South Bay Scenes – Week of December 12 – 18, 2016

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Kiera Reilly

I have not posted any South Bay Scenes in a while, and this week’s scenes all come from this past weekend. But the skies were clear and the golden hour light beautiful when we walked the boys late on Saturday afternoon, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures!

Earlier in the week, there was rain and then high winds, so it was not ideal for nice walks along the beach. By Saturday the rain had moved on, and it was a glorious day.

beach volleyball in El Porto beach in Manhattan Beach California

Beach volleyball in El Porto, Manhattan Beach

Looking north from the walk section of the Strand in Manhattan Beach

Looking south on the Strand towards the Manhattan Beach Pier in Manhattan Beach California

Looking south from the walk section of the Strand toward the Manhattan Beach Pier

This group was playing beach volleyball while the sun was setting.

Playing beach volleyball in Manhattan Beach California

Playing beach volleyball as the sun sets

Beach Volleyball north of the Manhattan Beach Pier

The Manhattan Beach Pier, a setting sun reflected in the water and beach volleyball

The Manhattan Beach Pier with Catalina Island in the distance

The sun getting ready to slip beyond the horizon.

The sun sets in Manhattan Beach California

Even as we walked away from the Strand, I kept taking photos of the pretty sky.

Manhattan Beach walk street as the sun sets

Walk Street Manhattan Beach

walk street in Manhattan Beach with street lights decorated for Christmas

Pretty street lights decorated for the holidays

The weather was beautiful, but it was also cold. When I went out to my car early on Sunday morning, there was frost on my windshield! I do not think that has ever happened here in Redondo Beach. I took a picture of it after I scraped it off so I could see where I was driving!

frost on windshield in Redondo Beach California

Frost on my windshield

It’s time to turn on the heat!

cold temperatures in Redondo Beach California

Running for Rover Rescue on July 4th

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

We ran the 4th of July 5K and raised $825 for Rover Rescue!

To celebrate Independence Day in the USA, we once again participated in the 22nd Annual Village Runner 4th of July 5K. My dogs Koa, Lau Lau, and I pledged to raise money for Rover Rescue, a local dog rescue organization in Redondo Beach, California, by participating in the race and asking friends to donate money to show their support.

Over 100 dogs are put to sleep in overcrowded Los Angeles area animal shelters every day. Many of these homeless dogs have been abandoned, abused or neglected, without ever knowing the love of a caring human being. Rover Rescue saves dogs from overcrowded Los Angeles area animal shelters, and fosters or boards each rescued dog until the right owner is found. While in their care, dogs are walked, socialized and given loving care. Dogs that are sick or injured are given proper medical attention and vaccinated, spayed or neutered. All of Rover Rescue’s support comes from donations and volunteers, and they keep working, “until every dog has a home.”

We met and adopted both Koa and Lau Lau through Rover Rescue, and we believe in their mission to match prospective owners with the right shelter dog so that the dogs will never be homeless again.

We hoped to raise $700 for Rover Rescue, and I posted on Facebook, tweeted and sent emails to friends and family asking for their support. I am thrilled that we raised $825 for Rover Rescue through Crowd Rise’s online donation platform. We are still able to accept donations, and we would greatly appreciate any amount you can give to Rover Rescue via Crowd Rise.

On race day, the boys were excited by the crowds of people gathered at the start line. We started slowly, but soon Koa was ready to run, and we alternatively ran and walked the entire course. We did much better and beat last year’s time of 42:04 by completing the course in 37:37! It’s not fast compared the overall race winner’s time of 15:22, but we still had fun seeing other dogs on the course, passing some people and waving and cheering for the leaders.

We are so thankful for everyone that donated to our race, especially our four-legged friends Travis and Leinie. Most importantly, we are grateful for the work that Rover Rescue does to find every dog a loving home. We hope if you plan to add a dog to your family that you adopt a dog from a local rescue organization or shelter…until every dog has a home!

More photos from our day are below. Please “like” Rover Rescue on Facebook, and see more photos from the race at the Village Runner 4th of July 5K Facebook page.

Approaching the start line so we can line up behind it for the race.

The race begins! We started at the back of the pack with the other dogs and walkers.

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach with the Pacific Ocean to our left.

Running back along the Esplanade, here we are turning to return to Riviera Village and the home stretch!

Koa and Lau Lau take their race pace very seriously.

We stopped by to see our friends at Rover Rescue after the race.

Patiently waiting for a treat to celebrate finishing the race!

Thank you for considering a donation to Rover Rescue!

Tzatziki, Peonies and Gin!

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

It was a rainy and unusually humid day in Los Angeles today. Luckily I purchased these peonies two days ago, and they are just now starting to open up and brighten up the kitchen despite the clouds outside.

