Summer plans

So, I came home one afternoon and hubby had made our travel plans for the summer.  One trip up to Napa, one trip to Lake Tahoe and then down through the June Lake loop, and a trip in August to the Mogollon Rim, to the cabin where we stayed last summer.  VOILA!  Done!   :-)

I only have 10 more days of school (THANK GOODNESS!)  We get out June 13.  The last 3 days are half days, too!  I can't wait.  Is it me, or do kids get away with a lot more these days?  I see VERY little discipline at my school.  Seems the kids can kick, scratch, and bully one another and NOTHING is done.  It's VERY frustrating!

Summer is here...sigh...It will be over 100 degrees for the next 10 days and we've already had 4 days of 100+ temps.  The a/c is running all day.  I turn it off when I get up in the morning, run around, and open all the windows.  I finally turned it on about 1 p.m. today.

I had to go out front, weed whack, and trim some tree branches away from the curb.  Had to rake everything up, too.  That did me in...I'm exhausted and took a 3 hour nap!  :-)

I'll be driving up to visit the horses tomorrow.  That's my mustang mare, Scout, saying, "What are YOU looking at?"  She's a hoot!  Very compact~built like a tank!  Short, stocky legs, but man, can she run!

Mountain fence~Good Fences~053014

Along the driveway to our cabin that we rented last weekend was the woodpecker home and this delightful mountain fence.  As you can see, it is interwoven with the materials at hand.  I walked up and down the driveway admiring it several times before I remembered to get out my camera!  Good Fences for May 30, 2014.  I'm looking forward to a good weekend!   :-)  To visit Good Fences, please go to this link:   http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/

A woodpecker's tale~Nature Notes~052914

When we pulled into the driveway that led down to the cabin we rented last weekend, I immediately noticed a woodpecker enter a hole in a tree and then I heard the chirps of the baby woodpeckers.  It was a woodpecker nest!  I walked down to it several times and stood for 15-20 minutes, but the mother didn't return.  Finally, on one of my walks over to the main lodge, I finally spotted her and got these photos.  Nature's Notes for May 29, 2014.   To visit Nature's Notes, please go to:   http://ramblingwoods.com/  She must have had some hungry babies!  I heard them every time I walked by the tree.  I saw her enter it a few times, but she was so fast...I was lucky to get these photos!

Bighorn sheep sighting~a whole herd~Our World Tuesday~052714

We were driving down Highway 74 yesterday after our weekend in the mountains with our grown children and their families and as I came around a corner, I noticed several cars pulled over to the side of the road (which isn't an easy thing due to the LACK of turnouts).  But, I was able to pull over, too, to investigate what people were pointing to and lo and behold, it was a whole HERD of bighorn sheep!  I counted 12 of them, but I had no idea how many more were on the other side of the hill and NOBODY was going over there to count them!  These are an endangered species.  One guy, without a camera, headed over toward them and I yelled at him, "Don't go near them!  These are an endangered species.  We have diseases (pneumonia) that can kill them.  If you go any further, I'm going to call a ranger!"  He glared at me, but backed off.

In 30 years of going up and down that mountain, this is the first time I've seen a whole herd of bighorn sheep.  There must have been more further down on the other side of the mountain, because they were alerting to something over there.  Fortunately, everybody else stayed where they were and took photos.  I was talking to another man ( a nice one) who also commented that this is the most he'd ever seen in these mountains.  I'm glad we got to see them.  Our daughter and son-in-law also saw the herd when they were coming down the mountain about 15 minutes before we did.  Our World Tuesday for May 27, 2014.  To visit OWT, please go to:   http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

Back from an Idyllwild weekend!

We are back home from our Idyllwild weekend and gosh, darn it...wouldn't you know...there was an accident on the way up the mountain road.  Somebody in a pickup, coming down off the mountain, had an accident and their pickup was being hauled away on a tow truck by the time I got home from school and I jumped into the XTerra.

Memorial Day, being a huge weekend for travel, there were many, many cars on the road both coming and going to San Diego and other travel spots.  The traffic coming back was as heavy as I've ever seen it.

It was delightful up in the mountains and we didn't get packed up until about 11:15.  It's HOT here in the desert.  It was 104 on our front porch when we arrived home about 1:30 p.m.  Time to turn on the old air conditioner...sigh...

