Spring Is Coming

I'm sure those of you who live where it snows can't wait for Spring. It's coming! We don't get snow here but even here our botanical gardens have been a little thread bare. Things are starting to bloom again. The fruit trees are breaking our in little flowers, daffodils are in blooms as well as other things like peonies. And the magnolia trees! Wow! Here are just a few shots of some of the flowers in bloom at Descanso Gardens. I'll post a few more tomorrow for Today's Flowers.

I ♥ This Blog Award

I'm always honored and so flattered when someone leaves an award for me. I got an I ♥ This Blog Award today, not one but twice so I'm doubly honored. :-) Thank you Today's Blah and Mariamellie!



I'm supposed to pass this along to 8 fellow bloggers but it would be too diffcult for me to narrow my love of so many sites down to just eight so I will pass this along to everyone is is in my blog list below and on the right. If you see me in your comments often, you know I love your blog!!! :-)

Sky Watch #33

I was at a toss up of which one to post so I figured I would just post them both. Hope you like them and have a wonderful cyber sky watching Friday! :-)




To participate in Sky Watch Friday and/or to see more great photos of the sky from all over the world Click here or on the Sky Watch Icon below:

Never Too Old

In case you're looking, my Watery Wednesday shot is below this one.

It would not be living near Los Angeles if you didn't go somewhere and occasionally see a film crew filming a movie. I went to Descansco Gardens yesterday and there was a film crew there. I must admit it is really interesting to see what they go through just to make a movie.


I also notice a swing hanging from a tree and knew it must be part of whatever they were filming since it was never there before. I thought it made an interesting shot and then a little later I saw one of the film crew get in the swing and start swinging. I figure he was testing it out but then again, maybe it just shows you're never too old to find fun in taking a little swing from a tree.

Watery Wednesday #24

If you haven't visited the Watery Wednesday meme you should check it out. This is my entry for this week. These camelias are definitely watery. They had fallen out of the tree near a stream and were laying in the water.






Feel like getting a little cyber wet from water all over the world? Click here or on the image/icon below:

Yellow Rumped Warbler

My Skywatch post is below this one but if you don't feel like skipping you can use this one was SkyWatch since this is skywatching too. The bird just got in the shot.
:-)

I think this is a yellow rumped warbler. I almost couldn't identify it then at the last minute I saw a photo of one that looked this this. At first I thought it was another goldfinch but the goldfinch has a solid yellow breast and this one just had patches of yellow. Please correct me if I still have it wrong.

Sky Watch #32 - Sunset at Bonelli

Sunset at Bonelli Park.




To participate in Sky Watch Friday and/or to see more great photos of the sky from all over the world Click here or on the Sky Watch Icon below:

The Arboretum

I missed My World Tuesday this week so I thought I'd share a little something anyway. I usually post photos of flowers and plants and birds I see at the Arboretum but don't often show the actual grounds. I thought I'd share several shots of just some of the grounds around the Arboretum. These were taken during the summer of 2008. And I threw in a couple of the local birds.

Watery Wednesday #23

If you haven't visited Watery Wednesday, you should put on your cyber galoshes and check it out. This week I'm posting what must look like an odd shot but it's a reflection in the small lake at the Los Angeles Arboretum.



Feel like getting a little cyber wet from water all over the world? Click here or on the image/icon below:

Monochrome Monday

If you're looking for my Mellow Yellow Monday post it's below this one.



If you'd like to see more Monochrome Monday shots from participants around the world, just click on the link or the icon below.

Mellow Yellow Monday

Click on the icon below to participate or visit the brightest meme on the internet and brighten up your day!

Today's Flowers

If you like flowers, check out the link below for more photos from bloggers participating in Today's Flowers.

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

I've mentioned we've been getting a much needed rain. I'm loving it but I'm sure those in the hills where we had major fires last year wish it would go away. I hope they're safe from mud slides. I thought I'd share some rainy day shots I took today.

This is how it looked on the freeway at about 4:30.


I made a stop at the bank in a shopping center and when I got in the car I turned and finally saw a rainbow I'd been hoping for. I know I ticked a few people off who were trying to leave but I wasn't missing my shot. Yes, I stopped in the middle of the parking lot to take a couple of shots before I realized I could move to another part of the lot and park to take them. :-D



When I pulled out of the lot and headed north the clouds had cleared enough to show the mountains and the fresh show on them. I'm sure you'll notice how drastically different the sky looks in each direction as the storm moved.


Then out of curiosity I drove up to the lake hoping for a great view of the snowy mountains but I wasn't getting any good shots. What caught my attention instead was the number of sea gulls on and over the lake. You should really click on this photo for a larger view. Every white speck you see in the photo is a sea gull in the air and on the lake.

Lesser Goldfinch

If you're looking for my SkyWatch Shot it's below this one.

I looked this one up and I think I've identified this bird correctly. Please correct me if I got it wrong. This looks like the photos I've seen of a Lesser Goldfinch. One of the trees at the lake were full of these but it was too far for my lens. This one however, had flown to a tree where I was standing. Why don't they ever land where the lighting is perfect and low enough so I can get sharper shots? Still, they were nice enough to post. Look Ma, I caught me a bird! :-)



This one shows the feather pattern on its back:

Sky Watch #31

I hope you're not sick of seeing shots from the lake by me at Bonelli Park. It's the closest place to go where I can park and get a clear shot of the sky. This was taken today just before the sun began to set. I would have stayed for the sunset but at this time of the year the park closes before sunset. What a bust.



To participate in Sky Watch Friday and/or to see more great photos of the sky from all over the world Click here or on the Sky Watch Icon below:

Billy The Elephant

This is Billy the elephant at the Los Angeles zoo. There was a big stink not too long ago (last month), that ended up in the City Council's lap about whether or not to release Billy. A group was protesting about how bad the conditions were for Billy and that he should be set free.


If you look at these photos you can see how confined Billy is. I couldn't even get a good shot of him. But the L.A. Zoo is already in the middle of construction of a Pachyderm Forest that will be just over 6 acres, a MUCH bigger exhibit then this one shown which doesn't even give the elephant much room to walk around in.


The L.A. City Council voted to let the elephant stay and though I know there are good reasons to let Billy go, I think it only fair to let the zoo continue with this multi-million dollar exhibit which is a huge improvement over the current conditions. They are investing the money to improve the conditions and I know Billy will be happier in the larger, more natural environment, large enough to get him a friend.


If the conditions were to remain the same I would have agreed that Billy should be released. But personally, I would like the zoo to see if this new, larger environment will be better for Billy. I know it bummed me out to see him in the current little exhibit. I would like to see him in the bigger one and can't wait until it is completed. I can't wait to see Billy roaming around, actually roaming and not just standing there rocking back and forth.