Scene with acorn cap dolls

Here is a little scene that I created in an old wallet box that a friend gave to me. I used origami paper, two of my acorn cap dolls, beads, a glitter gel pen, and a couple of self-adhesive pin backs to hang it on the wall. The one in the blue tunic is supposed to be me, and the one in the tan pants is supposed to be my husband.Today's Giants game was painful to watch. Oy vey.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Pine Hill Preserve, 4-26-08

We visited the Cameron Park Unit of the Pine Hill Preserve (PHP) yesterday. An avian highlight was seeing (and hearing) a California Thrasher singing. I know the basic/core chaparral plants, but it was great to be with people who really know the local flora – people who can name any plant you point at. According to their Web site, "The Pine Hill Preserve was established to protect rare native plants in El Dorado County, California, that occur on a particular soil type known as gabbro soils" and "The Pine Hill Preserve's rare plants are a collection of eight rare plant species that share the unusual growing conditions of a small area of western El Dorado County." (Sources: http://www.pinehillpreserve.org/about/index.htm and http://www.pinehillpreserve.org/rare_plants/index.htm)

Gabbro is basically the intrusive equivalent of basalt. I kinda sorta remembered that from those two geology courses I took in college so many years ago, and lo and behold, I was right.

For you Simpsons fans, do you remember the episode where that creepy ventriloquist's dummy (OK, what ventriloquist’s dummy ISN’T creepy), Gabbo, stole Krusty’s job? The newspaper headlines screamed “GABBO, GABBO, GABBO!!!" Whenever I hear about the gabbro soils at the PHP (or gabbro in general), I always want to say “GABBRO, GABBRO, GABBRO!!! (and I do, if I’m around sympathetic Simpsons fans). Speaking of The Simpsons, my husband and I were big fans, but stopped watching it around 1998, when it “jumped the shark.”

We saw the following rare plants yesterday: Pine Hill Ceanothus, Bisbee Peak rush-rose (no flowers, yesterday,though), El Dorado mule-ears, Red Hills soaproot, and Layne's butterweed.

We saw the Pine Hill flannelbush a while back at the Pine Hill Unit of the preserve.

We saw this morning-glory, but I don’t know if it is the rare one -- Stebbins' morning-glory.

We think that these are Tumbling flower beetles on this Layne’s butterweed. They didn’t tumble for us, but, when they do, it’s pretty cute. This Layne’s butterweed isn’t sick. It is normal for them to have just a few petals.

Unidentified beetle

Whiteleaf Manzanita – smooth and cool to the touch

Feather

Iris -- this photo does not do justice to the depth and breadth of its purple.

I think that this is a Wyethia, but I don’t remember what the rest of the plant looked like.

Wyethia leaf skeleton

Possibly a sanicle, with what is probably a Tumbling flower beetle

Blooming Sonoma Sage blanketed the floor of the chaparral. The air was perfumed with its sagey goodness. Ahhhhhh …Fairy lantern
Calochortus

This ring I bought at Target looked pretty in the sun …

I am so tired of people and their McMansions. This mini-castle is under construction and within view of the trail. Nouveau riche with delusions of grandeur, I say! It’s bad enough that they had to build something so large and tacky, but do I have to see it from the trail? Ugh!

Ta ta for now,

Sylvie

Funny Cat Video

An Engineer's Guide to Cats, via Cute Overload

El Dorado County, Part 2

More from our trip to El Dorado County last weekend ...

Ensatina

I saw some of the most AWESOME fungi ever!

These look like little nests with eggs.

Check out the acorn caps and the tiny beetle in this photo.

Our friends have several cats. Norgay is the deepest, glossiest black, but it doesn't show up so well in the first photo. He is a sweet, handsome, confident cat. (I didn't get any photos of his brother Tenzing, who is very shy around visitors. I saw him once the entire weekend.)

Isn't Zoe beautiful? She is a little shy, but playful.

Here is Elsie, who was a stray, pregnant cat that they trapped on their property. She had five kittens. They were two weeks old when we visited.Tiny scorpions live under the bricks that surround our friends' compost pile,along with centipedes.

Well that's all for now.

Bye,
Sylvie

El Dorado County, Part 1

We spent last weekend (4/19 and 20) in El Dorado County at the home (well, we spent more time outside) of the neat couple that we went to San Francisco with in January. I have tons to share, so I'm going to break this up into installments. One of the most interesting things we saw was a female Merlin dive-bombing and screaming at a plastic owl on a fence post. She also sat still (rare for Merlins) for quite a while between attacks on the faux owl.

We watched this Red-breasted Nuthatch excavating a nest hole. We were only a few feet away. It was SO awesome! I got some video footage with my camera. Here is crappy still photo, but you get the point.

Douglas Fir cone

Years ago, someone shared this sweet myth with me: A long time ago, during a raging forest fire, the Douglas Fir trees told the mice that they could hide in their cones for safety, and the mice did and they survived the fire. The little tufts on the cones represent the tails (or feet?) of those mice.