Both grandkids had a good time.  The little granddaughter enjoyed being outdoors eating her breakfast this morning and the grandson had fun feeding peanuts to the blue jays!  He had a little friend from preschool join us with his family for dinner Sunday night and apparently his friend hadn't see a blue jay before and went running off after a couple of them!   :-)

Some photos of family fun:

Quiet weekend

We're spending a quiet, restful weekend with both our kids and their kids up in Idyllwild.  We rented a 4 bedroom, 14 bed 2 story cabin and split the cost 3 ways. We brought our own food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is back off the road and there is no traffic.  Memorial Day in Idyllwild is a big yard/garage sale weekend, and our daughter and I went around yesterday to several yard sales.  She bought some shoes for the 13 month old and some clothing items.  I found a set of stamps and a stamp pad for $3.00 and I scored 3 books at their library book sale, including "Secret Window, Secret Garden" which is part of a 4 story anthology by Stephen King.  It was so nice yesterday just to go outside and read a book and listen to the robins and the blue jays and watch the antics of the blue jays and squirrels as they were trying to outrace each other and get to the peanuts I had thrown out for them.  I heard the screech of a red-tailed hawk yesterday morning and I'm sure it will be out again today.  Quail were heard in the afternoon, too.  It's just so pleasant and relaxing to be with nature.

Thunderstorm!

We had a doozie of a thunderstorm here yesterday afternoon, which is unusual for May.  Thunderheads were overhead by noon and by 2:00, the skies opened.  We had just walked to the library and had to carefully walk back to class.  I knew it was useless to try to settle the kids down so I let them sit on the floor, watch the lightning, and listen to the thunder.  Actually, they all behaved (a miracle).  Some of them got white boards out and played games.  By the end of the school day, the principal made an announcement that, because of the lightning storm, we were NOT to release the kids.  Their parents would either have to come pick them up or an aide would walk them to the cafeteria.  Good call.  Half my class walks home and I couldn't imagine them walking home in that storm!  When I drove home, I could see pockets of downpours across the valley.  The rain has now moved east, toward the 4 corners states, and Idyllwild has a fresh dusting of snow!   :-)  Here's the view from the Toro Peak webcam yesterday.  You can see the downpour in Deep Canyon.

Lookin' forward to THE WEEKEND!!!

Well, I made it through the day yesterday....It was all pretty blurry, but I survived.  Kids got to upload apps for their iPads yesterday after lunch when the wireless at school was FINALLY resolved and working.  Every one of them with an iPad (that was 20/30) got to use their iPad.  It's like they are on crack.  Their eyes glaze over, they immediately focus and NOTHING can tear them away from their iPad!  It's truly remarkable to see.  A whole generation gone mad...sigh...Will they enjoy a sunrise or sunset or a snowstorm?  Will they marvel at the track of a rabbit in a desert wash?  Will they appreciate the calls of a mockingbird?  I doubt it.

Speaking of sunrises, this was the view from the Toro Peak webcam, looking north this morning.  We'll be heading up to Idyllwild for the weekend.  I can't wait!   :-)

Well, I'm going to straggle into school today...sigh...

I called my own doctor yesterday and couldn't get in.  She was completely booked.  Period.  ...sigh...so I took a dose of NyQuil, slept 3 hours, awoke, slept another 2 hours, then hubby came home and HE fell asleep, so I did too, and slept 6 hours until midnight, when we both woke up.  We never did have dinner.  Went back to sleep and awoke at 4:45 a.m.  I'm going to straggle into school today.  My two days' doctor's note from urgent care is up today anyway...sigh...I hope I make it through the day.

I've noticed now that doctors DO NOT automatically recommend antibiotics.  I was sent home to fend this off with "Rest and lots of liquids".  While I'm glad that the doctors don't over prescribe antibiotics, still, SOMETHING would have been useful.  I went back to my old standby~NyQuil.  I guess because it completely knocked me out and I basically got 16 hours of sleep, I'm better today.  At least I'm not dripping as much as the previous days!   :-)

I found this fella doing push ups at the ranch a few weekends ago.

Bronchitis!!! AGAIN!!!

