I was mixing up fresh hummer food this morning and noticed the light angling through the jar.
It’s always a little comedy routine around here when I’m making this, because Dodger loves hummingbird nectar. I let him sample it out of the big glass measuring cup.
The hummingbirds have already come to the feeder by the library window and taken a good look at us. Dodger on the sill, me at my writing table.
Free! Well, sort of. Free to my friends and family.
Finally acheived my little goal of putting up some pickled onions. It takes 3-6 months for them to pickle well, so I will have some in time for Thanksgiving. D’s cousin, MC, loves them as much as I do. It’s from his grandma’s recipe.
It’s one of those recipes with lots of wiggle room. Cider vinegar, pickling spices and onions. Aunt M uses full strength vinegar, but I water mine down by about 2/3 to 1/2. The amount of pickling spices is anyone’s guess.
These jars are in the back of my fridge now, and there they’ll stay till the onions are infused with the color of the vinegar.
To celebrate, I ate one of the 3 remaining onions from the last batch with slivers of sharp cheddar cheese.
I had some errands to run on the way home, so I took San Fernando Road down most of the length of the valley yesterday.
Bad day for street vendors. Hot and humid. We aren’t used to the humid here. What’s this!? Moisture!? Aaaaaah!
I had to stop further along my route to get this shot. I never would have thought of the brush on the hillside as dusky purple, but there it is. Like pieces of the sky have rained down onto the grass.
ST pointed this out to me this morning. What seems to be a grapevine—what a nice volunteer to find in your yard!—reaching out and knotting itself around wrought iron.
We are both fascinated with the thousands of strategies that plant life has employed to survive and thrive. Beautiful diversity.
Morning light on an asperagus fern in ST's back yard. Can you just see me walking around her beautiful place taking shots? (Wait! Don't look, I'm in my sleeping shirt and shorts!)
Actual proof that I was there. My super-special pedicure is still intact! I didn't see both of these tendrils when I took this.
Beautiful grasses on the other side of the wall around the Studio City library. I was going in to pick up some books on tape.
Drive drive drive. Listen listen listen. Keeps me calm on the commute.
Remember the pair of quail we were so happy to see in our back yard? They’re back! With chicks! Here are the chicks and the dad.
D spotted the three little ones nestled down between clumps of grass at the edge of the patio. The mom and dad checked out the yard while the babies lay low. Then dad walked back and forth over their heads a couple of times, and they seemed to get the message that it was okay to come out.
We watched them poke around the back yard for about 15 minutes. The chicks are learning to scratch between the bricks for food. One of them squatted down between scratches and rested. Funny little slacker!
It was a good day for birds in the front yard, too. Couldn't get a shot of the hummers, but here's a goldfinch, raiding the wildflowers for seeds.
Don't want to forget the inside birds... Dodger enjoys looking out at the wild guys, as long as they don't get too close. No, he's not supposed to be standing on the planter!
We went to Ventura to pick D’s guitar up after it was repaired. Then spent the afternoon with B&E in their home. B plays the harp. Here it is resting on the floor while she was off checking the progress of the amazing red sauce she made for dinner.
Mmmm. Sausages, meatballs and whole boiled eggs along with the pasta!
