NOT the flu (thank goodness!)

I had my virus for 48 hours and then POOF!  ALL GONE and I feel fine!  Thank you to those who asked...

I do believe #ELL FROZE OVER!  Hubby was asking about Facebook and Messenger.  He really enjoys the video chats I have with our daughter and with her 2 kids, so he asked what app it was.  I told him and he asked, "Do I have to have Facebook for that app?"  Uh, YES, I do believe so (maybe not, but don't tell him!)....so he activated a Facebook account.

We went with them to the Living Desert Reserve yesterday.  Here are a few photos hubby took with his new camera.  Oops!  I'll have to post them later...gotta run!  Driving to Temecula today to see our son and his family...

NOT going anywhere today...sigh...

I came down with a virus yesterday.  I was very dizzy when I awoke and hubby had to fix the coffee for the first time... in YEARS!  I just couldn't get out of bed.  I ended up staying in my pajamas ALL DAY and took two 2-hour naps!

I'm still dizzy today.  I know it is a virus and I should be fine by the weekend, so I will NOT be driving up to Anza today to buy pellets (and unload them) for the horses.  I just can't do it.  Each bag weighs 50 POUNDS and I simply don't have the energy (or strength) today...

We are supposed to go to the Living Desert again tomorrow morning with our daughter and the kiddos, but I'll have to wait and see how I feel.  I HATE being down & out.  I want to be OUTSIDE and doing things!

Bummer...

~Cheryl Ann~

"The Dancer" is... GONE!!!!!!!

She's gone!  The beautiful, graceful skeleton of a tree up on highway 74 which I called "The Dancer" is GONE!  I always look for her coming and going up to my horses or to our son's home in Temecula and the last time we went, a few weeks ago, I glanced over (since I was driving) and SHE WAS GONE!

I don't know if a wind gust toppled her or if someone drove over her (she was right next to a tiny 1 lane off-road road), but she wasn't there.

I will investigate tomorrow when I go up to buy pellets for the horses.

You can see her dressed in snow in the video here (she's at the end, all graceful and lovely...)...sigh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6LEHieFhuo

I feel like a part of me is gone...

Back to the Living Desert Reserve (2nd trip)

Our daughter and son-in-law wanted to return to the Living Desert Reserve before they both returned to school and work, so off we went over the Martin Luther King 3 day holiday.  It was another gorgeous day here in the desert and we had to peel off our layers before we were done!  PHEW!  Keeping up with the grandkids is HARD WORK!

 We showed the kiddos the Cahuilla Indian exhibit.  It was nice and cool inside!

 Dad was interested in the fish here at the oasis.

 The family looking at the pond.  Over the years the reeds have grown and grown and now nearly cover it.  I remember when the reeds were all the way in the back!

 The little munchkins on the tortoise statue near the pond.

 By the time we were ready to leave, the reserve was getting crowded!

The nearly 2 year old was... TIRED!  He fell asleep in the car as soon as his parents put him in his car seat!

Living Desert visit #1

So, during winter break, we met our daughter and the kiddos at the Living Desert Reserve.  It was a nice day, but we ALL had to layer our clothes!  By the time we were done 2 hours later, we had all taken off our sweaters and jackets!  It was just too warm!

She likes to take the kiddos there and make them WALK!  Even the 22 month old walks and walks and walks!

 At this time, they had a reindeer exhibit!  Very interesting for the 4 year old!

 Both kids LOVE the train exhibit.  Here they are climbing up onto actual train wheels!  Those things are HUGE!

 5 bighorns were out that morning

Another view of the reindeer.

Last of the Whitewater Preserve photos!

 Little man got to touch the water.  Notice his dad holding onto his shirt!

 Signs at the part of the trail that leads up to the Pacific Crest Trail.

 This ranger's job was to rake up ALL the leaves!   Unfortunately, they were falling faster than he could rake!

 Falling leaves

 This is on the road back to civilization

windmills

WE GOT RAIN and our mountains got ... SNOW!!!!!!!!

Tuesday was a dreary day, but that was fine with me.  I had run out Monday afternoon and spread my California poppy seeds in various locations out front.  So, I was eagerly awaiting the nice, soft rain to help them get started on their way.  And, Mother Nature didn't disappoint!  We got over 1/2 inch of rain from Tuesday night through about late afternoon Wednesday.  PERFECT! 

I have a habit now of just scattering sunflower seeds from the birdseed out back and in my front yard.  I figured this year I would just throw out the seeds and see what happens.  So far I have a BUNCH of sunflowers coming up!  YAY!  It's also a cheap way to decorate the yard and the finches LOVE the seeds.

OOPS!  Ms. Cooper's hawk just flew by my office window in the front yard.  She hunts for a meal every 3-4 days.  There were 2 of them, and I believe the male is the smaller one.  She is certainly larger than he is!

