Ranch lizards

There are a LOT of lizards up at the horse ranch where I board my horses.  And hawks, too, so I'm not sure how the lizards survive.  There's a dark one on their patio who scares me every time I see him~he's HUGE!  And dark!  I always think he's a snake, but he's not.  These little guys were out & about last weekend, so I took some pics of them.  They are cute!

Some photos I didn't get to post this week

You know, I'm kinda funny...I like to post my photos on a weekly basis, then on the weekends, go out and take more.  I TRY to do this every week.  However, some weeks I either don't take enough photos, or they are just horse photos which I post on my horse blog:   http://deserthorses.blogspot.com  I try to keep this one limited to my exploits driving from Palm Desert, through Garner Valley, and then down into Anza.  So, last weekend, I took these photos, but just didn't have a chance (or the time) to post them...I guess this is "cleanup" Saturday.

Old fences~Friday's Fences~092713

I love this old thoroughbred farm at the corner of Highway 74 and 371.  It is no longer used as a thoroughbred breeding farm (thank goodness), but it now boards horses.  And, I love how the fences aren't up-to-date on their paint!  Don't you?  Friday's Fences for September 27, 2013.  To visit FF, please go to:  http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/  Hey, I even managed to get a crow in the bottom two photos!

Fog

As I dropped down the top of the mountain, to the road to Anza last weekend, I spotted a whole swath of fog.  Fortunately, I was able to spot a turnout and stop and take a photo of it.  I wonder what I'll find this weekend?

Just a hint of autumn

The cottonwoods up in Anza are turning yellow...already!  :-)  I found this one last weekend.  Fall is here.  It is even here in the desert.  It's CHILLY this morning and tomorrow it will only be in the low 80's!  Man, time to get the sweaters out!  Somebody asked if we get frost here.  Yes, we do.  I remember a hard frost one year in March and it nearly took out my bougenvillas.  And, our local mountains get...SNOW!  One time, snow was on Haystack Mountain, which is above Palm Desert, about 3,000 feet.  I grabbed the kids and took them out to view it.  HA~ That was over 25 years ago!

Horse ranch on the last day of summer

This is one of the views of the horse ranch on Saturday, the last day of summer.  The ranch is very green right now.  They've had a LOT of rain the last month.  But, things are drying out and no rain is forecast for a while.  The horses were enjoying the last day of summer and they are already shedding their summer coats and getting their winter ones.

Tree and open field

If I understand it correctly, this is the area which is going to be subdivided into 10 acre parcels for houses.  Seems like such a shame to destroy this beautiful view of the field and nearly Little Thomas Mountain.  And, with all the water problems up in Anza, I'm wondering where those people will get their water...???

New header photo

I read Al's blog every morning, with my morning coffee. (http://thebayfieldbunch.com/) That's how I start my day.  He frequently changes his header photo, to reflect his daily wanderings, so I thought to myself, "Hmmm...I haven't changed my header photo now for over two years!" and I decided it was time to do so.  I actually took that photo in December of 2012, after our local mountains got a dusting of snow.  I like to get up into them right after a snow storm (if possible and if I'm not in school...), although I HAVE taken a mental health day (cough, cough) to do so! :-)

You can see for miles and miles...

There wasn't a cloud in the sky yesterday and I could see for miles and miles and miles.  That's at the intersection of Highway 74 and Highway 371, where it branches and goes down to Anza.  Highway 74 continues and goes into Idyllwild.  I was thinking that I hadn't been to Idyllwild since the major fire there this summer.  I did get some photos of the fire along Highway 74, but I haven't been to town.  And, thunderheads didn't appear in the afternoon.  The humidity is low for the next week or so, so we'll continue to have more days like this.  AND...it was 69 degrees on our front porch in the desert yesterday morning.  Autumn has arrived!

Ranch lanterns

I absolutely adore these ranch lanterns, which are by the owner's kitchen window.  I often pause to admire them.    It was nice and cool up there yesterday, with a gentle breeze.  The leaves were blowing, but none of the horses spooked when we took each of them out.

Internet restored!

Thanks to some troubleshooting by hubby, our Internet is now restored.  Yes, the tech came and reset something, but he didn't tell hubby what ADDITIONAL STEPS were needed to get out Internet back running.  Frankly, we think that Time Warner is just playing with us and other customers who dropped their cable part.  They, unfortunately, are the only company here currently who can provide the high-speed Internet that both hubby and I need to work from home.  I update my grade book, post on Facebook, and do my blogs from my desktop at home.  He logs into his office from home and can send items to print from home.  Anyway, after hubby troubleshooted it all day, he came home and did 1 thing and VOILA!  All of a sudden, we had high-speed Internet again!

Autumn is here.  I can feel it in the drop of temperatures this morning.  It's cool enough for me to run around the house and open up ALL the windows and let the fresh air in.  It will only be 95 degrees today and 91 degrees tomorrow.  ONLY? you say?  Yes...It has been in the 100's all week.  And, apparently the Sierras have trees with leaves which are ALREADY at their peak.  I remember one year we drove up there in mid-October for a weekend and 2 additional days, but this is only mid-September.  Are you having an early autumn where you live?

Here are some photos I took last December 31, up in Whitewater Canyon.  Aren't the colors gorgeous?  I hope this fall is as pretty.

