Dove and bougenvilla~~That's My World 0333109

I went outside yesterday morning to do some chores in my back yard and I spied this dove on my neighbor's tree. He didn't move, so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. I was sure by then it would have flown away, but it was still there. Can you see it? I also liked my neighbor's bougenvilla, which is in full bloom. I'm not sure why she has glasses on her roof. Who knows?That's My World for Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

Monument Valley~~Sunday Stills 032909

One of hubby's favorite places is Monument Valley. He knows every rock formation there due to his interest in the John Wayne movies that were shot there. We've been there three times already and it looks like we'll be heading back there for spring break. We've never been there in spring, always during my summer break, so I'm hoping we'll get some interesting photos! Sunday Stills for March 29, 2009.

Bighorn sheep~~Skywatch Friday

Every once in a while, when we visit the Living Desert Reserve, in Palm Desert, the bighorn sheep are up on top of their mountain. We like to go early in the morning and this morning the keepers were just coming out with their hay. This bighorn was still up on top of the mountain and apparently hadn't heard the breakfast bell yet! SkyWatch Friday, March 27, 2009.

barn!

I found this barn at a nice horse ranch Saturday when I was driving around the mountains. I just had to post it as part of my "barn quest"!

Spring in the desert~~That's My World for Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A spring afternoon in the desert. The hills are alive with blooming plants. The skies are clear and blue, the plants are blooming, the wind is calm. The next day it was so windy that my front fence blew over and my sunflowers were damaged! (see post below) Ahhhh....spring in the desert! It can be perfectly calm one day, but the next day can blow trucks over out on the freeway. We are still seeing dust in the atmosphere and sneezing more than usual! There was a beautiful sunset Sunday night, with all the dust in the atmosphere, but I couldn't grab my camera and drive at the same time! The days are warming up this week and we'll be in the 80's...great photo weather! That's My World for Tuesday, March 24, 2009.

UPDATE on sunflowers

I am sad to report that a horrific wind storm came through our desert on Sunday. It took out about 1/3 of our front fence. It also destroyed several of my sunflowers. NOT the one with the caterpillar. That one survived. But one next to it, that was about to open, broke at its base and died. Another sunflower blossom bent and will have to be cut off. Such is the whim of the desert winds in March.
So sad to see, but part of nature. On the other hand, I have a new crop of sunflowers on the far side of the fence, right next to the mesquite tree. When I get home from school tomorrow, I plan to prune the dead sunflowers and take some pics of the new ones.
~~Cheryl Ann~~

Sunflower and caterpillar~~Mellow Yellow for Monday, March 23, 2009

I've posted about my sunflowers on a couple of my other blogs, but I haven't done a post here yet. I planted them back in early January, since we were having such a mild winter. I figured, "Why not?" I had a large, bare spot out in front of our fence between it and the street. We used to have an eucalyptus tree there, but about this time last year, it fell over after 30 years! It hit our fence, but, fortunately only took about about 6 feet of fence, which our son repaired. So, I had this huge empty spot. I knew that the sunflowers would LOVE the full sun and the heat from the fence and they grew rapidly. Here are some of the pics of my sunflowers and the first one to open! Mellow Yellow for Monday, March 22, 2009.

Deserted trail on a spring afternoon~~Scenic Sunday for March 22, 2009

I enjoy getting out on Friday afternoons, armed only with my camera! This was taken up in our foothills on the first day of spring. The desert has a certain beauty. It was quiet, except for the occasional call of a quail that afternoon and I enjoyed the long late afternoon shadows. For me, getting out and walking is theraputic. I quickly get over all my stress from the week and ease into the weekend. Scenic Sunday for March 22, 2009.

Sunrise! Skywatch Friday for March 20, 2009

Yesterday's sunrise was absolutely breathtaking! I only have a few minutes to stop, jump out of my car, and take a couple of quick photos during the weekdays. And, on weekends, I'm usually too worn out to spend time driving around at 7 a.m. trying to get photos of the desert sunrises (although I occassionally do that!). So, I was pleased to see a beautiful, glowing orange sunrise yesterday on my way to school. And, I did stop to take some photos of it! Skywatch Friday for March 20, 2009, welcome Spring!

