What A Trooper!

This summer a wayward turtle paid us a visit. The male red-eared slider parked himself on our driveway, apparently taking a wrong turn while in search of a water source. He had Trooper scrawled on his shell in permanent marker so we posted signs addressed to Trooper's owner. Sadly, no takers. In the meantime, Trooper made himself at home in our small pond. He dined on mosquito fish and water lillies, but wasn't a social turtle at all!

While I enjoyed the almost 3-month stint as Trooper's foster Mom, the time came to place him up for adoption. He needed a much bigger pond with fellow sliders and lots more water lillies than we could provide. On Tuesday we drove him to Prehistoric Pets in Fountain Valley, a drop-off point for the Orange County Chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. Lynda is in charge of Adoptions for the Club and she greeted us with a big smile and open arms for Trooper.

FYI, Prehistoric Pets is an interesting place to visit if you're interested in, well....Prehistoric Pets!
And if you're a turtle fan, check out the California Turtle and Tortoise Club website. They welcome donations and memberships.

Walk Like An Egyptian....

The Egyptian Goose is really a Shelduck (a cross between
a goose and a duck). They were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians who considered them sacred. While found mainly along the Nile River Valley, they made it to England in the 1700s and the feral variety lives here in the US.

A small group of them were regulars at the local regional park many years ago. They prefer land so usually kept to themselves, away from the water's edge and other waterfowl. I considered them 'likably arrogant' and was saddened when they moved on.....

Southern California is experiencing a warm and pleasant winter this year, making it difficult to stay indoors. A hilly hike at the regional park beckoned, so I just had to respond. To my pleasant surprise, one of my little Egyptian feathered-friends had returned to her stomping grounds. She greeted me....more cordially than normal. I 'chatted' a bit, then apologized that I carried no goose grub.

I think she understood....... :)

Halloween Re-Visit

I'm a spider fan and was surprised by a favorite today. The Phidippus audax or Daring Jumping Spider is a harmless, fuzzy, black & white cutie. Prompted by the season and my little friend, I decided to re-post Halloween 2008.

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!!!

Halloween! All Hallow's Eve! Dia De Los Muertos! The day of candy corn, jack-o-lanterns, costumes, ghouls, goblins, fun, and generally SCARY STUFF!

How about spiders? They are very active in the Fall. Big garden spiders spin and spin, creating huge symmetrical webs to trap their prey. Daylight finds them in hiding; evening begins the hunt. And watch out for Black Widows too! They seek dark places, spinning rather desultory webs as their signature death trap.

And how scary is a pumpkin? The inside can be pretty darn to a little one, namely mine. When my son and niece were young we carved some pumpkins for Halloween. Each child was to clean-out his/her own pumpkin before the artistic process would begin. My niece dug in happily; my son protested. Thinking he just wanted to skip to the fun part I encouraged him to persist. Not until I heard him say "Mom, I see little white flies in my pumpkin" and "I'm dizzy" did I realize what was happening. My rough and tumble boy was seeing stars! Blood and guts never phased him, but the mushy innards of a pumpkin were definitely his kryptonite!

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Lavender's Blue Dilly, Dilly...

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,

When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen.

Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?

'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so....

(Burl Ives/Disney version)

Lend Me Your Ear!

Had Van Gogh suffered a change of heart, and wanted to reattach his ear, he probably would have needed a few leeches. Medicinal leeches, that is! Besides removing excess blood from the wound, leech saliva contains both an anticoagulant and an anesthetic. The anticoagulant prevents clotting so the ear receives blood flow and survives; the anesthetic numbs the pain so you'll never know what bit you!

In 2004 the FDA approved the use of leeches as a medical device. Today a tribe of the creatures passed through our hospital's pharmacy on their way to save, not an ear this time, but a life.

Of course we were all thankful for our camera phones... ;)

Pitch the Tents!

Winter was long in the High Sierra this year. Well into late spring, high country lakes are frozen and trails are snowbound. The passes (Sonora, Ebbetts, Monitor) were finally cleared of snow just before Memorial Day. The first week in June, Tioga Pass was still closed.

Life above 9,000 feet is on hold for now, but life below the snow line is thriving. Lupines and snow plants are in bloom; lizards adorn warm rocks; rattlesnakes slither sneakily; and tent caterpillars live communally on bitter bush. Little silk tents are everywhere. Branches of kite spools house worms feasting on tasty spring growth....
moths to come:)

Dinnertime at the Stenbergs

Just look at those hummingbirds! Ralph and Dayle's sugar solution must be really high octane to attract so many hummers to one feeder. Ralph is one of my dad's favorite golfing buddies and a fellow hummingbird fan so when he shared this photo of Dinnertime, I asked permission to post it. The Stenbergs are originally from Frazee, MN. Located in a beautiful area near Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Frazee is famous for turkeys rather than hummingbirds. The town celebrates Turkey Days every year in July and is home to the world's largest turkey too!

