Al Hansen
Well-known member
I love springtime just because of the weather change, new life, and maybe the promise of another good year for a duck hatch.
In the past 3 days or so I grabbed my camera whenever possible and took a few pictures around the house. The weather has been wonderful save for a few days when we had those horrible wind storms that eventually caused such havoc to the states east and northeast of us. Because of the wind, we have noticed tremendous amounts of dust/dirt in the air that it obliterates the view of the mountains that we have. It was so bad this week that after the storm passed through us, the following day, with no wind, you still couldn't see anything.
Our kennel, which now needs some attention because Chance decided to chew on a couple of boards. I guess I didn't add enough red chili powder to the paint. You can better believe I will make sure to do this.
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This is the Ocotillo plant that we transplanted in the summer of 2000. It was about 2 1/2 feet tall with just 3 small stalks. Funny what a little bit of water will do for it. In the wild, if there is a drought, the plant will always produce the flowers but not necessarily the leaves, thus conserving the meager amounts of water that it has to survive. About 3 weeks ago we received a half inch of rain and shortly after that the leaves popped out.
Ocotillo=O-ko-tee-yo
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I then decided to walk into our courtyard and look at some of Bev's magic. She had just watered them and I love what the camera can capture with that. It also made me think of the most recent rainfall amounts that Albuquerque has received this year. They mentioned that April was one of the driest on record because they only got .01 or 1/100 of an inch of rain. How many drops will make 1/100th of an inch? Yes, in the desert southwest, they fine tune the precipitation measurements.
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This Mr. Lincoln rose has a heavenly aroma.
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One day I had to go over to the pond and add a little bit of water to it.
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Right next to the pond is this magnificent mesquite. At this time of the year it is now producing flowers. The one thing that you never want to mess with are the thorns. This past duck season, Habi, stepped on one and her paw had swollen so quickly that I had to pick her up and put her back into the truck prior to our duck hunt. That happened to be Preston's first duck hunt, so the pup, Chip, had to take over that morning.
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I do know that cattle love eating the sweet bean pods after they have formed.
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Princess Diana
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Our Lady of Guadelupe
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Double Delight
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My favorite rose and I forgot its name---darn.
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We planted 3 bushes of Red Ribbons in front of the office window.
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One of our Elberta peach trees is beginning to look promising. It is amazing that any of them are still left hanging especially after the violent wind storm we had.
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Words escape me to try and tell you how good these were.
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Our blackberry bushes are loaded and just looking at them now makes me begin to dream of them on vanilla icecream or even on cereal in the morning. They are not too shabby when making "smoothies" either.
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In just a few days all of our desert willow trees will begin to bloom. I can hardly wait.
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Took this shot of a female black-chinned hummingbird. I was pleasantly surprised that the wing was translucent enough to allow me to see her body.
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This is the male black-chinned hummer who is smaller than its mate.
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We found out that the Bullock's orioles love to eat grape jam so I set up a hanging basket to place a small bowl of jam in. Then from our bedroom sliding glass door, I took these pictures.
male Bullock's oriole
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female Bullock's oriole
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Beware to any creature wanting to get close enough to this flower on the cholla cactus. It is about to bloom and has many surprises awaiting.
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To this day, I am still wondering how a western jackrabbit can eat a pear cactus to get to its water supply.
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This shot only reminds me that I have work to do.
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Life is good when surrounded by puppies.
Al
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In the past 3 days or so I grabbed my camera whenever possible and took a few pictures around the house. The weather has been wonderful save for a few days when we had those horrible wind storms that eventually caused such havoc to the states east and northeast of us. Because of the wind, we have noticed tremendous amounts of dust/dirt in the air that it obliterates the view of the mountains that we have. It was so bad this week that after the storm passed through us, the following day, with no wind, you still couldn't see anything.
Our kennel, which now needs some attention because Chance decided to chew on a couple of boards. I guess I didn't add enough red chili powder to the paint. You can better believe I will make sure to do this.
This is the Ocotillo plant that we transplanted in the summer of 2000. It was about 2 1/2 feet tall with just 3 small stalks. Funny what a little bit of water will do for it. In the wild, if there is a drought, the plant will always produce the flowers but not necessarily the leaves, thus conserving the meager amounts of water that it has to survive. About 3 weeks ago we received a half inch of rain and shortly after that the leaves popped out.
Ocotillo=O-ko-tee-yo
I then decided to walk into our courtyard and look at some of Bev's magic. She had just watered them and I love what the camera can capture with that. It also made me think of the most recent rainfall amounts that Albuquerque has received this year. They mentioned that April was one of the driest on record because they only got .01 or 1/100 of an inch of rain. How many drops will make 1/100th of an inch? Yes, in the desert southwest, they fine tune the precipitation measurements.
This Mr. Lincoln rose has a heavenly aroma.
One day I had to go over to the pond and add a little bit of water to it.
Right next to the pond is this magnificent mesquite. At this time of the year it is now producing flowers. The one thing that you never want to mess with are the thorns. This past duck season, Habi, stepped on one and her paw had swollen so quickly that I had to pick her up and put her back into the truck prior to our duck hunt. That happened to be Preston's first duck hunt, so the pup, Chip, had to take over that morning.
I do know that cattle love eating the sweet bean pods after they have formed.
Princess Diana
Our Lady of Guadelupe
Double Delight
My favorite rose and I forgot its name---darn.
We planted 3 bushes of Red Ribbons in front of the office window.
One of our Elberta peach trees is beginning to look promising. It is amazing that any of them are still left hanging especially after the violent wind storm we had.
Words escape me to try and tell you how good these were.
Our blackberry bushes are loaded and just looking at them now makes me begin to dream of them on vanilla icecream or even on cereal in the morning. They are not too shabby when making "smoothies" either.
In just a few days all of our desert willow trees will begin to bloom. I can hardly wait.
Took this shot of a female black-chinned hummingbird. I was pleasantly surprised that the wing was translucent enough to allow me to see her body.
This is the male black-chinned hummer who is smaller than its mate.
We found out that the Bullock's orioles love to eat grape jam so I set up a hanging basket to place a small bowl of jam in. Then from our bedroom sliding glass door, I took these pictures.
male Bullock's oriole
female Bullock's oriole
Beware to any creature wanting to get close enough to this flower on the cholla cactus. It is about to bloom and has many surprises awaiting.
To this day, I am still wondering how a western jackrabbit can eat a pear cactus to get to its water supply.
This shot only reminds me that I have work to do.
Life is good when surrounded by puppies.
Al
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