Springtime in the Park

 

Ruby and I walk almost daily in this park.  It has become a ritual and when the time approaches each day, she comes and sets her chin on my lap - telling me it is time to go.

I've been letting her choose the path through the park recently and she really likes that.  She gets to explore things she's always wanted to explore.  One of the first thing was this platform that allows riders to mount horses.  I had never noticed it, but she had!

The hills are green this time of year.  They will be brown by June.

Ruby enjoying a romp in a field at the park.

She particularly enjoys this type of plant.

She'll stop and sniff every single bloom her nose can reach.

No, she isn't sniffing male dog pee - she doesn't do this with other plants or posts, etc.  Only this type of plant.

And each bloom must smell different for her to take the time to smell every single one.

Black Rail

 Wonderful evening with my wife at the Black Rail in Carlsbad.

Mowing The Lawn for First Time in 17 Years

 

The first week we moved into our current house 17 years ago, we hired a landscaper.  I had given our old mower to the people who purchased our old house and was tired of mowing the lawn anyway.

Well here we are 17 years later and we let that landscaper go.   We've decided to mow our own lawn so I went out last weekend and bought my first electric lawn mower.    Quite nice actually, except for the grass bag...that needs improvement.

Ciao Risorante

 

Out to eat for our weekly Family Dinner Night at Ciao Ristorante in Vista.

Jack's Pond

 

I took Ruby to a nature preserve a few miles from our house today for her daily walk.  I'm not sure why I never thought about taking her here before - she loved it!  She was jumping around in the truck when she saw we were going to a new place.

In this photo, Ruby had just heard a rustling in the bushes.

Jack's Pond.  Very serene.

Where the pond turns into a stream again.

The area is much greener in the spring and summer - I'll have to take more photos then.

Ducks enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

Ruby pondering what is around the next bend.

We had many Monarch Butterflies in the area last year.  I wonder if this is part of the reason why.

San Francisco's "Castle" and Underground Spring