Happy Birthday!

Today's my birthday.  Yup...on Valentine's Day. And I'm 63 years young today!  It was also my parents' wedding anniversary, so they always had to take me with them when they went out to dinner.  They are both gone now and I miss them dearly.

Anyway, hubby wants to know what I want for dinner and he will cook it for me.  Getting a reservation here in town is nearly impossible.  Besides, he cooks better than most chefs!  He does it to relax and destress.  So, let me think...lamb?  chicken kabobs?  No beef.  I haven't eaten beef in several years now.

I left school promptly yesterday and got my last 6 plants planted in the front yard.  It's funny how it has taken me 40 years to have the garden out front that I've always wanted!  I never had the time or energy until now to do it.  I've moved some rocks around so I have rocks in between the plants and I've set up my bird feeding stations so that I can see them from my office window.  In fact, the birds are already here this morning, feeding on yesterday afternoon's seeds.  A bee was on the lavender (I bought 2 more plants), so that's a good sign, too.  I have two packets of hummingbird seed favorites and I'll get those seeds planted today.  I really AM enjoying my garden view.  I haven't seen any butterflies yet, but I did plant 2 packages of butterfly favorite seeds.  The painted ladies were out on Indian Avenue last weekend and I haven't seen that many of them for years.  It looks like we MIGHT have a good wildflower year here in the desert this year and hopefully up on Highway 74 too.

Enjoy your day!  These are some of the flowers in my garden.  I also have flox, salvia, and a snapdragon.
Cheryl Ann

Mt. San Gorgonio~SkyWatch Friday~021315

Hubby leaned out the window and took this photo of Mt. San Gorgonio in the background at Joshua Tree National Park last weekend.  There were no clouds in the sky that day.  Maybe we'll have some this weekend?  I like all the joshua trees in the foreground.  SkyWatch Friday for Friday, February 13, 2015.  Be sure you come over to SkyWatch Friday:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/

No national park fees this coming weekend

Gaelyn over at her blog, http://geogypsytraveler.com/2015/02/11/three-day-fee-free-weekend/ reminded everyone that this coming weekend is a fee-free weekend at national parks.  We used to be able to take advantage of that, but, since we are now both over 62, we have our Senior Passes.  I actually purchased mine last year at Joshua Tree National Park and believe me, it has come in handy!  When I drive up to Lake Hemet, I put it on the car dashboard at the national forest part of the picnic area and I can park and hop out and take photos.  Thinking back a year, I don't think I used mine anywhere else.  We didn't go to any national parks last summer.  We spent a week up on the Mogollon Rim with our son and daughter-in-law, and grandson, and a week up in the June Lake loop.  But we didn't use our Senior Pass at either of those locations.  Hmmmm....maybe it's time for a visit to a national park this summer?

More photos of Joshua Tree National Park:

 That's Mt. San Gorgonio, part of the San Bernardino mountains.

 I love to see the pinyon trees nestled among the rocks.

More pics from Joshua Tree National Park

If I remember correctly, the joshua trees bloom later in the spring...April?  We've been in the park when they are blooming.  Of course, it is much hotter then.  However, it was quite warm on Sunday.  I believe it was in the mid-80's, which is warm for February.  It looks like we might get some clouds this next weekend, and maybe even some rain on Monday!

A (((big hug))) to my readers

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving the wonderful comments on Joshua Tree.  I'll be posting more photos of the park this week.

BUT...I awoke yesterday to a notification from Norton (anti-virus software) that my virus definitions were out of date!  SAY WHAT?  Gosh, I did my renewal and I had ASSUMED that Norton was running updates and scans, but to my horror, no scan had been done since...December 17, 2014!  ACK!  That's nearly 60 days ago!  I panicked and ran a full system scan this morning, thus I couldn't update my blog!  Hubby is going to set it up for an automatic virus scan and do the updates, since apparently I'm not getting either.  I certainly don't want to be without my anti-virus software, especially in this day and age!   !!!!   :-(  So sorry about not posting this morning.  I had to run over to Whole Foods at 7 a.m. and buy my lunch for the day, so I really had to hustle!

These folks weren't hustling at all at Joshua Tree park this weekend. I love to see the rock climbers.  I could never do that!  (fear of heights!)  Ahhhhh.....the joys of a 3 day weekend!

Joshua Tree

It was such a beautiful morning yesterday that I HAD to get out of the house and go for a drive somewhere.  So, hubby agreed to tag along (he wanted to get out, too!).  We headed up past the Palm Springs windmills to Joshua Tree national park.  We were both starving by 10:30, so we stopped at the McDonalds in Joshua Tree for our second breakfast!  With no food with us, it was a smart decision.  We stayed in the park for a couple of hours and just drove around.  I'll be posting photos all week of our visit.

I'm always so impressed with the jumble of rocks at the western entrance.  All the campgrounds were FULL (it being a 3 day weekend for some of us!) and I'm sure next weekend the park will be full, too. Still, it's such a beautiful place we didn't really mind all the cars.  We prefer it on a quiet day, but we both have weekends off work and that's when the park is full.

Cuistot~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~020915

There's an EXPENSIVE French restaurant here in town, Cuistot.  We don't go there.  Too pricey.  But, it is next to the Palm Desert branch of the Palm Springs Desert Museum's place.  Sometimes I walk around up there in the morning and admire the building.  Can't afford to eat there, but it sure it pretty!  WWDD for February 9, 2015.  To visit WWDD, please go to:   http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com/