Fall Fennel - Sing it Gilbert and Sullivan (Palo Alto Baylands Field Trip)

Put on some good walking shoes.

Head to the Palo Alto Baylands.

Click on that Pirates of Penzance recording and sing along....

Foeniculi - Foenicula - Foenicula ha ha ha ha!

Fennel

It's just Fennel

No, I don't know if it's safe to eat. I wouldn't take a chance - especially as some of the nearby flowers are from the carrot family and look suspiciously like poison hemlock. Yah, that's the stuff Socrates drank and three hours later - no Socrates.

So just sing along. 

OK?

~ ~ ~

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Alto_Baylands_Nature_Preserve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foeniculum

A fan of Gilbert and Sullivan Pirates of Penzance - I thought the song was called 'Tarantula' now am wondering..... Is it called 'When the foreman bears his steel'?

When the foreman bears his steel - Tarantula!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Penzance

http://stageagent.com/shows/operetta/385/pirates-of-penzance/songs

Fall Colors: Redwood Shores (pickleweed, endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, San Francisco Bay Area)

Bay Side Pickleweed

Redwood Shores - Redwood City

Harbor for Rare Mouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_marsh_harvest_mouse

Senita People - Eat it Up - Cactus

Currently blooming at Stanford AZ Gardens

Gorgeous white flower on your right is a Senita Cactus

This was an important food for the Senita People

Cousin Martha and I hope to visit the Sonoran Desert where Senita's grow

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

https://www.desertusa.com/cactus/senita-cactus.html

Quince from my California Garden - Membrillo de California

Quince - Uno Membrillo

I feasted on you in Spain

Hala! Mucho Gusto.

The Wedding Tomato - A Black Krim

Now Fruiting- Our Commemorative  Black Krim Tomatoes *

My Rosalinda

Married - San Luis Obispo

Home to this Black Krim

* Plant Purchased at San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market
 At nearby Loma Grande Ranch, Rosalinda and Joe married

Perfume My Garden

Rosa - Blush Noisette 

Hiding in Plain Sight - Sneaky!

Perfume My Garden

Historic Beatles Music Inspire Todays Birds!

Listen, do, ah, do

Do you want to know a secret?

Do, ah, do

Do you promise not to tell?

Oh, oh, oh, oh, closer....

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" - The Beatles

Macaws

Rainforest

CA Academy of Sciences
http://calacademy.org

Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
"There are at least 17 species of macaws, and several are endangered. These playful birds are popular pets, and many are illegally trapped for that trade. The rain forest homes of many species are also disappearing at an alarming rate." Find out more at...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/group/macaws/

Sweetly Sleeping Snakes (Steinhardt Aquarium)

They don't come cuter

Black Headed Pythons

Steinhardt Aquarium

CA Academy of Sciences

Golden Gate Park

Prickly Treats

AZ Gardens, Stanford University

Can you imagine a better treat, than a Prickly Pear in full bud?

 

Scenes from Stanford Memorial Church

One of many lovely aspects of singing in Stanford Symphonic Chorus, is enjoying the stained glass windows in Memorial Church in the evening light.

Summer Previews: First Wild Rose of the Year

Pulgas Ridge, Mid-Penninsula Open Space, San Carlos CA

Pride of Madeira for a Mediterranean Climate

Beautiful Pride of Madeira
Perfect for our Mediterranean Gardens in California

Where do you find a Mediterranean Climate?
1) Southern and Southwestern Australia
2) Central Chile
3) Coastal California - and the San Francisco Bay Area of California where I live
4) Western Cape of South Africa
5) The Mediterranean Basin itself

~ ~ ~

Pride of Madeira: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echium_candicans

Mediterranean Gardens and Climate: http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/climate.html

Wildflowers: Iris douglasiana - Hiking Contra Costa

                 

My daughter and I spotted Iris douglasiuna while hiking around the Lafayette Reservioir, in the East Bay. We live across the San Francisco Bay from the East Bay, also known as Contra Costa - the Other Coast.

