly wanted to get some cute sheep pictures! At one point we pulled over near some sheep grazing behind a fence and they freakin' ran like crazy when I got out of the car :( :( Even after standing still for a while to prove I was harmless they still wouldn't come back.

Kylemore Abbey.

Next time! Grrr.

But speaking of sheep, I was rather surprised when we turned a bend in the road and there were two sheep moseying nonchalantly down the center line!

"Sheep!" I exclaimed. Miriam laughed and said that they're everywhere.

"But who do they belong to?" I asked. She said most likely some farmer nearby.

"What if something happens to them?" I was so amused and curious. She explained that cars are used to sheep wandering the roads so they rarely get hit, and there aren't many predators in the area. On top of all that the farmers generally have so many sheep that they probably don't even notice if one or two go missing.

Fascinating!

Early Autumn leaves resting at the top of a small waterfall at Connemara National Park.

She decided to take the route that the tour buses take, therefore ensuring plenty of beautiful sights for my camera and myself. We went up past Maam Cross and around to Kylemore Abbey. We walked around outside of the Abbey but didn't pay to go in. I'll leave that for another time.

After that we rode out toward Clifden and then stopped at Connemara National Park. It was mostly just trails but I saw some dogs swimming in a pond and that was cute. We stopped in Clifden because she was thirsty and she bought me a Loop de Loop, which was a lemon/lime partially chocolate covered popsicle. It was good too!

We stopped at Joyce's for some groceries and then I made dinner. To my great dismay (and pain) my sciatic nerve in my left side decided to freak the EFF OUT and I can barely walk right now. I have been stretching as much as I can and now I'm just laying down. I wanted to do the dishes but standing is friggin'... just no. So I hobbled upstairs and collapsed into bed. I do NOT know what's going on but it had better be finished when I wake up tomorrow.

I forget what this flower is called. I like it.

I'm sleepy. Today was fun.

-MJ

California Day 2, The Beach

So we were so ridiculously busy the entire time we were in California that I only had a chance to blog on the first day that we were there! Good times were had by all and I'm glad that we had a full agenda. I am sad that I didn't get the chance to blog daily about the goings-on though.

With that said, my plan is to update about each day and post a few photos. Here we go!

Venice Beach!

Day two of our fabulous California excursion brought us to Venice Beach. We had amazing weather and beautiful deep blue skies. Our method of transport? Bicycles, of course!

There's me, bein' awesome on a beach cruiser bike. We rented them from this great little place near Andrew's house. We received a free scoop of ice cream from the adjoining shop for doing all day rentals! A great start to the day.

Andrew dropped us off in his car then drove back to his place and biked down to meet us. That down there is Jake waiting.

He always looks so cool. I love that about him, along with many other things. 

This happened to be a great time to do some flash with daylight work. I like the result.

We biked about 7 (I think) miles to the beach. I can't remember the last time I was on a bike before this little adventure, so I was super shaky on the bike. Plus, beach cruisers are a bit different from regular bikes. They have really wide handlebars (which I wasn't used to) and they're supposed to be more... wobbly, I guess? Hence the "cruise" in the title.

They took getting used to, and I almost fell off a few times.

Since we were going to Venice Beach and all, we rode through the Venice Canals of Los Angeles!

They were beautiful, the houses were amazing. We stopped at the first canal for a short break and I took the opportunity to snap this photo.

Also this one here. Directions for the canals!

We did a lot of bicycling through traffic, which made me incredibly nervous. A lot of people bike comfortably in LA, but I'm not one of those people, especially not on a strange bike. I was pretty sure I was going to get hit by a car. Every time I tried to look over my shoulder to check for traffic I started to fall to that side.

So we finally made it to Venice Beach! The photo at the top of this post is probably my favorite from the day, with this shot of the pelican coming in at a close second!

This bird was monstrous, and also quite calmly sitting on the end of the pier. He didn't mind people getting close. I hate birds, they scare me, so that was taken with my 18-200mm. I was about 6 feet away or so.

The beach was beautiful. We went to the very end of the pier where people were picnicing and fishing. We admired the view for a while before heading back to land and locking up our bikes so we could walk around.

We dined at this fine establishment:

It was pretty good. I love a good hot dog stand. We need more in Washington! There's just something about them that are (is?) so quaint and enjoyable to me.

So we ate our dogs and enjoyed the amazing view. I did my best not to people watch, because the people at Venice Beach were kind of scary and skanky.

But look how beautiful the scenery was! It was just amazing, I really fell in love... I think.

After we finished eating it was finally off to the water!

The bathroom facilities were disgusting. They were beyond disgusting. Revolting? Horrifying? Moist cesspools of God knows what? I hardly know the words to describe the situation.

Needless to say, it was a difficult and upsetting situation to change into my bathing suit there. But I did it, because I bought the suit the day before and dammit I was going to wear it.

Andrew and his awesome friend Andrea went into the water. I decided that it was too cold. Warmer than Washington water, but still far too cold for wimpy little me. So Jake and I guarded the hole that Andrew was digging.

This bird looked right at me. I mean, directly. You probably can't tell in this small photo, but if the full sized file gets zoomed, he is in an eye-to-eye DEATHLOCK with me. I hate birds.

And with that, I leave you with a final gorgeous photo of Venice Beach. It was a full day, to be sure. There were amazing photos to be taken, along with delicious food to be eaten and fun people to spend time with. I guess it wouldn't have been a true big city experience if it weren't for the horrific restrooms though. -MJ