Pondering, pondering. . . .

This photo, taken out my kitchen window (and, yes, I know it needs to be washed) shows maybe a third of the quail who visited our yard yesterday evening. They like to come in for a drink out of the little fountain before disappearing for the night.

So, do I paint this despite having "finished" the quail series? Do I paint it as a single, or as the start of another series? But, what about the weather series that I'm in the middle of? Too many things that call out to be painted & not enough time (or talent) to paint them all!



And this is my new wreath. After a gift of a big bunch of lavender from a friend I went out to my own garden today for cuttings of rosemary, oregano, majorum, dill & probably a couple of things I've forgotten. A few years ago my patient husband took up the challenge of making a form for me to use in making the type of wreaths that are not built on a pre-made base. It works.


So, did I hang it in the kitchen? No, silly, it's in the master bath where it's nice to have a sense of perfume in the air. And, it looks marvy against the very pale sage walls that appear white in the photo. Enough lavender blooms, just the tiny, tiny tips, fell off in the process to fill a good sized clam shell & sit by my bed. Mmmmmmm.

So, still pondering, when will I get to the living room and dining room rugs that I just bought a carpet shampooer for? Not today.

Butterfly Bush and Dill - DILL???

After trimming back my overgrown butterfly bush I decided to use a few sprigs in the house; then some volunteer dill that must have seeded itself from some I planted last year caught my eye. A strange but interesting combo.

And, in looking at the picture, I realized that I accidentally captured my eclectic reading nature. The History of the World was fascinating until I got to recent history, which isn't old enough to feel like "history" to me. Hidden behind the flowers, from top to bottom, are: Teachings on Love, by Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk; Be the Pack Leader, by Ceasar Milan, dog rehabilitator supreme; and The Mind, an old PBS-sponsored book by an MD that explores how the mind operates. Now, let's be clear, I also read junk. There's nothing like a good mystery for hammoc time.

A bit of painting; a couple of mutts

I've been working on a stormy painting. I love when the storm clouds hang over the mountains, rain falls in sheets, and it's hard to tell where clouds end and peaks begin. I'm not sure if I got it, but I've had fun trying.


And, I rarely allow the dogs on the bed any more, but I came up here this evening early with my computer and they just looked so pitiful wanting up that I couldn't resist. Aren't they cute?

TWENTY-SIX BLOSSOMS! WOW

Well, every bud has opened, and none has fallen. I simply can't believe this orchid!

Intro to Central California

This is going to be lots of pictures, little verbiage. I'm just home from a quick weekend trip to Big Bear, CA to meet an old friend. Much of this is for my brother Bill, back in Illinois. Since I've been unable to twist his arm to bring his family and come visit, I'm resorting to a photo tour of parts of central California:


As I was packing to leave, Lucy, my old cat, decided to sit in my suitcase. It's usually Ellie who has to be IN things, but this time Lucy tried it, perhaps an attempt to keep me from filling the suitcase and leaving.






Big Bear is at about 7200 feet elevation. The air is crisp and clear with none of the smog we get. But, the trade-off is that the area is a tourist haven in all respects. Traffic is awful, fast and aggressive, waitresses and waiters can be surly, and gift shops are everywhere. A great place to visit; no way I'd live there.

Clean skies, white clouds and pine trees. Lovely.















We took the ski lift to the top of Snow Summit, just over 8000' elevation, where you can look down on Big Bear Lake. Hikers and mountain-bikers take the lift to the top and either hike or bike back down. I could not recommend the area for skiing - runs are very short - but for summer hiking, it's nice.






As we hiked down, storm clouds started coming in. We didn't get rain below, but it may have happened up above.











Heading down, one moves quickly from mountain to high desert. From here on the photos are taken from my car, mostly through the windshield, so please forgive the photo quality in some shots.










Heading north on Route 18, the road is narrow and very steep - a 16% grade in many areas! Looking out gives a view of what's to come and the start of dirty air.









The road here is much steeper than it looks in this shot. See the next one.












This is what you have right next to you on the side of the road. If you miss a turn, survival is pretty iffy.











Arriving safely at the bottom, you have high desert landscape with Joshua Trees (the large cactus-looking things) and scrub. It's very empty.











After a while you get on 395 North. We used to travel this route to hike on the East side of the Sierra Nevada. It's a long, boring, narrow road. For some reason this area where power lines of all sizes, descriptions and ages has always seemed incredibly lonely to me.









And, this is the landscape. I can't imagine living here, but signs for cheap land abound! It's dry, desolate and unfriendly looking.









From 395, one takes 58 across the state (got your map out?) via the Tehachapi pass. Here you find a wind farm. This picture is from a distance, out the windshield, at 75 + mph, and traveling a curvy and often steep road. These are giant windmills. On my way to Big Bear, I met a semi carrying one replacement blade. The blade took up the entire semi-trailer bed and stuck out over the back!









After Tehachapi you move into cattle country. Now, it may not look like that to folks from the midwest, but out here, this is cattle country. The color in this does not do it justice. The grasses are the color of ripe wheat and just lovely. But, it's obviously dormant season here.








At Bakersfield you catch the 99 North - are you with me? This is not my favorite part of the trip. Traffic is heavy, it's boring landscape, and just plain dull. I elected to take the short route, 65 North rather than the freeway.









On 65, it's citrus groves and oil wells and not much else. Traffic can be nasty. It's 2-lane and often not safe for passing - yet people do, double yellow lines be damned. I don't drive this road at dusk.









We've come across the state from East to West and arrived in the foothills on the opposite side of the Sierra, still a long way from the ocean.

This is Lake Kaweah, right outside of Three Rivers. It's full right now thanks to spring snow melt, but the water level will soon start drawing down to serve the citrus groves below.


So, I'm home. 5 1/2 hours one way. And, covering only a small part of this state.