Blossoms

I have an interesting love/hate relationship with the trees growing in my yard. They can be truly frustrating. My front-yard flowering pear has been suffering from a fungal disease which is rampant amongst all of this species. I've had to be very patient with it. But right now it is blooming and spectacular.

Similarly, in my backyard, just across the fence which divides our property from the neighbor's, there is a plum tree, mostly neglected and overgrown. When we trim it, it reaches toward the light and is putting pressure on the fence which is near collapse. But this morning, its pretty blossoms drew me out there at first light to enjoy its bloom.

So pretty in the cool morning light.

A Sweet Sweedie

I have a very special friend in Sweden. We connected online through a photographers forum. She's so much fun. She's also very talented and crafty. I admired a handmade bookmark she made for someone else and like magic, my own arrived in the mail. Not just one bookmark, but two, one for me and one for Bruce as well. Isn't that sweet !! And a handmade card and personalized note. Do you know how rare that is these days !!

Check these out.

BTW, the poem is in a book of black and white photographs by Dorothea Lange (May 25, 1895 – October 11, 1965), a fabulous photographer best known for photographing depression-era families. This book is about her visits to a cabin on the California Coast. These cabins are now operated by the California State Parks. We've visited and stayed a couple time and have reservations again later this spring.

Wild Things San Diego Zoo

I love big cats....little cats. I just love cats. It's awesome to watch the big cats in their roomy enclosures at the San Diego Zoo.





The rarest of these cats is the Snow Leopard. I caught him just waking up from a nap.




I escaped for a few days last week to have a reunion with my sister. She travelled from Nova Scotia to Laguna Beach where we spent a few days enjoying each other's company.

We spent a fun afternoon at the San Diego Zoo. Here are just a few more of the wild animals we enjoyed.

A Local Ramble

Bruce and I got out for a ramble late this afternoon. We like to cross the Uvas Reservoir dam and walk on the other side for about 30 minutes then turn around and come back. It's level and quiet as the trail (really an access road) follows the reservoir in and out of the little canyons and arroyos.

Our favorite turn around spot is the home of one of my favorite trees, a spreading Buckeye. Beneath it's boughs is a small seasonal stream, happily running now, one of dozens of small drainages which carries water to the reservoir.

A late Valentine

I've waited a very long time for this Amaryllis to bloom. I think I planted it the first week of November and placed it outdoors on a window-level sill. It sat there for weeks without any sign of growth until the second week of December when the first flowering stock began to push its way up. I was hopeful of a bloom after the holidays. You know, during that time when we take down the tree and start missing all of the holiday glitz. But no, it seemed stuck. So I brought it inside and it began to grow a wee bit faster, but not much. I know this because I planted two bulbs at the same time, in two separate pots. The other one is still outside and it is behind this one, but not by much.

Anyway, just in time for Valentine's Day, it bloomed. I had to share it with you. Aren't flowers awesome !!

Maurice Spotting

Well, well, I hear Maurice had an excellent visit in Columbus. He attended a luncheon and party and has made his way to the East Coast. Here he is at the Skybus Terminal in Columbus.

That TSA agent is eyeing him suspiciously LOL.

Photo courtesy of the fabulous Massachusetts photographer, Jamie Wexler.

Spring Fever

We're finally getting a pretty nice stretch of spring-like weather. I turned the car south to the little town of San Juan Bautista this afternoon. I like walking the streets of this great little town. The merchants in this town are simply amazing. Because it's a bit sleepy, they seem to enjoy talking to window shoppers.

One vintage gift shop, Happily Ever After, is a frequent stop. I love the whimsy. They were so kind to dig around in their Christmas inventory for a couple of ornaments to add to the few that I'd bought there before the holidays. Today my eye was caught by the tule and feather wreaths. So pretty and feminine.

After shopping and chatting a while, I walked down the street past the historic state park and spotted these two lovely ladies enjoying a cup of ice cream tucked in a sunny nook in the gateway to the park's historic garden. They inspired me to have my own cup of ice cream to celebrate the day.

Spring is in the air. Even the tree in my front yard has broken into blossom, weeks earlier that I can recall it's bloom timetable of the past.