It's been bugging me...

1. Been busy as an I-don't-have-time-to-ID-it bumblebee, lately (working)...

2. And finally got started on my garden last night...

3. So, now I have to change the daytime chicken situation

(totally neglected garden = Chickens-running-wild-but-safe Zone until now),

4. And BEFORE we leave Fri for a music festival (hello, camping-PACKING!!),

5. I have more plants to put into the ground,

6. & must try & establish an automatic watering system,

7. plus MUST run required super-overdue errands

8. so I'm just gonna post these rando things for you now,

"Where's that nectar lever?"

(stunning legs & antennae, eh? yet another bug I don't have time to ID, I assume it's a checkerspot of some sort)

9. but, if you get bored & want bits of biobabblings,

I DO tweet most days (except this weekend),

peruse Pinterest frequently (pretty pictures please me),

tend to tumbl photos when strapped for time,

or facebook fling bonus photos or fascinating bio-fables.

"mmm...."

(p.s. check out that GORGEOUS abdomen!)

10. LOVE you all LOTS,

and hope your spring is springing in a sprightly way.

Or, if you're a so-hemi* person,

I hope your fall is falling fabulously.

Please feel free to share what you're busy with right now. =)

I know I'm not the only swamped person.

I know it.

In the meantime, remember to drink plenty of water,

get good sleep, and stretch out that bod, once in a while. =)

xoxobb

*so-hemi = southern hemisphere, naturally. =)

Quiz answer plus power petal & bug hits for your soul...

Photo by Kropsoq

This is an ootheca.

Per Merriam-Webster, "a firm-walled and distinctive egg case (as of a cockroach)."

In this instance (above & my instance which inspired said quiz),

it's a mantid or mantis egg case.

Every time I'd see one in our yard,

"ootheca" would pop to mind,

tho' I really wasn't sure that's what it was.

Apparently, my brain is smarter than I am. =)

Speaking of smart:

Sara NAILED it, exactly--woo-hoo!! We bow to your brain.

Imperfect and Tense and Jen were totally on the right eggy track,

Sue's guess was delightful (& seasonally appropriate),

and Cindy's guess (a rock with round things popping out of it)

was EERILY close (rock-hard egg case). =)

Thank you to ALL quiz participants: YOU ROCK!!

Flowers 'n' bugs: obsessed

Delightful hits of color, pattern, and bugs

I've been indulging in via our irises & their fans.

 (how cute is that little buggy shadow?)

teeny weeny invertebrates

 crab spider (I'm pretty sure) eating said teeny weeny invertebrates

 *munch munch*

Can you see how, if one is hyper visual,

a color & pattern freak, and a giant fan of bugs,

these irises and their complement are a special kind of heaven?

Oh, and they smell amazing.

Can't stop; won't stop.

Sunday I ordered seven more irises.

I can pick them up in 5 months.

Then plant & wait another 6 months to see them bloom.

This is my new obsession.

I already know 7 more I want to order next year.

*sigh*

I think I'm going to have to start earning more money to support my habit.

Is it just me? Anyone else similarly obsessed by something?

xoxoxobb

poppies & popcorn flowers: 1 shot post

California poppies, popcorn flower, South Fork of the Merced River

This shot makes me dizzy, in a good kind of way.

From March, 2012, Hite's Cove Trail.

Will be working lots the next month or two,

so may be posting photos from the past,

just to keep the colors changing here.

And precious few words.

Which, personally, I like as a blog-browser. =)

If you want to launch your guess re: vocab quiz (last post),

please comment on that post ASAP.

I'll post the answer soon...

xoxoxo!

Birthday hike in Yosemite, & random vocab quiz! =)

Happy Birthday to me!

Therefore, Bear & I hiked in Yosemite Valley today.

Other years we bike.

I ADORE biking in Yosemite Valley--it's the perfect scale for it.

However, bikes are still dusty from last year, so we hoofed it.

Here's a hint of how glorious the dogwood is right now:

It's a VERY good year for this tree-o-white-blossoms,

so if it's an option, I strongly recommend you get here ASAP.

We hiked up the west side of Mirror Lake Loop,

where we saw forest delights:

There are deciduous forests, and there are delicious forests.

This is a delicious forest. 

 Wild ginger. Check out that GORGEOUS glossy sheen. Phew!