What started with a 4 day sore throat has now developed into full blown bronchitis. I straggled into urgent care yesterday morning (I was the first one there!).  I was ordered home for 2 days.  Well, now it is full-blown bronchitis.  Flem, coughing, runny nose, eyes...I am MISERABLE!  She told me to try Claritin, so I did.  All it did was make me drowsy...sigh...no relief!

On a good note, I was able to go through the pile of clothes in the bedroom and find and fold 12 of hubby's t-shirts!  And, I watched 3 movies yesterday: Bad Country, 13th Warrior, and Erin Brockovich, with Julia Roberts.  That movie takes place in Hinkley, which is only about 1 1/2 hours away from us.

I'm home today and I'll TRY to get into my own doctor either today or tomorrow.  In the meantime, it was only 96 here yesterday and today will be down in the low 90's, then the 80's for the two days after that.  It should be a nice Memorial Day weekend, too.

And, our external remote drive with ALL our photos isn't loading and I can't see ANY of them.  Fortunately, I've been uploading my recent photos onto my desktop, so I'm stuck using only them until hubby figures out how to fix the link...sigh...isn't technology WONDERFUL?

Isn't this guy adorable?  I spotted him on our way home from Rancho Bernardo a couple of weekends ago.

Library windows~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~051914

I had to return some books to the Rancho Mirage Public Library this morning.  It was a cloudy day (see the clouds on the windows?).  This was about 8 a.m. and the parking lot was deserted.  It was a nice, quite morning.  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors for Monday, May 19, 2014.   To visit WWDD, please go to:    http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com/2014/05/whimsical-windows-delirious-doors-129.html

Highway 74~Sunday Stills Challenge~051814

This is Highway 74, which is the mountain road I take from our desert home up to the horse ranch in our local mountains.  And, it IS a killer highway.  It's only 2 lanes (very narrow ones) and bicyclists are also on the road.  Additionally, there is at least one accident on it a week.  Either somebody is driving too fast and goes off its hairpin turns, or smashes into another car.  Often motorcyclists also have accidents on it.  They usually drive TDF (too damn fast).  I just pull over into one of the turnouts and let the car/motorcycle go by and pray for their safe journey.

This corner is actually one of the worst ones.  See the car in the top photo?  That's a completely blind corner.  I once had a car coming DOWN the mountain which crossed over the double line and was coming right at me!  And, I had nowhere to pull out and stop, so I slammed on my brakes and very nearly had a head-on collision.  Now, I always slow down and take that corner on the outermost corner.  If you click on the photos, you can enlarge them and see the switchbacks.  Yes, this is the road made infamous in the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad World".  I have friends and colleagues who refuse to ride up to the horses with me because of this road.  They just won't do it.  I'm so used to it now, but the first few times I drove it, I had white knuckles.  Sunday stills Challenge "Dangerous Things" for May 18, 2014.  To visit Sunday Stills, please go to:   http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/  Here are a couple more views of the highway:

HA!  I FOUND IT!  Here's a clip from the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H82KCMgk1s

And, AL...this is for you!  I have sweaty hands just watching this!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83S1vwvH-xY

A ride up Highway 74, from a motorcyclist's point of view!   :-)

Here's another one...did you see the blind curve?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaxiwXPP9J8

It is also called the Palms to Pines Highway because it goes from the palm trees in the desert to the pine trees in Garner Valley.

Blogging as therapy

I blog for several reasons.  First, I've always loved to write.  I started writing in first grade and I haven't stopped since.  Second, I've always taken notes and there's just something about having a pencil in my hand.  I ALWAYS have something in my hand at school...either a pencil or pen or highlighter.  I often fidget with it.  I'm also a kinesthetic learner.  Show me something and I won't get it.  Have me do it with my hands, and I've got it!   :-)  Also, I was a pianist for most of my life.  Therefore I have excellent hand/eye coordination.  I used to sit at the piano, bring my fingers to the keyboard, and off they'd go (muscle memory).

Blogging also is my quiet time.  Believe me, after 30 screaming, yelling, nagging kids all day, I want to come home, write, and do something QUIET.  Blogging is perfect.

Finally, I wanted to leave something for my kids.  No, I don't have many photos of myself (and hubby hardly EVER takes any), but I do want to leave them memories of the places we've been and the places I love, like Deep Canyon.

