Beach, Stairs, and a Tyrant named Titan

Fist things first. We want to congratulate our friend StateOfGrace for her adoption of Pearl, a bengal mix and Mabel, a beautiful black kitty. We know those two furbabies are very lucky and have a wonderful human who will love them, forever. Hugs and head bonks from the JBoD family.

Now… I’m beginning to get cranky. I want my rain and/or fog darnit! There’s too much sunshine. It’s hard to take pics that aren’t over exposed or suffering from terminal purple fringe. Oh well. We managed to escape and Lastech got a few nice pics in spite of the sunshine. These were taken around Lands End and Sutro Baths. It provided me with some much needed exercise as there were lots of stairs to deal with.

Mile Rock Beach
Pretty purple flower at Mile Rock Beach by Lastech
Mile Rock Beach
Sweet alyssum on the cliff above Mile Rock Beach by Lastech
Stairs near Sutro Bath
That’s a lot of stairs. This is just one of the ones we climbed. There were many more. Photo by Lastech
Great Blue Heron
A Great Blue Heron (left), a seagull and seal rocks from Sutro Baths, by Lastech
Seal Rocks
Seal Rocks from Sutro Baths, by Lastech

As for that white whiskered tyrant named Titan… He’s coming along. He’s still a hissing spitting old fart. Today we opened the door to his room and left it open for a while. He hissed at Tito. Tito was unfazed and ignored it while exploring Titan’s room. Jenny was napping elsewhere. 🙂

Titan
Titanescu looks more like sleepycat in this photo by Lastech


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Catso Fascista: Secundo Adventu

Some old aspects of the cat remain while new attitudes slowly appear. Looking at Titan’s russet accents, I am reminded of the Boober’s sable-brown fur. And way back East, where I imagine Titan might hail from, as far back as Romania where the Strigoi and Communist generals are the scourge of the people, bastards would kill for such a luxurious coat.

There’s a bit of Bukowski in him too, as he ambles over to the futon to cuddle and rub his chin on our face, smearing cat food all over and leaving streaks of fish flavored saliva with his slobbering kisses, hissing when the petting gets too close to his nubby tail, snapping unconvincingly.

Titan
Catso Fascista

Jenny and Tito came in tonight for a supervised visit, while the old coot watched from the bed, moaning and hissing softly in annoyance. They roamed around at a safe distance but still confident that Titanescu’s armored divisions were long sold to African or Middle-Eastern clients at a discount, and that his blunted incisors couldn’t quite sink into their necks. They knew and he knew.

The world has changed and continues to…


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Of birdies big and small and a basement kitty update

My apologies to everyone. We just haven’t been able to update the blog the way we like. Hopefully, we’ll do better in the future. Yesterday afternoon and this morning, we managed to for a walk out at Lands End and we came across two beautiful birds. Yesterday, we were down at Sutro Baths when we came across a Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron
I see a silhouette of a …oops wrong song

Great Blue Heron

This morning, we went back to Lands End, but took another trail. I hadn’t gone far when I spied this little hummingbird.

Hummingbird
Hummingbird just sitting on a twig

Hummingbird

And now for the basement kitty update. Titan of the White Whisker is doing just fine. For the first two days, he did the senior cat’s version of “get off my lawn!!!”. But he’s much happier now. No more growling. He’s eating well and he’s very happy to see us. I think that by the weekend, he may be ready to sniff noses (very carefully) with Tito. If there’s no hissing, we’ll let them meet up a bit closer.  We won’t try to go too fast though. Tito and Miss Jenny are no longer giving us the stink eye.  🙂

Titan
Titan of the White Whisker resting on his pink panther blanket


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Beach birdies

The last time we went to Baker Beach, we saw a few birds. I don’t know what they were…maybe sanderlings? I took a long time to post these as I was trying to identify them. Maybe one of you will know. They were fun to watch at any rate.

beach birds
Beach birds looking for food in between waves. by Rudha-an
beach birds
Beach birds in flight by Lastech


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A milestone and a bird

A couple of days ago, we were driving by the upper reservoir at McLaren park when I spotted something white down by the water.

10,000th photo on this camera
If you look close, you can see the white thing

If you mouse over the photo above, you’ll see the milestone.

As for the white object? It was a beautiful bird.

Great Egret
This Great Egret is a true beauty.


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Raccooneers of New Barbary Coast: threat over the water

Most San Francisco visitors I encounter seem eager to run through certain areas of the City, just so they can snap a few pictures here and there, before returning to their hotel satisfied they’ve pretty much seen it all… Fools.

It is like this:

The photos below were taken at tremendous risk, hence the shaky quality of some shots, but one does not simply tangle with raccooneers and expect to hightail it fully intact.

 They saw us. Sh*t's about to get real
They saw us. Sh*t’s about to get real

For those few who understand there’s more to the park than meets the cursory glance, I say go to the Conservatory of Flowers, Bison paddock or Stow Lake, all those storied places worth hours if not days of exploration, “but I do warn ye, if ye value yer life: ye stay well clear o’ North Lake. Place be full o’ monsters with ’em little teeth”.

The party readying to come ashore
The party readying to come ashore

We ain’t – I mean we’re not talking about cute Strawberry Hill over in Stow Lake with them owls and their neighbors, the blue herons. No.

Land Ho!
Land Ho!

I’m talking about that gloomy islet, New Barbary Coast, where Charlotte Raccoon (née Badger) and the others, like the Harpes,  scourge of squirrels and raiders of birds’ nests, ply their trade from dusk ’til dawn…

Who's that devil with a blue peeper?
Who’s that devil with a blue peeper? Major Tom?!?
A stare to chill the hardiest soul
A stare to chill the hardiest soul

One last word of warning: don’t feed the raccooneers, they’re turning into fat b****s… This ain’t no Disney movie.

raccoon smells humansYeah, bring your camera too, 'cuz we're gonna eat all of that
Yeah, bring your camera too, ‘cuz we’re gonna eat all of that


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The Coastal Trail: Before the Storm

On Tuesday the 27th, we went for a walk along the Coastal Trail near the Golden Gate Bridge. We knew there was a storm coming, so we wanted to get some time outdoors before it hit. It turned out to be a wonderful little jaunt that was full of surprises.

Golden Gate
Lastech looking out across the Golden Gate. Point Bonita (on the Marin Headlands) is visible in the distance

I wanted to break up the trip into two posts, but it just wasn’t going to work. We had some very nice surprises along the way.

Continue reading “The Coastal Trail: Before the Storm”

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