Welcome. The witch is in, and Boulder Creek property

WELCOME to Our Fiver Adventures!  Thank you for signing up to Follow Me and My Dog, Katie, on our adventures while we are preparing - and waiting - to be RV full-timers.  I don't see that you have a blog, but if you do, let me know so I can follow along with you, too! : )

And thank you everyone for all the nice comments you are leaving for me.  I appreciate it and, as you know, it's nice to see people are interested and still reading along.

There are good witches and bad witches.  Which do you think this witch is?

 

 Good Witch?  Bad Witch?

Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Go beg for it.’ I didn’t know what to do. I’d knock on people’s doors and go, "Trick or treat. No thank you."

- Rita Rudner         

I realized the most fantastic thing the other day when I was talking to my daughter. 

My parents owned some property in Santa Cruz County in California - in Boulder Creek.  It is a wooded lot right on Highway 9 in the forest.  It is a small piece of land, and years ago the local government decided they wanted to limit the growth in the area, so they limited the size of lots that could have septic tanks.  This property isn't big enough, so it is virtually un-buildable.  My parents were going to let it go for the taxes, so I took it, paid up the taxes, and it's been mine for a number of years. Since it is pretty much worthless, the tax collector agreed to reduce the value so low, that I don't have to pay taxes on it.

 Boulder Creek Market - I remember this market from 40 years ago.

I've only driven up to see it once, just to see what I owned.  I can't do anything with it, but it is a pretty wooded piece of land.  I keep forgetting I own it.  I know that sounds strange, it's not that I'm land rich, far from it, but I took possession almost 19 years ago and there was nothing I could do with it for all that time.

 Highway 9 - Boulder Creek

Highway 9 -  Boulder Creek

Over the years I've had a couple of neighbors call or write me letters asking if I'd sell it - for $1,000 - I said no, thank you. One person wanted to put in drainage pipes from my land to hers (which was lower) diverting water away from her house when it rained.  A lawyer I knew who specialized in "water law" (he was the attorney for the water company in our town) told me not to let anyone do anything - once I allow a change, if there is a problem I could be responsible.  Her contractor should have positioned her house differently.  So, again I said, sorry, I can't make any changes per my lawyer.

Ancient Giants, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California

I also got a phone call from someone, twice, saying they just purchased the property and understood I was a previous owner, and they wondered if I could give them some history of the property.  WHAT?!  I told them I still owned the property, and the next day called the assessor and they said it was still in my name.  Hope I don't have squatters on the land.

Big Basin Redwoods 

I was thinking I am going to drive up and look at it again.  It's possible that, although I can't build on it, I could put a pad on it for an RV.  Or just clear a space large enough.  It's right on Highway 9, and would be very easy to drive onto with an RV.  When I start full-timing, I could use that place as a "home base" when I want to be off the road for a while.  I might even be able to store it there.   It's a beautiful area with lots of things to do.  Near Santa Cruz, Big Basin, lots of cool little towns. 

Berry Creek Falls, Big Basin

There was a British beer pub right next door to my lot called  The White Cockade, which unfortunately is closed down.  It was very highly rated from the reviews I read. A good pub with dart boards, sounded like it would have been fun.  And I could have walked across the driveway to my place.  Of course, it could have been a bit noisy!

The White Cockade (no longer OPEN)

I just Googled their address with Google Earth to see my lot next door (it doesn't have an address) and WOW, it looks like there are a lot of houses near me, across Highway 9, and possibly on my lot! Oh Oh.  I wonder if they changed the regs. and now leech fields/septic tanks are allowed on smaller properties.  I'd better get up there soon and make sure everything is okay. Hope I don't have squatters, or I could lose it? I'm calling the Realtor this morning.

Katieeeeee.....road trip!!! 

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )

Cognifit Personal Coach

WELCOME to new Follower Kimbopolo!  She has a new blog, and is married, going for her PhD, and wants a small RV to travel in after she completes her studies.  Talk about busy!  Thanks for joining my family of readers, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy your blog!

I signed up for a month-to-month membership on-line with Cognifit Personal Coach - software to keep your brain active. It says it exercises your brain - like you exercise your body.  Three times a week for 20 minutes.  The first thing they do is test you to set benchmarks on where you are in various activities, and I did the first half on Friday afternoon.  They ask that you come back in two days for the second half of the testing, which I did on Sunday evening. 

Then you get the results and you know where you are doing fine and where you might need to take some extra measures to keep your brain healthy.  The program rates your scores against others of your age range.  I love this stuff.

BOO!

I did well on the benchmark testing, but they say no matter how well you do, you can always improve, and by continuing with the program, you will maintain and/or continue to improve your brain health. I think I'm going to keep up with the program for a while to see what I think.  The price is $19.95 a month, but I accessed their website from a link on AOL that offered 25% off, so I am getting it for $14.95 a month.  They have a 30-day money back guarantee.

I'm not affiliated with the program at all and receive no compensation if you click on the link or buy the program.  Been there, done that, not doing it any more. : )  I had never heard of this type of thing before.  I guess there are lots of "brain health" programs out there, but I did some research and this one seems to be one of the best.  I'm much better at exercising my brain than my body.