So, off to Blog Land I go...

Our son and his family...

California poppies

I actually have some California poppies in our back yard, but I found these on the way home, in Ramona, last weekend.  This hasn't been a great poppy year, however, with the lack of rainfall.  I remember some years that whole hillsides have been covered with them.  This year, those same hillsides are bare...sigh...maybe next year?

Flowers at the hotel, Rancho Bernardo

We stayed at the Residence Inn in Rancho Bernardo, last weekend.  I awoke early Sunday morning and went out with my camera to take some photos of their beautiful flowers.  Then, a couple of days later, the fire broke out.  I'm not sure how far it was from the hotel...Now that the weather has changed, and cool air is coming in from the ocean, the fires should be able to be contained.  Their smoke has filled our valley, but windy conditions yesterday and today should clear it all out.

An apology

First of all, I want to apologize if I offended anybody in yesterday's rant about the kids of today.  Believe me, out of my 30 students, there are some EXCELLENT students and citizens.  They aren't ALL bad.

I had a really bad afternoon Friday.  I had been fighting a sore throat for 3 days and I am both physically and mentally exhausted.  I'm thinking about taking Monday off and getting  hauling my butt to the doctor's office.  This exhaustion just can't go on and on and on.

And, yes, once school is over, I do relax.  BUT, it isn't usually until about July 4th that my eye twitch goes away (yes, I have an eye twitch from stress...).  Last year, hubby and I headed up to the Eastern Sierra for 8 nights and I didn't even go to the last day of school.  They docked my paycheck $475.00.  I won't be doing that this year!  He knows how tired and stressed I am, but this summer, we are sticking close to home.  Both of our kids and their families aren't taking an extended summer vacation (like they usually do).  Neither of them can afford it, and frankly, we can't either.  So, we'll pack our tent and camping equipment and head up to our local mountains mid-week a few times this summer.  Hurkey Creek, near Idyllwild, is a good location, but it is full every weekend from now on.  so, we'll shoot for mid-week.

I'm going up to the horse ranch today.  The temperature should drop about 10 degrees and be in the 90's here in the desert.  90 in the desert is actually quite pleasant if there is low humidity.

I've fed the birds, the cats, and the dogs and I'm ready to head up the mountain.

New life from a burned area.  This area burned several years ago.

Finally!~The weekend, but...

The weekend is FINALLY here.  It was a LONG, hot week last week.  It was 107 degrees here yesterday and today the forecast is for 105.  PLUS, smoke from the San Diego fires has filled our valley.  I knew so as soon as I walked out of my classroom yesterday afternoon.  The sky color was "off".  Those of you who are photographers know what I mean.  It just wasn't right...Then, when I drove out Interstate 10 to get home, I could see the smoke coming through the mountains down into our valley.  And, we could also smell it.  We closed up the house last night to keep the smell out.  Of course, the a/c is running.  Even the dogs don't want to go outside!  :-(
 
19 more days of hell  school.  Believe me, the last day, I'm going to shush the kids out and close the door and drive home.  This has been an abysmal year.  I figure I've spent 99% of it on discipline.  Very little teaching (and learning) has been accomplished when kids roll on the floor, call each other names, talk back to me, moan & groan every time I ask them to get a textbook out, refuse to do homework, never have a pencil, come in 30 minutes late EVERY DAY...the list is endless.  Oh, but they sure want their iPads!  And, what do they do on them (you ask...) They "play" word search games, or "Sushi Monster" math.  REALLY?  Entertainment?  I'm disgusted by the whole iPad thing. They CANNOT write.  They complain when they hold a pencil.  REALLY? They have the attention span of a gnat.  They can't focus.  They can't pay attention.  They do NOT retain information overnight.  I mean, how many times do I have to tell them to put a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence?

And, this is the generation that is going to support those of us who are retiring?  I think not.

