TRIP TO DAD'S -- PART FOUR

TRIP TO DAD'S -- PART FOUR

As I write this we are still hoping that dad's house has escaped harm from the fire. The focus of the media coverage is now on the Montecito/Santa Barbara area, so we don't have as many updates as we were getting. From what we can gather over the internet, the worst of it is done in Carpinteria. This is, of course, assuming that the wind doesn't change direction and blow it back up there. Nothing is a given with a fire like this. The firefighters did a lot of back-burning on Monday on the hillside right above dad's house, and it seems to have protected the buildings on the hill. The evacuation order is still in effect for that area, so we will not know absolutely for sure until dad and the family can get back in there. So, we are still keeping our fingers crossed. Since this fire is into its second week already, I have decided to go ahead and continue my post of our trip down to dad's in October.

TAKING A BREAK

Linda and I tried to get out and about in Carpinteria a couple of times during our two weeks as dad's caregivers. I would like to mention that Linda's son was there also during this time, as he lives with dad. He always takes the night shifts, being available in case dad needs help during the night. So when we wanted to take a break, we would ask him to stick around for a couple of hours. He was always accommodating, which helped us tremendously. On one of our breaks we decided to go out for lunch in Carpinteria. There is one particular restaurant that we really like in that town, Zookers, so we decided to go there (click here for their website).

We both decided to order their Stuffed Grape Leaves which are stuffed with ground lamb and rice. It was a nice meal and gave us an opportunity to get out and stretch our legs.

FLOWERS AROUND DAD'S HOUSE

My usual perch while at dad's was sitting outside on his deck, watching the birds. At every opportunity I was taking pictures and videos. Granted, my camera would not cooperate sometimes, but I did manage to get some pretty good shots. Here are some more pictures I took of the flowers around dad's house.

Angel's Trumpet

Can you spot the Silver-Spotted Skipper?

A Sulphur butterfly on the bougainvillea plant

Hummingbird getting nectar from a Bottlebrush flower

Not sure what this is, but it was in a large pot on the deck

I even got a couple of butterflies in on a couple of my pictures, which is always a plus. I think I should note that the bougainvillea plant in the picture above is HUGE! Back in North Carolina, I had only seen bougainvillea plants in hanging baskets. But in Carpinteria they are all over the place in people's yards, beside the road, everywhere. And they are all huge. Below is a picture that I took of this plant a few years ago before California was in such a bad drought. It is still pretty now, though.

Bougainvillea plant

MYSTERY BIRDS

One morning I was walking along the driveway from dad's house headed to the RV when I noticed a small flock of about 10 birds on the ground over near the hedge. I had my phone with me so I quickly took a few pictures and watched them walk across the street from dad's house. Then I went inside and got my camera so I could get better pictures. I found them in the bushes across the street and they didn't seem to be frightened of me. I took a few pictures which turned out pretty good even though it was still not very light outside. I had never seen these birds before, so you know I had to look them up after I got my pictures. It turns out they were Tennessee Red Quail. I knew they were some kind of quail from their body shape, but I had never heard of these. There was not a lot of information available on the internet, but it seems that they are a variation of the Bobwhite Quail and are mostly bred for hunting preserves. I can only guess that these either escaped from someone's farm, or they are a wild covey that migrated from a nearby hunting preserve. Wherever they came from, I was glad to see them as they were beautiful birds.

THE WEATHER

The weather when we first arrived in Carpinteria was rather warm, but we were glad of it since we had left Yakima in below freezing temperatures. However, after we were there a few days the weather ramped up and got downright HOT. We thought we were back in Yakima in August. An interesting note for my East Coast friends is that hardly anyone in the Carpinteria area has air conditioning in their homes. They simply do not need it on a regular basis because it usually doesn't get that hot. We certainly could have used it for a few days, though. Here was the weather forecast for the second week we were at dad's.

The week's forecast

Do you see those triple digits on Monday and Tuesday? Yes, it definitely got that hot, and with no A/C in the house, it was pretty hot inside, too. I tried to stay outside as much as possible, but there wasn't even a breeze blowing so it was even hotter out there.

Actual temperature inside (top) and outside (bottom)

These temperatures were well above what is normal for the area during October. Thank goodness the temperature goes way down at night, so the heat didn't pose any problems for sleeping. And, during the day, we could go out to the RV for a little air conditioned relief from time to time. Since I am talking about the RV I thought I would include a picture of our little home-away-from-home. The inside was quite nice. This is where Linda's sister and brother-in-law live while they are taking care of dad. Linda's son lives inside the house with dad.

Our home-away-from-home

ACTIVITIES FOR DAD

Linda's dad is a very active person, even though he uses a wheelchair to get around most of the time. He can still walk without one, and he takes at least one walk every day using his wheely-walker. He also does stretching exercises every day to keep his mobility up. I hope if I live to be 97 years old that I can be as active as he is. He also likes to exercise his mental faculties by playing cards and reading the LA Times newspaper every day. This is in addition to all of the "business" that he carries on by  phoning his friends in the Lion's Club. Even though he doesn't get out very much, Dad still is very involved in the community of Carpinteria.

Playing Solitaire...he wins a LOT

Dad is also very much a sports aficionado and if there is a game on TV, he's there! I mentioned in a previous blog that the World Series playoffs and the World Series games were played while we were with dad. We watched all the games and, of course, we were pulling for the Dodgers all the way. Linda and Dad both got into the spirit of things by wearing their Dodgers t-shirts. Dad has been a life-long Dodgers fan and it was such a treat for us to be able to watch them playing in the World Series with him...even though they didn't win.

Go Dodgers!!

THE LITTLE HAB FAMILY

You already know what happened to the original little Hab when he got red, but I haven't told you about the fate of his brothers and sisters. I had a total of two habanero peppers turn completely red while we were down there. The original little Hab and his red brother both wound up on my plate at different times during our stay there. Quite tasty!

The remaining members of the Hab family did not turn completely red while we were down there, so I brought them home and after they finally turned red, I dried them in my dehydrator and ground them up. But they were pretty to look at while they were in the process of turning red.

ARTWORK AROUND THE DECK

I've talked a lot about Linda's dad, but I haven't mentioned her mom. She was a wonderful, funny, happy-go-lucky lady who, sadly, passed away in 2010. However, her presence is still very much felt at dad's house. Linda's mom collected stone statues of animals which were made by the artist Isabel Bloom, who used to have a ceramics factory in Santa Barbara. They are still scattered around the deck and remind me of her whenever we are down there.

Many of the beautiful plants and bushes that she planted and tended while she was alive are still there, too. A few years ago we brought home one of her rose bushes, a yellow one, and planted it in our yard in Yakima. We have named it the Mom Rose. Here is a picture of her lavender rose that is planted in a very large pot on the deck, as well as more of the plants and flowers around the house.

Lavender Rose

Bougainvillea Flowers

A visitor to the deck

Side deck with flowers all around

Back of dad's house

One of the most striking plants at dad's house is this one below, an Agave Attenuata. He actually has two of them on his property and both were in the process of getting ready to bloom while we were there. It looks like a group of aphids really like that plant, as you can see by the little black things that are gathered on one of the flowers.

Black Aphids

PARTING SHOT -- WORDS OF WISDOM

One thing that has always stayed in my mind, from the very first time I went to dad's house, is this little plaque that he has hanging on the wall. It's in a pretty prominent place, right beside the dining room table, so you can't miss it. I love the sentiment, which puts growing old into perspective. I think this is a nice parting shot for this edition of the blog.

Next week I will wrap up our visit to dad's so we can get back to the real world after Christmas. So check back in next week.