California Poppies!

Well last weekend Cathy and I went to the California Poppy Reservation. I thought it was some sort of place where we forced poppies to live and they had built a casino...but I was wrong. In the high mountain desert of California, near Lancaster is a large area of the state where the California Poppy is preserved in its natural state. IT IS AWESOME!

It all starts with ONE poppy.....


Who grows up to be a BIG poppy plant.......


Who then joins a whole community of poppies......


Who form a WORLD OF POPPIES!!!!!!!!



all under the protection of the USA and California!


But we still get to enjoy them!


In case you don't get the idea of Desert..this might help:


I hope you enjoyed this as much as we did!

Daffodil Hill part II

There is so much to see at Daffodil Hill...like FLOWERS! So as not to waste a lot of film, I tried to compose shots as I took them. I seem to be getting better at this as I only shot 2 rolls of film! Oh, yes, I still use film. I don't have a digital camera. I like the resolution I can get, and the fact that it really is photography (photo=light, graph=writing, the writing of the light on the film and the chemicals!).

SO...here are more photographs from Daffodil Hill and I'll let the pictures do the explaining for me.








Our new retirement home we bought in Dry Town! A fixer-upper, but we think we are up to the challenge. Bring it on!



and one more from our gardens at home!

Seybold's Place in Spring, 2008

Ah..yes this is the season to walk the yard and look at what beauty is held in the small wonders of nature. I am always amazed at the ability to be wonderfilled by flowers and their colours. Oh well. Here are the first flowers of the year from the back yard. There is a new flower I call olde blue, and you will see it at the end. Enjoy!

This angel was a gift to Cathy over ten years ago. It has been a part of our gardens ever since!


Though the daffodils in the picture are from the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days, they do add a touch of colour to the garden table!


Snapdragons in full colour!


I really like these flowers. I always have pictures of them!


POPPIES...oh just wait! There will, I hope, be TONS of poppy pictures soon!


the mixing of colours in the flower pots is great!


here is Olde Blue!


and a detail of the flower....



more pictures soon I hope! Enjoy your yard and your flowers, they are gifts given freely to us, and as such should be shared freely! ENJOY!

Spring has SPRUNG!

We, Cathy and I and friends of ours, went to Daffodil Hill this year. Years ago, and I do mean YEARS ago, my Grandmother and I took off to find Daffodil Hill. We never found it, but had a lot of fun driving about the area. I believe she and I ended up at Fiddle Town. This must have been when I was in 7th grade,(about 1967) because she died in July of 1968. In any event, we found it this time and here are some pictures from Daffodil Hill!

I know this sign wasn't there in 1967! We would have seen this!


Here is the entrance. What I found UNBELIEVABLE, there was NO admission fee. IT IS FREE!


And free it is! This is a shot of one side of the hill. they open up when 25% of the flowers are in bloom (which in this picture is that weekend!) and close when only 25% remain in bloom.


My beautiful wife against a pretty backdrop!


And one I really like that is alongside the entry barn!


There are more, but I also have a LOAD of pictures from the back yard, so if you wait a few hours, those too will be uploaded! Enjoy!