Western Tanagers on Cinco de Mayo

It's my niece Hayley's twenty-first birthday (perhaps better known for Cinco de Mayo celebrations), and a beautiful pair of Western Tanagers very quietly pay our loquat tree a visit.


Click here to see the last time I caught a picture of a Western Tanager in our yard.

Hummingbird at Iris, Pond, Juniper

Hummingbirds don't usually seem interested at all in irises, but they seem to adore these super-tall yellow ones that grow in our pond. (This is the first year we've had so many blooms.)

Today I happened to have my camera when this female came to feed and have a little drink from the pond.

My favorite picture is actually this one of the same hummingbird perched in one of the Hollywood Juniper trees near the pond.

Seeing Double. Two Beards: Better than One?

This Victoria Falls iris is extra-neat. One of the falls features a double-beard! (Bee isn't fazed.) Click on the image for a better look.

Better Together: Victoria Falls & Belvi Queen Irises

Belvi Queen Iris (& Friends)

"The chatter RHUBARBed and overlapped."

— H. Sawler · One Single Hour · 2004

RHUBARB is almost as cool as a word as it is as a vegetable — especially as a vegetable with lots of sugar, butter, pie crust, and whipped cream.

English actor Cedric Hardwicke (1893-1964)
Image from: always1895.net

Everybody knows I adore the O.E.D. (and rhubarb pie). Not everyone knows that according to the O.E.D., "rhubarb" is a verb, meaning:

—  "trans. Air Force. To strafe (a target) opportunistically," as in, "Butch and I rhubarbed a French freight train bound for a Channel port."

—  "trans. To mumble (one's way) through something."

—  "intr. orig. Theatre. Of an actor or actors: to repeat the word ‘rhubarb’ so as to represent an indistinct conversation or the noise of a crowd," as in, "Cedric Hardwicke as a Blimpish general rhubarbing into his lunch about the evils of bottled horse-radish."

My Rhubarb Pie

I'm fond of horseradish, too, by the way. Especially with Baltimore-style pit beef like you get from Boog's Barbeque at Camden Yards.

But back to rhubarb. The two bulbs (or rhizomes, actually) that I planted last spring eventually died to the ground (in November), but they came back this spring, heartier than before. Quite nice, actually. If I had a few more plants, I'd have plenty for a pie. As it is, we'll have to see what happens later in the season.

Here's the early development: 2/17, 2/22, and today (3/30).

17 February 2012

22 February 2012

30 March 2012

Click here, here, or here to see my earlier posts on rhubarb or rhubarb pie. Mmm.

Snow on the Mountain

Backyard View

It was in the upper 50°s here today, but lots of snow stuck on the mountain after last night's rain. (Bird must like the view as much as I do!)

Fall Wildflowers (Deukmejian)