A time of thanks

I'd like to take a minute and thank all those people who stop by and read my blog. I've been doing this now for over a year now, and it means a lot to me, that there are those of you who come back and visit on a regular basis. This started out as a way for me to keep in touch with my family who live in other states and to help promote my wife's business. I'd have to say it's been pretty successful on both accounts.

We had a great year and a wonderful Christmas. We gained a couple of new additions to the household. Chloe and Roxie. To beautiful boxers. Chloe is 7 months and was rescued from a bad situation. Roxie is going on 8 weeks and was from a litter that my sister-in-law had. Taking on 2 puppies has been quite a challenge this holiday season, but they are both great dogs and nothing that we as a family can't handle. Chloe is very mellow and has been able to go to work with me daily, while Roxie has stayed home with the kids over the holidays. In my experience, Boxers are quite smart dogs and very easy to train. In fact both dogs are so smart, they both are using the dog door already.





In the evenings both dogs have managed to take over the family room couch quite nicely, which again shows you that they are no dummies!

For the Grandparents: This year the kids decided to use their Christmas money wisely for a change. On Saturday, we went over to Game Stop and the Boy bought himself a XBox 360, while the Daughter bought herself a Nintendo Wii.


Neither child has been seen or heard from since! LOL.


In keeping with the holiday season, lots of family and friends were able to gather with us this year. This has been one of the best Christmas's that the family has had in a long time. It wasn't the amount of gifts or the cost of the presents, but being able to spend time with family and friends.

I sincerely hope that all of you also have had a great Christmas Season. I would also like to wish you all a Happy New Year and I hope that the coming year finds you all in good health and that good fortune smiles on you.

See you all in 2010!! :0)

The Vintage Husband

Merry Christmas

A Saturday in November

The American River:







Well, it's back to work, but not to worry, Christmas is just around the corner!
Have a great week!! :D
TVH

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

With a little free time to myself on Saturday, I recognized a chance to head out to one of my favorite birding spots. The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area is a very unassuming spot just outside Sacramento on the way to San Francisco. Thousands of people drive over this area everyday without realizing the importance the wetland area plays in the migration and breeding of birds each year. Located along the Pacific Flyway, the Yolo Bypass provides birds traveling from Alaska to Mexico a place to stop and rest.

This time of year doesn't seem to have the large amount of birds that will arrive in the spring to breed. However, there were still plenty of birds to see and it's always nice to be outside a crisp November day. So come along with me as I drive through the wetlands and hike along the levees.

















Thanks for checking in, see you next week! :-)

TVH

Welcome to Fall

I have been asked, in the past, what my favorite season is. I used to answer, "what ever season we're in". But upon further reflection, I think "Fall" is my favorite season. The weather here in Sacramento is pretty nice. Cool nights with warm days. For the most part, no rain. Perfect.

I also enjoy all the birds migrating through our area this time of year. My back yard gets pretty empty during the hot, hot Summers we get here. That, and I don't spend much time back there as the temps get up into the 100's. Now with temps in the low 70's, it's a pleasant walk out the back door to enjoy the sounds of all the birds singing.

Today was no exception. These to Anna's hummingbirds spent plenty of time at the new feeder outside the back door. That is, when they weren't chasing each other away from it. We currently have about 6 Anna's that regularly visit the yard. There are also plenty of finches (gold, purple and house), scrub jays, mocking birds and a flock of bushtits that noisily pass through twice a day.

Pictured below was a first for the backyard. A pair of magpies were up in the cottonwood. This was the first time I have seen these guys in our neighbor hood. They are usually a couple blocks away. I guess they were just passing through.

Yesterday, we were up early and out the door to Sloughhouse to get pumpkins for the kids to carve for Halloween. On the way we spotted this hot air balloon just lifting off from the Rancho Mureita airport.

The kids carved their own pumpkins this year. A little scary for me, letting them use the knives on their own. But everyone survived unscathed, except the pumpkins that is.

I thought about dressing up to go trick-r-treating, but ended up going as my everyday scary self instead.

Hope everyone has a great week. Don't over do it on the left-over chocolate! LOL

TVH

Valley Springs

So I thought I'd share a little of what I did this past weekend with you. A bunch of guys from work and I headed up into the foothills to a little town called Valley Springs. My friend Chuck, has access to a house up there, so we loaded up the beer and left the wives at home. I can't show you all my pictures from the weekend (wink, wink), but I will show you a few of the family friendly ones (lol).

Here is the house and the view - very nice!

We took a little hike down into the valley....

The only problem was we had to hike back up to the house!! (insert the sounds of groans and complaints here) Whose idea was this??? LOL!

Lots of cool birds to see .....

Western Blue Bird

Acorn Woodpecker

Junco

Tree frog

Nut Hatch

Male and female Purple Finch

By the Sunday the buzzards were circling, but we all managed to make it home alive!

There ya go. I can tell you alot of fun was had by all, myself included.

Have a great week!!

TVH