Whitewater Preserve

Hubby and I had talked about driving out to the Whitewater Preserve and when I saw someone post a photo of the hills there on Facebook, off we went on Tuesday!  No more sitting around the house!  NO SIRREE!

Once I saw the photo of the hills alive with brittlebrush, I knew we would be in for a treat.  Hubby has been going up there since he was in high school, at Palm Springs High, in 1968.  He says he has NEVER seen the hills so yellow!

There were flowers EVERYWHERE!  Here are some examples.  Car after car after car drove up the road, so I knew the preserve would be packed, and it was.  I was only able to find a spot because someone pulled out right in front of me and we got a parking spot in the shade!

I'll let you explore now and I'll be quiet...

 That's the north face of Mt. San Jacinto

 I liked this gate...

 Even the cacti are blooming now!

 This is the runoff from the Whitewater River.  YES, there is an actual river there.

 Truck and car crossing the river ahead of us.  Don't be fooled...that water is MOVING!!!  I saw rocks behind carried down it.  On rainy days, the preserve is closed because this part is impassable.

 Lizards were out all over the place!  This guy was doing pushups.

 My newest friend...

Pretty view of Mt. San Jacinto from the road to the Whitewater Preserve

The hills are ALIVE with flowers!

We've lived here in the desert now for 42 years.  Hubby grew up here from age 14.  That means he's lived here 53 years.  He says he doesn't remember seeing so many flowers as what we have this spring.  Of course, some years he wasn't really paying attention...

Anyway, last Sunday, when I went up Highway 74 to go visit my horses in Anza, I was amazed by the beauty of the brittlebrush (yellow flowers) and the smaller desert marguerites.  The hills were ALIVE!

I wasn't the only car who pulled over to take photos either!  Almost EVERY turnout had a car in it both going up the mountain and back down!  In fact, the larger ones had 2 or 3 cars!

Here are some samples of what I saw on Sunday:

I took this photo to show what the road looked like.  I've NEVER seen so much color!

Today we made it to the Whitewater Preserve and then hubby suggested we drive to Oak Glen for lunch.  I'll be posting those photos later.

Ripley update and horse update

Well, Ripley is back to normal.  Phew!  That sure scared me.  Even hubby was scared.  We weren't sure she would survive the day.  It was THAT BAD!

I knew she was okay yesterday morning when she bounded out of the bedroom, ran to the fridge, and sat, waiting for her breakfast.  Instead, I gave her cottage cheese, yogurt, 2 cooked eggs, a drip of honey, and some rice.  She gets a little yogurt and apples every morning too. She didn't eat everything all at once, but it was completely gone an hour later.  And, her energy level returned.

So, I felt okay about leaving her with hubby while I made a quick trip up to the horses.  The shoer was there and I needed to pay him.  He sings and talks softly to the horses and they all just relax for him, even my skittish gelding, Sunni.  I also needed to brush, brush, brush the horses, so while the owner's horses were getting their feet trimmed, I was able to brush 3 of mine.  And, OH MY!  The hair!  It's a good thing I'm not allergic to horse hair!  It was swirling and whirling all around me!  It was blowing all over their corrals, too, and by the end of my time there, a raven was busy in Quad's corral picking up all his hair and stuffing it into his mouth!  I guess some new ravens are on the way!

The only horse I didn't brush was Sunni because the shoer was right across from him and I didn't want Sunni to spook and then scare the horse he was working on.  Scout stood quietly and "allowed" me to brush her!  GOOD GIRL!  I had to chase Gigondas around her pen.  She doesn't stand still quietly.  AND, she doesn't tolerate human touch for very long either.  And forgetabout touching her head!

Finally, the family next door to the ranch now has 5 dogs!  They have an Australian ridgeback, a German shepherd, and now 2 Pyrenees.  They also have another dog, some kind of hound.  ALL RESCUES!  Quite a noisy bunch!

Well, hubby and I may drive out to the Whitewater Preserve today to see if there are any wildflowers there....(hopefully)...

Ripley

Hubby had a stomach virus, I had one, and yesterday Ripley had one.  She had a rough 24 hours. I don't want to go into all the details, but I'm going to have to rent a carpet shampooer from WalMart.

Poor thing.  I gave her a beef bone 2 days ago and noticed she was eating a LOT of grass.  Then the gas started.  OY!  She went downhill from there.  I've tried to get her outside every 2 hours, but she did have some accidents in the house.

She slept from midnight until 6 am this morning and woke up to her usual bright & cheery self!  All smiles!  I fixed her some rice, apples, yogurt, and a couple of eggs.  She ate all the eggs and picked around the apples.  Didn't touch the yogurt.  She wants her raw chicken bones, but I'm withholding them for a day to allow her stomach to rest.  She IS hungry.  She just isn't eating much.  That's okay. She needs to rest.

Phew!

That really scared me.  She's 9 1/2 years old (she'll be 10 in September), but she's still active for her age.  I hope she gets over this today.  Seems like we've ALL had a 24 hour bug!

