There’s far too much yellow star thistle growing along the American River bike trail. While the flowers may look pretty, these plants have some fearsome spikes — it’s definitely no fun getting these stuck into your socks! Sadly, it’s nearly impossible to completely eradicate such invasive species. And since the bumblebees apparently seem to love them, it’s probably a losing […]
My entry for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week: Letter R – Needs to have at least six letters the letter R in the word.
If you follow this blog at all, you will know that I share a lot of old family photos, from those dating back to the early 1950s when my Dad was stationed in Japan to ones I shot myself in the 1980s and 1990s. So when I stumbled across this one-hour episode of California’s Gold, I knew I had to […]
A couple of weeks ago I posted an image of the Bayley house, a historic brick structure that sits beside Highway 49 not far from the town of Cool in El Dorado County. Last Friday, I went back for a closer look. Although the property is currently fenced off and seems abandoned, various attempts at restoration have been ongoing since […]
The theme for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Hats.
We stopped in so many different places along the way in our travels from the various border crossings (Ciudad Juarez, Nogales, Laredo) to Mexico City and back. The highways were often long, narrow, and lacking in interesting scenery — at least from my childish perspective. On the city streets we drove over bumpy cobblestones and the dreaded speedbumps known as […]
I always love photographing Common Mergansers; there’s something about these diving ducks, especially the females with their spiky red heads, that appeals to me. The other day I was relaxing in a secluded spot along the river when I heard a lot of splashing nearby and spotted this very busy mom with her single duckling. It made me wonder what […]
My hike yesterday took me through some truly lovely countryside, along the base of foothills near Highway 49 and later skirting the banks of the South Fork of the American River. I had so many things to look at — but near the river I kept encountering butterflies of more variety than I’m used to seeing. They can be very […]