Red Tailed Hawk

A Red Tailed Hawk perching in a dead tree on the mountain side.  This seems to be a favorite spot for hawks to survey the area; I've been photographing various hawks in this spot for over forty years.  

This one flew away in a rush, intent on dinner I suppose.  I never stay to see that part, even though I wish them good hunting...I know everything has to eat, but I don't have the heart to watch or photograph the kill.

Linking with Saturday's Critters 

Skywatch Friday

Looking east and north from a turnout on Highway 18.  Big Bear has been getting a few sprinkles over the past couple of days, but Lake Arrowhead and Crestline have gotten nothing.  It's just been horribly, horribly hot.  Our high today was 95.  So, of course, the air conditioner conks out!  Because I have MS I have a really hard time dealing with temperatures over 80 degrees.  The repair man will be here tomorrow, thank goodness!  I hope it's more pleasant where you are...

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Every Little Girl...

...in this country can now say, with hope grounded in reality, "I want to be President of the United States when I grow up." 

FINALLY.  I wish my mother and sister could have lived to see this happy, historic day.

The Grandmother Tree

The Grandmother Tree is just my name for her...I don't know if anyone else calls her by that name.

I don't know what made her trunk so gnarled and twisty.

So fantastical... 

...and so beautiful.

Fertile ground for an imagination like mine.

When I look at her, I am reminded of Tolkien's Ents, a race of trees that could walk and talk.  I've never seen her walk, but I've heard her talk...on quiet summer afternoons, on bright autumn days, in rain storms and snow storms, on days filled with the hopefulness of spring.

I took these photos in 2007, with a little Olympus camera.  The Grandmother Tree is still there, and she still looks much the same. 

Linking with Through My Lens

                    Image-in-Ing

A Sunday Quote

A house without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted, and properly revered cat, may be a perfect house, perhaps, but how can it prove its title? ~~  Mark Twain 

Photo is of Lucy at five months old; she's two now, still just as cute...

Green

I'm joining Our Beautiful World for this post.  The word prompt is "green."  These photos were taken in early June, when there's lots of green around in the San Bernardino mountains where I live.

Linking with: Our Beautiful World

Skywatch Friday

The skies in Southern California have been boring lately...blue with a bit of a haze.  I'm looking forward to monsoon season...hopefully, we'll get some rain!  This photo wasn't taken in the mountains, but in Summit Valley, down in the high desert.

Linking with: Skywatch Friday

Nap Interrupted

A young raccoon was taking a nap on the roof of the cat's play yard...

She spotted me in the window right away and came over for a closer look...

But, she soon figured out it was just a human with a camera, and stepped up onto the roof of the house where she could nap in peace without interruptions by pesky humans and their cameras.  (I apologize for the blurriness of the last two photos; there were spots on the window because I don't wash it often enough).


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Saturday's Critters

Boating at Lake Arrowhead

These photos were taken at Lake Arrowhead, California, in June of 2009.  Due to the drought, the water level is about 15 feet further out than what the level is here.

Linking with: Through My Lens
             and  image-in-ing

Skywatch Friday

Just a quick photo shot from the market's parking lot...

Linking with:  Skywatch Friday

Interesting, Amazing, Beautiful

These are photos I took of a really interesting house up here in 2007.  It's on a dirt road, sort of wedged into the side of the mountain.

The owner built it and did all the decorative work himself.

Including the leading in the windows.

But, for me, it's the metal work that really stands out.

Just amazing!

Linking with: Through My Lens

Retirement

This is Chester (front) and Coco Rose.  They were my sister's cats, and I brought them up here last March when it became apparent that cancer would take her.  I was afraid they'd have a hard time fitting in, but my cats seemed to recognize that Coco and Chester had suffered a terrible loss.  There were no fights, just nose bumps and love.  They seem to like it here, and show no desire to go outside (not that I would let them), even though they had the run of my sister's acres for 16 years (they had their 17th birthdays up here in May).  I think of this as their "retirement" home...maybe Chester and Coco view it that way also.

Linking with Saturday's Critters

Bees and Blooms

On the banks of a little creek near here there are raspberry bushes flowering.  (These photos were taken  eight days ago).

There were bees all over the bushes.

I haven't seen this many bees up here in a long time.

It was a joyful sight to see, both the bees and the blooms.
Linking with:  Through My Lens

Five S's

Two very young gray squirrels eating peanuts on the feeders attached to the huge old Ponderosa pine.  They're such a delight.  We have five (5!) squirrels visiting our feeders now.  Thankfully, the squirrels seem to be making a comeback from the terrible plague of 2008 that nearly wiped them out.

Mrs. Primrose (on the left), Mrs. Rose's daughter, brought two of her babies to our porch to eat.  This is their first visit; all three were pretty nervous even though Mrs. Rose was just a few feet away from them.  I only took one photo and left, not wanting to scare the babies.  Also, given what they were "facing" me with, I thought discretion might be the better part of valor!  Hopefully I can get better photos when they visit again, although I'm not sure when that might be since DH is out there sanding the porch preparatory to painting it.  

Linking with Saturday's Critters

On the Sunny Side

I spotted these flowers while on a little walk yesterday.

My mother used to grow these in her garden.

She called them Mexican primroses (Oenothera speciosa); they're also known as evening primrose or pink primrose.

They'll grow in nearly any kind of soil, and are cold hardy in zones 5 through 9.  The only thing they're really fussy about is sun - they need at least 8 hours of full sun.

Linking with :     Through My Lens