Another barn!

This is another barn we found last weekend driving through Garner Valley. The next time we go to visit my aunt and uncle in San Diego, near Del Mar race track, we'll drive through Vista, CA, where there are a lot of pretty barns, including the one on the ranch that my father re-roofed many years ago!

fountains~Shadow Ridge~~Watery Wed. for March 18, 2009

When I come home from school, in the afternoon, I pass by Marriott's Shadow Ridge. Most afternoons the fountains aren't on. They seem to be on during the weekends, but I'm always rushing around doing errands and I never have time to stop and look at them! And, driving home yesterday, once again, they were off. BUT...when I went back to Lowe's to buy more sunflower seeds, they were on! I pulled in their parking lot, ran across the street, and snapped a couple of photos. I can't figure out when they are on, so I figured I better stop and get some pics when I could! And, yes, I bought over 10 packages of sunflower seeds and planted several of them late yesterday afternoon. I can't wait for them to sprout! Please visit Watery Wednesday for more water photos!

I found BARNS!

Yes! I've actually found barns here in our desert mountains! I hit the jackpot! Garner Valley, near Idyllwild, has LOTS of horse barns. Saturday hubby and I drove around looking for some and these are pics of the ones we spotted. We'll look for more next weekend! That's My World for Tuesday, March 17, 2009. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Marigolds~~Mellow Yellow Monday, March 16, 2009

Well, maybe not so mellow! These bright marigolds were at my local Lowe's this weekend and I couldn't resist! I bought 2 6-packs of them. Hubby and our son went with me and I shared 4 plants with our son, who is planting a container herb garden. I'll spread my marigolds out in my own vegetable garden and hopefully keep the pests away! Mellow Yellow for Monday, March 16, 2009.

ranch gate, Scenic Sunday for March 14, 2009

Hubby and I took a drive up to the mountains yesterday. I was on a "barn quest" and while I found several delightful barns (FINALLY!), I also found several beautiful ranch gates, including this one. It was a beautiful, bright, nearly-spring day. The birds were singing, the sun was warm....ah, spring! Enjoy your Sunday~Scenic Sunday for March 14, 2009.

More flower pics from my garden

I haven't had a decent garden in years! The last few years I've been either too sick or too tired or both (see my blog, http://rawfoodjourneyca.blogspot.com/) for my journey from being sick and tired to now having plenty of energy! So, this week I stopped at both Home Depot and Lowe's and scouted their flower and vegetable selections. Here in the lower desert, we HAVE to get things planted by March (HA! this month) before the heat settles in! I have already planted my wisteria on one of our porch columns and I also have some kind of trumpet vine which is blooming. While the wisteria hasn't shown much growth, I had one last spring and summer (until SOMEONE forgot to water it while we were on vacation) and it died. So, I bought another one! I have 3 Early Girl tomatoes that are already blooming and I wanted to round out my vegetable garden, so I hit the two stores. I bought some cherry tomatoes, 2 Big Boy tomatoes, some basil, rosemary, and squash seeds, both zucchini and yellow squash! I have a 6x6 railroad tie garden out front which gets full sun, so that is my main garden spot. I also planted some sunflower seeds and African daisy seeds out in front of my fence and they are growing and blooming. So, here are some pics of my desert garden in front of our fence. My vegetable one is in the front yard and I'll take some pics of it this afternoon. Thank you, Dee, for inspiring me!

