Daily Walks - 3

I'm continuing my Daily Walks, on this page, as the last page was getting pretty long.
This is where we came from: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1071418/
As always, feel free to join me on my walks, make comments, share things you find on your own walks. It doesn't matter if you only walk around the block or out to your balcony. What does your world look like?
This is part of mine.
For some reason, I didn't walk between the 27th of January and the 28th. Was probably busy dealing with the flood damage. I did walk out back to get this photo of a spectacular sunset over the hills.
I hope you enjoy this new page as much as I will.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Wowzer---what a beautiful picture!!

Jule's,
Lol that is awesome would love to have that picture on my whole wall. You are doing great with these pictures.
Hug's,
Carolyn

The colors were magnificent that evening. Well worth the walk even though I was really tired. : - )
You are always welcome to use any of my photos Carolyn. If it makes you happy, print it out and post it where you can see it often. : - )
Sorry I stopped so abruptly last night. It was late and it had been a really long day.

I got up on the 29th of January, and decided my poor doggers needed to go walking. So off we went.
I saw this in the ground. Find all kinds of stuff on my walks that is out of place. This rusty old bolt fell off a piece of farm equipment. DH has probably been looking for it. : - |

Down by the farm pond. I just like being there. It's peaceful, and there is lots of bird songs.

Looking upstream.

A neat looking rock formation across the creek from the Pines that is known to me as the Turtle Rock. You can see the turtle shape if you are looking at it right.
(Some people see a snail. I like turtles better, and they eat snails.) You'd be looking at it head on in this photo.

Looks like we got a pile of dead trees to remove, and more to take out in the fields. You can see them behind the Native CA Walnut tree (aka the Kite eating tree).
Daisy is sure getting a lot of white on her muzzle. She is getting slower and deafer, but she loves to make her daily rounds.
Grandmother Oak is that big tree in the background.

This is something that really makes me sad. Brown leaves on Grandmother Oak. She went into drought mode last year and the weakest limb lost it's leaves.
I'm irritated that DH allowed a new opening to be made here. I've been trying for years to close up the canopy around the base of the tree. People don't consider the tree. They do what is convenient for them, and disregard all your efforts to protect an elder. ARRGGH!
This is why we limit access to only a few months a year to the public.

EB#1 and I keep piling up brush at the base of Grandmother to dissuade people from just making their own path. It's only been partially successful.

Good this opening is starting to close.
The workers who were trimming the Monterrey Pines into their Christmas Tree shape took it upon themselves to carve a new opening into Grandmother from this side of the tree. They chopped their way in right next to the power box because they were too lazy to walk a few more feet to the natural opening. I wasn't happy, and believe me they heard I was really unhappy. I was so angry I'm surprised they didn't hear me at the beach when I found out what they did. Their boss read them out too.
No one was allowed to trim that tree. I only trust one person to trim my oaks, and hate having to do it at all.
She is a strong tree, and not only has survived repeated abuse, but her scars only make her more beautiful.
Yes, I hug this tree. : - )

Ripple marks in the dirt road where it flooded out in between Grandmother Oak and the creek.

A view of Grandmother looking to the north. Dogs are exploring along the edge of the creek. The hill on the far side of Grandmother is on the other side of the creek.

DH and I were just debating how old the oak tree in the photo is. We agreed that it is near about 15 years old. She's a pretty youngster. : - )
Sadly, we've lost a few more trees to either a fungus in the ground, pine beetles or pine pitch cankers. Haven't lost any to gophers that I know of.

A perfect candidate for stump culture. If I put a stick next to that one sprig at the base of that stump, I'll have a whole new Christmas tree in less time than what it takes for the seedlings we plant. It's a method that has been used for a long time on tree plantations and will grow to a harvestable size in about 3 years versus 5 years. We don't do it as much as we should. Maybe, I'll grab some stakes and go do that.
Those are drip lines in lines next to the trees.

A tire swing on Grandfather Oak.

Bird perched on the beginning of our tiny Mountain range, which forms one boundary side on our farm.

