Dichorda Iridaria

Drumrollllllllllll. . . . .

With a lot of help from friends and family and their friends and family, it appears the strange caterpillar on our sumac has been ID'd:





And, here is the moth it will become:


(These photos courtesy of friendscentral.org.)

This is the showy emerald moth. Now I'll know what to look for as the season goes on.

Keeping a garden that is chemical free leads to such interesting discoveries. Of course, yesterday's big discovery was hoof-prints of a horse! Then, while walking dogs, we stopped to feed Poco the horse and learned from his owner Cathy that Poco had been loose the evening before. Yep, it was his big ol' hoof that squished a tulip. Small loss. We stop and give Poco a carrot every day when dog walking. Buck and Cocoa have learned that this is part of the routine, so they automatically turn in at Poco's place.

Our life here has such a sweet rhythm. We have real seasons, but they aren't terribly extreme, well except for summer heat. Tons and tons of birds have taken to feeding at our feeders, stopping for a drink at the little bubbler, and rewarding us with song. I'm hopeful we'll have nesters this year. Gary the Coopers Hawk isn't here every day like he was for a while, but he still makes an appearance every second or third day for hunting. A few quail are showing up - the leaders of the huge coveys we'll have in the summer. I have a tiny garden this year and big hopes that by late fall I'll have the space created for a much bigger garden next year. It's a challenge. The soil is heavy clay. The gophers are everywhere. Deer stop by to munch. Local dogs pee on everything. There is no rain in summer and 100+ degree heat. And, our lot is quite steep. My plan is to level an area, put down gopher wire topped by a large raised bed, surround that with deer fence, catch rain water in a cystern for irrigation, and possibly put bird netting on the top. Whew! All that so I can enjoy the labor of gardening - - and the taste of fresh veggies of course.

It's March!

I've been derelict about not updating this blog. Life has had it's challenges.
I was sick for over 3 weeks with some sort of intestinal thing that really laid me low. Of course the house got utterly filthy in that time. Good friend Judy's old golden retriever Beau died, and we helped her with the aftermath of that. Now just a couple of days ago another friend's golden retriever had to be put down. Jennifer had cancer and seizures. Way too reminiscent of our challenges with Mousse.

Anyway, I'm back.

I've sent this photo off to Dr. Hannan for an ID. These two caterpillars look exactly like leaves. The plant they are on, a 3 leaf sumac, is one I planted; and I knew that the leaves were not this shape. But, I thought that some other leaf had simply blown onto the plant. When I went to brush them away - lo and behold, they are alive. Is this not an amazing example of camouflage in the natural world?



I've written before about Lucy Cat's facination with any sort of "rag" she can drag around. Socks get brought downstairs. Dish towels get pulled off their hangers and dragged into the living room. We finally decided to give her a small basket and a few rags of her own. Lucy is in rag heaven! One of the rags I gave her is one that she kept dragging out of my studio. It's really ratty, being one I use when painting. Finally I gave it to her. So this morning she drug it UP the stairs and back into my studio. Crazy cat.



This waterfall and pool are on BLM land where I recently went hiking with a friend. Dogs are allowed off leash there so I'll be visiting more often with my two!


Although we could still get a cold snap spring has definitely sprung here. I've got lots of daffodils in bloom and a few buds on tulips. Wildflowers are lovely around the lake. It's a great time to visit if you're so inclined. . . .

Snow pics

The hills above us are beautiful with snow. There's just enough to coat the rock outcroppings and the tops of trees, yet you can still see the trees beneath the snow. Love it!


This is a sunset view looking down from our place.


And here, from the top of the driveway, is how we looked the morning the snow level got down to us.

Some of my favorite things about snow at this elevation are the odd combinations like the snow on my lemon tree - named Leona. She's new just a couple of weeks ago, so I hope this cold spell doesn't do her in.


And, I always love the look of the snow on my little rock bench. I can't look at it without remembering the generosity of the guy who made it as a surprise after finishing our rock wall.


And finally, hummingbirds in snow! How cool is that?


OK, I know that family and friends back in Illinois must think I'm nuts, but the thing is, I've lived in California long enough now - over 20 years - that snow is a wonder again. No, I wouldn't want to live where it's knee deep, but the little bits that we get here are wonderful, and with the Sierra Nevada in our backyard, we can go play in snow whenever we want. It's the best of both worlds for sure!

