Questioning Faces at the El Dorado County Fair

The one common denominator at El Dorado County Fair were all the questioning faces of the critters. My camera makes this beeping sound and it attracted a number of curious looks. Shall we take a look?

Let’s begin with one of the most unusual haircuts on a sheep that I have ever seen.

Do you think I look like Liberace?

Looking at just the hair, what do you think of this hair style?

Don’t you just love my hair?

There was a bunny with the most unusual markings. Liz Taylor would have been jealous! Tell me you agree…

Do you like my natural eyeliner?

The cows, when looking at you, all had their eyebrows raised causing me to wonder what were they asking me?

You want to know what?

Really?

The chickens? Well…

What are you looking at?

Where are your red bits?

And the sheep and goats?

You think I am pretty – don’t you?

You think I look strange…

What was that sound?

Can I chew on that thing hanging down from your camera?

This pig in the next photo was snoring pretty loudly. He almost looks like he has a sneeze coming on, don’t you think?

I feel a sneeze coming on!

I hope that you enjoyed these photos! All the critters we saw were adorable!

Now go out and have a great Tuesday! And, thank you for visiting me today!

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Throw Me a Curve! – A WordPress Photo Challenge

This week’s subject of the WordPress Photo Challenge is curves. No matter where you look around you there are curves everywhere! Let’s go and check this out, shall we?

One of the first curves that I thought of was the gentle curve of a lovely rainbow!

The curve of a rainbow

When you slice through a lemon, the results are lovely curved pieces of this tart fruit!

The curves of a cut lemon

And looking at our cute little boy Toby we can admire the lovely curves found in an eye.

The curve of an eye

Visiting a number of places, one can always find curves where ever they are, such as this curve at the top of Tonto Natural Bridge.

The curve at the top of Tonto Natural Bridge

In a rainforest, looking closely at a fern fiddle, one discovers that there are a number of curves to this beautiful plant.

The curves in a fern fiddle

At a curve in the road in Yellowstone, we find what is holding up traffic!

At the curve in the road

At the winery where I work, there are many curves most of which are found with our wine barrels!

The curve of wine barrels

I hope that you enjoyed the photos in this post! Please take some time to check out some of the other entries to this week’s photo challenge! Here are a few that I really liked:

Wingrish

A New Day

Stefano Scheda

The Rider

There are many other wonderful entries and you can visit these by clicking here!

Thank you for stopping by today! Have an amazing Saturday!

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Thank You!

I have to say that I am amazed at the number of awards I have won from those folks over at Let’s Be Wild, and from you my readers! Over the time of entering their challenges I have won 16 awards from this site! I wanted to thank my readers for their comments left on the Let’s Be Wild site for these awards!

The last that I featured was their challenge number 24 – Reflections. Today I wanted to share the other awards that I have since won! Again a huge THANK YOU!

Challenge #28 was “Mountains.” Here is the winning photo of the Grand Tetons from Jackson Lake:

The Grand Tetons from across Jackson Lake

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #28

The next is Challenge #30 – Movement. My photo of rafters won the Audience Choice for this challenge. Here is the winning photo:

Going under!

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #30

This was followed by Challenge #31 – Scent. My photo of fresh cut grass won the Audience Choice award on this challenge! Here is that winning photo:

Fresh cut grass

The award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #31

And, then I was amazed that I won Challenge #32! The subject: Beaches! The photo chosen on this Audience Choice award was the contrasting white sand beach at Honaunau Bay on the island of Hawai’i. It was surrounded by the remains of a lava flow.

A white sand beach at Honaunau Bay on the Island of Hawai’i

And, the award…

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #32

The last challenge I won the Audience Choice award for had “Forest” as the subject. And the photo chosen by the Audience:

Palm tree forest

And the award:

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #34

Many thanks to everyone who commented on my posts not only here, but at the Wild Weekly Photo Challenge!

Hugs to all, and have a great Tuesday! Thank you again for your comments, and for allowing me to win these awards! And, most of all thank you for following me, visiting me, and for liking my site!

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Rudbeckia – My Black Eyed Susan!

There is nothing lovelier that to see the beautiful sunny face of a Black Eyed Susan!

The Black Eyed Susan

This is one of those plants that is perfect for the Sierra Foothills as it is deer resistant! And, it attracts a variety of butterflies! They are an amazing plant and flower continually throughout the summer. So let’s take a look at this pretty flower as it develops!

The plant starts low to the ground with fuzzy green leaves. Stalks grow rapidly and at the top the flower blossom starts to form.

