Part 2 - More discoveries

By far, the most exciting discovery so far is the hummingbird(s)! John saw one last Wednesday morning, so the kids and I went and bought a feeder that very day. We have a faithful little fella who visits and is actually quite brave. He sometimes does a 'buzz-by" first before he decides if it is safe to come for a meal. I have been patiently (somewhat) waiting to capture a picture of him, and this is the best I could do (so far)!




On the opposite end of the excitement spectrum ... we have seen a couple of these - alive this time. John has yet to see one (praise the Lord!), but Savannah spotted this one crawling from under a rock. He then crawled under the log pile ... not real exciting for him to be there, either. The next morning, I went for a hike on our trail and almost stepped on another one just like him. We were hoping the dogs would be a great help for us ... sniffing out the snakes ... giving us good warning ... NOT! Both dogs (actually 4 total, because we have new neighbor doggie friends up here) walked right past/over the snake. I almost stepped on the snake, but saw it in time and quickly backed away. Then, Lilly came back to see what was taking me so long and walked over the snake again. So much for them giving us any warning!



OK - back to some nice discoveries ... I found some blueberry bushes with some very cute blueberries on them. I am hoping that I can find more because Savannah absolutely loves blueberries.



These cool plants are some kind of cactus variety (I'll have to actually take some time and look them up). The flowers are really beautiful - there is a little closer picture below ...




And, we have tons of dewberries. I had never heard of them, but they are very similar to a blackberry. The kids like them and they really enjoy picking them - bonus! I am hoping to make some jam out of them. We don't like the seeds as much, so I am going to try to strain them out - I'll let you know how it goes :)

The kids and I used our strawberry baskets to pick them - glad to get more use out of the baskets :)

Finally ... what happened to our view??? It was so foggy a couple of mornings that we could hardly see past the log pile.

It's amazing to watch how things change and I am sure I will be making lots more discoveries as time goes on. Hopefuly, less of the no-legged critters, however :) Needless to say, I have been walking on a different trail these last few days - at least until I have a chance to take the weed wacker (sp?) along the trail to get rid of the tall grasses!

Hope all is well in your home!

Shirley