Zinnia~Friday Town Shoot Out~062613

This week's challenge was to find dark and light highlights.  I now go out into my garden two or three times a week to take photos, like this zinnia.  There are butterflies, hummingbirds, and little finches out there now enjoying all the wildflowers and zinnias and cosmos.  It's such a relaxing place!  Friday Town Shoot Out for June 26, 2013.  To visit FTSO, please go to:   http://mytownshootout.blogspot.com/

Garden update

I ordered a wildflower mixture from American Meadows last spring, prepped the soil, and threw out the seeds.  To my delight, they sprouted and are now blooming!  I have cosmos, zinnias, and some varieties that I can't identify!  They are visited by bees, birds, and butterflies.  I haven't been able to capture a photo of a butterfly yet, but I will!  I love my garden and I'm planning on doing another one in the fall.

Sprinklers

I always enjoy seeing sprinklers in the desert, but these were on up in our local mountains on Tuesday.  Our desert temps are expected close to 120 degrees over the weekend, so I'll be filing up the dog water bowls, pool, and I'll also be watering my garden a LOT!!!

Forest around the cabin

We spent 8 nights at a rented cabin in the forest between June Lake and Silver Lake, on the eastern Sierra Nevada.  It was very restful up there.  However, it was windy each day. But, the daytime temps were in the mid 60's and it was down into the mid 40's every night, which is a drastic change from the 100+ degree days here in the desert and our nights of 80 degrees!  We sure had to bundle up, too, which was nice for a change!  Our cabin was the last one and it backed up to the forest and a sheer cliff, from which I believe, a raccoon made her nightly visits to our cabin.  Hubby heard her for a couple of nights and then she revealed herself to us on the third.  She had very good manners and was never aggressive toward us, but would show up thereafter each night right after hubby cooked dinner on the BBQ!  We saw a deer one afternoon and I spotted a coyote very early one morning.  Of course, we had the usual squirrels and blue jays, and even a woodpecker came to visit.  It was so relaxing up there that a couple of days we just stayed in the cabin and opened up the door and all the windows and listened to the sounds of the forest.  I find it very quiet here in the desert now and I miss the calls of the blue jays.  On the morning we left, a crow invaded their territory and they were sure upset about that and a couple of them chased the crow away!

Almost full moon near Grant Lake

Okay, it's not quite the super moon, but this was over Grant Lake a couple of nights ago.

Mono Lake and clouds~SkyWatch Friday~062013

As we were driving back from Bodie State Park the other day, we both noticed these clouds over Mono Lake.  The thunderheads over Bodie had blown apart and had settled here.  We always enjoy the weather up in the Sierra and, as some of you know, it can change in a few minutes.  No, it didn't rain, but it made for an interesting sky watch!  SkyWatch Friday for June 20, 2013.  To visit SWF, please go to:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/

More of Bodie state park

More photos from Bodie state park.  It really is a photographer's dream to go there!