The beginnings of a bud

The blossom petals start to form.

Blossom petals forming

Then they begin to unfold.

They start to unfold

And the dark center emerges.

The center emerges

There are so many! Take a look at this lovely pair!

A lovely pair!

The petals start to unfurl!

The center shines

These flowers are a true work of art!

A true work of art!

The pollen emerges on the flowers hoping to entice those pollinating butterflies!

Up close and personal

Once they go to seed, I will spread them in the garden to add more next year! These are perennials! Marcy – do you want some seeds?

I hope that you enjoyed these developing sunny faces! Now have a wonderful Sunday, and thanks for the visit!

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Fleeting Moments – A WordPress Photo Challenge

There are times in your life when you catch sight of something that is there and then gone. Fleeting moments. This is the subject of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge! Life here in the Sierra Foothills is full of fleeting moments. And today I will share some of those with you!

I was working between the vegetable garden and the greenhouse one day, and I walked back in to the greenhouse to discover a Swallowtail butterfly had flown in. I was lucky that I was able to go grab the camera and snap this photo before this lovely flew out.

A White Swallowtail Butterfly

We have a strawberry thief in our midst. This photo is from last year, and this year this thief was back and ate over 300 strawberries. After this thief went through the strawberry patch I discovered I only had 6 berries remaining.

To catch a thief

This is the time of year when the dragonflies start to appear. I was visiting my boyfriend at the lake when I spied a dragonfly perched on one of the weeds along the lake.

Capturing a dragonfly

This is also the time of year when the afternoon thunderstorms come in. For this fleeting moment I was able to capture a double rainbow!

A double rainbow

On another day we woke up to thunderstorms. Holding my finger down on the button on my camera allowed me to actually capture lightning! Quickly it was here and gone!

Lightning at sunrise

We have two types of hummingbirds here and I was lucky to catch both in this next shot. One is an Anna’s, on the left, and the other a Rufous!

In flight

The hummingbirds are not the only ones to enjoy our feeders! I was really lucky to capture this fleeting moment of a praying mantis on the feeder. He is looking at me!

Catching a mantis

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this fleeting moments! Have a great Saturday, and many thanks for stopping by today!

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Playing with Photos

One of the things I like to do is to play with photos using my Painter’s Essential program. I recently did a post called “Lights on the Water,” and today I wanted to share with you the photos turned into art! I will start by showing you the original photo and then the “painting” I did with my software!

The Ensenada Pier:

Ensenada pier

The painting:

Ensenada Pier Painting

A crowd of people:

A crowd of people

The painting:

A crowd of people-Painting

Reflections #1:

Reflections 1

The painting:

Reflections 1-Painting

Reflections #2:

Reflections 2

The painting:

Reflections 2-Painting

Reflections #3:

Reflections 3

The painting:

Reflections 3-Painting

Reflections #4:

Reflections 4

The painting:

Reflections 4-Painting

Reflections #5:

Reflections 5

The painting:

Reflections 5-Painting

Which one do you like the best?

Enjoy your Thursday! If you are anywhere near my neck of the woods, stay cool! Thank you for the visit today!

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Sweet Raspberries!

One of the fruits in my garden that is prolific is the Raspberry!

Raspberries!

I began growing these back in 2008. I started with 2 red raspberry plants given to me by a friend, and then I added 3 golden raspberries a year later. If you are considering growing this lovely fruit, let me warn you: They are invasive! The plant sends root runners underground at a depth of about a foot. I now have about 50 plants and will be digging up the roots in the fall to help contain them. So if you want free plants just let me know!

The plants

Let’s take a look at the developing raspberries, shall we? The plant puts out lovely tiny flowers that can be easy to miss.

Raspberry blossoms

Once the petals fall, the fruit starts to develop.

Fruit starts to develop

About midway through the fruiting process the cone shape really starts to develop.

Midway

Then the color starts to come up in the berry.

The color starts to come in

Rather quickly the berries are ready to pick.

Ready for picking

When it comes to picking the raspberry, you gently grab the fruit and pull slightly. It should pop right off the crown. If it does not give, then the berry is not ripe enough. Here is what is left on the plant when you pull off a berry.

What remains after a berry is picked

Here is my second harvest of berries…there are quite a few, and I will be picking berries daily!

Healthy dessert!

After harvesting, refrigerate them, or freeze them. Do not wash the berries until you are ready to use them as the water will break down the berry. The best time to pick the berries, as with any fruit, is in the morning. The reason is that the fruit is highest in sugar in the early morning hours. As the day progresses the sugars turn starchy and will not be as sweet.

