Blast Off!

This blue jay was sitting on a wire posing for me as I walked by with two dogs. He took off just as I raised the camera and clicked the shutter. It certainly isn't a conventional bird shot, but, for me, it falls into the "Isn't Nature Wonderful?" category. He could almost be swimming through the air….

The High Pressure Ridge has gone back where it belongs and our temperate weather has returned, bringing with it the will to go outside again. While I was eyeing our maturing lettuce crop for dinner tonight, a doe and a buck ran by just on the other side of the fence. The birds, especially the little ones like finches, goldfinches and chickadees are flocking, back to the bird feeders, and the woodpeckers are busy stashing their acorns wherever they can find a cranny for one. Once they've used up all the gaps in the fence, and the holes in the oak trees, they begin pecking on our house….

Some of he zinnias are still producing blooms, but each new generation is several inches is taller than the last, so the best specimens are at least eight feet tall now. OilMan put some Miracle Grow fertilizer on the roses, which produced vigorous tall canes bursting with blooms and leaves twice the size as the rest of the plant. 

I came back into the house and found Blake just polishing off the remote control for our Bose Music System.  Clever of him to pick the one that can't be turned on any other way. 

The crush is over for the wineries earlier than usual to avoid the heat turning the crop into raisins. Because of the hot weather and lack of water, this year's vintage is predicted to be much smaller but with concentrated flavor. Sounds like another way of saying prices will be much higher this year. The price of almonds, one of the main crops in the central  valley,r eflects the influence of the drought as well. I was going to bake some tea cakes with almond flour, but changed my mind when a tiny bag was $15!

Today OilMan officially retired, so I suppose that officially, he is no longer an Oil Man. He will always be OilMan to me, but I wonder how he will think of himself?