Fiddlenecks and Tidy Tips

This morning my friend K and I went to Crane Creek Regional Park. She had never been there, so we thought it was time for her to get aquainted with this little gem.

When we drove over the hill we saw the morning fog hanging over the plain in front of the Coastal Range. So we hurried to park the car and walk up the hill to get a good view of the fog. There was already considerably less of the marine layer when we arrived at the top. I apologize for the following photo, it's very pixelated, but I love this dead tree and the fog next to it with the Coastal Range peeking through it.

All the yellow you can see here are wildflowers - Tidy Tips (Layia chrysanthemoides). It was so different from the last time when I hiked here and had hoped to see wildflowers - this time there were so many more.

The other yellow wildflower is Yellowbeak Owl's Clover (Triphysaria versicolor).

We were so early that the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), our state flower, hadn't opened its flowers and still looked like little pointed hats. The Sky Lupines (Lupinus nanus), however, were "fully awake" and delighted with their beautiful color. They are often found in the same location as California Poppies.

The native oaks were flowering as well. I actually wasn't sure whether "flowering" is the correct term, but after talking with a botanist I can say with confidence that, yes, the oaks were flowering. What you see here are the male flowers; the female ones are much closer to the leaves and we weren't able to see them.

The oaks were covered with lichen - the one on the trunk and branches is Sunburst lichen. The hanging lichen (the right photo below) is often mistaken for Spanish Moss which does not grow in California since our climate is not humid enough. This is California Lace Lichen (Ramalina menziesii), and believe it or not, it's our State Lichen. California is the first state to recognize a lichen as a state symbol.

Crane Creek Park has many old oaks that I never tire to look at. Such beautiful, majestic trees. Even when they die, park management leaves them in place as part of the habitat. I love that this area is left to nature's ways. 

Well, not completely. Cows certainly don't really fit in this picture, however, they are in the park for about six months each year. Their grazing is a low key way of fire management. There are about 20 cows in the park and they can roam the entire area. This practice has been in place for many years now and it has worked well. I have never seen any severe damage anywhere in the park; new plantings of native trees and shrubs usually get protection for the first few years when they are still vulnerable to curious cows who might like to try the fresh growth. The cows are docile and used to humans; K's dog though was a bit scared of them and only was ready to proceed after she saw that I passed the cows without any incident. I have always had a soft spot for cows; I have loved them since I was a little girl - after all, I'm a (big animal) veterinarian's daughter!

There were more wildflowers - Popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys nothofulvus), Fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia) and Blue Dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus). What a wonderful outcome of our wet winter!

My regular hike took much longer today - K and I were stopping over and over again admiring all the flowers and being in awe of the trees. This is such a wonderful place where I always feel I can breathe more easily (not today though, since allergies this spring are awful). It speaks to my heart and my soul.

We were very lucky to see and hear many birds - Red-shouldered Hawk, Western Bluebird, Acorn Woodpeckers, California Thrasher, Turkey Vulture, Scrub Jay and California Quail. I'm pretty sure I forgot a few.

This is my favorite tree - you already saw it in an earlier post. Every time I see it I take a picture of it, and I swear it's always different.

By the end of our hike, the California Poppies had finally opened up.

I think the trees and some of the flowers like the Fiddleneck are fitting for Rain's prompt "twisted" this week - what do you think?

My dinner today for Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date is tortellini with caramelized onions, mushrooms and spinach. This was the first time that I had made this delicious dish.

Raindrops

 

Last Sunday night we had some rain again. As I wrote before, California had an extremely wet and also chilly winter, but it had been a week or so since the last rain before that Sunday. It was a much lighter and steady rain than what we had experienced before. Hopefully it wasn't the last rain of the season. When I went in the garden on Monday morning, I was delighted by the raindrops on the plants. Everything looked so fresh and it smelled so good as well. 

In the picture above you can see the raindrops on the new leaves of the photinia. This was a beautiful tree when we bought this house, but then it started to die off and I couldn't figure out why. Now, only this one new branch is alive, the rest of the tree is dead. We cut back some parts of it because of fire hazard, but we left a good part standing. This is the base of my main bird feeding station and I can tell you that it is very well visited by our feathered friends. I can see it while I sit at my worktable and sometimes I get very distracted by it while I should actually prepare my classes or grade homework.

There are new leaves on my rose as well and the raindrops circle it like a little crown. Fitting for the "queen of flowers", even though roses aren't exactly favorites of mine. I like them, especially when they have a lovely scent, but there are other flowers that I like way more.

Tulips, for example, but you already know that. 

I also love freesias, mainly for their sweet fragrance. My friend Kris gave me a bag of freesia bulbs as a house warming present 11 years ago, and they have been doing reliably well every spring. Some of them I cut and bring in the house so that the living/dining room smells so nicely. Friends of us came for dinner last Saturday and brought me flowers from their garden, and I simply put the freesias in there as well for the three primary colors.

Water on the sedum "Autumn Joy" are fat big drops, so different from all the other ones. Sometimes you can see reflections in them, but of course not in this photo.

Look who's here!

The Hooded Orioles arrived at the end of March. One morning I stepped out and heard the familiar chatter - these are very talkative birds. I saw the male at the hummingbird/oriole feeder and immediately brought the grape jelly out. A couple days later his mate turned up as well. Later in the summer they will bring their offspring as well. That's when I have to constantly refill the jelly bowl. Other birds like the jelly as well - I've seen the Northern Mockingbird going for it as well as the Oak Titmouse; I also saw the squirrel with a red sticky mouth...

