Month: August 2017

Tuesday 1st August
Chill out day today relaxing in Jim & Susan’s backyard, we are on holiday this is California, chill out capital of the world. The gloomy early morning skies that have dominated our visit so far quickly burn off leaving a warm sunny day. Just as quickly they return in the late afternoon threatening rain that never happens. Hummingbirds with green almost iridescent backs dart about coming and going, vying for that perfect sweet spot that is the centre of one of the mock flowers that surround the bird feeder hanging outside the kitchen window. The sweet man made nectar has them flying in and waiting in a holding pattern until another of their kind moves on. Having had their fill, they fly to the water fountain, dipping their tiny long curved beaks into the water, wings beating furiously before disappearing again into the shrubbery at the rear of the property.

The quiet of Carmel Valley only occasionally shattered by the sound of airforce jets from the nearby Miramar airbase rocketing across the skies. In this house diner is always a treat, tonight the penne and tomato based sauce are delicious. Some puréed Alaskan salmon mixed with cream cheese and topped with crushed walnuts has become a ball of delight, to be spread on a cracker or two. This followed by a strawberry shortcake dessert complete with whipped cream while watching the movie “Bad Moms” completes the meal. If you are a hard working mum with growing kids to look after than this movie is for you, the moms are real bad, plenty of foul language and sexual innuendo, that would make a grown man cringe, but it is funny.
Wednesday 2nd August
The weather has warmed up distinctly, the morning gloom banished out to sea, we can feel the heat rising when we do. A quiet morning while our hosts continue with their daily lives, we relax on the patio. When Jim arrives home around midday we take off for lunch at La Jolla. Carmel Valley is about 20 miles north of San Diego, we travel back in that direction then up towards the coastal town that is La Jolla, situated in an elevated position about 12 miles south west. The towns elevated coastal position makes it a popular residential area for the well heeled of San Diego with far reaching views from the rocky hillsides over looking the Pacific Ocean to the west. The only drawback being the one access road in and out of the town making travel a slow process at times, particularly if there is a vehicle accident on the access road. Today though, the going is easy and we make it to our lunch destination in good time. Lunch is in the Main Street at George’s, we rise up from the main entrance to an elevated deck that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. 

Back at the coast the cloud cover is still evident, the sky a steel grey that is reflected in a calm rippling sea of mercury. Under white umbrellas surrounded by glass balustrades we enjoy lunch, the sky looks threatening but too high to produce any rain. The sea is devoid of marine traffic except for a local large tourist fishing boat that is bobbing up and down in one spot, while anglers crowd together dangling their lines over the safety rails, no overhead casting here. The skies are a different matter, intermittently small planes fly out of the hills behind us across the ocean to hug the coast line around the bay. Further north Dana Point is hidden by the hazy misty clouds that are also hugging the coastline. The view is still spectacular, I joke to Amanda that on a clear day you could almost see clear across the pacific to Australia some 12103.5km away. 

Susan’s brother Michael joins us briefly at lunch, he is working nearby as a Kinesthesiologist, a doctor whose area of study is human movement. More specifically, this refers to the movement of joints and muscles in the body.

After lunch we stroll down Prospect street, La Jolla’s tourist driven main street our target Cote Sud, a small shop specialising in French table linen for alfresco dining. On our last visit two years ago, we stopped and shopped here, the proprietor Frederic, also French willingly shipping our purchases home. The products are good and so we return for more of the same.
Business concluded, we take a drive in a circular route out of La Jolla and back to Carmel valley. On our way passing some stunning views along the coastline. 
San Diego has four distinct microclimates, in less than an hours’ drive, you can experience all four, coastal, inland valleys, mountains and desert.

The Coastal microclimate is characterized as moderate with little temperature change and generally light breezes. Pleasant summer days cool down in the evenings, with some early morning cloudiness and fog mostly in the spring and early summer. As we have witnessed low clouds may extend inland over the coastal valleys and foothills, but usually dissipate by mid-morning. Afternoons in the coastal microclimate are usually clear until late in the day when the marine layer can roll in.

As you move inland from the coast, the daytime temperature goes up and the nighttime temperature goes down. Summer months in the San Diego inland valley microclimate can get very hot. On average you can predict that the temperature will increase by almost one degree for every 1.6km (1 mile) that you go inland.