"Our" Coopers Hawk

Look carefully. This is the juvenile Coopers Hawk that is hanging out in the oaks around our house. He's been named Gary - get it? Coopers Hawk. (Scottie came up with this.)

He's here every day for much of the day, but I don't think he roosts here at night. At first I was not happy with him being here as he was taking an occasional bird, but I've decided that he has to make a living too. And, wouldn't it be wonderful if he found a mate and decided to nest here? Of course "he" could be a "she". If that turns out to be the case it will become something like Garita or Garene. But for now it's Gary the Coopers Hawk.

A couple of days ago Scottie noticed that Gary refused to put one foot down on the branch. We were concerned that he was injured, and I'd seen him make a major swoop after a dove, maybe hitting a branch. But, by the next morning, both feet were firmly gripping again.

I've worked so much with the dogs on the issue of NOT going after the birds. . . talking to them about the birds, holding a bird that hit the window and petting it, rubbing the bird on the dogs, etc., etc., etc., telling them how much we like the birds. Buck will still eat a dead bird, but neither dog goes after the live ones now. Anyway, when Gary swoops after a bird, usually a dove, the dogs go nuts barking at him, dashing at him, generally letting him know he's not to go after the birds. When he's just sitting in the trees they ignore him, but after he's tried for a bird close to the house they sit under the tree and bark at him! Goofy dogs.

Thar's snow in them thar hills

We've had some nice rains the past few days including almost 3/4" last night. The snow level is down to maybe 2500 or 3000 feet and is just lovely in the hills and on the peaks above us.



After much difficulty finding a "just right" plant I finally invested in a Juniper to finalize the Christmas gift from friend Yvonne - here we have the Jansen Juniper. I really like it's unusual yellow color, and since Y is a blond, it's perfect!



Almost every morning the puppers join me on the day bed while I do emails, check the news, and have my latte. They are inclined to stay put when I get up.




And, just what's the deal with cats and unmade beds? Mine take over the bed every morning after we get up, and I usually have to work around them to make the bed. They don't find it nearly as inviting when it's all snug and neat.



Such is life in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada - pretty quiet.

A very quiet house

Scottie is in San Diego with FIL (for those not in the know that's Father-in-Law), and it's a whole different place without him. Do you suppose there is a way drain testosterone? Nahhhhhh. Maybe the answer is a man-cave so most of the testosterone can be kept outside.

The big difference is in the quiet, both in terms of the actual noise level and in relation to the energy. I've long maintained that testosterone excess leads to strange things, and that Scottie has obviously the ability to be a testosterone doner. It shows up in good ways like his youthfulness and in not-so-good like his. . . let's just say aggressive energy. The funny part of this is that every one of the animals pick up on it!

As a big Dog Whisperer fan that really shouldn't surprise me. DW says that energy is the key to relating to dogs (and others) and being the pack leader; and he always preaches CALM assertive energy. So, without that more aggressive than assertive energy in the house, what happens to the animals?

Everyone calms down. No one "makes me" get up at 5 AM as they do with Scottie. No one rushes the door to go out. Believe it or not I have them sitting and waiting to go out the door! We've run into several people with dogs while out walking and had no problem whatsoever. A couple of days ago we walked part of our rounds with the neighbor and his dog Hugo. Yesterday we stood at Luann's fence talking with her while all five of her dogs barked like maniacs and mine were calm as could be.

Both got baths on one of our mid-60's days, and we were able to do even that, me with the fibromyalgia and them still quiet. Wow.


Of course, they'll go all wacky when they see him again. I definitely think we need to get power to his "shed", get all the storage stuff moved to my shed, and let that be his man cave. Excess testosterone to be checked at the door to the house rather like old gunslingers had to check their guns at the bar.

We're well into 2009

What was our Christmas tree has now become Cedric the Cedar, planted by Babboo.


Lucy Cat lounges on my office chair, covered for her convenience with an old towel.


Ellie Cat, I swear, is half lizard. She loves to soak up all the heat she can in front of the fireplace.


Puppers and I in a little glen near us. This is one of the prettiest little spots around at this time of year when all is green, mossy, etc.


Sarah and her Dad, that would be Scottie, with fun in the snow while Sarah and Bobby were here to visit.


Juvenile Coopers Hawk - I think - in the old oak outside our front door.


So, it's in the upper 60's, bright, sunny - the fog is gone for now - and does not feel like January at all. The bad news in that is we have no rain and this could be one of the driest winters on record for this part of California.

And a VERY merry one it was!

