Hank's New Home

It wasn’t long ago that we brought Hank in as our new family member. Unfortunately, things weren’t working out and Andrew and I decided that it would be best for Hank to have a new home. We took some time finding his new owner and we are so pleased with the family that adopted him. They have a lot of land so he will get plenty of time and exercise outdoors. He even has a doggy door so he can go in and out whenever he’d like. Making the decision to let him go was tough, and we went back and forth with it several times, but seeing the following pictures that his new mom sent us confirmed we made the right choice.

photos taken by his new owner

He loved being outside and there were plenty of times I would have to peel him up off the grass to come inside. He loved chasing squirrels in the yard, too. We know he really is a country dog at heart so knowing he is back to his “outdoors” lifestyle is wonderful. When he wasn’t outside, Hank and Hazel would find the sunny spots in the house, wherever the sun would shine through a window. The two of them got along well and it was adorable to see them side by side.

I already miss looking down and seeing two dogs at my feet. It’s funny how quickly an animal can attach itself to your heart. I’ll really miss evenings with Hank. After dinner the four of us would cuddle on the couch. It was the time of day Hank was most mellow, and he was just such a sweetheart when he’d doze off in your lap. He’d lick his lips a lot when he slept which would often make me wonder what he dreamt about…bacon, liver treats, maybe salmon (the first night with us I turned my back on my dinner for just a moment and he ate half my salmon!)? I think Andrew is going to miss having his sidekick around. Hank would follow Andrew around the house and even wait outside the restroom for him while he showered.

The last night with us he got a Frosty Paws ice cream treat and slept in bed with us (Hazel did, too…the whole clan in one bed!). Before his adopter came the next day we spoiled him with another doggy ice cream.

He’s definitely missed but we know he is in wonderful hands. We couldn’t have found a better home for him.

Alum Rock Park

This is a catch-up post for our visit to Alum Rock Park in San Jose about a month ago. I had heard of a “must-do” hike in the area with a gorgeous view and I wanted to tackle it. Turns out (and lucky for us) it wasn’t the long, grueling hike we thought it was going to be. It was a quick walk along the North Rim Trail to Eagle Rock. Along the way, we saw a giant rattlesnake. It was just a couple feet away from us as we were walking. Andrew was chatting away and I don’t think he even would have noticed it had I not come to a dead stop, basically unable to move from shock. It was so big, and slithering up from a small dip on the side of the trail. Andrew fumbled for the camera and I thought he had at least got a picture of its tail before it slid into the brush. Unfortunately, our blurry photos only show how flustered and unsteady we can be when trying to photograph deadly animals. Nature photographers we will never be!

We made it to the top (bite-free!) and the view was nice, even though we had quite a bit of afternoon smog. With a clear sky, the Santa Clara Valley and the south end of the San Francisco Bay can be seen from the overlook, but for Andy and I the best part of it was that the hills were green. Spring is supposed to be the rainy season for us where the hills turn bright green and stay so for several months. But this spring was an odd one for the Bay area in terms of weather. The rain came and was gone within a week so while the hills were green for our trip to Alum Rock and Eagle Rock, they turned brown again way too quickly. It was a bummer for us because we love the green hills. We fell in love with them when we moved here last spring and were so sad to see them turn dry and brown within our first months here. Since then, we had been anticipating their return. Unbelievable that this spring was for the Bay area was the driest in 35 years!

Enough of my rant with Mother Nature. We headed back down to the park and grabbed our picnic gear from the car. We walked to a little area where Andy grilled some chicken.  We ate chicken sandwiches and pasta salad at a table, then took our picnic blanket and spread it out under a tree. I read for awhile and Andrew napped a perfect ending for our Sunday at the park!

Beekeeping in Redwood City

This Saturday was so awesome. I have always been interested in beekeeping but have never known how to get into it. So when I saw a Living Social deal for a beekeeping class in the area, I was ecstatic.  Andrew has never been keen on the idea of beekeeping as a hobby, but since he goes through honey quicker than I believe any other human does, he thought it could actually turn into something worthwhile for him and agreed to accompany me. The deal promised it would be a hands-on experience with organic beekeeping (wearing a super cool bee suit) and we’d leave with the knowledge to assemble and populate our own hives to harvest honey.  

When we arrived at Red Rock Honey in Redwood City, CA, we were pretty surprised that the location was actually a residence and not a commercial facility. We went in the back yard where the family had many hives. We sat on the porch, away from the grassy area where the hives were housed, and learned from the master beekeeper. This guy was so knowledgeable and talked for hours. I would have never thought there could be so much to learn about the hobby. After our brains were packed full, we suited up and went to a hive. The beekeeper took apart a hive, showing us each frame. We even got to see the queen at work! Notice in the pictures that he didn’t wear gloves. He never does, but did get stung once and acted like it was nothing. It reminded me of a couple years back when I got stung while camping and my eyes welled up in tears because it was so painful. And the rest of the day I could feel the heat radiating from it. Perhaps I’m just a bit of a baby (ok, I know that’s part of it), but bee stings hurt and his reaction was as if a fly landed on him!

