Ring of Fire

How do the ants make this perfect little volcano? How are they able to work together to accomplishment the task?

I often feel that the human race could learn a lot from the ants.

Let's all work together to fix our little corner of the world.

Pretty in Pink

I love these pink Camillia blossoms.

Hummer at Dusk

A sweet little Humming Bird was sitting on the Walking Stick Kale at dusk. He was quite tame and we spent several minutes taking pictures of him. I think that is yellow pollen dust on his bill and feathers.

Migrating Monarchs

Some one I know on a horse forum posted this picture on September 1, 2011 stating that the migrating Monarchs had landed in their walnut tree two days in a row. They live in Canada and there were about 100+ Monarchs each day. Does this blow the theory that migrating Monarchs travel alone?

Breakfast Time

Patchie knows when the people breakfast is ready. She comes and jumps up on a stool and waits. She has had her breakfast long ago so I wonder why she does this. When we ask her to please jump down, she does and is off to do cat things... like a nap!

Day is Dying in the West

The end of a beautiful day here on the ranch.

Good Mamma and Walnuts

Baby Quail are just so cute. Some one on line called these little bitty just batched babies walnuts and I thought that was very descriptive.

These guys showed up under the feeders and just marched around scooping up all the seeds the other birds had spread all over. Papa was sitting over on the rim of a pot watching for bad guys! These are truly family birds and they all stick together. I love it.

BFF's

Our neighbors had a baby pig show up in their yard. They were never able to figure out where it came from, so it stayed.

Now it is a great big pig and thinks it is a horse... it's name is Pig. Best Friends Forever!

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

We have a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly that loves to nectar on the Lantana. I've read that their host plants are willows and deciduous trees. We certainly have some of those around but seldom see more than one Tiger Swallowtail at a time. I enjoy them because they are not flighty and stay eating or resting for longer periods of time than some other butterflies. They make my heart sing!

Red Dragonfly

This Red Dragonfly hovered over the hot tub last week. It really seemed to be enjoying the water.

We are Coconut Nuts

 

While reading some nutrition books, I found that coconuts and also the coconut milk is really good for you. So when grocery shopping, I saw fresh coconuts and decided to buy one. I haven't eaten a fresh one in a long time. We put a hole in one of the three eyes and used the little straw that came with it to taste the milk, then drained the rest of the milk into glasses.

 

Rather than smashing it as the poorly translated instructions advised, I thought it would be a good idea to cut it. Hubby took it up to the shop and cut it on his band saw. That way I have two nice little bowls to use for something or other. Hummm... one side has holes from where we punctured the eyes to drain the milk out. Note to self:  next time cut the shell the other way so the holes are on the side, not the bottom.

After  a quick rinse, we started cutting out the coconut meat. The taste of fresh coconut is much milder and not nearly as sweet as what you get with shredded coconut in a bag. They add a lot sugar to the bagged stuff. One average size coconut has about 1000 calories, so those two pieces come to about 100 calories. What a treat and a good change of pace snack.

I think I will use that coconut milk in a curry dish I plan to make later in the week.

Red Winged Blackbird

The Red Winged Blackbirds hang out in the wet lands. They are usually in flocks and come and go as a group. Occasionally, they fly into our back yard and feast on seeds and just as suddenly they are gone. The red color on their wing is amazingly bright, almost florescent. Come back, Black Birds with the crimson on your wing, we haven't seen you for a while!

Milkweed for Monarchs

 Milkweed is the plant that Monarch  Butterflies must have to lay their eggs and the caterpillars eat the leaves as they grow and form their chrysalis.

We have planted many pots of Milkweed from seeds to get some started around our yard. This has been a labor of love and we bought seeds from several different places.

 

We went to visit our daughter and grand kids in the Los Angeles area recently. Look what we found growing by her house... Milkweed... growing wild... without all the drama!

SIGH... Some things in life really are not fair. lol

Living Dangerously

Now, what are these guys thinking? There must be moss or plants growing between the rocks that would lure them out on the wall of the dam.

I wonder how many fall in a year.

Looking at You

Hubby saw this guy sitting up in the tree in our yard. He was staring us down. It is so odd how they can turn their head all the way around and never move their body.

He stayed for quite a while as we crunched around on the leaves trying to get closer and closer, then flew off into the neighbors field. I suppose he was looking for gophers. Wish he would have caught some of them in our yard.

I have looked in the bird book and my best guess is that he is a Western Screech Owl. He was a delightful surprise to our lazy Sunday afternoon.

Pelicans Over Pismo

It was a beautiful day at Dinosaur Cave Park and the Pelicans were cruising the coast line. They were beautiful.

"Fixed"

And then he said, "See... I fixed it."

Bird Condo

I borrowed this picture because it spoke to me! A good spot for a house is hard to come by or maybe they like each other's company. It made me smile.

Lazy Crazy Daze of Summer

Passing the time with the beach and banjo! I love this young man so much.

Whale Tales

We joined a group of State Park Docents on a whale watching trip. The fog had lifted and it was a beautiful day. There were about twenty people on board.

We headed out of the harbor and passed Morro Rock.

We left the harbor and saw spouts almost immediately. There was no doubt that we were going to see whales. They were all over in every direction. These are the Humpback Whales and they were swimming and feeding in groups.

We were close enough to hear them breathing and smell their stinky breath.

They would swim along side the boat with us and then flip up their tail as they made a deep dive. We were not in very deep water so they didn't stay down very long.

This guy was just swimming along and then with a big breath and a flip of his tail he dives down deep.

and a flip of his tail he went down deep.

 The smooth spot in the water is called a footprint and is where a third whale just took a deep dive.


We saw four Blue Whales. They are much larger and lighter in color.

 As we were turning the boat to head back in, this guy gave us a wave!

These Sea Lions welcomed us back into the harbor.

Morro Rock from out in the ocean.