In the winter months the inland valley microclimate is quite a bit cooler at night than the San Diego coastal microclimate and it may experience occasional frost. Isolated afternoon thunder storms can pop up during the hottest part of the summer. The San Diego inland valley microclimate gets more rain from the winter storms than the coastal microclimate.

Then there is the mountain areas, where the summer nights are cool and the days are warm with occasional afternoon thundershowers. The winters can be cold with occasional snow accumulation that ranges from a trace to 15cm or 6″. It doesn’t last long and usually melts away within days. A lot more rain falls in the The mountain zones 750mm (30″ per year) than in the coastal microclimate 260mm (10.3″ per year). Last is the Desert zone, like most desert climates, expect extremes with very hot summers and cooler winter nights. The mountains capture most of the rain, creating the arid desert landscape. Where as in the Australian outback after a particularly wet winter magnificent displays of wild flowers can be witnessed. Certainly an interesting region climate wise, very Mediterranean with some similarities to Adelaide. 
Back home, in the inland valley zone, the temperature hasn’t varied much from the 26c/82f we left this morning, there is no wind at all. It’s wine o’clock before a planned BBQ dinner of Brats and chicken. We are all not that hungry after lunch, wine o’clock stretches into the evening as we watch a spectacular sunset from the patio. 

As darkness falls we rig up some lights under the umbrella, deciding to eat outside in the balmy night air. Brats short for Bratwurst are sausages made from veal, beef or more commonly pork. Jim simmers them in beer until cooked then they are transferred to the grill to add a little BBQ flavour. With this a little sliced BBQ chicken add some horseradish cream. Susan was gifted from a friend a box of fresh figs only a day of so ago, we add them to the mix along with some cheese to round off a light but satisfying meal.

We all to soon realise the lateness of the hour, clean up and head for our beds.

Monday 31st July
If Los Angeles is the city of Angels then maybe San Diego is the city of lights (stores that is). The May/June gloom continues unseasonably to blanket the early day in that now familiar marine stratus cloud. There is no accompanying wind, all is still when we awake in Carmel Valley this morning. We are greeted by Muffy the white female chihuahua cross, tail wagging profusely, while Toby, the just as tiny curly haired white male poodle cross sleeps upstairs with Gaby.
Jim is off to work this morning and Susan is conducting a Jazzercise class not far away. After breakfast we relax for awhile out on the patio, reading and writing.
Susan returns and we make plans to tour some lighting outlets this afternoon although not before graciously making us an enjoyable salmon salad lunch.

Susan drives us to a commercial district where there seems to be a cluster of lighting stores. Our mission is to identify trends in lighting, try to find light fittings for the new house both internally and externally that will add to the houses decor. In the US the choice of product is far superior than in little old Adelaide, but export is usually a challenge. 

Our first stop is like walking into a medieval, manufacturer of castle light fittings. Heavy wrought iron products are their specialty. Great monstrous iron and wood chandeliers with candle like bulbs fit to sit above King Arthur’s round table hang from the warehouse ceiling. Wall sconces that take light bulbs instead of oil soaked torches sit on the walls. Out of character a white and gold porcelain chandelier more suited to Louis the XIV sits in a myriad of pieces awaiting assembly. The shop is a jumble of dark heavy pieces that will not fit at all, the proprietor tells us they can make anything we want out of iron but we have the lighter feel of copper and glass on our mind.

We take our leave, proceeding a short distance to another lighting warehouse, more reminiscent of stores at home. This two story store warehouse is filled with lighting pieces and fans but in lots of ways is too similar to home. In fact we see the very same external light fittings we purchased for our current house back in 2009 on display. The available ceiling fans are vast and varied and we do find some we like will just need to research them to see if they are available at home.

Next stop before we leave the area is at a much smaller retailer. We are greeted by a greying round faced gregarious South African proprietor, who once he finds out we are Australian regales us with his Aussie adventures in Sydney and far North Queensland. He does have some interesting pieces both for external and internal use and he is happy to pass on his advice and knowledge but any talk of shipping to Australia kills the conversation dead.