Please send a little prayer for her recovery.

We had a LONG chat with the 2 year old last night!

We have 4 grandchildren and...SIT DOWN!!!... another one on the way!

Here are the ages involved:  8, 27 months, 3 (almost 4), and 11 months.

The 27 month old is our son's daughter, Bailey. She always seems to have a scowl!

Anyway, our son didn't begin to talk until a couple months after he was 2.  Then he talked NONSTOP!  Bailey is the same way.  She understood everything...she just didn't talk...until recently!  Now, she talks NONSTOP!

Our son called us last night and she wanted to talk to us.  PawPaw talked to her first.  Now, remember, PawPaw is the one who scolds her when she has screaming temper tantrums.  Oh, well...she wanted to talk.  Then I talked to her.  Then PawPaw talked to her 2x more!  MY GOODNESS!  We were worn out!  No, she doesn't have her binky anymore either.  She's a BIG GIRL!

Picking strawberries this month.  That was FUN!

A few wildflowers here too

I drove up to my horses Friday to check on them and buy 5 bags of pellets.  They get these every day for their noon meal and I provide (buy) them so my board doesn't increase!  Remember, I'm on a fixed income now!

We had driven that same road Sunday, but honestly, I drove so fast I didn't have time to admire the wildflowers.  Friday, however, I had the time.  I made quite a few stops along the way!  There were a few cars pulled over, too, at the turnouts and folks were out taking photos.  We just are NOT going to make it to Anza-Borrego.  First, my car needs new back brakes ($300).  Hubby's car needs new front brakes. And, I need to take the weeder to the back yard because the grasses are growing and now they are 12" high!  If I don't do that soon, they will be impossible to get through!  We apparently have some rain coming through Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday next week, so I better get on those weeds today!

Here are a few of the photos I took Friday of the wildflowers.  Some hillsides were just COVERED by the little purple ones!  I honestly do NOT remember a year when we have had so many wildflowers on the hills south of Palm Desert!!!

Photos update

There are 2 basic methods to using your photos.

First, there is the "photo glued directly to canvas".  That's the method I used.  You buy Mod Podge Matte, which is a glue and sealer.  You use a brush to coat the ENTIRE canvas.  Then you put Mod Podge on the back of your photo and glue it FACE UP onto the canvas, so you can see it.  Finally, when it is dry, you put Mod Podge over the... ENTIRE THING!  Don't be afraid.  The Mod Podge, while it goes on looking like glue, dries CLEAR and it seals your photo and canvas.  If you paint your canvas, do that first before you Mod Podge anything and let that dry.

Second, there is the "photo transfer" method.  I tried this on one photo and I hated it. I used a wood sample for this one.  You put Mod Podge onto the wood, and put a PHOTOCOPY (laser) of your photo face down onto the wood, so you only see the white back of your paper. KINDA SCARY!!! You also have to use a roller, ruler, or even a credit card to go over the entire copy to get out the air bubbles.  ***THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP*** Don't forget to do this! The photo will then be transferred (i.e. BURNED) into the wood.  However, you have to let it dry 12-24 hours (I let mine dry overnight)...NO PEEKING!  Finally, you have to "scrape" the white paper backing off the photo.  It took me 3 sessions of scraping to get ALL the white paper off.  You basically wet your fingers and rub the white paper off.  You'll start to see your photo underneath.  Keep at it.  ALL the white has to be removed. And, I didn't like the outcome.  It would be great if you want that "distressed" photo look, but I'm a purist and I didn't like it.  I believe you can also do this on canvas, but, after my experimental one, I didn't like the colors.  I like the vivid colors of an actual photograph.

Yes, if you do this, please DO SHARE your results.  You can just go to YouTube and type in photo to canvas or photo transfer and come up with some videos.  I also googled "photo on canvas" and got lots of results.  Don't be afraid to experiment!  On the Convict Lake photo, I actually glued a mesh with some sparkles on the top of the canvas.  It looks neat!  I'm going to experiment with other multi media next.

HAVE FUN!
Please email me if you have any questions.  ****VERY IMPORTANT**** If you do the photo transfer, you MUST use a laser copy of your photo.  Apparently an ink jet copy will run the colors.  Also, you have to press down on your photos to get out any air bubbles.  ESPECIALLY for the photo transfer.  I actually bought a roller at Michaels and I ran it over the photo transfer one.

IF you see streaks on your photos, don't worry.  Most of mine do have streaks from the brush.  I would suggest you use a foam brush instead of a hair brush.  You could also take a towel and lightly go over your entire photo and canvas and that would give it a "canvassy" look.  I did that on several of mine.

These are the 12 I've done so far...My kitchen table is entirely COVERED!  HA!

GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!  Just shoot me an email if you have any questions!
I order my photos at COSTCO, but WalMart and Walgreens also could print yours. COSTCO is very reasonable and turn around is 1 day.