Fun Images - Just Looking Around

This is just a fun collection of somewhat disjointed images. Some colorful and others showing different locations. Maybe something will bring a smile to your face.

This is a deceptive decoration in front of a home in our neighborhood. We have in our travels seen a myriad of stacked, somewhat flat and balanced rocks. We chatted with the owner about this arrangement and he told us there was a hole drilled down through the center of the rocks and a metal bar inserted there to hold the stack together. He also went on to explain that the round ball object on top was actually a bowling ball that he had glued the smaller rocks onto. Interesting albeit deceptive arrangement

We were walking through the neighborhood one morning and found this large turkey just walking the streets. It is a rather imposing bird. Later we chatted with a lady who had been trying to get into her car and the turkey kept chasing her around the vehicle. She finally got in and drove off. Glad he is up at the other end of the community. Turkeys can do an incredible amount of damage to your garden and flowers.

One day while driving on a back road up at higher elevation we saw this squirrel. This is a Douglas Squirrel sometimes called a Chickaree which is a collective name for the Pine Squirrel, Douglas Squirrel and American Red Squirrel. It sure has worked over the pine cone and did not seem the least bothered by our presence.

While walking through the neighborhood one morning we noticed this arrangement. Not sure if it was intentional or if the flowers and branches just happened. It seemed an interesting image to us.

The next three images were taken in Ukiah, Oregon. We were out for a drive just to look around one day and have lunch at “The Thicket”, a restaurant/bar there that we have been to before and like. In Ukiah there is a motel/hotel called Antlers Inn, a friend of ours, Patty Lynch, had stayed here one night when caught in a blizzard while out traveling. This is the front of the establishment and it is for sale in case anyone wants to get into the hotel business. Keep in mind that Ukiah is a small town and the winters can be harsh but if you want, go for it.

Unfortunately “The Thicket” was closed on the day we were there but a lady in the grocery store mentioned “Penny’s” in the park was open. Penny’s is this food trailer that serves a variety of hamburgers and sandwiches of various kinds. The food was quite good. “Penny’s” even had available Wi-Fi which surprised us. Great option for lunch.

While we sat eating our blue cheese burger a fellow pulled up on his John Deere to mow some of the grass area in the little park. The dog rode on the front of the mower staying in the same position the entire time he mowed in the park. It must have been a fun ride for the dog.

This is a peony flower. Very colorful and extremely intricate. There are a lot of peony here and we are always surprised how beautiful they are and how short their life span is. They seem to die off rather quickly but wonderful while they last.

We are told this is a Chinese Peony. It is quite a different looking plant than the regular peony.

Here is a closeup view of the Chinese Peony, certainly lovely to look at.

There are a lot of roses here. This is a really pretty lavender rose, very large blossoms.

Can you see the small spider? It is really well camouflaged. A bee was buzzing around the flower and the spider would move off and then come back to this position. Fascinating to watch.

Just in case you could not find the little spider it is here, circled in red. We said it was very well camouflaged.

We will jump momentarily to fill in an item regarding the Bluebird Box adventure from a previous post. Here is a tree swallow that we had mentioned before. They use some of the Bluebird Nest Boxes that were intended for Bluebirds. That is fine, they need to live too and they eat a lot of bugs. We will just put up a few more boxes.

For reference here is a tree swallow in flight, very aerobatic.

This shows a nest box that has been utilized by tree swallows. Note the feathers used to partially line the inside. Bluebirds do not use feathers. It is fascinating to ponder, where do they get the feathers? Most interesting.

Shifting subjects a bit, actually quite a bit, here is an Iris we saw in the neighborhood. It is an almost black iriis. Quite striking in its unusual color.

Another Iris also somewhat unusual in color and very beautiful. No we do not walk around the neighborhood cuttng flowers for our table we just like to see and enjoy the color and the beauty.

Two American White Pelicans just resting on a pond in the bright sunlight. Their posture and the reflection just presented a peaceful image for us.

We hope you enjoyed this disjointed look around at various subjects and images.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best - Stay safe - Be Well - George & Deanna