So, with this year's candy-making, the real fun was "snow peeps". Remember Peeps, marshmallow Easter candy?
Well, I found a recipe for same and decided to make snowmen, aka snow peeps, they were a major effort, but I understand my grandkids enjoyed them. So, worth it, right?
I couldn't put this up until after they got them.


Then Sarah, Scottie's youngest, and Bobby, the son-out-law, arrived on 12/26 to spend a couple of days. The 27th was the second annual McArthur Christmas party. I really wanted pics from it and even had hopes of a decent photo of Scottie and I together. No such luck 'cuz the party was well attended and so darned much fun that I never took even one picture.

Both Buck and Cocoa spent the evening being party dogs - simply refusing to leave the fun and food - so they've been total slugs today. Buck got a little advance slug practice the day before the party snuggling up with Sarah who has described him as Buck the Body Pillow. Yep.



All in all it's been a great Christmas. Now it's time to take it all apart, plant the living tree and move on to 2009!

HO HO HO

We've had just the best Christmas!

It's not that it's been elaborate, just that it's been really, really nice. All sorts of little pieces of magic have come our way - from a beautiful Guamanian screen given to us by a new friend to meeting a young woman from Illinois, to the sweet and gentle Christmas morning we had right here in River City (that would be Three Rivers, CA, in case you didn't know) and the crying my eyes out at Marley and Me.

I've promised my daughter more photos of myself - something I resist 'cuz I don't photograph well. Here I am Christmas morning, happy and warm in a brand new sweater.



How to tell Scottie's favorite gift? Well, the fact that I couldn't get the biking sunglasses off him might be a clue. It was "take my picture in my new shirt (with my glasses)." " Take my picture with my new saw (and my glasses)." And so on and so forth. He does photograph well.


About that screen:

This is it. Given to us by a lady who we met when we went to buy a cement mixer. That's right - given to us.

Today Sarah and Bobby arrive from San Diego, and tomorrow we have a party - - it's not over yet!

Christmas Time

Finally got the spirit and decided to decorate for Christmas!

Normally there is a big clock surrounded by a BIG frame above our fireplace. I took the clock down and turned the frame, which is about 2' x 3', into a big wreath of sorts with the 2 mercury glass acorns in the middle.



And, I decided that this year the crystal forest should sit in "snow", aka batting. The crystal forest is pretty much my favorite part of decorating each year.


Above the forest (and on both sides of the mantle) are manzanita branches, these decorated with a few ornaments.


The view from the front door toward the fireplace pleases me!


All that's left to do is bring in the live tree a few days before Christmas and decorate that.

Ta-da-da-da-DA! I'm likin' it.

Rocks and Lichen and Moss - Oh My!!

OK, bear with me here.

Are there things that make you cry or at least tear up simply because they are so incredibly beautiful, or maybe because you are truly awestruck? Well, I can get that way about rocks. That's right, I said rocks.

I've been wanting landscape rocks for the front of our place to divide the driveway area from the little tiny front lawn and the house. It has felt to me like the driveway just runs into the house, especially since the driveway comes downhill from the road.

So, Fred Lowe, rock guy supreme, had promised me rocks some time ago; but here's the deal: You wait for Fred or you get someone else, and getting someone else is not the good choice. So, finally Fred had a bigger job that put him working on the property right next to ours and the time was ripe for me to get my rocks.

Fred showed up on Monday with the first of the rocks. Note the rock to the left and the strap around it. Fred came down the road and down our steep driveway with that rock danging from his bucket! Amazing.



Buck and Cocoa had to check each rock after it was dropped off - and more about this rock later. The pups seemed to need to be sure that no dangerous things were coming in with the rocks.


So, Monday night there we are with big ole rocks sitting at the end of the driveway.


On Tuesday I had to go get a hair cut and run errands. When I came home, Fred had finished setting the rocks. Each is in place and partially buried in the ground looking like they've been there forever! (Near us is a house where someone else did the rock work. A bunch of big rocks were dumped willy-nilly on top of their grass, not sunk in, not arranged at all and just look wierd. Big rocks don't just sit on the ground. They sink in.)

Each of the four rocks has moss and each has lichen. I cried. Really.


The rock the puppers were checking out earlier has reindeer moss! This very special moss blooms or grown "antlers". How special is that?

One rock has a little piece of yellow lichen. It's pretty darned rare around here!

That same rock has orange lichen too, along with the white-ish lichen that is more common and is on all the rocks!



