Doug is up in Fort Bragg to get the rest of our stuff. He took son Jon with him and picked up the other son Jody in Berkeley. Lorraine the new owner said that she did not want so many roosters, so D took some to the feed store to find new homes. He will also be bringing 3 roosters here when he comes back, plus a few hens. We set up a large chain link dog run for them with shader on the top. Hopefully they will be able to run free in the day. I am very much looking forward to hearing roosters crowing again and hens clucking and laying some nice eggs.  In the meantime I have been riding Karrot every other day around the 10 acres here. I have unearthed some rocks with a crow bar and they look very nice out in the outer edges of the garden. I have out witted the rabbits with a bloodmeal hot pepper mix. I have got some wild flower and mexican poppy seeds planted and I am trying to keep them watered so that they will sprout.  Along the front of the house a lot of nasturtiums, cal poppies, and morning glories have germinated and are growing well. I also transplanted a few native plants with tap roots. Several may actually live. One I have identified as Jimsonweed a very magnificent plant with hugh bell shaped white flowers.

There is talk that the property here can be split in to two  5 acre parcels hmmmm.

I got a horrible sore throat and still have the residue of a cough, and D's back went  bad
 again, all presumably from the stress and strain from all the NYC experience. D seems much better since yesterday, but is still in bed this morning. When things settle down he will be seeking some serious help such as back surgery. On Saturday I was thrilled to be invited with D to the see the backside at Hollywood Park. Our friends who have horses here know a trainer at Hollywood Park, so we had an in. We also watched the Belmont there on TV and my bet on Union Rags was successful,  he won !
Our new friends also let me ride their horse an ex racer now trained as a hunter jumper. They have him at a stable a few minutes away that has an arena. I also rode Karrot around here yesterday before it got too hot.


Me at Hollywood Park shedrow stables

Me riding Chief a friends ex racer

 So our next essential is to get the rest of our things from Fort Bragg. Then we can seriously get going as far as where are we going to live around here. and put energy into that.

New York,  New York  wow ! We got on a Jet Blue plane at Burbank after a 40 minute drive to the airport. I noticed a passenger standing at the front of the plane chatting with a flight attendant. I thought he looked familular. It was Ron Livinston who was the star of one of our all time favorites, Office Space. Doug thanked him later as he was standing in line with us to get a taxi. No one else acknowledged him, was this deliberate or was the movie too old. Onward to our hotel in Brooklyn. A crazy ride in a yellow taxi. The trash and graffitti and tenements were everything I expected Brooklyn to look like. Our hotel was great, very new and clean. We met up with Heather and Ryan who were staying in the same place, but they had a view from their room. The next morning was the wedding, rain had been forecast. Heather helped me curl my hair, I had never used a curling iron before and now want one. We waited for a taxi in the hotel lobby feeling conspicuous in our wedding finery. We arrived at Prospect Park Brooklyn. We had to walk to the Boat House where the wedding was to take place. There was a flurry of activity. I recognised several of Eddy's friends who were setting out plants and a white runner in the aisle that was blowing around in the breeze. Suddenly I spotted Stephanie's parents who had come from Seoul Korea. We had met them when we went to Korea last October. Both can speak some english. It was so nice to see them again. S mom Young Oke looked ravishing in a cream colored ensemble with a dark hat, and her dad Bumpal very handsome in his suit. So the wedding commenced, I had to walk Eddy down the aisle as per Korean custom. S looked absolutely gorgeous in a Vera Wang strapless. Eddy very suave in a navy pin stripe suit with bow tie.  The official photographer began taking pictures, which was an interesting experience having a camera in your face a lot. He stayed until the reception was over, we went on the subway to get there. He was very charismatic and entertaining to see. On the subway he got off several times to take pictures from the platform. Lots of comments on the subway and interest, who ses New Yorkers are rude and cold. Everywhere we went this was disproved. But the subway rides were the roughest, joltiest rides that I have ever had, you had to hang on tight. The reception was at the Modern in Manhatten . The service and food were exceptonal., which inspired Doug to give the maitre d a very big tip. We went on then to a bar called Lillie's, named after Lillie Langtry with  decorating that looked like the cistine chapel. Very fun chatting to all  E friends. Very tired later.
The next day we went to where Eddy works so that I could see his office. He never said that he worked in the Trump building across from Tiffany's and the stock exchange on Wall St. I should add that he works as a Civil Engineer for LERA who built the Twin Towers and he is currently engineering  a very tall building in Seoul Korea.
Then we went on to see Ground Zero, very nicely done with water  disapearing in to the earth. Then Central Park. We finally had some rain and thunder as we were strolling through.  We ended the day with a Korean dinner in Eddy and Steph's cozy little apartment in Astoria. S mom had been busy cooking it all  and it was delicious. Back to the Hotel and ready to leave via taxi the following morning to JFK and home.

On returning home we found that the dogs had somehow jumped out of a window and were loose outside. They were very happy to see us.