The storm moves off to the high country.

Lupine is starting to bloom. All of my seed scattering last year is paying off with many new plants.

Only once every few years does it snow at 2500 ft. elevation in the foothills. It all melted away as soon as the sun came out.

Snow transforms the landscape. I woke up and thought I was somewhere else.

Indian Warriors are beginning to appear. Snow is also exdpected today. I can't wait.

Indian grinding holes filled with rain water. Sediment has built up over the years.

Winter Garden

These hellebores are thriving. They are not natives, but love the shade at the north corner of the house. Their leaves repel the rabbits and other intrepid fauna. The look of green flowers against green leaves is lushly elegant

Gooseberry, one of the first to bloom as spring approaches. This bush is growing under a live oak, also pictured in the foreground.

John, on our neighbor's tractor, is consolidating some of our brush piles. We had a guy come last summer to clear out some of the scrub. The control burn five years ago left many areas half burned and lots of live oak balls which threatened to become inpenetrable.

A pair of intrepid finches continue scarfing niger seed at the feeder outside my kitchen window.
I've had as many as ten on the feeder at one time with many more waiting in the trees.

From the back deck, there are beautiful sunsets every night during this summer in the winter we are having. To the south are the lights of the central valley, mainly Fresno. None of my photographs have done it justice so far.

Phoebe, our lab mix, tests every puddle. With the current warm weather, these may dry up soon. Visualize rain.

This manzanita next to my house is in full bloom. Bees buzz constantly. The ground nearby is carpeted with the tiny bell-like blossoms.

The woodpecker plants the acorns in the dead limb of a white oak. Then, insects lay their eggs in the acorns. The woodpeckers harvest the larvae as they emerge.

The storm rolls away to the high country at sunset. This is taken from the back back looking out to the southeast.

In the winter, leafless, the white oak is worthy of its name.