The Rich Are Much Like Us...

...except that their tacky lawn ornaments are bigger and more expensive.

Yesterday we went to tour my parents old neighborhood.  Mom and Dad bought a house on the cliffs in Shell Beach years ago, well before the boom in real estate.  While they owned the house there, it became a very expensive and exclusive neighborhood, with old beach houses being replace with new mansions.

 By and large, the landscaping on these houses is incredible, with gorgeous arrangements of exotic species, with something in full bloom all the time.  But here is one of the old houses, with a set of pink flamingos.

One of the newer houses, in the gated community up the street.  These houses have an incredible view of the Pacific:

About like so, but from 50 of more feet higher.

Nongratuitous Sunset

Quite the display this evening:

At The Beach You Can...

Stroll the Baby

Play Beach Volleyball

Chase a Seagull

Walk the Pier

Listen to Music

Wait for a Wave

Watch the Moon Rise

Watch the Sun Set

Your Friday Monkey Dacker Actor

At Long Last...

The quest for the perfect chile relleno is finished.  Georgia found it in a small, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant called El Mirador, just off the Pismo Beach Pier.

At The Beach You Can...

Bury a Brother

Climb a Rock

Play Giant Chess

Jog Your Dogs

Explore a Cave

Search for Buried Treasure

Read a Book

Sea Kayak

I Need New Glasses

I can't read the small letters anymore.

Spotted at Theo's.

Thanks to Jake Finnegan for noticing..

Uncle Sam Proposes to Become Landlord Sam

Government considers turning foreclosures into rentals 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration may turn thousands of government-owned foreclosures into rental properties to help boost falling home prices.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday it is seeking input from investors on how to rent homes owned by government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

The U.S. government rescued Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and has funded them since the financial crisis. The mortgage giants own or guarantee about half of the nation's mortgages and nearly all new mortgages.

At the end of last month, the government owned roughly 248,000 foreclosed homes, officials said. About 70,000 of those are listed for sale. But officials expect the number of foreclosures to soar in the coming months...

Who here thinks that the Federal Government will make a lousy landlord?  Can you imagine the rental contract?  1000 pages of legal gobble-de-gook mandating no-smoking, no fire arms, no anti-government dissent (unless liberal), backed up by federal agents with guns but no sense of humor?

A Few Good Terns...

Weed du Jour

Fennel:

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum (treated as the sole species in the genus by most botanists). It is a member of the family Apiaceae (formerly the Umbelliferae). It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is generally considered indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, but has become widely naturalised in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on riverbanks.

It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicinal uses, and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base that is used as a vegetable.

Fennel is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the mouse moth and the anise swallowtail.

 I remember as kids we used to take pieces of it and chew it for the sweetish, licorice taste.

Gratuitous Sunset

Rock Fishing, 8/10/11

We arranged for a half day bottom fishing trip for my brothers and I and their three sons (daughters were invited too, but declined).  Avila Harbor was cool and misty this morning...

The three boys, Matthew, Conrad and Karl ( left to right).  We went out with Patriot Sportfishing, at 6 AM on one of their big head boats.

We were fishing with live anchovies, just off the bottom in 120-150 ft of water, using 1 lb sinkers.

 Fishing was pretty good; we had no trouble getting our limits of 10 of mixed "rockfish" (not Striped Bass, but rather the California rockfish, mostly Sea Bass in genus Sebastes.

Here is a nice sized "Red rockfish" caught by a young lady near at hand.  The biggest fish on the boat today was an 11 lb Ling Cod (sorry, no picture). Conrad had one of these hold onto one of his fish until it reached the surface.

Here is our pile of fish, 60 in all (six limits) being filleted by the mates.  Well worth the cost.

And, of course, the additional fun of watching the gulls and pelicans fighting over the carcases..

 A Brown Pelican slides in for a share of the take.

All in all, a morning well spent.  We had fish tacos for the main course for dinner at the hotel barbeque tonight, and two large bags of fillets will go home with Ted and Mark.

Panoramic View of Avila Habor

Grass Ain't Greener, Wine Ain't Sweeter, Either Side of the Hill

Five of us headed out to do a little wine tasting this afternoon.  Edna Valley is just inland from Pismo Beach and is a well know wine grape growing area.

The first winery was Sextant.  Tasting was rather expensive, but you got a nice Riedel Crystal wineglass to keep, so it wasn't too onerous...

A shed outside Sextant covered with Morning Glories.

 Chamisal was our second stop.  We decided later that we like their wine best overall (but I didn't get any bad wine).

A sign outside Chamisal with directions to most of the local wineries.

Our third stop was Edna Valley Winery, one of the biggest and most successful (and certainly one of the most beautiful settings.  A huge picture window looks out at the valley across grape vines towards the chain of little conical mountains called the Seven Sisters locally.

This is the view through that picture window.  Edna Valley Winery also had a nice demonstration vineyard that you could wander through and sample wine grapes.  The Pinot Noir grapes were delicious.

Maybe You Should Talk to the Guy at the X-Ray Machine...

Before you try to take something like this through the airport secuity:

An Oregon college student's science project forced the evacuation and shutdown of a terminal at Eppley Airfield in Omaha on Wednesday.

The student had been participating in a science fair at Creighton University in Omaha, FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault said.

"The device had a legitimate purpose and was harmless but had a suspicious appearance, which triggered an appropriate response by TSA and law enforcement," Breault said.

Breault said the student is working on a doctorate, but did not release the student's name or other details — such as the type of science project that prompted the scare.

The airport's north terminal was evacuated and shut down for about two hours Wednesday after X-ray screening workers spotted the science project in a carry-on bag, the federal Transportation Security Agency said.

The terminal was reopened around 2 p.m. Wednesday.

"Out of an abundance of caution, screening operations were suspended and the terminal was evacuated," a TSA written release said. "The Omaha Police Department's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit cleared the item with negative findings."

If You Break a Sand Dollar...

Do you get Sand Quarters, Sand Dimes, Sand Nickels and Sand Pennies?

Are Canadian Sand Dollars now worth more than American Sand Dollars?