Rufous Red Baron

The sun was shining bright today, so hummingbirds came out to play:) Rufous hummingbirds have invaded my space, swooping, diving, making lots of noise, and using the nearby birch tree as a resting place. There were even numerous 'dogfights' resulting in contact (and flying feathers too). Think I'll name these guys Snoopy and Rufous Red Baron!

I Love Orange(s)

While Southern California's orange groves are fast disappearing, orange trees live on in suburban yards. Our navel orange tree loves its sunny, south-facing location and is busy all year. Fruit ripens between October and January becoming sweeter with time spent on branch, so if you like your orange juice sweet, have patience! By February, pretty white blossoms begin to appear producing a fragrance like no other (talk about aroma therapy!). The orange tree's cycle overlaps so blooms can exist with mature fruit from the previous year. Orange trees are natural hummingbird havens too. Hummers hide and nest in the dense foliage; bathe in leaf-cupped rainwater; and feed on the many spiders and bugs living there.

This year January 1st was Mimosa Day. Fresh (from the tree;) orange juice and champagne in equal parts made for a tasty start to 2010, post Rose Parade of course!

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Peruvian Apple Cactus

Last July I wrote about our Peruvian Apple Cactus, and
it has become a fairly popular post on the Hummingbird Happiness Blog. Since the cactus is blooming again, I thought I'd do a little revisit;)

Definitely a member of our family, it was planted in the backyard (much too close to the fence;) about 30 years ago. A gift from my brother-in-law, it arrived as a section of trunk and roots, huge, heavy, and ancient. I couldn't give it's exact age, but my guess is that the original plant must be at least 70 years old.

For safety purposes, we've trimmed it back to the original trunk a number of times. The 'spires' are quite tall and very heavy, so we utilize a method of pruning using ropes, a ladder, and bow saw to take them down one by one. Timber!!!! Cuttings can be rooted, so they often become second generation cacti.

The flowers are lovely, but night-blooming, so early morning is the best time to enjoy them. Notice (in the photo above) the complete flowering cycle of a bloom. There are the small buds, one ready to open, the open flower, and the beginning of the cactus fruit, or pitaya, where a spent bloom has fallen, leaving a dangling string behind.

The (Box) Turtle

The turtle can't go out to play,
Or sell his house or rent it;
For when he moves,
His house moves too
And nothing can prevent it.

It's always a good day when I see our box turtle.
Half the year he hibernates; the other half he forages for food...so he can hibernate! He keeps the snail population in check, but, sadly, he has reduced the number of fence lizards in the yard too. Today I found him floating in the pond. Mosquito fish for lunch? Possibly!

(Poem courtesy of Can Teach)

Isn't She A Beauty?

An alligator lizard among the roses. Now that's juxtaposition! She brings back memories of my childhood when catching just one alligator lizard trumped corralling five to ten “blue-belly” fence lizards. Alligator lizards have attitude. They're arrogant loners with powerful jaws, a snake-ish slither, and keeled scales that look like armor. The tail, if original, almost doubles the lizard's length and is slightly prehensile. It can detach too, for a quick escape from predators. Will an alligator lizard climb a tree? Most certainly! Not only do they munch on bugs, but also on eggs and baby birds.

Notice the Nest?

While walking the other day, I noticed a mourning dove flying toward a flowering pear tree. She didn't hold the traditional olive branch in her mouth; rather, dry pine needles. Hmmmm. Maybe I should investigate;) Sure enough, there was a nest, but I did not linger since I was disturbing the two doves working so diligently to complete their home.

My logical mind doubted their choice of locations. The nest was hidden in leaves, but so low to the ground....and SO close to the sidewalk. The tree is located in a park, but fortunately not in a play area. Perhaps no one would notice them. Except me;)

My walking route varies daily, but I do check the birdies when I can. This nest is not the first one I have monitored. One year at work, we discovered a pair of nesting doves. We could see them at eye level through the second floor window, but the best view was from the third floor window looking down. Mom and Dad successfully raised two youngsters. It was a happy day when they flew away, but a little sad to see the empty nest. Wonder if birdie moms feel the same as their human counterparts? ;)

Three Little Parakeets....

...my pets, and notoriously messy! That's one reason they live outside;) Parakeets can easily survive Southern California winters OUTDOORS (provided they have adequate shelter). When my old walk-in aviary finally succumbed to weather, hookbills, and termites, I razed it with the intent to build something smaller. A few years ago, I discovered some heavy-duty storage racks on clearance at Lowes. The price was right too. With some adjustments to the assembly, plywood, pegboard, a few pieces of cedar and some aviary wire, my three little parakeets had a new home. These days the cage is a little rusty, but my birdies are as pretty as ever!

