San Rafael Valley, AZ ~~ Photo by Bill Haas

Saturday, July 28, 2012

YAQUINA HEAD OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA, NEWPORT, OR - Part II

THE LIGHTHOUSE GROUNDS
Basalt Cobble in the foreground --
Seeps and crevices in the cliffs are home to tiny, but not-at-all fragile, mini gardens of incredible beauty and color...

...some bold...
...and some with blossoms no bigger than a little girl's pinkie fingernail!








In the fields around the lighthouse and rimming the parking lots, there were  great masses of wind-hardy wildflowers...

...including some curious, almost comical stalks that reminded me of the "coneheads"
Salal's three stages of "bloom"; the berries are edible once they become berries.

Beach aster, clinging to the cliff.
Some kind of daisy-like daisy!
Lots of lowly Wild Cucumber...


...and plenty of elegant Queen Anne's Lace.  I caught this one in its early pink-fringed state of bloom...
...and this one in its full almost-all-white flowering stage.  
I'm still researching the name of this eye-catching plant...a tall stalk holding cream-colored (with a little pink blush) giant pompoms made up of little, individual pompoms.
OK, so for now it's name is "Creamy Pompom-on-a-Stick."  









And the best and brightest flower of them all, my sister Janet!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

YAQUINA HEAD OUTSTANDING NATURAL AREA, NEWPORT, OR

(Yes, that is truly how it's referred to.)

THE LIGHTHOUSE  (Maintained by BLM)












Outside in...
...Inside out.


Its dizzying, five-story staircase, not for the feint of heart!

Monday, July 23, 2012

SAY AAHHHHH!

 FOG!  Mother Nature's air conditioning.  The Oregon Coast isn't just pretty.  It's COOL and pretty.  And it's the perfect getaway for people with Scottish blood who LOVE drizzle and mist and fog!

This is the Yaquina Bridge,
Newport, Oregon
From Land











and from Sea

Monday, July 16, 2012

SMILES...

...from my friend Jeanie's kitchen:

"The only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house"!!

...from her T-Shirt

"Let's eat Grandma."
"Let's eat, Grandma."
(PUNCTUATION SAVES LIVES!)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

A BIT OF NOSTALGIA...

TO DISTRACT YOU FOR A MINUTE -- check out the "Museum of Endangered Sound."

http://savethesounds.info/

Sunday, July 1, 2012

POPPIES & PRICKLIES

Matilija Poppies and Prickly Pears, growing side by side along the road just west of El Portal, CA, like it hot and dry. 


 Like a swirling Flamenco dancer's skirt...can you hear castanets? 

Thursday, June 28, 2012