Over the Memorial Day weekend Joe and I traveled to our dear friends’ lake house in Lake Arrowhead, CA. The community of Lake Arrowhead sits at an elevation of 5,500 feet in the mountains northeast of the Los Angeles basin. It was crisp and clear all week with lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s. Perfect. We had a marvelous time relaxing and were so excited to see new and beautiful birds, trees and flowers.
Here is what we saw…..
The road up the mountain to “paradise”
On top of the mountain on this amazing tree we spied a bird.
We had never seen a golden eagle. What an amazing bird. We tired but could not get any great photos of him in flight. He just drifted gently in the currents. Ahhhhh
On our morning walks we were introduced to many Steller Jays. What a beautiful sister to the bluejays in our back yard.
On our morning walks we also saw California quails: both the male one day and the female quail the next day. Beautiful.
But the best place for bird watching was our friends’ deck. Our friends put out lots of peanuts and the Stellar Jays entertained us all weekend.
Also the acorn woodpecker
the black-headed grosbeak and many more.
Down at the lake we saw lots of ducks. Maybe it is because people can purchase duck food right along the beach. Momma was taking good care of her little ones.
It was a colorful duck fest (love the bright heads and orange feet)!
We drove through the mountains to Big Bear Lake and saw some great flowers like the Coulter’s lupines
Here is a closeup and they were so fragrant.
Here are some other plants
They call these pine cones Widowmakers. Because they are very large and if one falls on you……..you get the idea.
They are from the Coulter’s pine and weigh eight pounds. Yikes!!
As if we had not already had a fabulous time with our friends. On the first leg of our flight home Nyle DiMarco, who just won Dancing With the Stars, was on our flight. And of course I requested that he join me in a photo and he graciously agreed. What a wonderful man. I still have goose bumps from meeting him. Thanks Nyle. Very exciting…….. He’s even better looking in person than on TV!!
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I just love getting photos from students of their finished work. It makes me very happy. This is from my Kansas Rose machine applique class. It was made by Maryann McDermott from the guild in Schenectady, New York. Job very well done Maryann.
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BOOK REVIEW
On the flight to and from California, I read a book recommended by Grace. Grace knows I like Lisa Gardner and I had not read this one…..”Love You More”. It was another “on the edge of your seat” read. I think it was the 5th in the Detective D. D. Warren series. I have read several of the books in this series…..not necessarily in order. The book starts with one of the main characters, Tessa Leoni, a state police trooper, being accused of killing her husband. The book takes some good twists. I could not put it down. I like a good murder mystery.
Until next week