ok, well, sort of . . . we might be stretching the concept of “fiber” a little here. kade doesn’t have any interest in knitting or spinning whatsoever, but wow, he loves animals and has quite the menagerie.
each morning he’s up before 6:30 and soon disappears to granny’s (she lives in the guest house right here—how great is that?) to eat breakfast and talk with her before making the rounds for feeding and quality time with each of his animals.
that’s him up top, with one of the guinea pigs, willy.
and here’s the other
there’s some fiber happening there . . .
he also has chickens, which have been providing an abundance of eggs this year. last night we made french toast for dinner, in fact from fresh eggs.
below we have henny penny the champion chicken—she has survived two devastating raids on the coop by some devious animal of prey or another, and so is the oldest of the current flock
a clever chick indeed.
and oh, there are more . . .
next we have franklin, the tortoise, who is endlessly entertaining despite an almost complete lack of activity and facial expression
(his mouth is green because he is a greedy consumer of carrot tops, zucchini, dandelions, etc)
oops, i eat my words—we seem to have achieved some neck and leg extension in the photo
i’m telling you, it’s like watching a fire.
up in kade’s room he has an aquarium
if you look hard you can spot at least five fish in this photo, and a shrimp (i would love to have an aquarium, but david is not really keen on having pets in containers, and i can see his point).
then there is larry
after something like twenty-seven photos, we realized that one like this pretty much tells you all about larry—he wiggles a lot. but he is loved.
daisy looks like lots of other cats, but she’s actually really special
she’s a rattlesnake slayer—very helpful around here (i try not to think about it).
chica, on the other hand, is not so helpful that way; she had a costly run-in with rattler recently
but, really, she’s a good doggie (i keep trying to pimp up her appealing side to kim, but so far, it’s not making a dent—chica’s just not her favorite, though kade seems quite enamored of her, as am i).
all these guys have such an affection for kade too . . . they all scurry to get close to him when he comes around their living space. he’d like to own a pet store or maybe be a farmer when he grows up. i think he might be qualified.
yesterday we visited mission hills beach with kim’s daughter, xanning, where we rented bikes and rode along the boardwalk all the way in each direction
it was pretty windy, but we had full sun and there was plenty to see (i really liked the bike thing)
this is paul, he has quite a little setup here at the beach with several umbrellas and tiki-themed supports that form a cabana (he’s there every day, in case you happen to be going by). he didn’t ask any questions about the sock, or even blink while i put it in his hands and posed him—just continued talking about himself as if it was completely natural to be accosted by an itinerant knitter at the beach. awesome.
normally, i don’t do the sock thing with people, but this situation was just begging for it.
we saw some parasurfers
making beautiful circles over the water and waves.
i would totally try this some time, though i am not at all interested in bungee jumping (and that’s final).
down at the other end of the beach we met ron, who had just landed a bat ray (stinger removed)
it looked really normal-evil from the one side, but then when he lifted it like this, it looked like a puppet, and i had to take its picture. i didn’t ask him to hold the sock, since his hands were full (i don’t think we need to get bat ray goop all over the sock . . .)
after the beach we picked up sam from school and headed for the hills where kim owns some land that suffered quite a bit of damage in the fires last fall
some of the vegetation is starting to come back and fill in, but the olive grove they had there was completely reduced to charcoal
the root balls below ground continued smoking for some time after the fires were put out so that each one is a large, charred hollow now
here is the view from the spot where they almost built a house a few years back. phew.
sam displayed his olympian skills in the sunset
and we soon headed home for dinner.
safe in the knowledge that we know where our tortoise is.
today we head for encinitas to meet up with jocelyn and laura for lunch and a visit to common threads (so sad that nan can’t make it after all, but we are thinking of you nan—and there WILL be a next time!)
19 thoughts on “kade’s fiber farm”
This sounds simply divine. What a lovely vacation.
It is so nice to know that our family isn’t the only one with a menagerie! See you all SOON!
You have such an interesting way to write about your vacation and your hosts, Anne! Thanks for sharing.
So fun to see my world through someone else’s eyes – I was pretty awestruck at the amount of ground you covered downtown the other day, and now the beach too. I live 1/2 mile from the burn area – it’s really amazing how nature is springing forth from the ashes, literally. Some areas are so green you can’t even tell they burned.
Enjoy the rest of your visit to our lovely though occasionally ash-y town.
I think Sam is amazing with his knitting and enterprise… and now Kade? Kade is too cool for words, what an exceptional young man! Daisy is a Beauty, as is Franklin :^D
That’s beyond a shame about the olive trees…. and everything else that burned.
How fun to read about the animals and the vacation you’re having! Glad you’re having such a wonderful time!
I love seeing a family that encourages kids to have lots of animals. Usually it’s training the kids to be responsible for them that’s the prob – but Kade sounds utterly devoted. Poor dead Ray tho! Sniff… Since you love plants so much I wanted to share a picture of one of my faves – begonia escargot. If you love all things spirally, this will ring your chimes! http://www.flickr.com/photos/growin/305458401/in/set-72157594393374393/
Anne,your pictures are beautiful and you have captured the true feeling of Kim’s family! It made me so homesick for them,but it put a smile on my face that hasn’t left! Thank you for sharing them. Kim told me I couldn’t say I was a proud grandma so I won’t – I’ll just say that I am a very proud mother of someone who has kids that I am very proud of!!
I hope you enjoyed your San Diego visit – and the beach guy that you gave the socks too, yeah, typical California – just so laid back doing his own thing and letting you adorn him with your ornaments!! Gotta love it!!
Has Kade considered having a couple of geese live with his chickens? Geese are incredible guard animals and are not afraid to fight.
I love the tortoise!
I am so enjoying your travels vicariously—love the photos, love hearing about the kids and animals and meals and hikes and beach trips! (And I’m so relieved Kim’s family didn’t suffer worse damage from the fires—those were bad.) Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Fabulous stuff. I love the animals, what a lot! That beach looks amazing.
Thank you for all of the pictures! I love the animals so much. Franklin is a hoot, and the kitty is such a champion! Wow! I love California. The entire state should be a national park. Don’t forget Kim’s knitting!
What an adorable itty bitty tortoise! And Kade seems like a fabulous kid.
Glad to see you’re enjoying the California sunshine!
It’s so funny to see pictures of my hometown in someone else’s blog! Most of the time I feel like I live in a knitting wasteland–I’m sure there are other knitters around here, but I rarely see them. (I fantasize about living in Toronto.)
I bet Kade would make a wonderful vet! So wonderful that he has such an affinity with animals.
It’s sad to see all the destroyed olive trees. They are very pretty trees.
That is so awesome about the guy with the sock! LOL.
I wonder how the paragesailers don’t get tangled up.
Great pictures!
I knew there had to be a downside to living in such a glorious climate. Rattlesnakes! Ugh. We may have snow and ice, but at least we have no poisonous snakes, right?
The tiny tortoise is so cute! I guess if he doesn’t move much, the chances of him getting lost are pretty slim. 😉
is that a sulcata? I have a sulcata and he is the love of my life (ok my husband is, but we both worship our sulcata)
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