While I gazed at the pretty peonies, I decided it was time to make one of my favorite summer dishes: tzatziki, a greek dressing or dip, that I usually eat with pita chips. When I do not have time to make it on my own, I purchase a container from Trader Joe’s. But I like my homemade version the best. The dip is pretty easy to make as I don’t even have a recipe to follow but just mix a few simple fresh ingredients together.

First, I put a coffee filter over a strainer and a bowl, and then spoon some Greek yogurt into the filter. I let it sit at least a half hour so that the excess water is extracted. When I first read about making tzatziki, some recipes called for using a cheese cloth during this step, but I found that the coffee filter works pretty well too.

While the yogurt is sitting, I prepare the other ingredients: lemon juice, dill and garlic.

Dill, garlic and lemon. Note the dish is from Portugal – I love making use of items I purchased while traveling.

I chopped a tablespoon or two of dill, minced three to four cloves of garlic, and squeezed the juice out of a half lemon into a bowl. Then I added the yogurt (it becomes even thicker once the water drains), mixed it all together and added salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I add olive oil too.

I chill the dip in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow all the flavors to blend together. Just before serving, I chopped up a Persian cucumber to give the dip a crunchy texture.

Finished tzatziki! I served it in a bowl from Sorrento, another purchase from my travels.

Since I’m in a gin phase, I decided to quickly make some gin and tonics (using my new favorite tonic Fever Tree) and serve them with the dip for a pre-dinner snack.

What is your favorite go-to fresh summer dish?

We Ran for the Lives of Dogs

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

To celebrate Independence Day, I took my dogs Koa and Lau Lau to Riviera Village in Redondo Beach, California, to participate in the Village Runner Redondo Beach 4th of July 5K.

We were running and walking to help raise funds for Rover Rescue, a local dog rescue organization that saves dogs from Los Angeles shelters and helps them find permanent homes (my original post is here).

Koa and Lau Lau are trying to remain calm before the race starts.

Dave and I adopted first Koa, then Lau Lau, from Rover Rescue, and we admire and respect the commitment they have to find the right home for the dogs that they save. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer morning are usually like this due to the "marine layer."

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer mornings are usually like this due to the “marine layer.”

I posted here, and on Facebook, and asked friends and family to donate money. Although it was a bit of a last-minute fundraising effort, I’m pleased to report that we raised $600 for Rover Rescue! We are still accepting donations. If you would like to contribute, visit the pledge and donation site here.

The group at the front is already on their way to the finish line.

Koa and Lau Lau were dressed in red, white and blue bandanas to celebrate the birthday of the U.S.A., and I wore my U.S. Soccer hat and Rover Rescue t-shirt. The boys were very excited on race day, probably because of all the people gathering before the start of the race. We stopped by the Rover Rescue tent to visit our friends there. We saw a group of runners from their vet, Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, and even said hi to the vet tech who recognized them (Koa thought he seemed much nicer when he wasn’t trying to poke and prod him).

The race begins!

The race started at 8:00 am, and while everyone dashed off, we waited a bit so that we’d have more room to run – zig-zagging around walkers and runners is a bit more difficult with two dogs on leashes.

We walked and ran the course, and while we weren’t particularly fast, we sure had fun! We finished with a race time of 42:04.

Dave found us along the way and took some action photos. You can see more photos of the entire race in the Village Runner 5K Facebook page and on their website.

After the race, the boys posed for some photos.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my efforts on behalf of Rover Rescue. Koa and Lau Lau want to especially thank dogs Travis, Charlie, Natalia, Lizzie, Mario, and Luigi for their donations. It’s nice that both two and four-legged donors support us!

There’s still time to donate – help us reach our goal of $850! Click here to contribute!

We had so much fun running with fellow neighbors and citizens from all over the South Bay, and loved seeing everyone in red, white and blue. Look for us to race again next year!

How did you celebrate July 4th?

Running for the Life of a Dog

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

This July 4th, Koa and Lau Lau are taking me to the Village Runner Redondo Beach 5K where we plan to run, walk, wag our tails, get some head scratches and raise funds for Rover Rescue.

Rover Rescue is a a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue & placement of homeless dogs from Los Angeles animal shelters. Rover Rescue’s mission is “until every dog has a home.” You can read more about the organization here.

Koa and Lau Lau found us through Rover Rescue, and we can’t thank RR enough for caring about rescuing and finding the right homes for dogs in Los Angeles shelters. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Rover Rescue asks that each participant raise $200. I plan to contribute that amount but hope that with Koa and Lau Lau’s adorable photo above that some of you would be willing to help me raise more.

We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

Please click here to make a donation. Rover Rescue is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Thank you for your support!

Woof, woof,

Kiera, Koa and Lau Lau

Kiera Reilly

Planes, Trains and Formula 1

Category Archives: Redondo Beach

South Bay Scenes – Week of December 12 – 18, 2016

Running for Rover Rescue on July 4th

Tzatziki, Peonies and Gin!

We Ran for the Lives of Dogs

Running for the Life of a Dog

We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

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We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

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