At the end of the day we did a honey tasting. This tasting was better than Napa! It was Heaven for a honey-lover. We tried their different varieties and also comb and whipped honey. Honey is supposed to be an amazing superfood- used to boost immunity, a natural remedy for stomach ailments, and even has anti-cancer properties. So, really, we were just honey sampling in the name of health!

After all this, I’m pretty set on the idea of not starting a hive. There is just too much to learn and even if you do everything correctly, you will not likely have honey production until year #3. There are also way too many diseases that can wipe out your whole colony and they can even destroy your equipment. Andy and I will just stick to buying our honey. It turns out it’s actually very cheap for the amount of work (and love!) that goes into it.

Bringing Home Hank (Last Weekend, Part 2)

After our Saturday afternoon nap, we got back in the car and went to the San Francisco Airport Cargo pickup to greet and take home our new dog! Here’s the story on our new addition: When I was in Florida visiting family last month, I got an email from my cousin, Kati, saying that she needed to find a new home for her dog, Hank. Kati has a toddler who had startled Hank when she stepped on him and he nipped at her. Kati and her husband decided it would be best to find Hank a new home in case it would happen again. I knew this had to be heartbreaking for her, as I’m positive she had an incredible love for him. We had often sent each other emails talking and asking questions about one another’s dogs. Both Hazel (our dog) and Hank (her dog) are miniature dachshunds so it was great to have each other to share our similar experiences.  

I spoke with Andrew and we decided to offer to take Hank, knowing we could provide a good home and believing it would be comforting to my cousin to be able to get updates on the little guy. So we offered and soon we were scheduling a flight from Indiana to California to show Hank his new home. 

Waiting at the Delta Cargo hold for Hank to arrive.

Seeing Hank for the 1st time.

 

Andrew excited to have another man in the house.

Last leg of the journey!

First, we had Hank visit the backyard. Then we let Hank explore downstairs before he settled into one of chairs and took a nap.

That evening we kept Hazel upstairs while we watched a movie with Hank downstairs. We wanted to keep them separated and have Hank get used to us before meeting Hazel. We thought the long flight, new parents, a new home, and a new sister would be way too much for him all in one day.

 After church and grocery shopping the next day, it was time to introduce the two dogs. We had read quite a bit about integrating dogs in the same home, and chose to have the two meet in the park by our house. We were sure that if we brought Hazel into “her space” she would get territorial and defensive. Andrew walked Hank to the park a few minutes before I left the house with Hazel. When I got to the park, I had Hazel walk alongside Hank. Andrew and I had prepared for them to at least have a little scuffle, but they pretty much minded their own business as they kept on walking! They stopped just a couple times to sniff each other, then carried on.

We walked back to the house where we stayed in the back yard for a bit (we thought getting closer to the house with Hank would make Hazel anxious, but no problem here, either). Then we all went in the house. And I’m so happy to say that there have only been a couple small tiffs between the two. We'll be back in the coming weeks with updates on how the family is adjusting with our new addition!

Big Sur Camping (Last Weekend, Part 1)

Last weekend was pretty busy so we're going to break it down into two parts. On Friday we drove down to Big Sur, one of our favorite places in this area. The views of the coast are just amazing. It was pretty foggy on Friday (late afternoon-ish) so we didn't bother stopping to take any pictures and instead drove straight to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Andrew set up the tent while I sat out our camping chairs. The guy is a pro at it so I leave it to him because I usually just end up getting in the way. And he did really have it up in the time it took me to set out chairs and put on my tennis shoes. We threw our stuff in the tent and drove over to Pfeiffer Beach. We hadn't been before but had heard of its purple sand which gets its color from the surrounding rocks. On our visit we only saw a few patches of sand with a light purple hue. We later found out that the sand gets darker the further north on the beach you go, where the following photo from LA Times Travel was taken:

Image source here.

Our photos show a much more "normal" color sand:

We left before sunset and went back to the campground and biked for awhile. Then Andrew built a fire where we sat the rest of the evening.

  

We woke up early the next morning, tore down our site, and stopped to get pictures as we left beautiful Big Sur.

Ever seen the "Happy Cows Come from California" ads? I believe it!

Then we drove onto Castroville, where the 53rd annual Artichoke Festival was taking place. Last year we just happened to stumble upon the festival when we were visiting Santa Cruz/Monterey/Big Sur. You can read about that trip here.

 

We walked around and checked out the vendors, then hopped back in the car with our freshly fried donuts and kettle corn (how I love fair food!) and drove back to San Jose. We were back in time to take a quick nap to energize us for our next big adventure this weekend...stay tuned for Timko Weekend Part 2!

Yosemite

This past weekend we spent a gorgeous day at Yosemite National Park. We headed out really early on Saturday morning (about 4am). The drive only took 3 1/2 hours but since we would only be there for the day, we knew we had to take advantage of our time and make it there early.

We were completely taken aback by Yosemite's beauty. We spent the day biking Yosemite Valley and doing a couple short hikes. We stopped at lunchtime and had a picnic where two very daring squirrels tried to take our lunch. It was cool to see for myself all the mountains and waterfalls I have heard about: Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite Falls (which were at their peak flow this month!), Vernal Fall, Half Dome, and El Capitan. The weather couldn't have been any better. It was just a truly amazing, fun day. Here are the pictures because they can probably convey our trip better than my words can!: