June First

Wow, it really is June!  Already.

And it's Friday, the first one in the month.

Time for Friday Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Now that summer break has arrived, I am excitedly organizing my summer plans.  Trips to visit family, days off to play at the beach, books and more books to read, sweaters and more sweaters to knit. 

1. I began my fun filled week with a walk along the beach in Ventura where the wind surfers were out in the water taking advantage of the high winds.

The walk included this guy, Lord Surrey, my favorite pit bull puppy.

2. An advantage of having summer break is the freedom to take a day trip during the week.  On Tuesday, The Professor and I drove to Claremont (east of Los Angeles) to visit the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden (RSABG) which features native California flora.

Sometimes RSABG places scupltures in meadows and small gardens.  This summer there are BUGS.  Big bugs.

I kept thinking how delighted our little ones would be to see them.

The garden also features unusual native plants such as this boojum tree.

Manzanitas are not uncommon but their red bark is distinctive and truly stunning.

The garden is situated in the foothills of the San Gabrial Mountains which you can see in the background behind the Our Lady's Candles.

3. The following may not seem like a favorite event for the week.  What I value about it is The Professor's steady and calm actions when he discovered this guy behind our house after we returned from our excursion -- a young rattle snake about 14 inches long.  He was just basking in the early evening sun and seemed disinclined to move.  Since we couldn't get at any defensive or offensive weapons (like rakes and shovels) without risking disturbing him, we called 911 to contact animal control.  A fire truck arrived rather quickly and the five firemen expertly and carefully executed their duty to remove the snake.  That's my fave--prompt and serious removal.  Earlier in the spring, our local newspaper had published an article warning residents who live near the mountains (we do) to be aware that this has been a season of unusually high numbers of baby rattlers hatched (abundant rain two years ago=more baby rabbits last year=more mama rattlers hatching more babies this year).  As you can imagine, we have and will be very careful and cautious working in our garden from now on.

4. There are happy animals in my garden, too, such as this feral ginger cat who decided that my Iceberg rosebush was a delightful spot to grab a little nap as long as I kept my distance.

5. What flowers say 'Southern California Summer' to you?  In my garden, I know it's almost summer when the jasmine and the hibiscus are blooming. 

Note:  This week I discovered proof that people have been taking my photos and posting them on other websites.  I have been aware for a long time that this is a wide spread problem on the internet and I suspected that my photos were being 'appropriated'.  When I was checking my 'sitemeter' account, I followed some trails and found my photos on more than one site. My reason for mentioning this is to ask what you do if/when you find your pictures posted without any permission from you or credit given for your work?  I have a notice on my sidebar that all my photos are copyrighted but obviously that doesn't mean anything to people who take them and post them.  I would appreciate your thoughts/opinions/ideas/suggestions about what to do.