Spring Blooms are Humming

Colorful blooms have arrived this Spring. Cymbidium Orchids, Kolanchoe, wintered-over Gerbera Daisies, Don Juan Roses, and Bougainvilla Flowers are competing for attention....mine! Potted to decorate my porch, I try to sneak a peek through the screen door many times a day. Hummingbirds visit as well with squeaks and chatter to let me know that company's-a-comin' ;)

That's a Rufous at the feeder!

Let Them Eat Cake!

My baby boy celebrates his 22nd birthday tomorrow, so Saturday morning (before he left for the University) I needed to produce a birthday cake. Recipe of choice? My chocolate sheet cake which takes less than an hour to make from beginning to end. Yay! 'Twas finished in time for his trip to Redlands.....

Happy Birthday Kiddo!!!

Hi Natalie! We received your postcard from Paris! Wish you were here! Sending a celebratory slice of virtual birthday cake your way! Have fun in Italy!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
(or 1/2 cup milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1 tablespoon Kahlua liqueur)
2 sticks margarine
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup water

Mix together sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan mix margarine, cocoa, and water. Bring to a boil then pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Add milk, soda, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into an 11" X 16" greased and floured pan, then bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. (Batter will be thin.)

Frosting

1 stick margarine
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup milk

Mix ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in 1 pound of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla (or 1 tablespoon Kahlua liqueur), and a cup of chopped nuts (I use walnuts). Frost while the cake is hot. Allow to cool before serving.

A Postcard from Salzburg

My son’s good friend Natalie (from college) is spending the spring semester of her junior year in Salzburg, Austria.....
IN A CASTLE! Great gig if you can get it, yes?

I adore Natalie and love to receive the email glimpses she sends our way. It’s that old vicarious thing, ya know!

A portion of her latest ‘postcard’......

Forgive me for the lateness of this email. I haven’t gotten the chance to get on the internet in a while (we don’t have it at the house, and if I want to get online I have to pay for an expensive drink at a bar/café, unless it’s during happy hour).

Salzy is still as amazing as ever. I just finished watching The Sound of Music and it’s so cool to spot scenes in the movie and to know I was actually there (or rather that I actually live here). FYI-The scene where the children
and Maria pass the fountain on the way to their picnic (Do-Ray-Mi), I pass the same fountain on my way into
town EVERY DAY!

Since my last email, I have traveled to many places. The second complete weekend at the house (January 22-24), our class took a trip to Vienna with our professors. I’ve already been to Vienna, but it’s just as beautiful as I remember it. We saw many things including the Belvedere, Stephansdom (huge church), the Museum of Art History, in addition to going on a walking tour of the city and seeing other sites. Saturday the class headed back to Salzburg while Morgan (a friend of mine here) and I took a train from Vienna to Munich, Germany. We were there less than 24 hours but saw SO much. We went to the Hofbräuhaus (twice!...it’s a HUGE beer hall that can hold 8,000 people, supposedly). There are busty women who serve you pretzels and beer (only in liter form). You make friends there quite easily as you just sit down at a table with free space (others may already be sitting there with extra room). Our hostel called Wombat’s was cool, and offered a free three hour tour. We saw many sites, got lost a few times, walked MANY a mile, but made it home safely at around 8pm Sunday night.

The next weekend (January 29-February 1) I went to Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic). I was definitely out of my comfort zone there, as I didn’t even know the simplest words like “thank you” and “hello”. Austria and Germany are a breeze because at least I can get around with the little German I do know; but we had to speak English the entire time we were in Prague (it was rather discouraging). In addition, it was FREEZING. The weather forecast turned out to be incredibly wrong and I nearly froze to death the first day we walked around town. The second day I doubled up on shirts and it snowed. However, we got to see many sites like the Astronomical clock, this tower-like structure modeled after the Eiffel tower that looks out over ALL of Prague, Prague castle, a Salvador Dali/Alfonse Mucha exhibit, an Andy Warhol exhibit (that was interesting…), the Museum of Communism, Charles Bridge (which is GORGEOUS), and many others.......

This Thursday I am headed to Greece for 10 days!!!! We are going to be in Athens, Delphi, Nafplion, and Olympia. I am super excited and canNOT wait to tell you all about it.

For those of you who receive postcards within the next couple weeks, they might be a little outdated (as in, three weeks old) just because I haven’t gotten the opportunity to buy postage for a while, so bear with me please!

Liebe (Love),
Natalie

P.S. It snowed here this past week and everything looked gorgeous. I’m positive we got over half a foot of snow! But we had a “heat wave” the past couple days and it’s in the 40s, sometimes 50s and all of the snow is nearly gone. I’m hoping it snows again so that I can go sledding.

P.P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures. It takes FOREVER to upload one picture.

