Where Have Those Bums Been?

No updates. No word. It's as if we simply disappeared off the face of the earth. I wish I could say we've been out doing very cool and exotic stuff, but the truth of the matter is we've been here working in the garden, taking our local hikes, baking bread, installing a new water heater, eating homegrown cherry tomatoes and basil, and goofing off.

I haven't had a recurrence of that seriously horrible headache (YAY!), but my neck is still an ongoing pain, which keeps me from doing any birdwatching or looking up at anything. Check out that crazy x-ray. I swear I curve the wrong way, and my vertebrae are getting mighty close together. That explains a lot, doesn't it? Oh well, it's a really good thing that very cool critters stay close to the ground.

Like this tree frog that was hanging out on a butternut squash leaf. A pretty good camouflage from a distance.

And this skipper that was hanging out on the potato flowers. Macro photography is so good for seeing things my eyes never catch. A lovely shiny golden antenna on this butterfly.

The California Sister butterflies have made a very robust emergence this year. We're seeing them everywhere. Always nice when they land even if it's just for a minute.

Okay, so it's not such a great thing to have this tomato hornworm eating our plants and fruit. Still it is quite an impressively large creature. I actually like the details, like little false eyes dotting its body. Destructive, yes, but interesting too.

We are planning a day hike up in the high country this coming week (the above photo is a satellite image of where we're headed!). Hope to see these beautiful lakes and granite peaks that the Sierra mountains are known for. Packing a lunch and taking the camera. Wish us luck! And thank you for stopping by and staying in touch.