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We took a few more (blurry) pictures of our place. We've been really busy entertaining folks and doing projects and, well, working. But enough of that, let's get to the pictures.

This is our house from the corner of River lane and Orchard Avenue.

We call this "Still Life With Water Spigot." Really though, it has been wonderful getting used to how green everything is!

This is our place from the same side this picture was taken, only this picture was taken in the dead of winter and now we're in the middle of summer. To the right of the red tree is the ivy mass, which is now quite diminished, but those pictures are on another disposable camera.

And this is our river! This was before they put in the summer crossing downstream raising the level up about four feet. This is where we swim as often as we can.

Some of our guests showed up on their own, unannounced. As we moved in, so did a family of swallows. Here their little chicks poke their heads out for food. They've flown off now, all surviving to fly, but we've left their nest -- maybe they'll come back next year!

Keep in mind this is right outside our front window, so Shurik and Amaya love to harass the swallow parents, who buzz the windows when they forget that our cats live only indoors. .

Rachel came to visit! She brought the absolutely most hideous, horrible, low-budget film of the new millennia. How this garbage ever got put on DVD is beyond us. Out of pure morbid curiosity, we watched "Sweet Potato Pie," an "urban" re-make of "American Pie." We could call it an abomination, but that's too lenient. It exists as a permanent stain upon mankind. This is the look we all had on our faces the entire movie through.

Anna and Rachel in the river posing. In front of Anna is her monofin which she uses to prowl the river at extreme velocities.

Rachel savors the first bite of an Anna trademark: fresh, hot cinnamon buns with carmel and pecans. The look says it all. Anna doesn't make them often, as they're quite a bit of work, but they are savored and treasured!

And the other Anna trademark: fried chicken. This is the first batch made at the cabin. And while the switch from gas to electric stoves took some getting used to, Anna quickly adapted and turned out perfectly golden, juicy fried chicken thighs. Yum.

When we're not enjoying the river, we head a dozen or so miles west to the coast. We found a pull-off where we access what we have taken to calling Slug State Beach. Here Anna and Rachel take shelter under our fabulous umbrellas.

And this is their view. We missed the ocean so much when we were in Utah that sometimes we'll come out here and just sit and watch the waves for hours. It's so wonderful being so close to the ocean again!

The weekend after Rachel came out, Mark and Cindy, and Owen and Sce came out for the weekend. Surprisingly, this was the only shot we managed for the whole weekend. Both Mark and Owen snapped their digital cameras and I guess we just assumed we, too, were taking pictures. Umm... guess not.

And the weekend after that we had Gary, Lana, Misha, and Jeany up for Father's day.

Jeany and Misha pose in front of our favorite breakfast restaurant, Howard's in Occidental.

We love having people visit, but after so many guests right after another, it was time to relax beneath the canopy of our fig and persimmon trees in our faux Adirondack chairs that came with us from Utah.

We're already halfway through another disposable camera filled with ivy destruction as well as other summertime activities. After almost three months, we definitely feel at home by the river.