P.P.S. Dad, can you send this to anyone else on your email that would enjoy this? i.e. C and C, the Harris Family, Terri and Jodi, Auntie Cher. Thanks Dad! :D

P.P.P.S. The one picture I have attached to this email was when I was on a sleigh ride through the Austrian Alps on January 11th.

Yes. Thanks, Natalie (and Dad too;)
Can't wait to hear about Greece.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Time to ring in 2009. Our family makes the 25-mile annual pilgrimage to Pasadena to party on Colorado Boulevard at midnight then awaken with a front row seat to one of the most beautiful parades in existence, the Rose Parade.

Morning arrivals to The Boulevard (part of historic Route 66) require ladder seating, while sleep overs require warm clothing and blankets (or a snooze in the ol’ SUV for us wimps;) When my son and nieces were little, we added a wooden plank between our ladders. The little ones sat there with snacks, hot chocolate, and a bird’s eye view of the morning festivities.

New Year's Eve promises lots of activity on the streets near Colorado and Orange Grove! Watch out for silly string and shaving cream pies if you cruise the boulevard in your car; notice street campsites staked out with portable heaters, air mattresses, and chairs; see local reporters comb the area for news stories too; and if you venture south on Raymond around 10 PM, you may get a peek at flowered floats being moved from their ‘barn’ to the staging area on Orange Grove. Last, but never least, make a stop at Jakes. We do! The best sliders, burgers, and homemade chili you’ll find anywhere. Yum!

Colorado quiets slightly a few hours before daybreak, but morning reveals hustle and bustle and anticipation. The Parade will begin with a breathtaking flyover. You can hear a pin drop...just before the roar. Marching bands, incredible floats, beautiful flowers, equestrian units, and celebrity Grand Marshals make a chilly night on the street very worthwhile....

From past parades, I loved seeing the marching Storm Troopers from Star Wars, and Grand Marshal George Lucas...

...watched Kareem Abdul Jabbar talk on his cell phone while riding shotgun on a stagecoach. Must have been a matter of life and death (she says with tongue in cheek;)

...and I always marvel at designer Raul Rodriguez’s creations. He’s a local boy who won a float-designing contest as a teenager, then made it his career. Look for him and his beautiful blue macaw...

Then plan your trip to Pasadena for New Years 2010!

Firestorms!

On Saturday, weather conditions brought wildfires as close to my neighborhood as they’ve ever been. As I walked at the park yesterday morning, the first plumes of smoke from Brea, Yorba Linda, and Anaheim Hills looked as if I could touch them; but they were still singular and separate. Early afternoon, we attended my niece’s softball game in Whittier. Scheduled as a double header, the air quality became too unhealthy to play the second game. Strong winds were blowing the smoke in a westerly direction (toward us) and at one point the sun suffered an eery eclipse. By nightfall, we could see a glow in the east and the car’s headlights created 'fireflies' from the ashes that were whipping around in the wind.

This morning, I took photos of the ash-covered concrete and cars under a haze-occluded sun. Santa Ana winds have tamed somewhat for now, but the damage is done.

I posted the following comment five weeks ago on Stumbleupon.com when we were in the midst of the Porter Ranch fires. Nature always has the ability to humble us, and she has once again.

While I love Autumn, the fall season in Southern California can be deadly. It is the season of Santa Ana winds and firestorms. I grew up here, an LA County Fireman's daughter. My dad has been retired 20 years now, but the last brush fire he fought was in the Porter Ranch area. Fire Fighting technology has improved tremendously in 20 years, but Fire is a tough adversary. The tragedy is that civilization has invaded the canyons and hills; they were meant to be left alone. Wild. Natural. So now Fire threatens not only the wild creatures, but the human ones too.

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!!!!

Halloween! All Hallow's Eve! Dia De Los Muertos! The day of candy corn, jack-o-lanterns, costumes, ghouls, goblins, fun, and generally SCARY STUFF!

How about spiders? They are very active in the Fall. Big garden spiders spin and spin, creating huge symmetrical webs to trap their prey. Daylight finds them in hiding; evening begins the hunt. And watch out for Black Widows too! They seek dark places, spinning rather desultory webs as their signature death trap.

And how scary is a pumpkin? The inside can be pretty darn to a little one, namely mine. When my son and niece were young we carved some pumpkins for Halloween. Each child was to clean-out his/her own pumpkin before the artistic process would begin. My niece dug in happily; my son protested. Thinking he just wanted to skip to the fun part I encouraged him to persist. Not until I heard him say "Mom, I see little white flies in my pumpkin" and "I'm dizzy" did I realize what was happening. My rough and tumble boy was seeing stars! Blood and guts never phased him, but the mushy innards of a pumpkin were definitely his kryptonite!

Be afraid! Be very afraid!