PETER & KATE'S HOME

Our daughter Mary took us down to Aromas, California, to visit our son, Peter, and daughter-in-law, Kate in their new home over the past weekend.  They have a beautiful place on a hillside overlooking a large valley where the Driscoll Corporation grows strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc  This is the view from their house (you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it):

As I mentioned above, the house itself sits on a hillside which is full of eucalyptus and assorted fruit trees.  It's their own little Garden of Eden.  Here's a view of theri home from down the hill:

One of the great treats of a country home is the wildlife.  In the morning and evening, the bunnies come out to feed.  I caught this one with my 400mm lens.  He's a handsome little guy.  Don't you think?:

There were birds around, too.  One I hadn't seen before was this one.  I think it's a California thrasher:

Peter told me there were hawks around, but we didn't see any until we were on our way out of the property.  Then Mary spotted this red-shouldered hawk as he flew from the road into the trees with some kind of a meal.  We couldn't tell what it was.  I hope it wasn't a little bunny!:

Anyway, it was a fun visit, and I'm grateful to Mary for doing the driving!

Fireworks!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!♫ zampi

Independence Day

I haven't done this for a while.  At my age, I almost forget how to do it.  Not to worry, it's all coming back to me now!

We had a full moon last night so I took a shot.  This is what I got:

Dickie had a birthday last month.  Our daughters, Heidi and Mary dropped by to deliver some presents and we all had a great time.  Now Dickie has two new magnifying lamps to work with when she sews.  Here are the three of them mugging it up for the camera:

Dickie and I walk down a road that borders a vineyard here in town.  Before we reach the vineyards we pass these hollyhocks that are in beautiful bloom just now.  The bees like them, too.  You can see one in this pic, if you look carefully at the top of the flower (or click on the picture to see a larger version):

Below is a shot of what we see in the distance as we walk along the road.  Just now, everything is very green and the grapes are still tiny:

When the spirit moves us, we travel down to Schollenberger Park in Petaluma.  There's a large shallow lake there with an asphalt path built completely around it.  There are always plenty of waterfowl like swans, ducks, stilts and avocets.  However, all around the edges of the lake there are quite a number of other birds like red-winged blackbirds, swallows, and finches, not to mention hawks and harriers.  If you keep your eyes open, you'll usually spot this hummingbird who makes his home there.  I caught him up close the last time we visited:

Another place we like to visit is the fish hatchery at the north end of Dry Creek Valley.  The water there is convenient for a large number of cliff swallows.  They dig the mud from the pools to make their nests.  I caught this one on the wing - not an easy thing to do.  I felt very lucky.

I hope you're lucky, too, in whatever you're doing these days.  Have a happy 4th of July!