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January 31, 2014

'We've never seen anything like this'

dry

We've hit another first with this epic drought -- the Department of Water Resources announced that for the first time in its 54-year history, the State Water Project will stop deliveries to the local agencies that supply 25 million customers, and to 750,000 acres of farmland.

It's called "zero water allocation", and if that sounds awfully academic, then check out this recent Market Report from Good Food, KCRW's great food show. The farmers talk to Laura Avery about running out of water, not being able to grow food, about losing crops to the wildlife being starved out of the barren hills. It starts at the 18-minute mark, and is followed by a discussion of the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, the 13-month dry weather pattern Grace Peng has been writing about here on LAO.

"We've never seen anything like this," says Dawn Kantor of Flora Bella Farms in Three Rivers, just east of Visalia. "If we don't get rain, we don't know how we're going to grow food."

Nothing academic about that at all.

You can find Good Food podcasts on iTunes, and listen at their web site here.

January 30, 2014

Progression


Wet.

foggy day


Wetter.

foggier


Wettest.

wet dogs

January 29, 2014

We had some weather at the beach

A bit of cold and a lot of fog, which is about as wintry as things are going to get here this year, or so it seems.

the weather here today

January 28, 2014

Walt at the barn

Walt up at the barn

I can't believe it took this long to get Walt's official portrait up at the barn.

January 27, 2014

This didn't happen today

moonrise

This is from last week, when the moon rose at sunrise, but pretty enough that I still wanted to share.

January 26, 2014

It rained!

It rained here today. For 90 seconds. It was so thrilling and rare I shot a photo through the windshield (just the iphone handy, which wouldn't focus in the raindrops) as proof. Now the clouds have thinned and the sun has poked through and I guess that's that for our winter storm.

it rained! for 90 seconds. sigh.

January 25, 2014

Signs of Saturday: Danger

extreme fire danger in malibu

I can't recall the last time "extreme" made an appearance in our local fire sign. And alarming as that is, even more worrisome is the lack of public conversation about what's going on with our weather patterns.

If you agree, then check out Grace Peng's post here on LA Observed about the ridge of high pressure that has deflected rain from California for going on 13 months now. Also informative, Aquafornia; Jon Christensen and Mark Gold on LA Observed; and Emily Green's blog (be sure to browse her excellent links lists) Chance of Rain.

January 24, 2014

Not a moment's peace

Why are there so few solo photos of Maisie these days?


That's why:


not a moment's peace

January 23, 2014

Once upon a time

Once upon a time it used to rain in Southern California. We called it winter. This being January and the 10-day forecast offering only the slimmest prospect of rain, I thought I'd dip into the archives.

Rain in the city:

downtown LA during saturday's storm


Rain at the beach:

winter storm dec. 11 2009


Rain in the hills:


more rain


Rain on this very day in January five years ago.

rainy saturday



I love this one -- Jake's still alive, Maisie's wearing a raincoat, and it's just flat-out pouring.

rainy day dogs


Also? After the rain.

sailboat

January 22, 2014

Change of venue

From the beach we move into the mountains (I just had a fight with auto-correct which, for some reason, wants it to be moutons) where the Santa Monicas say good morning.

sunrise

January 21, 2014

Small favors

it was actually cloudy today

In this hottest, driest and strangest of winters, it's come down to being grateful for a skim of cloud cover. (And would you weathercasters please stop talking about our "beautiful" 82-degrees-in-January weather? It's terribly, freakishly wrong.)

January 20, 2014

Last night's sunset

sunset

Everything everywhere turned pink for a few minutes, including Walt's white feet.

January 19, 2014

Happy Sunday

These two are always happy.

happy dogs


Also, Walt and Maisie look forward to meeting their new little cousin, Luna, who was just adopted by some friends in New Mexico. Road trip!

Luna!

January 18, 2014

Signs of Saturday: Punishable

In case something about the views from the courthouse in Santa Barbara moves you to mischief:

courthouse view


courthouse courtyard


courthouse roof


palm shadow


There are rules.

spit at your own risk

January 17, 2014

Dearly beloved

Not only is the Santa Barbara courthouse home to a most beautiful mermaid:

the mermaid



It's a lovely place...

santa barbara courthouse


To watch your friends...

tile roof


IMG_0057


Get married.


cake!