Five days until Halloween!

  

Today I'll actually start doing the tasks - there are three that last for ten minutes each.  That doesn't seem like much, but when I did the preliminary testing, I did find I was a little stressed trying to do really well, and was glad to stop.  So, maybe 30 minutes will be plenty every other day.  I'll let you know how it goes.

From Me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone! : )

My Sunday

I love my three-day weekends!  Usually on one of the days I get things done inside - clean house, laundry, strip the bed, vacuum, etc.  One of the days I do outside things like grocery shop, Costco shopping and any yard work (my yard is so small it usually takes all of five minutes).  The third day I do nothing.  Read blogs, play computer games, read magazines that have piled up, maybe read a book, maybe cook a great meal, with enough for leftovers for a night or two.  Just whatever I want.  What a life, huh?

So, Sunday I slept in until after 10:00 AM - I almost never do that!  I must have been really tired.  The weird thing is, I woke up before Katie did.  Even stranger. 

I did some cleanup in the patio/yard of  my condo.  Our spring and summer here in San Diego this year hasn't been very warm and sunny, like it usually is.  I always toss the old plants that are dead or dying and buy some more to replace them when the weather warms up.  I like flowering plants around the patio, it looks so nice from the living room.  But this year, I didn't do anything, I think I was waiting for the warm days to come, and they never really did.  So, tired of looking at dead plants, I finally went out and cleaned the patio area, trimmed the plants that needed it, tossed the dead ones, moved some around, and hosed off the patio.

Better already.

Then, armed with a list for plants, grocery shopping and Costco, Katie and I jumped in the car.

First stop was Home Depot.  I have a bunch of gift cards, and found lots of small plants that will work around the patio. Loaded them up in the back of the Escape.  (That's funny...  I just realized the name of my car is the same as the name of my big plan - The Great Escape.  No wonder I love that car!)

Next stop, Costco.  We all know about Costco. : )   I always go armed with a list, most of the items are fruits and vegetables.  Lately it's also included Jelly Bellies.  I'm still eating them, but they weren't on today's list.  BUT, this is the reason we shouldn't go shopping, especially to Costco, on an empty stomach:

 I LOVE really good chocolate covered marshmallows - and these have to be the best!  I ate two on the way home and they were so rich I almost felt sick.  I'm going to go back and get another box - JIC (just in case) - before they run out.  I think they are a seasonal thing with Christmas coming.  Each marshmallow is individually wrapped, and they are about half the size of a big marshmallow.

I also got these chocolate covered macadamia nuts.  They come two boxes packaged together.  These are perfection!

I have to say I try to make candies like these last as long as I can.  I try to be good.   I've always been a sucker for good chocolate, like See's Candies, and I have to be careful or they'll be gone in no time! 

Then on to Albertson's to do a little grocery shopping and we were done.

After putting everything away it was after 4:00 and I hadn't eaten all day.  I was so hungry that, after buying all this great food, I fixed myself a bowl of cereal with cut up fresh strawberries.  Sometimes you just can't beat cereal for a quick meal, any time of the day.

I like Sunday night television, so I was happy as a clam till bedtime.

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everyone!   : )

Saturday with the Grandkids

WELCOME to our two new followers, Kimberly and Froggi!  Thank you for joining our family of followers, and I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.  I'm not an RV owner yet, but that's the plan - the great escape in 2012.  Neither of you show a blog listed, but if you become a Blogger or already have one you want to share, let us know!

I picked up two of my grandkids at 8:00 AM Saturday morning.  I brought them to my house and we had breakfast together - Kennedy had scrambled eggs, bacon, a bagel with cream cheese and hot chocolate, and Gavin had HoneyNut Cheerios with blueberries (we ended up taking out the blueberries before we added the milk.  He wanted them separate. : ) ), bacon and hot chocolate.  I had a bacon sandwich and coffee.

Kennedy said I make the best breakfasts she's ever had.  She said that last time, too.  I was very flattered, but I think it has something to do with the hot chocolate.  : )

Next we loaded up on old bread and took Katie to the lake to feed the ducks.  This is a 1/5 mile walk that we've been doing for the last five years almost every time the grandkids come over.

We started out with just a couple of ducks, then a few more would swim in, a few more would fly in, and we ended up with quite a paddling of ducks.

 

 These two were my favorites.

 Kennedy (7)  and Gavin (5)

I wasn't sure what to call a bunch of ducks, so I looked it up and this is what I found:

Several general collective nouns for ducks:
A team, brace, bed, flight, flock, raft.
A paddling of ducks refers to ducks on water.
A dopping of ducks refers to diving ducks.
A nadger of ducks refers to flying ducks.

So I guess we had a paddling of ducks.

Here's a very patient Katie waiting--her leash is hooked on a metal hook so she wouldn't scare the ducks.