Pinyon and moon~SkyWatch Friday, March 13, 2009

While driving home after working the horses on Sunday, hubby and I stopped at an overlook. It was late afternoon and I walked out to view more of the desert below while hubby stayed by the car. There was a full moon and I did my best to capture it with my old Olympus camera. Aren't the shadows on the hills pretty? That is a pinyon tree leaning out over the overlook. If you click on the photo, you can see all the colors on the pinyon. SkyWatch Friday for March 13, 2009.

horse barn~~Lake Riverside Estates, CA

Hubby and I were driving around last weekend, looking at property and ranches, and we saw this horse barn in Lake Riverside Estates, which is a planned, private development. Unfortunately, you are only allowed 4 horses on your property there, so we quit looking! (I already have 5 horses and plan on acquiring at least two more...) BUT, I did see this barn and of course, Linnea, I HAD to take a couple of pics of it! I've noticed that in the desert, and even up in the mountains, people don't have barns...they have mare motels or no shelter at all. It doesn't really get that cold in the desert and even up in the foothills either. Up in the mountains, yes, there are some barns and I'll get pics of them this next weekend! But, here's one for now! Not many trees around it!

My first award for this blog!

I want to thank Tricia over at http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/ for giving me my first award for this blog, the I LOVE this blog award! Thank you, Tricia! She visits all my blogs, but she especially liked the red wagon post which I did posted here just a few days ago! My other awards have all been for my deserthorses blog (http://deserthorses.blogspot.com/), so I am honored that this blog also received an award! This blog is more cerebral than my fun-loving and sometimes goofy horses blog, but I have 6 other blogs, too! I'm going to need a few days to think about who to pass it on to and I know many people don't post awards at all! So, it is a hard decision!

desert mountain late afternoon

We drove down the hill yesterday afternoon about 5:30, which meant it was really about 4:30. That's a good time to drive down and see all the afternoon shadows on things in the mountains. Hubby and I pulled off before we descended back into the desert and got out at an overlook. I wandered around, camera in hand, while he choose to stay near the parking lot. I haven't seen his photos yet, but I found this pinyon pine tree. In the background, you can see the snow which is still on the higher mountains.

leaning fence~~Scenic Sunday March 8, 2009

I posted this photo yesterday, along with others from the abandoned red ranch, but I like how the fence frames the photo. Off in the distance you can see the hills at La Quinta, CA.

Scenic Sunday for March 8, 2009.

deserted red ranch~~Palm Desert, CA

I've lived in our home in the desert now for over 30 years and I NEVER saw this red ranch house until this week! I caught it out of the corner of my eye as I was driving to school early one morning. It sits right off the next offramp from the one I take to work. Imagine driving by this for 30+ years and NEVER seeing it! So, after school that day, I stopped by and took my little pocket-sized Nikon and went exploring! Think of the stories it could tell! It's so sad to see it empty, deserted, and unloved! The swimming pool was full of debris, the front door was wide open, and the sliding doors too. Some guy from the water district appeared while I was there and went outside to read the meter. I noticed that he went inside and wandered around, but I didn't wish to do that alone! Maybe I'll take hubby with me this weekend and investigate it further. Hey, Linnea...does this count as a barn? I guess not! Oh, well...I'll keep looking for "barns in the desert" (my new hobby!) It was just so sad to see it neglected. I bet in its prime, it was a beautiful place!

Arizona sunrise~~SkyWatch Friday, March 6, 2009

My husband spent a week over in Arizona, at Desert Ridge, another Marriott property, on business. He took this photo one morning. He said he had rabbits come visit him in the ballroom, where he was assisting a large group! One afternoon/evening there were even quail outside his room! Skywatch Friday for March 6, 2009.

Red barn in Pinyon

I'm on a quest to find barns in Riverside County! There aren't very many of them in our desert. It doesn't get cold enough to really justify the expense down here and the wood wouldn't hold up well with the dry air and heat. But, up in the mountains, where they get snow, I would think a barn would be essential. BUT...they just aren't there! If people have a barn, it's a metal one. My friend Barbara has the only red wooden barn up in Pinyon and I'm on the prowl to try to find others. I've asked around, but there just aren't many!!! I'll be posting about them as I find them over the next several months. Here is Barb's red barn. My parents' ranch down in Vista has a BEAUTIFUL, huge, red barn, but I won't get down that way until spring break. My dad actually re-roofed it many years ago! It is owned by new owners now (my folks owned the ranch when I was about 10), but I'd love to stop by and ask permission to take photos of the barn and document it. Isn't Barb's barn pretty against the snow on the mountains?