IMG_0108


bouquets

January 16, 2014

Heat exhaustion

Hot in the mountains, hotter at the beach. At home, at the barn, on our walk and in the car, the dogs panted. And then Walt (no, he's not supposed to be on the couch) crashed.


oh walter...

January 15, 2014

Hawk in the oak

What I really like here--

hawk and oak


...is how the hawk--

the hawk


...turns to see who's watching him.

hawk

January 14, 2014

This crazy weather

Still 82 degrees at sunset in Malibu and my god, the wind. Had to tie up the wind chimes, tie down the hummingbird feeders.

santana wind sunset


Ocean empty. No birds, no boats, no rain in the forecast.

82 degrees at 5 p.m.


Moonrise at sunset. Neat trick.

moonrise during sunset

January 13, 2014

Stuff we saw yesterday

The (dry, dry) oaks:

january afternoon


The path:

winter in malibu


The (dry, dry) peaks:

santa monica mountains


The puppy in flight:

walt!


The puppy at rest:

let's take a break


The Muffinhead, hoping PETA is still on her speed dial.

maisie says HELP.

January 12, 2014

Walt as Plan B

walt!

The final details in the remodel, the small stuff, wind up taking as much attention as some of the larger projects so Walt has agreed to make things easier and pose for you.

January 11, 2014

Signs of Saturday: Room at the top

It's the Surfrider Room, on the top level of the Malibu Pier. Walk to the end, climb a staircase and voila.

blue


One of the best views in Malibu -- that's Surfrider beach through those windows -- used for storage these days.

view

January 10, 2014

Bait and switch

It started out pink...

pink


pier


Then the fog...

foggier


...rolled in.

colors all gone


You know who didn't care?

ima gonna getcha


Good guess.

i warned you


January 9, 2014

Sooooo close...

We are days away from being done with the house and by days, I mean a month or so because the guys work here just on weekends. Still, when you think about where it all started, it's amazing.

Let's review.

The kitchen before:

Basically, it was in a box. On an angle.

kitchen in a box


So we took down the wall, filled in the doorway, and added a support post.

after


The original kitchen had that fab dropped ceiling, fluorescent lights, and a huge gold window and a gold sliding glass door.

There was also an enormous amount of wasted space. The spot I was standing when I took this shot is now a third bedroom.

dropped ceiling


IMG_0010


We turned the slider into a French door (we haven't scraped the paint from the door yet after painting it) and replaced the golden window with something smaller so there could be a backsplash against the countertop.

IMG_0011


This:

oh. ugh.


Is now this:

IMG_0010


And this:

all that weird wasted space


Is this:

IMG_0013

It's a really pretty space now -- the guys did (ok, are doing) such a great job.

January 8, 2014

And may I just say...

Coming to you from the Santa Monica mountains...brrr.

frozen


the lake


icy

January 7, 2014

The beach here this morning

The Cove. Again.

beach morning

Beautiful. Again.

January 6, 2014

Such a winter's day

Taking a break from my annual weather envy as the snow storms I long for give way to crushing, killing cold. So here's to our Southern California way of winter:

oaks


blue


sycamore grove



limbs


sycamore


light



california winter


up

January 5, 2014

Happy dog

Maisie on a Walt-less walk -- she actually got to catch the ball.

play ball!

January 4, 2014

Signs of Saturday: Like a prayer

flags

Someone added a string Tibetan prayer flags to the bridge at the Cove where the creek meets the sand. It's the coldest spot on the beach, particularly on winter mornings when the creek bed funnels frigid air down from the mountain.

Once I'd covered world peace, abolishing poverty and the NSA, I'd reserve a prayer for remembering to wear gloves.

January 3, 2014

New in the new year

IMG_0003

New ducks at the lake, a pair of pairs, with reddish feathers and white stripes on their heads. They keep to themselves, cruising and exploring the new surroundings. I'm browsing the bird sites, hoping to find a name.


IMG_0002

January 2, 2014

Oh Walter...

Look -- a New Year's resolution (learn to make a gif) already completed.

Is it 2015 yet?

January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!

First light of the first day of 2014:

happy-new-year-from-malibu-vdt.jpg


The sun rose. (The sun, rose.)

sunrise jan 1 2014


The pups played:

happy new year!


And played:

the pups


The tide moved higher:

IMG_0027


And the pups played some more.

good morning!


walt!


Happy 2014!

morning in the cove


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