2/28/20
Here in the Northern Sacramento Valley of California, the blooming seems to be happening all at once with the unusually dry and warm late winter.
Apricot is about to start blooming:
The cherry will be blooming soon too:
Western Red Bud (Cercis occidentalis) is about to bloom:
California lilacs (Ceanothus ) “Ray Hartman” are about to bloom:
And here’s a California gilia.
First front yard California poppy bloom of the year.
We love this red curry paste. Fortify it with fresh lemon grass! 🌶🌶🌶🥵
Glad I’m not below that cherry picker.
Our cherry tree’s super close **together** buds are opening up! Soon flower buds will rapidly drop on stems, bloom, and then by late May... ripe cherries! If the birds don’t get them first.
This horse won’t escape… though I feel jumping the fence is easily within its abilities.
In 2010: Plenty of limestone & marble rock hurdles in the Marble Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Northern California.
Double
Experimenting with our first bird feeding station. Suet with seed for a variety of birds.
The dull spectacle of me trying to figure out the kitchen sink’s plumbing. My iPhone is a handy remote eye, well suited for dark, tight spaces.
Progress. Nectarine is growing!
A tan greywacke sandstone from the Northern California Coast Range (Franciscan Assemblage bedrock). cm scale.
Never for want of space in California’s Central Valley. Those grapes will be waking up soon.
Hard to oppose California’s almond bloom! ❤️ Our apricot will bloom mid March and the cherry late March (but it’s nearly girdled by boring beetles).
One of two Valencia oranges from the backyard tree 😋
Not cool. Whoever installed the kitchen sink didn’t use plumbers putty or silicone so now the under sink bracket is rusted out. Might be a plumber’s job to save my sanity.
Bees seem to never **rest** when manzanitas are blooming. I gave up trying to photograph them.
2/15/20
I finished installing some new switches today. Worst thing I found in the existing wiring that I could fix myself was paint coated copper under the wire nuts. Whoever did that must think wires work off of luck that the wire nuts cut into the copper or magic or induction. Pictured below are neutrals that were paint covered. And you wouldn’t be wrong to guess that the grounds were also covered in paint. I scraped them off and cut off the tips and then installed the new switch. Hopefully overall this is an improvement to the wiring! Also: I love my iPhone’s night mode for taking photos like the below. It’s not just for night!
Use of ladders require good balance. I barely have that and dislike them immensely despite their great utility.
2/14/20
It has been 19 days since it last rained here. The outdoor temperatures have been in the mid-70s. The area’s almond orchards are blooming in waves about a week earlier than last year.
Our deciduous plants are waking up! We planted a nectarine this winter and it is beginning to grow. Our California Roses, which are in the same family as nectarines — Rosaceae — are also beginning to grow back. The elderberries are starting to fill out and the Ceanothuses are a few weeks away from flowering. The Manzanitas are already flowering white and pink lanterns. We’re still harvesting mandarins and they are very sweet now. There are two Valencia oranges on the verge of being ripe enough.
Warmth and a marshmallow on the Carrizo Plain in 2010.
Late last year in New York I saw many a High Rise including this curvy one.
During the cold season, Annie has an enormous attachment to her heated bed.
November 2010: The Carrizo Plain National Monument. A great spot for geology students to explore structures along the San Andreas Fault.
This morning’s view of Northern California’s interior coast range. Cameo by a Tractor Supply sign.
I. Uh. Well.
During a lull of the wind.
The transparent rectangular thing is the push on connector I wrote about earlier. Really nice; way better than wire nuts in some cases.
Quite a contrast! Old switches in bottom photo, new Caseta switches in top. I finally got to use a few push-in connectors and they’re great when the bare wires are perfectly straight.