Susan decides to take us to UTC Mall, formerly known as University Towne Centre, the again, Westfield Mall is a large three story outdoor mall that houses some home decor stores that could be of interest. The mall could be the future of malls in Australia. Susan designates the mall a “destination mall”, in that it has a focus on entertainment venues, cinemas, restaurants, even an ice skating rink. Once there presumably you may as well shop anyway. The mall is undergoing substantial renovations adding even more shops and boulevards. We take a look at two stores Pottery Barn and Renovation Warehouse. Pottery Barn is less about pottery than home decor in general, closest store comparison at home would be Freedom furniture but this is bigger and more varied. The entrance is huge, American solid timber barn doors hang on the matching rustic solid timber clad facade. Inside they do have a very nice range of clear glass lighting in the theme we are looking for maybe some possibilities here. We stop for a Starbucks break, not just coffee anymore but a wide range of drinks, from plain iced tea to fruity caffeinated concoctions that boggle the mind, to juices, smoothies and more, much more! I am almost embarrassed to order a humble cappuccino that they have never quite perfected, but they have moved on to bigger, more profitable and less demanding refreshments.
Moving on drinks in hand we make our last stop at Restoration Warehouse, Kate back in Honolulu has raised this store as one we should consider too. The store has an interesting story, the originator a male on finding himself divorced and having to decorate an apartment finds that it is not an easy job, the decorating skills having departed along with his ex wife. Never the less he puts together products and colour schemes that no matter which you pick instantly go together, a clever idea for abandoned males. These males though will need to be well heeled, the cost of pain free home decor doesn’t come cheaply. Their lighting range is small, simple but elegant, Amanda falls in love with a glass and polished nickel spherical piece 24″ in diameter (600mm) weighing about 59Lbs (26kgs). Beautiful but no shipping options overseas. 
Susan, our hostess, cook, and now chauffeur/tour guide, patiently drives us back home after our tour of the city lights (shops). We now have some great ideas, now we just need to do some research and search out possibilities at home. Pottery Barn, it turns out does have an online store that delivers in Australia.
Jim & Susan are great cooks and are soon in the kitchen preparing Mexican dishes for tonight, with partially Mexican roots Susan can give us a true taste of Mexico tonight. Gabby forever the teenager, makes a cameo appearance for dinner helping her mother with final preparations. When dinner is served, it is wheat or corn tortillas with sliced BBQ beef, cooked in a smoker oven with a little side chimney and hopper that delivers applewood chips to add flavour to the smokiness. Also grilled marinated pork. Wrap these in the tortillas and add a delicious creamy mild Mexican green chilli sauce, with hot salsa for a bit of spice, garden salad and side of red beans with onion strips and you have I am assured authentic Mexican. A glass of crisp French rose, poured from a crystal clear glass bottle with an unusual glass stopper, not cork, and with a rose patterned base, proving that not all French vintners are traditionalists, completes the meal.

Another day draws to an end and we once again retire for the night.

Sunday 30th July
We awake to an overcast sky this morning, apparently this a feature of the San Diego area, the so called May/June gloom has in recent years decided to extend itself into July and even August. A layer of coastal marine stratus clouds seep in off the ocean keeping temperatures cool but not cold. The sun usually not making its presence felt until around noon.

We will be staying with Jimmy Susan and Gaby in their home in Carmel Valley until the end of the week, just hanging out, relaxing and enjoying Susan’s home cooking (a welcome change to restaurant food). 

True to form the gloomy skies open up later in the day, allowing us to enjoy the quiet of our hosts patio in pleasant temperature around 23c. 

A little shopping for essentials needs to be done plus overdue domestics that takes us into the afternoon. We hook up by phone to Amanda and Jimmy’s sister Sue and Mother Shirley in Indiana to catch-up on their current situation. 

Before Susan, whips up some magic in the kitchen, Alaskan Salmon, white rice and cracked wheat with Swiss chard, all very healthy and delicious. 

Later we watch the Adelaide Crows, on the big screen through the magic of Apple TV, suffer a huge beating in the first half of their game against the Melbourne based Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A miserably disappointing first half has left the team with a 50 point deficit, only very rarely do teams come back from this position. We decide to go to bed and being the diehard that I am, and believer in miracles I continue to watch the game on my laptop. The Crows mount an unbelievable comeback reducing the deficit to three points, them Collingwood kick away again, but the Crows again reduce the deficit to four points, again Collingwood add another two points, leaving a deficit of six points, just seconds before the final siren we take a mark in front of goal, one straight kick and the result is a draw. An amazing finish that turned a disappointing game into an exciting one, that left the Crows still top of the ladder. Time to sleep ready for another relaxing day in sleepy Carmel Valley, California.