What about dandelions? I don't pull them since they are one of the first flowers in the spring for the pollinators. Since I don't have a lawn, I don't mind dandelions. 

The raindrops look very pretty on the Desert or Globe Mallow. I was a bit surprised to see it flowering so early. Last year the blooms appeared much later.

Of course Clematis is a stunner, with or without raindrops. These two are always early and often crank out a second blooming period later in the year.

I shouldn't forget "Roger's Red", a native California wild grape that grows abundantly and turns to a stunning red in the fall - hence the name. The birds love to seek shelter there in the summer.

So what is missing? Of course, it's the food part for Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date. Here I cooked a Chinese cuisine inspired dish with baked tofu, broccoli, red pepper and udon. I don't usually use a recipe for these kinds of dishes, but just remember what I ate when I lived in Taiwan and try to make something similar with different ingredients. As you can see, my wok is well used.

Sunday Mornings

 

The view from my front door

Yesterday we had a very slow Sunday and I realized how much I love these Sunday mornings without any agenda. Sunday is the only day in the week when neither the Geek nor I have to leave for work. There are Sundays when we get up early and go on a hike or spend the day at the ocean. But we also love to just stay at home, and it is especially these Sunday mornings that I particularly like.

At this time of the year when the days are getting longer and it's getting light much earlier, the morning sun hits my kitchen window, which faces north-north-east. I love when the shelves that are my pantry lit up in those early rays of the spring sun.

The same goes for the things on the kitchen window sill and the Moroccan lights on the porch. I just love the warm light.

On colder mornings I sit inside, reading the paper, enjoying the article about the arrival of a healthy Southern white rhino baby at our wildlife preserve that we have been waiting for the past couple weeks, or I'm busy knitting. I always have a project on my knitting needles. Here I'm making on of the birds hats for my shop, with the matching stitch marker. It's a good time to chat with the Geek.

There are always flowers on the dining table. These are tulips from the farmers market.

When the weather is pleasant I love to be outside. Very often when I walk through my garden, I weed a bit or cut something back or am all excited when I discover something new. Seeing more and more California poppies blooming is always reason for joy.

Other times I sit at the small garden table and write in my journal with a cup of coffee close by. The coffee, of course, is for our drinks party that is hosted every Tuesday by Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

The Canada geese have been very active recently and often I see them in big flocks flying over our neighborhood. It's always a sight (and a sound) to behold.

Do you enjoy slow Sunday mornings or are you much busier?

Hiking the Bay

 

Some of you might know Bodega Bay as the set in the Hitchcock movie "The Birds", and there are quite some reminders of this horror movie throughout the little town by the sea. For us, however, Bodega Bay is the sweet little town right on the ocean with beautiful Highway 1 winding its way right through it, no sidewalks and an abundance of places that offer tasty seafood. It has a harbor with a narrow navigable channel and where you can find people looking for clams during low tide. Bodega Head and the headlands separate the harbor from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean - and is a great place for whale watching and hiking.

On one of those rare sunny days in February Kaefer and I drove out to Bodega Bay. The drive from our house to the parking lot on Bodega Head takes a bit less than an hour and passes through the gentle hilly part of Sonoma County with its green pastures where you can see cows grazing. It joins Highway 1 after having passed through the hamlet of Bodega (not to be confused with Bodea Bay) where you can find the famous schoolhouse of the movie. After that it's just another five to ten minutes up to Bodega Head.

The view from Bodega Head over the rocky coastline is breath taking. In the photo above and below you can see the coast of Point Reyes in the distance which is a National Seashore and a very favorite place of mine.

We observed a gull taking a dip in a puddle and every now and then we stopped to watch for whales. However, the sea was rather rough and it is difficult to spot whales in those conditions. Needless to say, we didn't see any. This is the first time during whale migration that I didn't see any whales - probably because we didn't come out here because of all the rain we had. We mainly see humpback and gray whales here.

The headlands are pretty bare, so this "grove" of old and dead trees stood out. We saw a few ravens up here ("The Birds", right?) and that dead tree was a prefered landing spot.

We hiked around the headlands, enjoyed the view of Tomales Bay nestled between Point Reyes and the mainland, and finally saw the harbor of Bodega Bay.

Every now and then we stopped and sat on a bench, chatting and sharing memories of our many trips to Bodega Bay. Or we just sat in silence, enjoying the company of each other. It is so nice to be able to be quiet with a person you love.

On our way back to the parking lot we passed the memorial to the fishermen of Bodega Bay who lost their life out on the sea. Bodega Bay has always been a fishermen's town, but with the fame of "The Birds"  the tourists came as well.

Back in town we got calamari and clam strips at one of the many saefood places and ate our food out on the deck. Although it's not exactly dinner, this is for Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.

Since the weather was so lovely and Kaefer wanted to stick her feet in the ocean, we stopped at Doran Beach. This beach is a regional park and very family friendly because of its location within the bay where the waves are much gentler and not as dangerous. In the second photo below you can see the headlands in the background.

However, even here the sea was quite rough. It's been a wild winter. 

Still, nothing could keep Kaefer from putting off her shoes and wading into the water.

While she was freezing out there, I walked along the sandy beach and enjoyed the many prints the shorebirds had left.

It was a wonderful day that I will not forget.