When we ran out of bread, we continued walking around the lake buildings. There are tennis courts, and when we first walked near them, you could see lots of birds through the chain link fence standing in front of the painted concrete blocks - pecking away at the paint.  There must have been 20 of them all lined up, pecking.   I hope they weren't eating it!?!  I've taken this walk hundreds of times, and never seen this before.

 You can see I used a different setting on my camera on this one.

Then we walked back home and Kennedy did some crafts things.  She finished up the picture she started last time she visited, and made another one for Halloween that's hanging on my fridge.

Meanwhile, Gavin was playing baseball with the Wii.  Gavin is the baseball player I had pictures of in a previous blog post.  When Kennedy was done with her pictures, she joined Gavin and they played Wii tennis.  All the baseball Gavin has been playing has really improved his hand/eye coordination and he actually beat Kennedy in tennis, and when they played the Wii bowling game, he almost beat her.  Sports are so good for kids to participate in.  All my grandkids are doing one kind of sport or another, and it is so good for them, physically, mentally, and socially.

Next, we drove to the cafe by the lake where the kids love the chocolate milkshakes.  We had a nice lunch, and I drove the kids home around 2:00.  We had a GREAT visit! 

I don't know why having the grandkids over tires me out so much, but I got home and collapsed!  How in the world did Margie ever take such good care of her Grands for so long?  It's hard on us old folks!  At least this one.

That was it for Saturday.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday evening, everyone!  : )

AdSense - a rant...

WELCOME to three new followers! Wow!   Ellie and Jim, and Sue and Jeana. I've been following Ellie's blog for a while and enjoy reading about their adventures, but am a new Follower of Sue's blog and look forward to reading more.  Jeana is a brand new blogger and future full-timer - good luck, Jeana, with your Blog and welcome to downsizing. Thank you all for becoming Followers of Me and My Dog.  I hope you enjoy reading along as we plan our escape to full-timing.

And...Judy, I think you are right about my hummingbird.  I looked up all the hummers that are in San Diego, and the only one that looks close is Anna's.  Good for you!  I wish I had a prize for you. : )

 This is a bit blurry, but you can see the 

fluorescent color of his throat if you click on it.

OKAY, WARNING, WARNING...  RANT AHEAD!

Today I am going to write a post about AdSense, the Monetize tab on your Blogger Dashboard.  I hesitated to write about this, but decided I would, because it's really bothering me and I think it's information bloggers should have.

When I first started this blog, it was suggested I use Google AdSense to make a little money from the blog.  I had never heard of this, and did some research, and decided to try it.

For those of you (if there are any) who don't know what it is, this is what it says on the Monetize tab:  "AdSense enables you to earn money by placing targeted text and image ads on your blog."  That sounded like a good idea to me, and so I signed up and spent some time arranging where I wanted to ads to be, etc.

When readers click on the ads, somehow it's calculated and you earn money.  If a reader makes a purchase, you earn more.  I don't know how many clicks you need to make some money, or what percentage of the purchase you earn, but that's generally how I understand it to work.  The Blogger is not allowed to click on his or her own ads, for obvious reasons.  It think I mentioned this in one of  my previous posts.

Caaw, Caaw, Caaw

I'd check from time to time to see how much money I was making.  It was very little, sometimes nothing, sometimes cents a day, two days I had five or six dollars (must have been purchases).  You are paid once you have earned $100, after they verify it.  I was FAR from $100, but I felt if I got a check in 6 months or even a year, it was still money that I'd put in my RV fund, and I didn't have to do anything to earn it except provide the space on my Blog.

Suddenly one day last week, my ads were gone, and I received an e-mail that my account was suspended due to "invalid activity."  I had the option to appeal it, and I did, answering all their questions about my blog, it's activity, individual and page hits, my audience status, if I knew of anyone would use multiple clicks to enable me to earn money, etc.  I answered their questions honestly and waited for their reply.

I have no idea why my account was closed, the answer to my appeal was that "we're unable to reinstate your AdSense account."  No explanation except that if I had questions I should go to http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153.

The information provided by following that link says,"Google treats invalid click activity very seriously, analyzing all clicks and impressions to determine whether they fit a pattern of use that may artificially drive up an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. If we determine that an AdSense account may pose a risk to our AdWords advertisers, we may disable that account to protect our advertisers' interests."  So apparently someone was clicking a lot on my ads, and that caused me to be disqualified from the program.

Now, honestly, any of you using AdSense have to know it's not a big deal as far as the money goes.  But, my gosh!  I felt awful after receiving their e-mail, especially since they won't give me any information.  And I certainly didn't click even once on any of my ads!

After receiving the denial to my appeal, I sent AdSense an e-mail asking what happened.  Did I do something, did a reader of my blog do something?  I've not received an answer and I guess the link provided was all they will say.

So, be warned:  it happened to me, it could happen to you.  In fact, has this happened to anyone else?

Usually ranting makes me feel better.  This time it didn't.  I guess because I understand their position, but I'm the one penalized when I did nothing.  Kind of a lose-lose.

Last night's sunset.

Oh, well...  It's the weekend, and I'm gonna have some fun!  From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone! : )