More stunning dogwood flowers.

It's like passing by a supermodel on the trail;

can you REALLY ignore it?!? 

No.

Cool forest fungi

 Hubba, hubba.

Having crossed the river to the east side of Tenaya Creek,

we alit upon the source of the pungent trail decor...

 Might I say, though, nice buns!

On our way out,

we stopped to look at a fungus-laden tree Bear likes.

We were forced to park in this dreary spot

(panning from right to left).

*sigh*

Thank you, Yosemite & National Park Service.

You ROCKED it, hard.

Okay: QUIZ TIME!!

This week my eyes have landed on an outdoor object,

and every time, a word pops into my head:

ootheca

Discuss.

Please tell me what you think this means,

without looking it up,

and if you have ZERO clue,

please fling the wildest guess you can fabricate.

I heart correct guesses* (& bow to your brain),

but those who bravely chuck forth

creative BS guesses

have a special place in my heart.

=)

You know who you are.

xoxoxobb

*spot on "guesses" WILL be posted, but not right away,
so other folks can take a stab at it, unencumbered by the facts. =)

Swarm!

While, yes, it is WARM, so I might say " 'swarm!",

what I mean is there is a SWARM of BEES

in a small Ponderosa pine,

outside my garage,

RIGHT NOW!

All those tiny dots are NOT dirt specks.
They are bees!

Crap lighting, but you get the gist.

Same bees, hours later:

Freaky day.

Earlier chased a bobcat (who'd attacked our hens) away,

so now our hens are, sadly, confined to coop,

for their own good.

For now.

And, so far, the bees have issued no demands,

so all is well.

For now...

=)

xoxobb

p.s. Next morning:

Woo-hoo! =)

I'm a stick; don't see me... (quiz 4 u)

 I will hold my legs next to my side, and not move.

Rock as pillow, 'cause I'm tough.

 I believe this is a San Diego alligator lizard, Elgaria multicarinata webbii,

based on the distribution map here, and eye color.

If you check out that map, it's cool, 'cause I learned these guys

IN San Diego, then moved up north, RIGHT where they extend north.

=) An old friend.

Though this guy was LONG, but not big,

so I think "old" is inaccurate.

Because of my time spent inventorying herps,

I have a habit of looking at the tail of any lizard to see

if their tail is the original, or if it's regenerated.

If you see the nice pattern going all the way down the tail, it's original.

If the pattern basically stops at the tail and becomes just plain, it's regenerated.

QUIZ: So, what do you think? Original work, or re-tread?

This guy was right in the trail.

I 100% did NOT see it, but Bear did, and pointed it out.

Total stick impression.

I had been looking for mushrooms (in vain) to the side of the trail,

'cause that's where I've seen them, frequently.

Not now. Too dry.

But, it's never too dry for an alligator lizard.

Tough puppies.

And this creature NEVER MOVED during the photo shoot.

Good one, lizard! You won.

You're a stick, and we are leaving you alone.

xobb

More shots from Big Bend & Am. SW...

Quick quiz: If this was a wren,

what kind of wren might it be??

Yup. Cactus wren! =)

Fun w/photography at night in a moving vehicle.

Now that I've lightened it up, I now see the video store is "ADULTS ONLY."

Classy. However, the moon was GLORIOUS.

At the Rio Grande in Big Bend NP.

Assuming this is cliff swallow housing.

Why minimalists love the desert:

 Yum.

I assume this is some kinda desert mallow.

It was adjacent to the ol' Rio Grande in Big Bend NP.

Beautiful tree at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. 

 Shot I took when it was nigh onto night.

Long exposure, rental car holding camera.

But I'm super glad I took these shots,

'cause it was the only time I got to see this super interesting area. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gorgeous. I know.

Got anything I can kill?"

 Harris's Hawk.

Gila woodpecker totally ignoring me.

 And looking SO BEAUTIFUL!

 White-winged dove.

 Dig the cheek/neck sheen.

Female cardinal looking SO coy and adorable.

The flirtiest band-tailed pigeon I've ever encountered.

Tippy top of a boojum tree (Fouquieria columnaris), or cirio.

This was all late Feb, early March.

Especially for you folks still in snow,

hope the virtual sunshine helped. =)

xobb