Creek Monkeyflower

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A Creek Monkeyflower blooming in the Stanfield Marsh.

Stanfield Marsh Jitterbug!

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Peggy, with our dear friend Brad (Stagerobber guitarist & botanist extraordinaire) and his lovely daughter Claire, doing the Stanfield Marsh Jitterbug to try and lure Dallas (The Wonder Dog & Spotted Owl Survey Mascot) into the picture but, of course, Dallas would never fall for anything that silly!

The Infamous Stagerobbers!

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The infamous Stagerobbers during an impromptu bluegrass jam on the deck at Earth Home Garden until the late hours of a Saturday night.

One of those rare & beautiful moments in life where a great time was had by all and the music was phenomenal.

Thanks guys, that was a special treat and a total blast!

Mountain Monsoon Sunset

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A beautiful sunset closes a perfect day of desert hiking, thunderstorms, mountain bluegrass music and a bar-b-que buffet with margaritas.

The Stagerobbers In Big Bear

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Our friends in the The Stagerobbers bluegrass band play their second annual gig at a private ranch party here in Big Bear.

Desert Downpour

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On the way out to Morongo Valley Bill & I encountered a bit of flash flooding and then, on the way back home to Big Bear, we stopped to admire this desert downpour during one of my very rare road trips.
Just minutes after this was taken we were being drenched with sheets of cool & fragrant desert rain.

A Morongo Valley Retreat

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A morning view from the living room of Bill & Kathy's Morongo Valley retreat.

This was taken Saturday during an overnight desert trip with my friend Bill to visit his recently acquired oasis.

Morongo View

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Morongo view from Bill & Kathy's desert retreat looking toward Joshua Tree National Park.

Desert Willow

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A flowering Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) at Bill & Kathy's 3 acre Morongo Valley retreat.

I'm A RoadRunner Honey!

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This Roadrunner at Bill & Kathy's Morongo retreat acted like it wanted to come in the house and visit.

A Sense Of Well-Being

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Looking South (toward the back of the property) from the center of the Native Species Habitat we first notice a volunteer non-native Indian-Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella) fully blooming in the foreground to the left, native Rose Sage (Salvia pachyphylla) beginning to bloom on the right, Sulfur-Colored Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) blooming profusely in the center with tall spikes of Scarlet Penstemon (Penstemon labrosus) scattered in the distance.

The spiked yucca, mid-left, is Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata) and behind that is what is commonly called Great Basin Sage (Artemisia tridentata).

While weeding this part of the garden earlier today the fragrances of Rose Sage and Artemisia gave me a great sense of euphoria as I worked amidst the countless variety of insect pollinators visiting the Sulfur Buckwheat, where two Anna's Hummingbirds also fed from the flowers of Scarlet Penstemon and Rose Sage, while Pygmy Nuthatches twittered at me from a nearby tree and several species of juvenile woodpeckers ventured to & fro between drinking at birdbaths and nibbling 'peanut treat' from suet cages.

In the background are picket fences which, to the left enclose the chicken yard, and to the right, the vegetable garden.

Thunderclouds are forming overhead to tease with a possiblity of more rain today and all seems right with the world when one is centered in the garden.

Monsoon Sky

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Monsoon skies over Earth Home Garden today at 6:05 P.M.

Last Friday we had 3 to 4 inches of rainfall and hail here in 1 1/2 hours with lesser thunderstorms on Saturday.

Clouds are building again today with more thunderstorms forecast for later in the week.

This is "mountain weather" and one of the reasons we love living here so much.

Fresh Snow Peas

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Fresh Snow Peas from the garden today for a cool afternoon salad.

The Xeriscape Garden Tour was quite a success this past Saturday with 250 to 300 visitors despite the threat of thunderstorms (we were so busy I forgot to take pictures).

Our friend, Orchid Black of The Theodore Payne Foundation, sold about 50 Big Bear Native Plants on our deck bringing in $425 for Hunter's Nursery which sells native plants grown out from seed collected locally the previous season.

My leg is much improved at this point so I'm planning on resuming my 4/5 mile morning walks very soon.

Maybe things are getting back on track for me to post regularly again, I certainly hope so!

Humboldt Lily

Lilium humboldtii-click on photo to enlarge

A Humboldt Lily, which is native to these mountains, blooms in Earth Home Garden today as we prepare for the Big Bear Xeriscape Garden Tour this Saturday.