Lizzy Lizard

 

I LOVE this watercolor my daughter did. She is such a special and wonderful lady in so many ways. And then to top it off, she is a gifted artist!

I love you my darling daughter, just because you are you.

Horses At Play

We were on our way to San Luis and saw these horses playing in a pond left from our recent rain. They splashed each other, rolled onto their back and pawed the bottom.

 

They chased each other and threw around some plants that were in the bottom of the pond.  I guess I'd say, "they were just horsing around!"  

 

It was quite a display and we watched them having fun until they had had enough.

 

Then, as if on cue they gathered themselves up, shook themselves off and regain their horse composure!

 

Breaking Free

I was raking one day and while taking off some stuck dry leaves, I noticed it hanging there. I had been using the rake for some time so that gives you an idea of how well they attach themselves. I set the rake by the back door so I could watch it closely and hopefully catch it breaking free. I certainly think it is serendipitous that a Monarch caterpillar found this orange rake a good place to make a chrysalis.

Several days later, I noticed a crack in the clear case and by the time I got back with my camera it was already about half way out.

After a few more twists and turns he fell out head first and was free.

It takes a minute or so for the plasma like liquid to be pumped from the body into the wings. He slowly opens and closes his wings to move the liquid along.

 He sat on the rake for about two hours sunning himself and hardening his wings. And while the sun was still high in the sky he flew away to find his friends or maybe locate a special spot to hang for the night. Have a good life you beautiful big rake butterfly.

Spring can't Be Far

 

I love to see the Iceland Poppies starting to bloom and wave in the spring breeze. The colors are so intense. That is one yellow poppy!

The Hike

The San Luis Obispo area is the site of nine lava plugs that were made by volcanoes long, long ago.  They start with Morro Rock on the coast and end east of down town San Luis Obispo. The largest of these peaks is Bishop Peak which sits overlooking the Calpoly campus. It is a favorite climb of the students and rock climbers. We have wanted to take this hike for some time and decided Sunday was the day. It was a beautiful sunny day. Maybe too sunny!

The beginning of the trail was shady and wooded. The coolness was deceiving.

The trail wandered through large boulders and oaks. It was once the site of a rock quarry and supplied the granite stones used to build the beautiful Presbyterian Church downtown. Well, this was the easy part... soon the real hike was to begin.

Right about here... the trail got seriously steep and hot. The temperature was 85 degrees and we soon figured out we had picked the wrong day. So this was as far as we got on Sunday. We will try again on an overcast day!

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.