Wooden fence~Friday's Fences~092013

I have a window to post photos here at home, so here goes:

I found this fence last weekend while driving through Pinyon.  Friday's Fences for September 20, 2013.

To visit Friday's Fences, please visit:   http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

Internet issues!

We're having Internet issues here at home and I can only be online for a few minutes before it cuts out (again)...sigh... We had the Time Warner guy out here last week.  He fiddled around with the lines outside, talked to his girlfriend on the phone, and didn't do much.  We have had NOTHING but PROBLEMS since then.  Hubby was on the phone with them all day yesterday and another tech will come out Thursday to replace our modem.  Gee?  Couldn't the guy have done that last week? (...shaking head...) And they wonder WHY they are losing customers?  We only have our high-speed Internet through Time Warner now, as we switched to DISH for our TV service and we LOVE IT!  We can watch our shows anywhere...on our iPads or even our cell phones!  :-)  And, I can watch RFD!!!!  That, in itself, is a big plus!  So, my posts will be sporadic until we get our Internet issues sorted out.

Sunny sunflowers~Today's Flowers~091513

Beautiful sunflowers up near Garner Valley yesterday.  Today's Flowers for September 15, 2013.  To visit Today's Flowers, please go to:   http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

How green are our mountains? VERY! :-)

Our local Santa Rosa mountains are VERY green now after our 3 weeks of daily thunderstorms. I grabbed my camera and drove up to the horse ranch yesterday and stopped along the way to take photos.  It was a beautiful day up in the mountains (109 degrees in the desert...) and I was glad to get away for a few hours.  I let Sunni out into the arena, and then Lucille for some R&R and weed-eating time!  It's supposed to be 110 in the desert today (ugh!), so I'm not sure what adventures I'll get into today.

People versus nature (in photos)

My first cousin on my mom's side is a professional photographer.  BUT, she takes photos of people:  graduations, weddings, birthdays, proms...Well, you get the picture.  I, on the other hand (and I'm NOT a professional) hate to have people in my photos!  Are you like that, too?  Frankly, I think people spoil my pics!  I rarely have people in them and avoid them if I can.  How about you?  Do you like to include people in your photos?  Horses and animals?  Yes...people...NO!

P.S.  If you want to check out my cousin's photography website, here is her addy:

http://www.cindykylephotography.com/

Dance of the hummingbirds

Sometimes when I'm up at the ranch, I take a break and sit on the patio.  There are a couple of hummingbird feeders there and last weekend, I couldn't believe how many hummingbirds were there!  It was like a dance~some would come, some would go...a real ballet!

Our mountains are GREEN!

All the humidity we've had over the last 3 weeks (and rain) has really greened-up our local mountains.  They have gone from ugly brown to beautiful, healthy, full-of-water green!   :-)  I'm hoping that maybe, just MAYBE, we'll have a decent wildflower season next spring!  Wouldn't that be nice?

Wind turbines

If you haven't read Al's post this morning (http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2013/09/rained-most-of-day-but-we-all-piled-in.html) about taking a drive in the country and blogging, please do so.  He talks about how he and his wife Kelly went for a drive to see a 4 acre farm in Ontario, but he spotted wind turbine blades about 1,000 yards from the property.  That's too bad.  Those things make a LOT of noise!  I know because we have them here in the Coachella Valley.  They are in Desert Hot Springs, and along Highway 62, which goes to Yucca Valley.  Palm Springs has them, too, mainly off Indian Canyon Drive.  And, those things are LOUD!  They may look graceful, but the noise would certainly drive anybody INSANE!  I stopped once to take photos of the ones up off Highway 62 and I could NOT believe the noise!  And, there were houses, Al, RIGHT NEXT TO THOSE THINGS!  Those poor people!  They probably can't or couldn't afford to leave.  I went through my archived photos and came up with these.  Beautiful?  Maybe.  NOISY?  DEFINITELY!!!  I'm glad to see that now our local community college put up solar panel shade structures and I also saw some at Cathedral City high school.  Apparently THAT is the new energy - saving measure.  Some weekend I'll drive back out there and take photos of the houses right under these things!!!  I honestly don't know how the folks there put up with all their noise!

Certified organic farmers' market Palm Springs

Our daughter wanted to get out Saturday morning, so we headed over to Palm Springs to the certified farmers' market, which is held every Saturday morning in the Palm Springs pavillion.  I had never been to this one before.  Palm Desert has one, starting in October and running through May, but it is on Wednesday morning from 9:00 to noon.  SAY WHAT?  We working stiffs cannot make that one!  :-(  There will also be one in La Quinta, starting in October.  So, I really wanted to go to this because I can get the freshest, best-tasting wheatgrass!  :-)  And, after last week, I REALLY needed some wheatgrass!  I didn't buy much...I bought some fresh sunflower sprouts and a bar of goat's milk soap (vanilla bean scent).  I mainly wanted to walk around and get the lay of the land.  There were flowers, a local bakery, Sky Island nut butters (but they were out of almond butter), honey from Temecula (our daughter bought one of the wildflower ones), and lots and lots of produce.  We both enjoyed our hour that we spent there and we saw many regular customers come with their bags.  Here's a link to the certified farmers market website:
http://certifiedfarmersmarket.org/