Special Day

I awoke early this morning for my time with God. I read a chapter of one of my favorite books about another morning when Jesus was on earth and sensed again my need of Him. As I finished reading, the sky blossomed with color. It is a special day. This is what I read:

"God takes men as they are, and educates them for His service, if they will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into the soul, will quicken all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind that is devoted unreservedly to God develops harmoniously, and is strengthened to comprehend and fulfill the requirements of God. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and character. Through a connection with Christ he will have clearer and broader views. His discernment will be more penetrative, his judgment better balanced. He who longs to be of service to Christ is so quickened by the life-giving power of the Sun of Righteousness that he is enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of God." - from "The Call by the Sea," Desire of Ages by Ellen White

More Wildflowers

I think this year will be a good one for wildflowers here in Southern California because of all the rain we have had. Our little hill is coming alive with color. One part of our hill is filled with little white forget-me-nots and purple fillary. Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon (while wearing shorts because it was nearly 80 degrees!) Another part is covered with the yellow flowers that Alyssa brought in last week. I can't wait to explore the hills above our house to see what else is beginning to bloom. On our property alone I counted six different wildflowers that are blooming now.

Baby Octopus!

This afternoon we again visited the tidepools, anxious to see what has become of "our" octopus. While my friend watched our little ones on the beach, I went out, broke open a mussel and dangled it in front of the opening where she has lived. Nothing. I kept trying for several minutes. Still nothing. Then a tiny little tentacal reached out cautiously from under the rock. It was only about four or five inches long and as big around as a piece of white string. The hermit crabs were pulling on each end of the mussle piece, but I helped them let go so the tiny octopus could get it. It slowly reached another tentacle out over the edge of an empty mussle shell I had put the meat in. It grabbed it and slowly drew it back in. I think it was trying hard not to be noticed. It was so tiny, the suction cups looked like tiny little hairs. Here you can see two tentacles, one reaching over the shell and taking the piece of orange mussel. I didn't see the original adult at all, but I think this small one was too big to have just hatched. In any case, I'm glad someone else is moving in.

Then I took my turn watching the kids while my friend went to have a look. She didn't see the baby one. The piece I had given it probably was all it could eat for a while. But she did see an adult octopus in the second location we had seen back at Christmas time - only about two feet away from where I saw the baby one. Perhaps that is why the little one was trying so hard not to be seen!

Wildflowers in Bloom!

Alyssa came into the house this afternoon holding something behind her back and told me to close my eyes.

When I opened them she was holding out a boquet of little wild flowers she had picked and brought in.

We put them in a vase where everyone can enjoy them.

Now we have oodles of them blooming all over our property. They are such a rich yellow-orange color with little orange throats. I'm not sure what they are. I feel lucky I get to decorate my house with real wildflowers in winter! (For more Wildflowers in Winter, visit Elizabeth Joy's blog)

Wildflowers in Winter - Part 2

My friend at Wildflower Morning has a new challenge for the week in her "Wildflowers in Winter" post. This time we are to post images of flowers in winter. I live in one of the few places where we actually have flowers in winter. I took my camera out yesterday afternoon and captured a few images of wildflowers growing on our property.

All the wildflowers (aka weeds when they are in my garden, but allowed to grow freely elsewhere on our five acres) I could find currently blooming were yellow which makes the cloudy, rainy days especially brighter. I have also included two images of flowers in my garden that are still blooming even at this time of year. The white flowers (2nd picture below) are Argyranthemum "Neptune." The pink flowers are Argyranthemum frutescens "Pink Elf." The yellow is Euryops, and the blue is Felicia amelloides "Blue Marguerite."Many of my flowers lie dormant at the moment, but promises of good things to come are visible. The wintering leaves of my lobelia, "Cardinal Flower" are one example.

Planting Fruit Trees

Today we started planting our orchard. We have the holes for the trees and trenches for irrigation dug, and most of our 19 fruit trees purchased. Now we have to lay the irrigation lines and plant the trees. I am looking forward to having fruit on my own trees to pick when they are ripe instead of getting green-picked fruit at the grocery store. There's nothing like freshly picked, tree-ripened fruit. Yum!

Rainbows

One of the advantages of living on a hill where we do is that we frequently see rainbows when it rains. This afternoon as the sun shone through the clouds, we saw a beautiful, complete rainbow that was even double on one end. I couldn't get the whole rainbow in the picture, but this is what one end looked like.

Tidepool Update

The ultra-low tides will soon be gone during daytime hours until late fall and winter. So we have to try to get in as many visits as possible before they are gone. Over the weekend, we had opportunity to visit again.

