Signs of spring

Spring has already begun here in our desert and up in our local mountains.  I see the signs everywhere now.  Maybe later this morning I'll go out for a drive...???

 Pretty lupines blooming up on Highway 74

 Flowering plum tree blooming by the high school in Anza

 More lupines along the highway

 Buds on the sycamore tree up at the ranch

 Pretty view of the wagon and the big arena behind it up at the horse ranch

 One of the raven family that lives up at the ranch.  I always love to watch the young ravens!

 The almond trees up at the ranch are nearly dead, but this one had a few blossoms.  It is probably its last year...sigh...gophers.

 This is Scout, my mustang, kicking up her heels in the arena last weekend.

Flowering tree down at the school complex in Anza.

I'm dragging today!!!

After only 4 days of school last week, I'm dragging today!  I think I'm fighting a bout of bronchitis.  I can feel it down in my chest.  I came home yesterday just whooped!

We're supposed to drive to Temecula tomorrow for our grandson and hubby's birthday, which means I'm supposed to do the driving.  Not sure at this point if we will even make it.

Here are some cheery photos, since I'm not feeling cheery at all today...:-(

Blossoms!

 I even managed to catch a busy bee in this photo!

Here's the tree.

Just down the street from where I board my horses in Anza is the school complex:  elementary school, middle school, and high school.  They have trees there which are currently in bloom.  I drove by and slammed on my brakes, then stopped and got out of the car to take some photos last weekend.  I figured that by this next weekend, the blossoms would be GONE!  The trees were full of bees, but none of them bothered me as I inched my way closer to take some photos.  I believe these are flowering plums, as their leaves are a dark purple once the blossoms are gone.

Mexican wolf

 That's our daughter and granddaughter, not wolves!

I have always loved to watch the Mexican wolves at the Living Desert Reserve and on Saturday, this beautiful creature was out early in the morning.  I believe either the keeper was down below or the other one was going to be let out, as you can see how alert he/she is.  I think this one is a male because it was so large.  I'm always happy to see them out in their enclosure, which has a high mesa and a pond for them.

Newborn bighorn sheep born at Living Desert Reserve

I missed the little one by two days, but a bighorn sheep was born at the Living Desert Reserve yesterday.

When we were there on Saturday, three or four bighorns (it's always hard to find them up in the rocks) were lounging in the warm sunlight.  One was taking a nap.  In fact, I wasn't even sure it was alive!  But, as we headed back that way, it got up and moved.

These are some of the photos I took on Saturday:

 There is a young one above the bigger one, up in the rocks, peeking out!

This is the one I wasn't sure about, but he/she got up and walked away a short time later.

Living Desert visit

I was so tired Friday that I couldn't bear the thought of doing anything this weekend, but then our daughter texted me that she and Ellie, our granddaughter were going to the Living Desert Saturday morning.  So, after a huge glass of carrot juice (I'm drinking it this week), I woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning (after falling asleep at 8:00 Friday night) and felt revived.  So, off I went!

It was another beautiful, warm desert morning.  I carried my camera and two bottles of water.  A colleague and her family went last weekend and her husband, who is in his 70's, FAINTED due to lack of water.  He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

We set off for the North American animals section to see the cats.  Fortunately, the Mexican wolf was out and he was stunning!  Gorgeous!  The badger was out, but was in a bad mood, but the two bobcats were playing and sneaking up on each other.  The mountain lion was high up on a ledge, giving herself a morning bath, so I didn't get any photos of her.

These are some of the photos I took.  The granddaughter spent a lot of time at the train exhibit, looking at all the waterfalls.  Then we headed over to the dino dig, where kids can brush the sand off buried replicas of dinosaur bones.

 She wears her sunglass ALL the time now!

 Having fun at Gecko Gulch...

 One of the Mexican wolves was out.

 This is a kit fox.

Beautiful day!

End of the week and a 3 day weekend!

Why is it that a 4 day work week can seem so dang long?  This week took FOREVER to end.  Maybe because I am just exhausted?  Gosh, last weekend was another 3 day weekend and I really didn't do that much...I'm frankly surprised I'm this worn out!  Maybe it is because I just turned 64?  I doubt it.  Whatever the cause, I was tired and cranky today.  REALLY cranky.  And, of course, I took it out on the kids, which isn't fair to them.

I can't wait to go to the Living Desert Saturday morning with our daughter and granddaughter.  The weather is nice, but I'll be taking extra water.  The husband of one of my colleagues and good friends collapsed at the Living Desert last Monday and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.  He was dehydrated.

Here are some photos I didn't post yet this week...All of these are in & around Temecula.

 Probably a 30+ year old vine...

 Older vines

 Some kind of bird nest in this tree

More Temecula vineyards...