The raspberry actually has 1.5 grams of protein and are high in Maganese. They also contain a bit of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and copper. They also contain Omega-3. A one cup serving contains about 120 calories.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this visit with the raspberries! I am now heading off to go pick more! Have a great Tuesday and thank you for visiting today!

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Black Phoebe

We love bird watching and here in the Sierra Foothills we have a huge variety of birds that we enjoy! One of my favorite birds in our area is the Black Phoebe! It is a small bird that is beneficial to us as it is a flycatcher! And, a pair of these little birds have decided to make our home theirs too! We could not be happier and love sharing with them! So let’s take a look at this lovely little bird, shall we?

Phoebe – The bug catcher

The black phoebe is a small, plump little black bird that has a white belly, and a bit of a crest on its head. It feeds on flies and when it catches one it makes a snapping sound.

The black phoebe is a monogamous bird. Once they pair up, it is the male that finds sites for possible nests, but it is the female that makes the choice. When the male finds a spot he thinks is suitable, he will hover in front of the spot for 5 – 10 seconds. If the female likes the spot, she will be the one to build the nest.

The female builds a nest out of mud, so a source of water needs to be nearby. The nest measures 3 – 8 inches in length and about as wide. It is solid with the exception of the top where she pads the nest with plant fibers. The bowl of the nest in only about 1″ deep and about 2 1/2″ wide.

We discovered that we had a nest on our house due to the mud and bird droppings that showed up on the side deck of the house. With a nest comes babies, and we have babies!

Babies in the nest

The pair stay close to nest. They have decided that the peak above the nest is a good watching point for any possible predators.

Mother bird

Watching the babies has been a treat as they look over at down at me.

Who are you?

Initially I thought that there was only one, but then I saw a second beak!

Two beaks

There were three, but one fell from the nest and was buried yesterday. We love having this lovely little flycatcher around our house. To hear what the black phoebe sounds like, click here and scroll down the page a short bit.

If nothing else, this lovely little bird makes a wonderful roof ornament!

Roof ornament!

I hope that you enjoyed your brief encounter with our black phoebes! Now go out and have a great Sunday, and thank you for stopping by!

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Into The Forest – A Wild Weekly Photo Challenge!

This week, the folks over at Let’s Be Wild have chosen the topic “Forest” for their photo challenge. My husband and I have had the opportunity to see some amazing forests over the years, and going through some of the archives of photos I have put together this compilation of photos of forests from the many spots we have been!

Let’s start out on the island of Hawai’i! There is something that is so tranquil about walking through a forest of gently swaying palm trees. The underbrush was pretty cool too!

Palm tree forest

On this same trip we hiked through one of the many rainforests. The smell: Incredible!

Rainforest

In Yellowstone National Park one of the hiking trails that we were on afforded us a view of a beautiful waterfall nestled amongst the forest there!

Finding a waterfall

Heading south from where we live is Yosemite National Park. Here is a shot taken from one of the many vantage points on a hiking trail…The forest forms a lovely green carpet below the towering granite peaks.

The forest in Yosemite Valley

Between Yosemite and where we live is a redwood grove located in Big Trees State Park. Here is a shot from the forest floor looking up one of the many “BIG” trees!

Looking up a big tree

From the forest floor, here is just one of many views that one can see hiking the trails.

In the forest

A bit closer to home is the El Dorado National Forest. Winding in and out of the mostly pine forest we come across a grove of Aspen trees in winter.

Aspen grove

There is a quiet beauty found in this forest in the middle of winter!

Winter in the forest

Please do check out some of the other submissions to this week’s challenge! And, feel free to comment on any of my photos on their site. You can get there by clicking here!

Have a great Friday! Enjoy the weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

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Lights on the Water

When we were on our cruise I was hypnotized by the lights reflecting on the surface of the water. So, of course I had to take photos and I hoped that they would come out well. I was very pleased with what I got, and I thought that today I would share these photos with you.

I started off with a photo at night of the pier in Ensenada.

Ensenada pier

My eyes were caught by the ripples in the water. To me the reflections resemble people standing around. What do you think?

A crowd of people

Moving from the water around the ship, I turned my attention to the water inside the ship. The lights reflecting off the water look like works of art. Please let me know if you agree!

Reflections 1

Reflections 2

Reflections 3

Reflections 4

Reflections 5

So, what do you think? I look forward to reading what you have to say!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a fantastic Thursday!

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