We found our octopus again, although this time she was very shy and reluctant to show herself and not very hungry. Perhaps she had already been fed before we got there, or perhaps she is guarding some eggs back in her lair. We suspect the second octopus we saw last time was there to breed. If indeed that is the case, she may well have some eggs, and unfortunately it also means that her days are numbered. Octopuses only breed once in their lifetime, and once the eggs hatch (about two months later), the female dies. While guarding her eggs, they typically don't eat very much, if at all. Their lifespan is only around two years or less. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

We did find two sea hares.

We also found another sea slug (navanax inermis) like the little one we found last time.

We found a shell that a lobster molted. It was amazing to see how wonderfully designed a lobster's exoskeleton is! It's perfectly designed with tiny little hairs along the joints to keep sand and other debris out so the joints move smoothly. It's also amazing how the lobster can pull itself out of the old skin without hurting itself.

Wildflowers in Winter

A friend of mine has started a "Wildfowers in Winter" project on her blog. She has invited people to put their favorite wildflower pictures on their blogs while we wait for Spring to spring.

For me, it's a little different. Winters in Southern California are my favorite time of year. The hills are finally green, the skies are clear with very little smog or haze, and temperatures are cool instead of deathly hot. So I'm not anxious for winter to end - here anyway. Having lived in the north for several years, I can relate to the longing for Spring, the browsing through flower catalogs and dreaming about what new posies I would add to my flower gardens. Here, I still have flowers blooming in my garden. But I thought I would add a few of my favorite wildflower pictures I took back in 2005 when California had so much rain everything bloomed profusely. We took a trip to Death Valley and saw the once-in-a-lifetime wildflower show. Incredible!

Gravel Ghost - Atrichoseris platyphylla
Desert gold - Gerea canescens
Purple mat - Nama demissum

Some sort of evening primrose - not sure which kind

This picture was taken in King's Canyon. I'm not sure what type of lilies these were, but they were beautiful backlit. The picture at the top of my blog was also taken in King's Canyon. The flowers are a penstamon and some sort of mustard-looking flower. Not sure of either name.

Another Visit to the Tidepools

Yesterday was another ultra-low tide in early afternoon, so we joined some other family and friends for another visit to the tidepools. Again, the weather was fabulous - sunny, fairly warm (60's) and hardly windy at all down on the beach. We were anxious to see if we could find our octopus friend again. We easily found the hideout, broke open a mussel, and dangled a small piece in the water. Nothing happened. I moved it closer to the opening and waited. Again nothing. I pushed it just inside the opening, wondering if maybe nobody was home. Then I saw about four inches of tenticle reach out and grab the piece with lightening quickness. I knew we were in luck, and now the octopus knew food was around. We just had to be patient and try to lure it out so everyone could see it. I again dangled a piece in the water and wiggled it around with a stick. It started to come out, reaching with two tentacles. We could even see the body and its eyes. I moved the mussel farther away to see if I could lure it out further. It just reached further with its tentacles. But then we got the surprise of our lives. Just to the right, another tentacle reached out from under another rock! We had found another octopus! We were so excited! The second one was in a hole only about two feet away from the first one. We got pretty good looks at both of them. In this picture the first octopus is visible at the top. You can see three tentacles curled around and one eye. Because no suction cups are visible, she is really camouflaged, but maybe you can make it out just above the sandy area. We also saw the usuals like sea stars and sea anemones. We also saw a school of dolphins out a ways swimming north along the coast.

I also saw a tiny sea slug that was very pretty. He was only about an inch long. When I got home, I looked on the computer to find what kind he was. He is a navanax inermis. (If you want to see what he looked like, you can visit this website.)

Jonathan went to sleep in the wagon.

The sunset was beautiful. God has made such amazing and interesting beauty for us to enjoy.

Christmas Lights

One reason I love the Christmas season is the beauty of it. I love the lights people use to decorate their houses and buildings. Beginning after Thanksgiving, whenever we drive at night Alyssa also enjoys looking for them. It's one of our favorite things to do this time of year. Last week we drove down to the historic Mission Inn in downtown Riverside to take a look at their lights and other decorations. They go all out with thousands of lights, moving figures, carolers on each balcony, and other decorations. We were joined by many hundreds of other people, so it was hard to get around, but Alyssa and Jonathan were fascinated by it all.
Alyssa takes her doll Celine with her everywhere.

Our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is one of our Christmas traditions we started a couple of years ago. All the ornaments on the tree represent Bible stories or verses. Beginning on December 1 when we put up the tree, we read a story or verse or two for our family worships and then the kids - Alyssa at this point - put the ornaments on the tree to represent what we read. She loves it, and it makes our Christmas tree both beautiful and meaningful while keeping our focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Many of the ornaments can represent more than story or verse. Every year when I go shopping I keep my eyes open for a few new ornaments, and I have a list of things I want to look for. If you have any ideas, leave me a comment below. Here is a picture of our tree this year.