Native Iris say 'late spring' to me.

Mule Deer Field Trip - Hiking San Francisco Bay Area

CA Mule Deer

Walked along Sawyer Camp trail. 

Made some new friends.

~ ~ ~

Sawyer Camp Trail, San Mateo County, Just North of Silicon Valley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawyer_Camp_Trail

First Sign of Summer: Flores de Verano

Flores de Verano

Merry Maids All In a Row

Eschscholzia californica

The Bakery - A Dog's Eye View

I'll have one of those,

Two of those,

Oh, wait maybe a dozen of ....

Cactus - Fill My Heart

Stanford University- Arizona Garden

Cactus - Fill My Heart

Drink Deeply and Hold my Soul

In your Fine Needles

New York Garden Dreamscape

Brooklyn Garden Light

You Paint My Daughter's Dreamscape

New York Garden Style

California Spring: Flowering Plum

Spring Flowering Plum

On the path where my pooch walks

California!

Magnolia: Nature's Origami

Ever since I watched The Oragami Revolution on PBS...

I've started seeing my favorite flowers differently!

Between the Raindrops: Vernal Pools at Stanford University

Heading into rehearse Carmina Burana at the Bing Performing Arts Center for one of several dress rehearsals the other evening, I heard a chorus of what sounded like a thousand Pacific Chorus Frogs - odd because I couldn't think of any body of water nearby. Jasper the wonderful pooch-from-Taiwan and I returned the next day to scout out the frogs home. Just off Bing, we found glorious vernal pools. As you probably know, vernal pools are temporary. The form from rain runoff when the ground is saturated, as it is by our recent crazy California rain season. Jasper and I didn't find any frogs during the day, but he thoroughly enjoyed the tasty grasses.

San Francisco Field Trip:Academy of Sciences - Golden Gate Park

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, provides us with an indoor rainforest, macaws, fish and reptiles from around the world, and - oh yeah- an albino alligator named Claude.

Wildflowers: Lupines at Stanford University

Lupines

Stanford University is famous for it's educational resources, and Silicon Valley connections.Though less discussed,  it's also home to  some of my favorite native trees and flowers.

CA Wildflowers: How 'Bout them Blue Eyes?

Nemophila menziesii
Baby Blue Eyes

Stanford University is famous for it's educational resources, and Silicon Valley connections.Though less discussed,  it's also home to  some of my favorite native trees and flowers.

Fantasy Quilt: Toyon Time

My fantasy quilt, chock full of Plugas Ridge toyon berries, stitched up in less than an hour. Doesn't it look warm and toasty?

What's Next? My View from the March - Oakland California

Estimated 60,000 folks marched in Oakland CA

Because We Matter

Because There's a Lot to be Done

What's Next for Me? Increased Political Involvement - The Latino Vote for me - I'm connecting via the San Mateo County Democratic Party

In Between Raindrops - Succulents and More Stanford University

Can you spot my happy pooch Jasper posing in front of the Stanford family Mausoleum?
He wanted me to show him off more - so I put a great big version at the bottom of this post!

The Stanford Succulent Gardens, known officially as the "Arizona Garden", is a great walk with or without a favorite pooch alongside. We're enjoying a short break between rain storms - though you'll never hear us complaining after several years of drought! - and this outdoor arboretum is the perfect place for a low-key outing. 

That Agave Americana- also known as a Century Plant - is so exciting to see in bud! Jasper Dog and I are going to go as often as possible to keep an eye on that once in it's lifetime bloom.

~ ~ ~

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana

http://bgm.stanford.edu/groups/grounds/special/arizona

In between our California Raindrops - Golden Gate Bridge Yonder

On a long walk to Fort Point with my three favorite young guys on one of the two days we had in between rain storms. 

Crissy Fields Beach, headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. 

New Year Ferns and Fungus