Three Chicks

One of my neighbors brought home 3 chicks recently. Since they are just babies, they stay inside in a homemade cage right now. They are super cute, and they make the cutest noise. I love holding the chick in my hands against my chest. It's so soft and warm. I hope the neighbor is keeping them for eggs only. I wonder how Dusty and the chicks would react to each other. I have seen many homestead farms that keep rabbits and chickens in the same coop. They tend to get along well and keep each other company.

Dinner Time

Marine County Excursion

Kelsey posing in Remington Dog Park

I promised Kelsey that I'd take her somewhere for a day trip during my week off from work. I have been flipping through The Dog Lover's Companion to the San Francisco Bay Area to see where would be fun to take her for a day excursion. I found out that well behaved dogs are allowed on Blue & Gold Ferry but not from Oakland and Vallejo.  My options were either Tiburon or Sausalito. I have taken the ferry from Tiburon several time in the past, so I decided to go to Sausalito. The book also highly recommends Remington Dog Park, which is just down the street from Sausalito Ferry Station.

I stopped by the park first. It's a big fenced park that allows dogs to roam freely. The ground is mostly covered with thick mulch. It's well kept with plenty of shady areas and picnic tables although food is not allowed in the park. It's a great park for dogs who like to play together and their people to socialize. Kelsey on the other hand just sniffed a few dogs and walked around, and she was done.

I didn't read this big sign carefully before getting my ticket

I drove down to Downtown Sausalito where the ferry dock is. The first parking lot adjacent to the ferry station costs $3 an hour to park. If you go down to the next further parking lot down the street, it's $2 an hour. If you go even further to parking lot 4, it's $1 an hour. All of these parking lots are on the same side of the street next to the water. Basically, the further you are willing to walk, the cheaper it gets. I circled around a couple times before figuring this out and ended up parking in lot 4. It's still just 5 minutes walking down to the ferry dock.

When I arrived the dock, I was so excited, I just purchased my round trip ticket to San Francisco through the vending machine and then I realized that I had made a mistake. I have bought a ticket for Golden Gate Ferry not Blue & Gold! I started to panic. What if they wouldn't let me take Kelsey on board? I just spent $20 on the ticket!  I walked over to the information booth to find out what the animal policy is for Golden Gate Ferry. The man in the booth looked at Kelsey and asked, "Is she a service dog?" I told him that she could be with hesitation. The man said, "Of course she is. She's wearing a backpack." And of course Kelsey was sitting next to me in the most perfect pose.  The man pointed to the deckhand who just got off from the ferry and told me to go ask her if service dogs are okay.

Well, I knew that service dogs can pretty much go anywhere and no proof is ever needed. So not only I got on board, I was the first person to go on board with my "service dog."  In fact she was wearing a backpack to serve me. Kelsey just quietly sat next to me during the entire time on the ferry. Occasionally she'd look up and perk up her ears at loud noises. Several people and kids came and petted Kelsey with admiration. Many people simply greeted Kelsey with a smile. I guess she looked like she was working hard.

We took a walk around the ferry building before getting on the ferry again to return to Sausalito. Well, I guess if I ever wanted to take Kelsey on BART, I just need to dress her in her backpack and harness.

Fall Squashes

Butternut Squash

Today was the first day of my week-long fall recess from my new full time job at a school. I wanted to do a little gardening while having the time off. I got a pleasant surprise when I looked into one of the wine barrel planters. There is a small butternut squash! I didn't even intentionally plant butternut squash. The seed must had been mixed in with the pumpkin seeds or my compost. I am pretty excited because it's something new on my farm, and I actually like butternut squash. I usually make a big pot of butternut squash soup during the winter when it's cold and rainy. I also found another squash in one of the vegetable beds. I am not sure what kind of squash it is. One of my neighbors gave me a bag of mixed pumpkin seeds, and I just randomly planted a few.

Sunday in Golden Gate Park

Gold Gate Park Map

This morning I woke right before 8 am. I got up, packed up, and headed over to Golden Gate Park with Kelsey in the back seat. Do you know there is free parking in Golden Gate Park? It's limited to 4 hours during Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, it is unlimited, but you must get there early. I got to the park at 9 am, and there was plenty of parking. As I was parking, I could see one car after another pulling up and parked behind me. I was pretty sure by 9:30 it would be hard to find parking.

Banjo Stage of Bluegrass (photo taken 2011)

I can see why people love the city. Every weekend and every day there is so much going on. One can never and should never be bored in this area. Many of the weekend activities are free, and if you don't mind taking a little time to plan and pack your own food and drink, you don't need to spend any money at these events. This weekend was the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It always runs for 3 days starting from Friday to Sunday. People come from all over the Bay Area to enjoy this free music festival.  It is also SF Fleet Week. I am not sure whether that's free, but I am sure if you know where to go, you can see the air show for free by looking up the sky.

The Golden Gate Park Band

Today there were 6 stages on one side of the park for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. On the other side, just across from De Young Museum, The Golden Gate Park Band was having their last free performance of the season. After I checked out several stages of Bluegrass Festival, I sat on one of the green benches in the shade to enjoy a different kind of music. Kelsey seemed to be pooped after hours of walking, loud music, and being surrounded by people.  She just laid down to take a nap.

Cape Gooseberries

Today I finally picked some perfectly ripe Cape gooseberries! It took them almost 2 months to be ready. The bright orange color is very Halloweenish! They definitely look like an autumn fruit. One of the reasons I fell in love with them right away besides their taste is that I always feel like opening a little present when I break the papery calyx to get to the berry. It's such a fun fruit to eat.

I have 4 Cape gooseberry plants but so far the one in the pot has most berries. Since Cape gooseberry is native to tropical Peru, Columbia and Ecuador and related to tomatoes, I figured it must like heat and lots of sun. I was able to move the potted Gooseberry around to get most sun.  In the winter I can bring it into the sun room if the temperature gets too low. I hope they all survive the winter and produce more berries next year.