Fred calls these kinds of rocks living rocks, and I have to agree. There is life in each of these as well as the amazing history of the Sierra Nevada.

So, some folks brake for garage sales; I cry for rocks.

I SURVIVED THE CLEANSE!

It was touch and go for a couple of days, but I made it. Over a week without solid food and surviving on a mixture of water, cayenne pepper, fresh lemon juice and maple syrup does strange things to one's system. The best part is what it's done for my skin. But, I'm really glad it's over and glad to find I'm not at all craving junk food!

This is my succulent wreath grown in and with a bow added to make it a Christmas wreath. Worked out pretty well.


After several days of clouds and fog we got a sunny and warm afternoon. Both dogs decided to sun bathe. This is not their usual outdoor guard duty when they station themselves in different spots and watch over us. Rarely do they lie down together, especially outside, but this is where the sunshine was. Funny dogs.



December weather like this with days in the mid-60's and nights in either the upper 30's or low to mid-40's are what brought me from the mid-west to California in the first place. We'll get our cold weather in January and February, usually with rain, but very infrequently snow. Go up just a few hundred feet in elevation though and you'll find lots of snow. I'm hoping for a chance to go snowshoeing this winter.

It's beginning to look a lot like. . . well, you know.

Red Shoulder Hawks

Yesterday I heard a hawk calling - that would be the one who seems to have declared all the birds who hang out at our feeders to be his personal feeding ground - and decided to go take photos.

The murderer had positioned himself on top of a power pole and kept up his shrill keee, keee, keee even as I walked closer and closer. Reason? He was calling in his mate! I suppose the two had a dinner date.

Anyway, these are Red Shoulder Hawks, supposed to feed on small mammals like mice and voles, who have taken to grabbing a bird here and there. Not nice!




So, the mate showed up:


They got tired of my photo adventure and flew to an oak tree that sits below our house:



Scottie brought out the spotting scope and we were able to get a much better view of the one who hung around. I decided to experiment with taking photos by putting my little camera up to the eye piece of the scope:


This was an interesting experiment! It's hard to know, well it's impossible to know, what you are going to get. A light touch to the scope causes it to move and you end up with half a bird. You can't see through the camera what you are going to get and "point and shoot" takes on new meaning. And, without shielding the light somehow, you get strange effects:



As soon as my book sells I'm going to be my own fairy godmother and buy a really good digital camera with different lenses. My little Nikon, while I love it, can't get the shots I often want.

I have to send this on to Doc Hannan for any comments on bird-taking Red Shoulders. Watch this space for his reply.

FORGET LONDON TOWN!

We have all the fog you could possibly want in Three Rivers!

I've always loved fog - find it to be beautiful, ethereal, mystical - and this is the time of year to enjoy it.
Where we sit, above the San Joaquin Valley in California, we are usually above the fog (and wouldn't that be a great name for an art exhibit or a book - above the fog) but there are days when the fog reaches us or even travels above up into the mountains.

Today the fog is above us. This view is up toward Eagle's Nest.


Yesterday the fog level stopped just below us. These two photos were taken from our yard looking down-river:



Because the fog is a function of warm vs cold air plus moisture there is usually a "fog line" where the fog begins or ends abruptly. For us it is generally below us. We'll often drive down toward Visalia and not encounter fog until after Kaweah Lake. But, as occasionally occurs, the last couple of days have seen the fog moving upward.

In the Valley this time of year, fog is a major issue for drivers. Sometimes visibility is essentially nil. Route 99 from Bakersfield to Fresno will see multi-car pile-ups. The CHP has declared a policy that when visibility falls below 500' they will lead cars with a police car as the "pilot car". Of course that wouldn't be necessary if people would drive within the range of their visibility, but that can't be counted on. So, while I go out to walk dogs up around Mineral King Road and just thoroughly love the fog, I have to remember that it also represents danger.

Years ago, while living in San Diego, I went out to the Cuyamaca's to hike alone (I know, it isn't supposed to be safe) on a foggy day that became progressively more foggy. Only because I was on a very well marked trail that I'd hiked numerous times before could I even stay on my route. It was absolutely mystical! It seemed as if the fog actually moved through my body rather than me moving through it. Things would suddenly appear in front of me - a tree, a rock, a stream - that had been completely hidden from view until I was literally on top of them. And, when I finished my hike, I was wet to the skin from the heavy moisture of the fog. It may not have been my most intelligent hiking alone experience, but it was the most beautiful!