SPRING IS HERE!!!Well, it's been a while. I've been busy at the dyepot readying my inventory for Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon mid-June. Hunkered down is what I've been. It's less than 3 months away and I can't believe how this year has flown by so far. But . . . daylight savings time was last weekend. Oh how I love it to be lighter in the evening. Here is the first work day of daylight savings. We actually got to go take a walk down at our lovely Dana Point Harbor after the end of the work day. Did I mention, we are so spoiled.
Everyone was out in their boats, on their paddle boards enjoying the evening.
And could there be a better sunset, with Catalina Island as a backdrop?
So, the first day of Spring was yesterday and it was warm enough to have dinner on the patio.(Believe me, this won't last.) We had been talking all week about driving out to the desert to see the wildflowers. Since there has been an abundance of rain in the desert this year, that makes for awesome wildflowers. This morning, we decided to make the trek out to the Anza Borrego State Park. One of our favorite spots in the park is Coyote Canyon. We parked and walked about 2 miles down a dirt road/trail to the Desert Gardens and on the way the following pictures show what we saw.
We were stunned at the beauty. And all of the citrus groves were in bloom, too, so the fragrance of orange blossoms perfumed the air. Here are some little delicate white flowers.
Blue and yellow flowers.
These large bushes of yellow flowers were everywhere, all over the hills.
Purple lupines in among varied yellow and white flowers.
Dark pink desert verbena in amongst various white flowers.
Vibrant yellow flowers and verbena.This big reddish boulder was almost like a grotto with yellow everywhere.
The ground was blanketed with flowers.
A desert lily.
Many of the cacti had not bloomed yet, but we did see some vibrant pink blooms.
Note the blanket of white button flowers on the hillside behind this pink cactus.
And finally, we reach the Desert Gardens -- what I call the Ocotillo forest. Beautiful, majestic Ocotillo with red flame flowers everywhere.
Close up of the flowers.
Close view of the Ocotillo trunk.
And totally amazing -- this Ocotillo laying over on its side, dead? well, flowers were blooming out of it. The desert comes alive in Spring.
What a lovely day and hike. I feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to work tomorrow. I hope to be a better blogger in the days to come. Well . . . we'll see. I'm working on some fun stuff and sometimes blogging just gets put at the bottom of the list.