Beach gate~Good Fences~051614

We drove by this beautiful fence and gate down in La Jolla last weekend.  I backed up and had hubby take a photo of it before we continued on to Whole Foods!   :-)  Good Fences for May 16, 2014.   To visit Good Fences, please go to this link:   http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/  Please click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see all the details!   :-)

Timeless...SkyWatch Friday~May 16, 2014

There is something timeless about the ocean.  I used to go to the beach quite a lot growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, especially during my high school years.  Heck, my boyfriend and I would hop in his little Triumph, and off we would go!  I never ditched school to do this (remember, my mother was a teacher...), but we would go on weekends.  Believe me, I've had plenty of sunburns (and now skin cancer) from those days!

We don't often make it over to the ocean any more.  We live 2 hours away, but most Southern Californians are 2 hours from either the desert, the mountains, or the beach.

There's just something relaxing about going to the beach.  I watch the waves break against the rocks, I watch the pelicans fly by, and I inhale the fresh ocean air.  This guy flew right by me and I raced to adjust my camera to capture him.  SkyWatch Friday for May 16, 2014.  To visit SWF, please go to this link:    http://skyley.blogspot.com/

San Diego fires

I'm not sure if our Canadian friends have heard about the fires in Southern California, but there are several of them, mostly in San Diego county.  There is also one up in Santa Barbara county.

When we traveled home from Rancho Bernardo on Sunday (yes, there is one there, too...), we both noticed and commented on how DRY the hillsides were.  We've already had temps in the 100's and today, we are headed back that way.  It was 108 yesterday, I believe in Orange County, shattering the old record for a daily high.  We have about 2-3 more days of 100 plus degree temps and Santa Ana winds.

Fires are in Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, Fallbrook/Bonsall, San Marcus, and one near the Marine base at Camp Pendleton.  The Fallbrook/Bonsall one is only about 5 miles, as the crow flies, from the horse ranch that my parents owned when I was a child.  And, yes, the hills there are very dry...

Our Spring is gone and SUMMER is here.  Now.  And, it is going to be a LONG summer.

Here's the link to the NBC news station in San Diego:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/

I'm never sure if you can read the Los Angeles Times articles (we have a subscription), but here is their link:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-fires-20140515-story.html#page=1

Here's the link to CNN:   http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/15/us/san-diego-wildfire/

I will be sending thoughts and prayers to all those families.  Apparently there are 9 wildfires...

And, this one has a map of the fires:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Three-Wildfires-Burning-in-San-Diego-County-259259701.html

Ocean moods~Nature Notes~051514

We stopped by a park in La Jolla Saturday afternoon.  It's always a great change for us "desert rats" to go to the ocean.  I feel revitalized each time we go there.  I loved watching the waves crash against the rocks, and this area had enough rocks to provide quite a bit of entertainment!  There were also swimmers in the water and we could see them bobbing up and down, along with the pelicans, who flew along the shore.  It was a great afternoon to get out with the family.  Nature Notes for May 15, 2014.   To visit Nature Notes, please go to this link:    http://ramblingwoods.com/

Visitor at the park~Wild Bird Wednesday~051414

I don't know what kind of bird this little guy is, but he visited us at one of the parks there in Rancho Bernardo last weekend.  ****UPDATE**** A couple of bloggers identified him as a Black Phoebe...Thanks!  He was quite a chatty little fellow!  He stayed for a bit, and then flew away.  Can someone please identify him for me?  Wild Bird Wednesday for May 14, 2014.   To visit WBW, please go to this link:   http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/2014/05/wild-bird-wednesday-96-hooded-plover.html

Surfer in the water

As we were watching the waves crash against the rocks at La Jolla park, I noticed several surfers in the water.  One of them got smashed by a wave and came to shore.  This is his story.  I didn't get a photo of him making it to the rocks by the beach, but he made it out of the water okay...

San Diego weekend~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~051214

The hubs and I spent the weekend in San Diego. It was nice to get out of the desert for a couple of nights and go to the beach area.  We actually stayed in Rancho Bernardo, at the Residence Inn.  Our son and his family were able to join us in a room across from ours.  Saturday afternoon we drove over to the La Jolla beach park and let the grandson see the waves and go down near them (not too close!).  I got some great shots of the waves crashing up on the rocks, but I was intrigued by these windows facing west.  One is the La Jolla Shores hotel.  I'm not sure what the bottom one is.  As much as I love being in the mountains, a change of scenery is enjoyable once in a while!  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors for Monday, May 12, 2014.    To visit WWDD, please go to:   http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com/