Bits and bobs
Time is passing by quickly and we don't have much longer left of our first stint in Irvine. The regular academic year has now finished for the students, although summer school is in session. We managed to catch one of the baseball games of the final series for the UCI team, against the Cal State Matadors. We had brilliant seats, directly behind the home plate. It was fascinating to see just how much the pitchers can get the ball to deviate through the air.
A highlight of my night was a picture with Peter the Anteater, UCI's mascot! Peter was voted mascot of the tournament at the NCAA western division basketball finals which UCI participated in earlier in the year. That hoodie in the pic below was a bargain in the bookshop's end of year sale. It was $10 for the hoodie, with an LA Angels/UCI branded baseball cap thrown in for free. It's a good quality hoodie too, made by Champion. Because they were so cheap, every second student on campus seems to own one! I bought a set for Will as well, although whether we ever go out in public in our matching outfits remains to be seen...UCI won the baseball comfortably, helped by a superb night at the mound by the pitcher in his second to last match of his collegiate career. If a UCI pitcher strikes out 10 players during the match, everybody at the ground gets a free ultimate fish taco from Slapfish. The strikeouts are recorded on the 'K-board' below. Heading into the 9th (and final) innings, the pitcher had 9 strikeouts. The first two outs were run out and caught out, leaving him only one more chance. With the crowd urging him on, he managed to get the strikeout at the last possible opportunity. We had the tacos for lunch a couple of days later and they were awesome. The food was almost worth what we paid for the baseball tickets! The score was 4-2 so we just missed out on free buffalo wings which the crowd get if UCI score 5 runs and win the match...
I'm continuing to enjoy Mason park. I like to take the camera and go for a walk during the afternoons. I'm still waiting for that elusive hummingbird pic! Below is a Lesser Goldfinch. There isn't anything in the photo to indicate scale, but this bird is teeny.
I like the way the turtle is photo-bombing the heron in the pic below...One thing I really like about Irvine is that most verges and banks use honeysuckle as a ground cover. It smells amazing as you walk past, and attracts numerous bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Here's a few more pics from Mason park. I never get tired of seeing the turtles. The pic below is the most I've ever seen on one rock!
The other day I cycled the 30 minutes or so to the Upper Newport Bay nature reserve,then spent a couple of hours walking around the trails. There are bobcats and coyotes in the reserve, but they are very rarely sighted during the day. I had to settle for far less exciting animals like the house finch below.I saw the most laid-back and chilled squirrels and rabbits I've ever come across... They didn't seem the least bit perturbed by me.
I also saw several turkey vultures enjoying soaring on the thermals.
There were lots of interesting succulents around, with many of them in flower.
The nature reserve is vast, and I only got to explore a small part of it. It's a beautiful spot so I'm sure I'll be back again.
Now for something very random... Last time Will and I were in the supermarket we came across cinnamon rolls in a can! They were on special so we couldn't resist trying them. Below is the before and after pic.
They actually turned out surprisingly well, although I decided that they didn't need all of the icing put on top. You really could get away without knowing how to cook or bake over here. You can buy pretty much anything fully or partially prepared, either frozen or fresh. The ready-made meal sections of the supermarket are vast.
1 Comments:
Enjoying reading about your travels and you rock the new hairstyle.
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