Lights of the woods

I walked into our meadow this evening to take this photo of the cabin lights (and a photograher at the corner of the deck) -


--- who took this photo and caught my red focus light with his long exposure.

~N

Patrolling the Meadow

This morning a Red-Tailed Hawk landed atop a tall Jeffrey Pine overlooking the meadow. For about 15 minutes he/she sat quietly watching. Finally responding to some hidden signal (or just out of boredom?) and with a singled strong beat of wing, our hawk was gone. ~B

Critters

Each day we never know what 'critters' we will find around the cabin. One day - a Garter Snake. Another - a Coyote wanders through the meadow. Then - a Mule Deer sneaks past a neighbor's cabin. And there are always the Acorn Woodpeckers flying in the Jeffrey Pines. ~B

The Early Bird

Our newest best friend is a chickadee who waits at our door each morning. He will hop all over inside toolboxes left out, looking for seeds. If we don't get sunflower seeds out of the bottle fast enough, he just helps himself.

~N

Wesley the Owl

We both read the book 'Wesley the Owl' by Stacey O'Brien. When she was scheduled to speak at the Julian library we were anxious to hear her.

Stacey was a CalTech student 30 yrs ago and had the opportunity to adopt a day old (injured/not releasable) barn owl from the research lab where she worked. She had Wesley for 19 years and her book read like raising a demanding infant all those years . . . with the exception, when Wesley was full grown - as male barn owls he became very protective of her (trying to feed her dead mice). He also mated with her arm almost daily.

Her story is fascinating and it was wonderful to see slides and movie clips of their years together.


I don't know how clearly you can see this, but they would cuddle every night. He would fall asleep on her chest. She said the publisher insisted on seeing these because they almost didn't believe her story. Barn owls aren't supposed to do these things with humans. Stacey discovered otherwise. ~N

BIG FOOT!

Our smiling wind chime with bells (see post below) looked like BIG FOOT with icicle claws in the deck light last night. It's been snowing for 2 days now! ~N

This is April in Southern California??

The past few days have been sunny and getting warmer - we began to paw through the piles of clothes on the bed looking for our shorts. BUT this morning we woke to "white". The flowers, green grasses and meadow were covered with a couple of inches of snow. Throughout the day winds gusted and snows flurried. And the rusty old windchime we jokingly call our 'yak bells' was rimed with snow. ~B

Wings on our Window

We didn't hear the bang but woke up to this image left over from the collision with our window - one of the Stellar's Jays that begs for peanuts every morning (we're pretty sure).

And just as we were checking the grass below for any injuries - BANG!


A robin with a huge worm dangling from its beak, flew into the window and mashed the worm that seemed to pop and explode on the glass. The robin was just fine. It flew to a nearby tree, fluffed itself on a branch, still holding on to its breakfast - a little more tenderized perhaps? ~N

Desert Sunset

On the edge of Clark Dry Lake in the Anza Borrego Desert we stopped to photograph the few flowers we could find. With above average rain this winter the expectation was that the flowers would be spectacular. However, only a few were there. But the mountains to the north of the lake were lit by the setting sun as we packed our gear and left. ~B

Feels like Spring

Driving through Japatul Valley (near Alpine, CA) this afternoon - the grass is spring green, the air is warm and the setting sun hung over this field like it had no where to go. ~N

A Class Act

I'm not sure if he has dishpan hands after these photos or not. ~N

The Snowflakes were this Big!!!

Some people don't know when to come in out of a blizzard. ~ B

Valentine's Day

It's only a day after Valentine's Day and the boys aren't wasting any time. This is the first time since last spring that we've seen the toms and hens traveling together. Instead of the large dozen member bachelor tom group that comes by our cabin - this morning for the first time, we saw just 2 toms traveling with the 11 member hen group instead. Things must be heating up.

The toms watched and seemed carefully on guard. They stayed around the perimeter of the ladies group and were in full guy display. The hens seemed much more interested in scratching the wet leaves for grubs however. ~N

We call him “Crash”!

We just had our third snow of the season. More snow than the first time and much less than the second. The birds – Mountain Chickadees, Plain Titmice, Acorn Woodpeckers & Stellar's Jays- show up in the early morning looking for handouts. We provide black oil sunflower seeds and peanuts which they quickly grab, take away to eat and then quickly return for more.

