Little Birdie

Whole bevies of quail come to feed at my parents' feeder all year. This guy visited us at Christmas last year.

Dew Drop In

Seen on the ground cover on a walk at the Sea Ranch New Years 2008. I like the way the drop pooled in the center of the star. Most Nifty Nature!

Goats on the Coast

One of the big pushes up at The Sea Ranch where my parents have a place is to have a minimal environmental impact. However, being the California coast there are often lots of dry grasses around which are a real fire hazard. So, the community has hired a shepherd with his flocks of sheep and goats to move up and down the property trimming the grasses to a reasonable height. They use a mix of sheep and goats because the sheep are more efficient, but there are some grasses that even they won't eat--no such qualms for the goats! Environmentally friendly, and around the time of kidding/lambing season, really darned cute. This little goat was posing for us this past Christmas, just getting ready to eat his way south!

Feeling Kelpless

Sea Ranch again for today's post. We had some pretty good storms while I was up there this year and that always means some interesting things get washed up. I liked the way this particular piece of kelp had coral growing in between the roots--Nifty :)

A Marvelous Bird is the Pelican....

A marvelous bird is the pelican
His beak can hold more than his bellycan
and I don't know how in the hellhecan.

As a kid I loved that poem...parental sanctioned swearing. Nothing better for a 6 year old! :) This particular pelican was spotted of the The Sea Ranch in California this Christmas. He (or she?!?!) was kind enough to fly right in front of me and pose for the camera!

A Little Birdie...

Another picture from Christmas 2008. This is one of many a birdie who came to visit the feeder on the back porch of my parent's house. I like the seed in his mouth and the slight tilt to his head. My parent's have a Great Pyrenees dog--a 120 pound fluffball who works hard to protect us from the finches and chickadees. :) He has been up at Sea Ranch for over 10 year sand the birds have learned that his bark is MUCH worse than his bite. As soon as he turns his back they come flocking in :)

This Bee a Favorite Picture

Returning to one of my favorite subject here…FLOWERS!!! I have been revisiting just posting flower picts, but I thought it was time for one more :-) In 2005 I joined my sister and some of her friends to the annual Taste of the Valley in the Alexander Valley, CA for some great wine tasting. Several of the wineries have food and special events and over the two days you can visit WAY too many wineries and be very glad that your sister has a friend who does not drink and that can be a designated driver :-) . We had a great time and got to taste some really tasty wines. I, of course, had my camera with me and while we were waiting for the first winery to open and let us in I wandered around outside their gates and found this guy hanging out on a flower just waiting for his moment of fame and stardom—I was happy to oblige!

Maxfield Parish Lives!

OK, decided to take a shot not from Europe trip today J This is a picture that I actually took from my backyard in Woodland Hills, CA in 1999 and have always thought it looked like a Maxfield Parish painting come to life. Not too much to say about this one, but wow, that was a purty sky!!!