The old hand crank pump that DH's Grandfather used to water his herd of goats and some field crops. I believe he used dynamite to reach the water.
This was the first thing I did when I saw the well. I made DH who was my boyfriend then, go buy the materials and cover the well, which had no cover and was open. Who knows what drowned in there. I sure would feel bad if it was someone's kid (2 or 4 legged!).
Gosh this place was run down when DH inherited it.
It used to work, but I need to find a rubber thing (gasket?), so it will create the suction needed to pull the water up.

Another view of Grandmother Oak. As seen by the stock pump.

ES has work to do. He gets to go through and remove all those old price tags. He also is supposed to pick up the trash between the trees that he comes across. People are really bad about littering. I feel like Saginaw Grant in his famous commercials and I want to cry when I see all the trash. I'll be carrying trash bags with me for a long time to pick up the litter that washed in during the flood or has blown in. Sigh.

This tree was harvested this year. I wonder why it looks like that, I bet it got scarred on one side by someone with a weed whacker.
Fascinating the way it heals over. A few more years it would have completely enclosed that one spot.

This one was probably harvested last year, but I like the cracks and rings.

A seedling is planted near an emitter. The old stumps are left in place to prevent erosion. They eventually rot and the stump comes out. Makes great kindling wood. : - )

A view of an inter-planted field of trees. You can also see the first foot bridge that the Scouts built. The kite eating tree is there too.
Some of our trees have really long stumps don't they? We usually give the customer about 18" for a handle at the base, hence the long stumps on some of them. Those trees always were a problem and didn't want to grow right. Glad they are mostly gone now.
You can also see some seedlings planted near older trees. This is called inter-planting. Just because a customer didn't like a tree this year doesn't mean they won't buy it next year.
Some tree farms block plant, and if it doesn't sell when the rest in the block do, they are ripped out and replaced.
There are merits to both methods of planting, but we like the more natural look of the various sized trees growing together.
Besides you got to admire a tree for hanging in there for another year. : - )

The tree trimmers must have been in. I see fresh cuttings on the ground.

Every year after we harvest those trees (okay, the customer does), we inter-plant seedlings where there were trees harvested and DH always plants a brand new section. This section was planted about 3 years ago. Some will be ready to harvest this year, but most will take longer.

I can't believe that this Native Walnut is still hanging on to the tree!

Two little hummers sitting in a tree,
I wonder if they are mates?
These are feral hummers, out by the farm pond.

Okay, I'm getting tired, and my memory isn't the best, so feel free to correct me on this one. I think it's a CA Golden Finch? Does that sound right?
He sure is a beaut!

I'm still laughing about my boy's digging a trench to stop the power pole from getting undermined. It's a good thing that gravity helped them out as you can see here.

This is the last one for now, and finishes up the photos on my walk this day (29th of January).
Since we don't have Robins in So. Cal. This is as close as we can get. Cheery little birds.
WIB,
SW

Great walk.

Hello, I think I'll jump right in here. We try to go out hiking twice a week. These pictures are not my immediate neighborhood, but I consider them my world.

Last week, the Santa Monica Mountains.

It's been a banner year for Ceanothus megacarpus.

California peony

shooting stars

woolly bluecurls blooming out of season

miles and miles and acres and acres of Ceanothus megacarpus

Beautiful, Kelli! I've tried growing Woolly Blue Curls several times and they always die - I'm going to try again! Our Ceanothus are budding up, but not blooming yet. What are Shooting Stars?

Jules, I've learned so much about the trees! Thanks for adding that to your walk. It's a King Bird!!!!

This message was edited Feb 16, 2010 5:29 PM

I doubt that woolly bluecurls would survive in my yard. My yard is all clay and the ones I see in the wild are always in rocky or sandy soil. Back in the day when my yard was wild land, it would have been grassland with maybe a touch of coastal sage scrub, not chaparral. We have tried a couple different cultivars of ceanothus and they always die out after a couple years.

shooting stars - Dodecatheon clevelandii (sp?)

What beautiful photography!!