On the railing where we'd piled some seeds in the soft snow, an aggressive, but nervous Stellar's Jay came rushing in to grab some seeds, panicked and lost his footing. ~B

Icy Morning

This is the window above our bed and this was our snowy view when we woke up. All the windows of the cabin get very cold and drafty especially when the mountain winds blow. On cold nights we pull the heavy draperies on all the cabin windows (and that helps) except the one over our bed.

Sometimes it gets so cold we nearly bury our heads and faces with the comforter - but we still don't cover this window because we don't want to miss out on the evening stars or the surprise view in the morning. ~N

The Flying Gazebo and The Survivor

San Diego California was hit with a strong wind storm, and plenty of rain, over the weekend. We got a call from our neighbor who told us our gazebo was no longer on our second story deck. About 12x12 feet with 4 sturdy metal legs and a fabric covering, with 40 mph gusts, it had "left the building".

I found it crushed against the bank at the side of our house. Miraculously it had cleared the deck railing, the stairs and blown around the corner of the house missing a sliding glass door and two picture windows. It was trashed, but the only damage to the house was a 3" long scrape on the deck's railing.

As I cut the fabric away, a hummingbird buzzed around my head. Peering into the bush against which the gazebo rested, I found this:

He/she survived both the storm and the flying gazebo. ~B

Bambi 'n bugs

Walking through our meadow last week I found that Bambi didn't make it this winter . . . I just found the lone skull - with a nibbled nose and fur still between the tiny antlers. When I turned over a log to prop it up . . .

Whoa! I found where the lady bugs spend the winter - thousands and thousands of them - quiet, sleeping, hibernating . . . just starting to move slightly as I watched them while the morning sunlight warmed them up. ~N

Stellars Jays

Each species of bird has a different personality. The Acorn Woodpeckers are the sheriffs - territorial and aggressive; the Mountain Chickdees are social, friendly and readily come to hand; the Plain Titmice are soft and gray, perky and learning to land and feed from our hands.

BUT the Stellars Jays are both shy and demanding, wary of the Acorn Woodpeckers (who attack them on sight), often contentious among themselves, and seemingly the most intelligent. Yesterday one came to the door and stood on the mat looking in (we offer peanuts) and then went to the window and knocked!

They are learning to take peanuts from our hands, but are skittish and ready to fly off if we make a false move. And, as below with N, sometimes never fully land. ~B

The snow has melted . . .

Our first snow (above, Nov. 2009) has all melted, time has passed - holidays are finished but we aren't . . . living in our cabin nearly full time now (just brief trips to San Diego for clean laundry or new library books), spending every night here . . . lots of photos (nearly daily) . . . you'll see . . . ~N

First Snow

We woke this morning to falling snow. We'd expected what the weather report called "a dusting", but it snowed off and on all day, mostly on, and by dark we had a good 6" of snow on the ground, the deck, the tables, the cars, the railings, etc. Like children we bundled up and went out to play. ~B

Burning Hot for Winter

So we went to the Fire Safe Council meeting last month (it was my first and Brock's second). These are groups (65 in San Diego county now) set up and formed to keep our cities, woods and mountains free of wild fires. The Fire Chief responsible for the National Forest where our cabins are located spoke as well as the cabin owners who have been elected Pres., VP, Secy, etc. I found it fascinating . . . more so than this man . . .

. . . an elected SD county Board of Education official (and cabin owner) who comes to all the meetings and functions up here on the mountain . . . but within about 15 minutes (no matter what the event - picnic, meeting, social dinner) falls asleep. I wonder what the Board of Education does with him - he's not a real heavy snorer, so that helps . . .

But after the meeting we got a chance to ask the President of the Cabin Owner's Assoc. where we might find/buy some firewood for the winter. He told us he had more than he could use (is that possible?) and we were welcome to use the old Fire Safe Council pick-up and haul it to our cabin.

He even helped us load the truck - TWO FULL truck loads of clean, nicely chopped/split oak and pine from trees near his cabin.

