A Fair Day

Today we got to play! We spent a few hours exploring our favorite parts of the Orange County Fair. Namely the animals, photography, art, and gardens.


I do not at all claim to be an animal photographer, but I have put some of my photos into a slideshow for those of you who might enjoy them too. Warning: I have a particular attachment to goats. Especially pygmy goats. I guess it's because I'm a Capricorn. Anyway, you've been warned...

If you’re short of trouble, take a goat.

~ Finnish saying

Rock Rose

I sense that sometimes even Mother Nature is too distracted with other things to bother with ironing...

Rock Rose (Cistus creticus)

I hope everyone has time to play this weekend, rather than simply doing chores!


My second favorite household chore is ironing.
My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.

~ Erma Bombeck

Laugh a lot, and when you're older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places.

~ Unknown

Pincushion Flower

This is the seed head...

And this is the bud...


Aptly named, don't you think? Also known as Scabiosa columbaria.
Discovered in mom's garden. One of my new favorite flowers!

Happiness held is the seed;
happiness shared is the flower.

~ Author Unknown

Mexican Evening Primrose

Oenothera speciosa


There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates,

and the glare that obscures.

~ James Thurber

Cactus Monday

How about a desert bouquet for Cactus Monday? A bright pink beavertail, desert chicory, and a bee thrown in for good measure.

Even numbers tend to add too much symmetry,

and then your bouquet won't look natural.

~ Amanda Gain

Summer Treats

Yum! The juicy fruits of summer. And certainly best when home-grown. These apricots and peaches were not yet ripe, but close enough to make one drool in anticipation.

Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring and because it has fresh peaches in it.

~ Thomas Walker

Apache Plume

I realize I haven't posted anything for a week now. We've been busy trying to have some fun while my husband is home from work this week (he starts a new job on Monday). A sort of "staycation" I suppose. Well, it's time to get back to playing with photographs and blogs and stuff.

This photo is the feathery seed head of Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It's actually a rather large bush, up to six feet tall, but this is a closeup of the plume. They are quite simply magical, waving their delicate fans in the breeze. One thinks perhaps a fairy might appear at any moment.

Because of their pale coloring, they're dificult to spot as you're speeding through the desert. We had never seen them before we happened upon them a couple years ago, and now know to keep an eye out for them. We still haven't seen them during their bloom; it looks as if the flowers are quite attractive too.

A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near.
~ Author Unknown

Here comes the weekend!

We're headed out to the desert (East Mojave) this weekend, so I thought I'd share a photo of where we spend some of our weekends away. This is the view from our personal slice of heaven, taken in early June. We're slowly working on making the property habitable—project #1 is getting the well operational and we're getting close. Our true "headquarters" right now is in Goffs, about half an hour away by mostly dirt road. We volunteer for a historical organization there, so that's really where we spend most of our time. We slip away to get a few things done on our property when we can. I hope you have a peaceful weekend with beautiful clouds to gaze upon.

From my window
I watch clouds slowly transform,
Shifting across the sky
In a show of shape and color.

~ 1988

Cactus Monday

Opuntia littoralis - Coastal Prickly Pear

Happy Cactus Monday!

The world is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it.

~ Will Foley

Happy Independence Day

Wishing all of you happy times at pancake breakfasts, hometown parades, picnics, barbeques, and fireworks displays as you celebrate Independence Day with your families and friends.


We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.

~ Robert J. McCracken