American Robin looking lovely

Canada Geese -- adults and goslings

Buttercups (The genus is Ranunculs, which is SO much fun to say, especially if you roll the "r.")

Ribes sp.?

The dogwood trees were oh so lovely in the filtered sunlight of the forest.

So were the Big-leaf Maples

Manzanita flowers are such a neat shape.Check out the tiny seeds inside.

Calochortus sp.?

Red Maids

Shooting Star

Tomorrow is my scheduled day off, but I have to drag my sorry carcass in to go to a Sexual Harassment Prevention Training (we have to take it every few years). After all of these years, my employer has finally had the sense to add "Prevention" to the title :-)

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Seahorse

I finished the seahorse the other day.

Dorsal fin
Belly spots

I got the picture from a coloring book I found on-line.

I've finished one and a half more acorn dolls. I can't decide what to do for hair for the unfinished one. My husband wants me to cut his hair, so maybe I could try some of that. If it weren't my husband's hair, the concept of using "real human hair" would seem a bit strange. But it's his hair, so it just sounds cute.

Insert pithy title here

I am, as my best friend says, "charmed by small things." Right now, the leaves of the California grape are tiny, furry, and pale green with pink edges. Later, they will be flame-colored and the size of saucers. I like the reliability of Nature -- I like visiting the same place throughout the year and being greeted by old friends -- the plants, animals, and the constellations as they change with the seasons. If you put yourself out there, and pay attention, you will see your old friends doing new things (well, new to your eyes, anyway).

OK, now for some photos ...

Here are couple of pictures from a recent (4-6-08) walk by the river:

Pipevine Swallowtail

Wild Cucumber

I took these pictures last Friday (4-11-08) at my husband's "office":

Vigilant Black Phoebe guarding

its nest

Very relaxed young squirrel. Look at the size of those feet!

Bushtit nest

Look, I've found another heart-shaped object in nature -- this time it's a walnut shell.

Good night,
Sylvie

Random Thoughts of 4-11-08

Show Us Your Hilarious Shrine to Science, Wired

Scientists Flesh Out Plans to Grow (and Sell) Test Tube Meat, Wired

Library of Congress Photos on Flickr. FAQs. LOC blog. Via Meggiecat.

We spent yesterday evening with a bunch of fellow birders -- it was a nice photo-sharing session. Today has been a good day -- we spent the morning birding (highlight: close-ups of Purple Martins), then had our usual vegetable-potato platter at a local diner.

While we were out, we ran into a friend who showed us some cool photos from a recent trip to Belize. He had them stored on something like (or exactly like) this. Cool gadget.

Now, I'm going to settle down with an embroidery hoop and a baseball game. Ahhhh ...

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Today

We had fun exploring the great outdoors today. While we were out, I picked up some acorn caps. I hope that they fit the beads I'm using for doll heads (and that they are unoccupied :-)

Here are some photos of a Valley Oak forest that has never been logged:


This rabbit was very laid back. In these photos, watch its ears go down and then come back up.
Osage Orange (not native, probably invasive, but an interesting plant). I'm guessing that these are the young fruit that will eventually become the giant brain-like fruit this tree is known for.Remember making these filaree (not native, definitely invasive) scissors in school?

CloudsThese California Poppies are in our front yard:Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Crescent Moon Alert

I must remember to watch the moon shortly before sundown on Sunday (4/6), Monday (4/7), and Tuesday (4/8). According to NASA, the show is going to be awesome!

I LOVE the illustrations in this book that doe-c-doe shared on her blog.

Lose the Lawn, via Not Martha, via re-nest. We did this a few years ago.

Goodnight,
Sylvie

Random Thoughts of 4-1-08

My husband shared this photo with me. A friend at work said that they don't know much about wildlife down there (note the street :-)

Over the weekend, my co-worker and his wife watched a pair of Mourning Doves build a nest in their back yard. They built it on a baking rack that the homeowners use for potted plants. The doves incorporated a temperature sensor that is on the rack (for an outdoor thermometer, I think) into their nest. It will be interesting to see how things warm up. One egg has been laid so far.

Speaking of doves, pigeons and doves drink using suction. You see other birds scooping up water and tilting their heads back to swallow, but not pigeons and doves. After reading about this, I paid extra special attention to the ones that I see at this perpetually flooded sidewalk on my daily walk downtown, and lo and behold, a Mourning Dove daintily placed its bill in the water and proceeded to sip. I always check this location to see if the robins are bathing. I don't approve of the waste of water (someone needs to fix those sprinklers), but at least the birds and I are enjoying it. Really, is there anything more charming than a bathing bird? I think not.

Spiral eye self-threading needles. Great idea, but too bad they only come in one size.

How to make button flower pins

I love the Prickly Pear Cactus Lemonade from Bolthouse Farms. It’s a bit too sweet, even for me, so I drink it in very small quantities. They stopped selling it at my grocery store, but look, Desert USA sells prickly pear cactus syrup. I have been enjoying this Prickly Pear Jojoba Castile Body Cleanser, too.

Here is a dog photo from doe-c-doe's blog (near the end of the entry) that will, as my friend says, "lower your blood pressure."