We took a picnic lunch to Vasona Park to enjoy the warm sunshine. Louie and Sakura were a bit of a handful. Louie wouldn’t stay on the blanket and Sakura wouldn’t stay off it. And Louie kept wanting to grab Sakura. But it was still nice to get out in the fresh air.

We met up with Cerys at a local farm this afternoon. When the wind left and the sun came out it was really nice walking around looking at the sheep, goats, chickens, and rabbits.

It was fun seeing Louie with Big Sis, and Louie was clearly happy to be getting over his cold.

There are many fruit trees in our neighbourhood, but this massive orange tree wins the prize. It must be 20 feet tall and is thick with oranges all the way to the ground.

I remember the first time I saw an orange tree was in Arizona. I was amazed. Growing up in the UK, oranges were a common fruit in the supermarket but they came from sunny places I never thought I’d see. They are so common around here they just drop off the trees and roll out into the streets. No-one bothers to pick them up.

Louie has a chesty cold. Yesterday he felt really miserable and cried, coughed, dripped, rattled and whimpered. I looked after him in the morning when Kaori was out. Kaori took over for the rest of the day while I worked. Nothing much made him smile. Not even his favourite storybook time with Mum.

He turned the corner today, though, and has more energy. He’s playing and smiling and not coughing much. And, he pulled himself up into a sitting position for the first time.

We’re thankful he just has a cold and not this winter’s terrible flu.

I got up before sunrise and went on a standard 8 mile loop that I’ve done many times before. It’s not so beautiful, but it’s a good climb up and keeps things working when short of time.

The trail rises above Silicon Valley. Here you can see the new Apple campus, which is the huge circle, and the high rises of the center of San Jose. At the top of the hill is the Lick Observatory, which was built in 1888 and is 4205 feet above sea level. That’s close to the height of the highest point in the British Isles.

There was a kite hovering ahead.

And dozens of wild turkeys.

A pig on a farm, sleeping hard and snoring.

And many deer who are quite used to sharing the slopes with humans.

A short hike on a low-appeal trail, but with lots to see.