Yesterday's Pics

Yesterday we went picture hunting.

I've decided to change the header & a couple of side pics for winter/summer.  I was going to do all 4 seasons, but the truth is spring & summer don't show all that differently in our coniferous part of the country.  If i find i'm wrong next fall i will change, but i don't think so.  


So, here we are:

Yeah, i put them up there.  Jazz stayed for a while.  Mac didn't stay long.  Duane caught Jazz while jumping down, but not quite the shot he wanted.

These are the flowers Duane got me for my BD.  But i have to put them up high where the cats can't get to them & knock them over.  The vase was a wedding gift & i don't get to use it very often.  

Isn't the basil beautiful?  I wish i could say i grew this, but i bought it at the health food store last week.  Duane thinks it smells "stinky" but i like it a lot. 

Just different pics of around the lake & the mountains.  The crane in one of the above pic is building a new bridge to bypass the road over the dam.  The dam is unable to continue to handle the stress of the road on top of it.  

Then we ended up at a steak house for dinner with my BD money, but i had crab.  They brought me lots of crab, so i'm going to have crabcakes later in the week.  :)

I kept trying to get a pic of the moon in the blue, blue sky, but this is the only one that was even close to good.  

Isn't this pico de gallo beautiful?  I worked so hard on this today to go with Duane's fajitas, which were also a lot of work.    I made the pico de gallo with parsley instead of cilantro, because Duane doesn't like cilantro.  Turns out he doesn't care for pico de gallo at all.  Next time i need not bother.  It's ok.  It will go into a spaghetti sauce later in the week. 





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SO Very Thankful

I told Duane several times yesterday how thankful i was that Patty had come to clean. But i was never so thankful as when we got the phone call last night saying Duane's parents were coming up for the weekend. They will be here sometime this AM.

Because the cleaning was done, all that had to be done was make up the bed for them. Well, & wonder what i'm going to feed them while they're here. My gratitude that i don't have to stress over the house knows no bounds at this point.

Duane's step-dad wants to go golfing.

I took about 250 pics yesterday. I've deleted about 35. Here are a few of the ones that are left:

I love the little valley just on the other side of Onyx Summit (pass)
This is looking toward the valley betwen the two mountain ranges .
We live on the other side of the mountain range on the right side
(which is not visible here!)

It was so hazy a lot of the mountain pics didn't turn out very well.

I love these ferns. In the spring & summer they are so green & restful.
We drive by them every week.


I love this little nook. The leaves here have fallen in drifts.


Home is just over that mountain ridge!


The haze that obscured the mountains made pics of the sunbeams possible.


This is only one of many i took along a creek bed.
The bushes (small willows i think) turn so golden in the sunlight.

These two are obscured by haze, too.
This is not far from the Onyx Summit (pass) on my way back home.
The view is looking directly down into Lucerne Valley, nearly 5,000 feet below.

The wonderful & multi-talented Mr. Duane switched over my hard drive last night. What i didn't know was that he would stay up doing it. When i woke at 2.45 & he wasn't in bed i checked on him. I thought he'd just set it to run overnight, but he was concerned & stayed up. He also loaded Photoshop, but i've not had a chance to play with it yet. I kind of dozed back to sleep but when he hadn't come to bed by 3.30 i was up again to check on him. So we each slept half a night, 'cause when i'm woken at that time i can't go back to sleep.

The ILs called. They'll be here in half an hour or maybe a little more.

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Today's adventure . . . and Coming Soon !

Today i went on another picture hunt. I noticed coming up the hill yesterday that the valley south of us (on the other side of our mountain range) still has foliage. Mostly oak that is turning yellow & sometimes orange.

This afternoon i drove to Angeles Oaks & had lunch there (it is a tiny little town with one restaurant.) It is probably about 25 miles from Sugarbear by the road. Because of the way the mountain ranges lie our road is rather shaped like a question mark to reach us. So, i would guess that as the crow flies, Angeles Oaks is about 7 miles from the dam on the west end of Big Bear Lake, but driving that road is more the 40 miles. We are on the east end of the valley, tho, so it isn't quite so far.

But i started out a little late. I left about 1 PM, i think, forgetting that with the time change & being in the mountains there are places that are in the shadow by 3 PM or so. I still got a lot of good pics, but i missed some of the ones i wanted with the sun shining thru the yellow/gold leaves. Also, there was a haze in the valley & coming over the mountains. It was pretty, but a different look than i'd planned.

I did quite a lot of walking, probably a mile all total, to get those pics. I'd pull over into a turn-out & have to walk up or back to get the shot i wanted.

It is 5 PM & while the sky is still light, the sun has set. I'll have to try another time. But i think i'm finished chasing fall color (in the mountains) for this year. Have to save some for next year! Also, when i do this again i need to remember to bring my forest pass. A couple places i stopped were trail heads (even tho they were right off the road) & i could have been ticketed there without my forest pass. I may still do some fall colors in OC as the trees there don't really change (the sweet gums especially) until mid-November or later.

Anyway, i got lots & lots of pictures & i'm anxious to see them. But my hard drive is full. It is 100 G & i can't currently save anything as it is too full to add anything. On our way home yesterday we stopped & got a 340 G (or was it 320?) for me. Yeah ! Also Photoshop. Yeah ! But we haven't done the conversion yet. Plan to tonight. Then i should have lots of room. :) And i'll load those pics & post some.

I've been pushing myself today. Patty came to clean for the first time. She is very efficient. She was done in under 3 hours. She cleaned while i de-cluttered, mostly. I need to work harder at managing paper. It is my biggest clutter issue.

The migraine i had the other day left soon after the doc adjusted me. I had blood drawn Thursday. The doc had ordered 26 tests ! I was rather nervous 'cause i'm hard to draw. I know that they can run multiple tests from one tube, but i still was afraid they'd have to draw 10-14. I was relieved they only needed 7. Plus the guy did a good job (& didn't balk at my wanting a butterfly). And it was a lab i guess not many people use. No one waiting when i got there & i was in & out much quicker than i expected.

Anyway, i'm tired now. It has been a fun day. So wonderful to have the house clean & i had a fun (if tiring afternoon) picture hunting.

It is now 5.12 & almost totally dark outside. Hopefully by tomorrow my computer will be refirbished & i can load (& post) the pics.


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