My little feral cat "Little Man" disappeared for an entire week.  We heard cats fighting a couple of nights and then he disappeared.  I felt badly about that.  He turned out to be a very loving animal.  WELL, GUESS WHAT?  I looked out on the porch yesterday morning (Wednesday) and saw "Mr. Gray", our neutered older (FAT) male cat out there and 4 little white paws ("Little Man").  I went out to put food out and he is VERY SKITTISH.  He also has a cut on his ear.  He won't allow me to pet him, so I don't know what happened.  I think next month I'll TRY to get him into a cat carrier (I have two) and take him in for neutering.  It will cost me $96 and I'll probably have to first take him in for shots, but I don't wish to see him continue to be battered.  Our white male NEUTERED cat, Loki, who lived with us for 19 years, often got into fights, even though he WAS neutered.  He came home one time covered in blood (I SCREAMED!) and $500 later (YES!!!!!) he was wearing a cone of shame and had some fancy antibiotics and his throat was taken care of...sigh... Little Man will have to wait until next month because I have my $402 Medicare payment this month...sigh...As a retired teacher, they don't bill me monthly, but I think I'm going to set up automatic payments monthly through my credit union.  It's horrible to get hit with a $402 payment every 3 months...

What else is new here?  Well, both hubby and I awoke at MIDNIGHT last night....BOING!  Wide awake!  I was up from midnight until 3 a.m. and then I toddled back to bed.  I have no idea how long hubby was awake...I stayed up and sewed fabric and lace onto some pages for 2 custom journals I'm making.  Both have a travel theme, so I need to go to the library today and find some books and magazines.

We have to run out to our big WalMart today, which is out by Interstate 10, about 3 miles away.  We have a neighborhood WalMart just 3 blocks away, but I need to go out to the big one to buy papers for my journals.  I'm making 2 mini-binder 3 ring ones (both travel) and I want to have pages that can be removed or added.  Hubby wants to buy a couple of new waste baskets for his office.  And, I need Niger seed for the little birds (yellow ones) that come to the yard.  The ONLY places I can find that seed is WalMart and WINCO.  WalMart has it for $8.00 a bag, and WINCO has it in their bulk bins and I usually buy about $8 worth.  I tell you...those little BUGGERS go through that!!!!!

Well, hubby is STILL ASLEEP, so I may just run out to WalMart by myself and get what I need now before it gets TOO CROWDED.  I always go in and come out the garden entrance since I never have to stand in line there!   :-)

Later...
~Cheryl Ann~~~ 

That's Mt. San Jacinto on the right.  It is 10,000 feet tall.

Whitewater River

This was only the 2nd time I have actually walked out to the Whitewater River.

 I had to throw in this photo near the ranger station.  I love the waterfall there!

 VERY rocky and hazardous.  Papa twisted his ankle.

 Nice walkway out to the river.

 One part of the Whitewater River, not the main part.

 LOTS of interesting footprints.  TONS of coyote scat out there, too.

 Looking up toward the San Bernardino mountains.  We have a storm moving in tomorrow and Tuesday.  We have a 90% chance of rain and MAYBE our mountains will get snow!

 The Whitewater River.  All this runoff is from the mountains above.

 Actually, not too much water right now...NO SNOW on the mountains...sigh...

 Another view...

I liked this plant.

More from the Whitewater Preserve

I'll just let the photos speak for themselves!

 Lots of bees on these flowers!  We had to keep the kiddos away from them.

 Reeds in one of the ponds...

 Lovely colors against the cliffs...

 One of the ponds.  There are NO TROUT in the ponds...they cleaned them ALL OUT!

Lovely leaves

Whitewater Preserve

So, our daughter, who is still on winter break (she's a teacher, and so is her husband), PLANNED a day trip for us and their two young children.  This trip was up to the Whitewater Preserve.

Now, let me preface this by saying our two 10,000 foot mountains have... NO SNOW!  No snow in January, 2018!  UNBELIEVEABLE!  Not a drop of snow anywhere...sigh...

So, I wasn't sure how much, if any, water would be in the Whitewater River, which runs next to the preserve.  I was surprised to see that there actually was some.  I think our mountains got their last "dusting" of snow back in October  (I could be wrong about that...)

Anyway, we met them at the Whitewater exit and drove up to the preserve.  It was Tuesday morning, 9 a.m. and the parking lot hadn't filled up yet.

OH MY GOODNESS!

There were beautiful orange, yellow, brown, and even red leaves... EVERYWHERE!  They covered the roofs above the picnic tables.  They covered the tables.  They covered the parking lot.  They covered the ground and the 2 grandkids were delighted to kick them everywhere!  Such joy!  Such youthful pleasure in simple things!

I stood there with my mouth OPEN just soaking in all the colors of the leaves! 

(It will probably take me 2 days to post all the photos I took)!!!!!!!

So, here goes:

 This is the view of the mountains which SHOULD have snow on them this time of year!

 The Whitewater River

 Leaves in the parking lot

 I loved seeing all the leaves on the roof!

 Lots of LOTS of leaves!

 Whee!  Such JOY!

 Awesome!

 More awesomeness!

More photos tomorrow!  Stay tuned!