So after a few weeks, Brock built these cribs - other stuff is still in piles on the ground for now . . . my wagon, ready to roll! ~N

Shutting it Down

Bird house #2 got made the other night. We poured some wine, B showed me how to use his Dremel tool for woodpecker holes and edges (that's really neat!). We poured more wine and I went through twigs, leaves, dried plants, feathers, acorns and tiny branches I've been collecting . . . then we poured more wine and then we poured still more wine.

We have to pack up this morning. We've basically been living at this cabin now for over 2 months. I'm saying a silent 'good-bye' to my favorite Snaggle Tree across the meadow. He stands guard over all his fallen forest mates.

I'm going to miss all the pine cones I keep collecting. I set them on the deck and within a few days spiders have created new homes in them.

I'm going to miss all my favorite rotten logs. I check them out each day or so . . . looking for good light or just new critters who have recently customized them.

I'm definitely going to miss the sunsets like this one last night. ~N

Spoiled Birds

I saw the cutest thing yesterday. I couldn't get photos of it, it happened so fast . . .

- a very young acorn woodpecker (no red crest yet) landed on our deck railing and started picking up the seeds to eat. He was busy doing his thing and enjoying the taste I guess. In a minute or so, either his mom or dad flew down to join him and picked up a few seeds to eat as well . . .

- at that point the baby started cheeping and squawking like crazy - sounded like his foot was stuck or something! The parent looked long at the kid (and ~sighed~ I bet) - then started picking up individual seeds to feed to the baby . . . one by one & one by one . . .

After the parent had landed, the baby absolutely refused to pick up his own seeds. He just made the most annoying squeaking sounds so the parent would give him undivided attention and FEED HIM seeds! Isn't that just like little kids!? ~N

Falling Stars, Mt. Laguna, CA

We drove up to the cabin late last night. It was totally black and dark in the woods when B hiked to the top of our little hill to turn on the water. We just knew he'd get eaten by a hungry mountain lion . . . but Davy Crocket pressed on . . .


We brought up some old wooden lounge chairs I meant to Freecycle months ago. They're cheap, rickety, splintery and not very comfortable, but great for a cabin. After we unpacked and settled in, about midnight we poured some wine and sat out to star gaze. The stars are amazing up here, the Milky Way is a huge white swath spreading wide across the night sky! And then a loud SNAP, CRACKLE and POP!!! - over he goes - feet up pointing to the stars, head and shoulders wacking the ground . . . but he spilled very little wine (my kinda experienced boozer). It sounded like a tall pine cracking as several of the supports in the flimsy lounge hit the dirt and threw B over.

The damages this morning . . . we couldn't see last night. I guess we're lucky nobody got impaled and bled out from splinters - but we were laughing so hard, we couldn't stop . . . brought back the old days when we were first married and had a Sunbeam Alpine sports car. The latch on the driver's seatback would fail (like just about everything else on that car eventually did) . . . we'd be driving down the freeway and WHAMMMMMMMMMM FLOOOOOP the seatback would totally disappear behind the driver. Keystone Kops. We laughed a lot then too.

We found an old star chart/wheel we used to use - brought it up last night (that's the Milky Way in blue). The top sheet rotates to the current month, day and hour (for this latitude) - it's pretty neat. The only problem is, there's SO many stars to see up here (6,000 ft) it's hard to pick out the constellations, planets, etc. ~N

The (Our) Meadow

The cabin overlooks a meadow. Once upon a time the meadow held a stable, but, purchased with drug money, IRS confiscated it and turned it over to the National Forest Service. Our gain.

Between the cabin and the meadow is a dirt road leading down a ravine and into the forest.

The light in the meadow highlights the grasses...

Filters through the trees...

And, in the late afternoon, turns the meadow a rich reddish gold.

Bordering the meadow are Jeffrey Pines. A favorite of Acorn Woodpeckers, their bark is riddled with holes into which acorns are stuffed. These 'granery trees' store acorns until the larvae infesting them hatch. Then the woodpeckers return to harvest this delicacy.

~B

A Cabin Tour

If you looked in our cabin's kitchen window - this is the reflection you might see.



This is the kitchen.


This is the living room.


This is the living area looking looking towards the kitchen in the back.

This is the front bedroom with a king size bed, desks and lots of windows to the woods.


This is the other side of the large front room with 2 twin beds for now. We have a smaller bedroom in the back of the cabin (not shown). ~N