Best wishes

I hope you all got a fresh start

for a good day today.

Orange slices from our backyard tree

 enjoyed on our front porch one morning.

Love birds

Mr. Wilson typically starts his day

with a little time to roam around the backyard.

This morning was no different,

but when I opened up the door to let him back inside, 

I was delighted to find this:

 Two pairs of birds 

settled into our orange tree

for a Valentine's feast.

I hope you enjoy these beauties

as much as I did, 

and that you are having a wonderful day!

Post-Edit:
I did a little research and discovered
that these birds are
Rose-ringed parakeets.
So interesting!

Christmas!

My parents flew into a very windy

Bakersfield for a quick, but very fun visit

on Christmas day.

Here are some of the many pictures from their stay.

We loved having them with us,

and hope to have more visitors soon!

Lost and Found

Saturday started out sunny,
so we planned to do
yard work
that afternoon.

The day before we had opened the
back door to find a fruit fatality:
one of our orange tree's limbs
had a burden too heavy
and it was barely hanging on.

So we finished the job
and set to work removing all
of the nascent oranges
since they are not allowed in the
yard waste bin.

A waste, indeed.

As we were toiling away,
we heard the distantly
familiar sound of thunder
as our skin remembered
the feel of humidity.


Wonder of wonders,
it began to rain.
Not much, but plenty
to rejuvenate the soul.

This Western Light

Our backyard faces
West,
allowing for some
lovely light
in the late afternoon.

Sometimes it's just
irresistible.

And finally,
here's a nighttime
shot of a
praying mantis
in our rose bush.