Delicioso

We had yummy Mexican food on Friday at Ranas, in Spring Valley. It's food from Mexico City (as the sign indicates), so unusual dishes are on the menu.

Delicious: a michelada (beer, tomato juice, lime juice, spices around the rim).

This is a huarache--fried masa (as in a tamal), covered with various yumminess; this one had potatoes.

And this: this is a quesadilla made with huitlacoche, which a fungus called corn smut. Yes, really! Soooo tasty. And the green things at the side? Nopales, or prickly pear cactus pads (they taste a bit like sauteed green peppers). Yum to the yum yum! P.S.: Anyone else HATE this new Blogger template? I do, I do! Why can't I make this on its own paragraph? Because the text is inserted as "captions." Because I couldn't figure out how to make space in between pix to insert text. ARGH AND DOUBLE ARGH!

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Portrait in cute...

Foodland

The capital of Foodland is Yummytown; its most populous city, however, is Eatsville. Stop by Snack World and ride the Donut Coaster and the French Fry Flume while you're there!

Cloud-o-Rama

Driving into Cloudville.

Bee Bonk

We're not the only ones who enjoy wisteria--these big black buzzy bees were all over it while it was in bloom. However, unlike my honeybee girls (who are so busy working they don't much care what you do around them), these guys/gals are super aware of me and my camera. I took a photo...

...and then it flew right into the lens, buzzing indignantly (that black blur at upper left is the bee bonk of the title). Bee! Bonk!

Rosy Outlook

Here are the first roses of the season. The lavender one in front has the strongest fragrance, sort of a sweet lemony smell. Love it! And that is not my hand--it's a mannequin hand (and Tallulah Bankhead's face on the cover of her delightfully cheesy autobiography).

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

A Haiku, by Tallulah Mae

Magic dog biscuit

You have appeared from thin air

In my mouth now, please.

This was left by the UPS driver because when we saw her several streets away, Tallulah Mae sat down and whined. When we got back home, there was this dog biscuit, waiting for her.

Stan, He's the Man

Such a sweet and serious face (and a lovely pink tongue, too!).

I have no idea how to use this new Blogger template, so who knows how this post will turn out!

Sakura

Ah, cherry blossoms. (I wish this were coming to you from Japan, one of my favorite places, but no, this sweet little tree grows in my local park.)
Guess who else likes the sakura...a mitsubachi, of course!

Bird Drama

I saw this little bird on the sidewalk, head under wing, breathing very shallowly. There was no sign of blood, feathers, carnage...but oh dear. I had Tallulah, so we kept walking; I figured I'd circle back and see if it was still there on the ground. It was. Starting to really worry now...

I went home, looked up what to do with a sick or injured bird (I went to the Project Wildlife website, the very same place I blogged about yesterday). Instructions were to place it in a box, in a towel, and bring it to their facility. I punched a million air holes in a shoebox, grabbed a dish towel, and set off. The bird was still on the sidewalk, still breathing, still with head under wing.

As I tried to wrap the towel around it, it woke up, startled, and fluttered about 2 feet away. I tried again, it flew a few feet. We did this dance three times, and I decided it was actually just fine. I heard a lot of twittering in the tree above, so my final conclusion--confirmed by the Project Wildlife folks--is that this is a fledgling, just learning to fly; the parents were probably in the tree above, watching out for Junior.

Learning to fly is exhausting (obviously!), so this little dude or dudette was just having a little rest. In future, I'd like to have a talk with him and tell him that I'm not sure the sidewalk is a best place for sleepies, but hey. No sign of the bird when I swung back by about 15 minutes later (yes, I am obsessed, why do you ask?). All's well that ends well!

A Wildlife Baby Shower

On Saturday I went to a baby shower--an event for the babies at Project Wildlife, a wonderful nonprofit wildlife rescue organization. A busy time of year for them, since spring means lots of animal babies of all varieties. They had many cages--and some incubators--filled with baby birds. The teensy hummingbirds above--and there are two of them in that nest--were rescued after trees were trimmed and this nest was displaced (trees shouldn't be trimmed in spring and summer for this very reason, by the way). They have to be fed every ten minutes.
This is a clutch of baby SKWERLS--check out their teeny-tiny skinny tails. There are about six of them in that little pocket, all nestled together (awwww).
The animals in cages are "Wildlife Ambassadors." These guys and gals are not able to be returned to the wild for a variety of reasons, so they are used for educational purposes. Mr. Raccoon...
And Señor SKWERL!!!! Look how cute--he looks as if he's ready for a jail break.
This woodpecker is missing the top part of her beak, so she is fed by hand. She can still sort of peck, though--they've inserted peanuts and acorns into a cork grid for her to peck at.
And a raven who apparently responds to her keeper's greeting. Crows and ravens are members of the corvus genus, and both are quite smart (and yes, annoying at times!).

Such a great organization full of selfless people who take care of those who can't take care of themselves. Yay!

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

"What? It's Friday the 13th?"
"I laugh at Friday the 13th! Ha! Ha ha ha! (but do watch out for black SKWERLS!!! crossing your path today)."

Matchingks

Sweet feline bookends in a sunny window.

Edgy Art on the Edge

How cool is this? You can go inside this artwork. It's called Fallen Star by Do Ho Suh, part of the Stuart Collection at UCSD (check out the giant boulder teddy bear by Tim Hawkinson). Cool!

This Into That

Those into these...

BTW, the little bird in yesterday's post is not real--I wish it were!

Glad to See You

Some truly luscious gladioli.
Look who's trying to blend right in!

Easter Greetings!

Tallulah Mae encountered the Easter Bunny everywhere she went today. He was driving a tractor.
And sneaking up on her in her bed. He did not, however, leave her any tuna-filled Easter eggs. She'd like to file a complaint.

Hope all of you who celebrate/observe Easter had a nice one!

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Somebody needs some sunglasses, stat.

All Kinds of Deliciousness Up in Here

This: Lemon Coconut Bread, from Farmgirl Fare (one of my fave blogs--go check out all her lambs and donkeys and dogs. And chickens!). Super easy, super good (especially toasted); the hardest part was finding a store that sold unsweetened coconut (Sprouts, if you have one, in the bulk aisle). Yuuuumy.

Poppies Pop

Pop Art Poppies Are Popping...

BTW, some of you sweetly expressed concern for Mr. McSnailerson in the last post--I know, I know: he'd traveled all morning to reach the mat (perhaps he's the gastropod equivalent to Lewis and Clark?), but I DID relocate him in the direction in which he'd been traveling. In other words, he didn't have to start his journey of a thousand blorps anew...

Also, I edited the clown post from two days ago: I did not mean to imply that the guy whose face was covered with the creepy sticker was a clown. Clowns--they cloud the mind!

A Snail Tale

"It's been an epic journey...one that began, many blorps ago, over by the downspout. I've reached the end of the trail here on this mat. I can go no further--the coir area is unknown territory. On the map it reads, "Here be scritchiness--beware."
"Here I am, on the road again...why, I seem to have a Willie Nelson song stuck in my head..."
"My vertigo is kicking in...I can't look down..."
"I think I've been abducted by aliens--someone call MUFON. I hope there are no probes involved."

The End.

{I picked Snailio Iglesias here up and relocated him over near (ahem) the neighbor's yard where there is plenty of tasty grass.}

Sticky Clown

(Poor guy...he paid for a bus bench ad and got this creepy sticker put over his face.) As if clowns weren't creepy enough, this one looks like a skull-head clown. Nightmares!