One More Time

Remember this weird wax-encased Christmas amaryllis bulb? It made about 12 flowers the first go-round...and here it goes again! Weird...but cool. Not sure what they did to the bulb--it blooms without soil and water AND is a real go-getter.

Pixie Time

We watched the Academy Awards last night with our delightful friends, including this lovely girl, Miss Pixie Blue. She insisted on wearing her Princess Leia buns in homage to Carrie Fisher.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Bathrobe nappin' 101.

A Good Mail Day

Today the mailman brought me my Smokey Bear "Resist" T-shirt and my hand-held hummingbird feeders. Yay!

Farewell, Time Warp

I was quite bummed out today to discover that Ortwine Hardware--a crusty True Value hardware store and craft supply shop--has closed, after 70 years in business. I have made numerous trips there to poke around in the dust and grime to discover trims/fabric/hairnets/cake decorating supplies, as well as all of these delightfully creepy doll faces. The story goes that the current owner's parents wanted to run a shop together: he liked hardware, she liked crafting, and so the wonderfully weird Ortwine Hardware and Appliances opened in 1946.

I thought I had blogged about it before but am unable to find the blog post...

Not sure what caused the closure (I can imagine, though)--the store is locked up (and reported on Yelp as being closed permanently) but all of the stuff is still inside. How I wish I could get back in and buy more! (The vintage Hong Kong doll faces are depleted, alas--last time I went, all that were left were recent "made in China" ones--but the bolts and bolts of fabric and velvet ribbon! Oh my...)

Farewell, Ortwine's...you shall be missed.

Wetlands Walk

 This is the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve, open to the public only once a year (it is a fragile ecosystem).

 Wellies required!

 The salt water from the bay flows in and out of the wetlands with the tide.

 This is a structure built to encourage endangered clapper rails to nest.

 Algae, everywhere.

 Seagull skeleton.

 We all picked up trash along the way--there was a lot of it, alas.

 Teeny snails.

 Red-tailed hawk, lovely!

A fun day--not every day do you get to walk wetlands!

Random Heart

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

Just...

Fuzzy Wuzzy

I love the intricacy of this flower (Anigozanthos, common name 'Kangaroo Paw').

Hoppy

 If you aren't interested in looking at close-up photos of a grasshopper, now is your chance to look away...(Actually, I'm not sure this is a grasshopper--aren't they green?)

This guy was so big he was casting a shadow in my family room--up above is the view from inside.

 Outside!

Closer...fascinating, all of the textures on one insect.

Hello!

His eye is amazing--their eyes are made up of lots of smaller eyes!

Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all (2017 Edition)

This earless wonder and I wish you the happiest of Happy Valentine's Days!

It is also my 32nd wedding anniversary...wedded bliss, times 32!

It

Small and Large

Tiny hummingbird, majestic red-tailed hawk.

Tallulah-Palooza Friday

On the inside, looking outside...

(Nice dirty door!)

Red Sky at Night

It's winter sunset time again.

Alas, the angle is not quite as nice as it used to be as my stupid and selfish neighbors are building a tower in their backyard...

Still lovely, no matter what!

In the Garden

 Succulents doing well...

 Blueberry bushes making flowers...

 And...some creature wreaking havoc in my raised beds, which fortunately are not really fully planted this time of year. I think it might be skunks digging for grubs...

The whole point of these beds--bottoms are lined with gopher wire--was to be able to plant and not have gophers decimate everything. So it's not gophers...whatever it is needs to knock it off!