Waiting for Pelican

She went down to the old bridge on the river.

She was looking for the Pelican, who comes to fish with the bridge people.
But no one was there.

"Where are you Pelican? I've come to see you."
She looked far up the river and her eyes flew over the still water.
She looked down into the deep mirror below, as the river flowed underneath her and continued west.

She hoped that the Pelican would come, first in the sky and then, maybe, in the other place called reflection.
The river gave no answers. The bridge waited silently....
And the water continued downstream.
She sighed and returned to her mountain.
"I will come, again, tomorrow. Pelican will be here and we will fish this river together."

What's in the Canon?

I have a Canon Power Shot sx130 camera that I use for backup with my Nikon D40. I use it when I want to carry something light and easy or when I forget to charge my Nikon's batteries and the big camera just dies on me, unexpectedly. The Canon is one of the best point and shoot cameras I have ever had. I don't use it all the time. It's usually in a little felted bag tucked into my purse. It's my "discreet" camera... my "not so obvious" camera.
Every once in a while I remember that I took a picture, but I can't find it. That's when I say to myself, "Oh, maybe it's in the Canon." and, low and behold, there is the picture I've been looking for... trapped in a memory card inside the Canon.
So, this time, I was looking for the "Vulture" shots that I took recently and decided to check the little Canon. They were there, but so were a few others that I had completely forgotten about.  Like the day Cutter walked into the living room sporting a new look.

I don't have any idea how he did this, but both of his huge, corgi ears were tucked back in nice, neat folds. He must have been rolling on the rug and the ears just got stuck. Too funny. I grabbed the Canon and got one fairly clear photo of this phenomena.
And then there was the day that I decided to brush Annie because she was starting to look like a motley farm cat. I brushed her and used an animal comb on the fur balls that were matted on her back. She looked so good when I was done but her hair was everywhere.

It looked like some animal had lost its life.
I brushed a ton of hair out of Miss Annabel. She loves to be brushed. She gets kind of wild and crazy about it. Then she wanted to thank me and rubbed against me to show her affection.

But. "Annie! What did you do? I had you all brushed and you looked beautiful."

She rolled over again and laid down in all the leaves and dirt. She didn't stay beautiful for long. She may not care about how she looks, but she will thank me on these afternoons when it's so blessed hot and she has half that hair on her little cat body.
I also found buzzard photos. There were two of them flying overhead the other day.

And when I walked back toward the house, there was one that had landed on the power line.

He just sat there and watched me take pictures of him. He even moved around as if he was posing for me.

I took some quick pictures  and he kept watching me. Both Annie and I kept moving. You want them to know that you're ALIVE.
 I find these huge birds fascinating. These Turkey Vultures are the scavengers of the bird world. They find and eat dead things. This one never flew away. He just sat there being majestic.

I also had photos  of the last SCAT meeting in the camera. That's a new art group that we created for local artists... any art. Not just gourd art. We share our talents and what we are working on. This is going to be one of our projects.

It's a Jack in the gourd... or, in this case, a 'bird in the gourd' pop up toy for kids and adults. This one is made with an upside down gourd that has been cleaned out and a dowel has been used inside to move the gourd chick up and down. The fabric is sewn to both gourds to cover up all the inside. This could be a puppet, or anything that you want to emerge from the bigger gourd. "J" did a great job on this Easter gourd pop up. The chick is a small gourd with twigs for legs. This photo above, is in the "up" position.
This photo, below, is the toy in the "down" position.

Up, down, up, down.... It's such a great idea. I think I will make a scary, black one for Halloween, for my sister. She loves Halloween art. We can call it Spooky, in the Box.
And last... one final photo of Lake Tahoe. One of the prettiest that I took. Not sure why there was only one picture (on the Canon) of the Lake on the small camera, but there it was.

I could be IN that water right now. It would be so nice to swim around in it. But, I heard, this morning, that they are having thunder and lightening storms this week so...
 Dear Cuz.... "Stay out of the water until the storms pass."

The Canon is empty and back in my purse. I found the photos I was looking for. It's always like a little surprise to see what pictures I took with this camera.
Please don't forget about that memory card. You may have someone trapped in there.
What's in YOUR camera?

Wordless Wednesday: Historic Watson Cabin, Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe

Finding reasons... to be happy in this heat.

The porch thermometer read 110 degrees in the shade this afternoon. You can't breath, walk very far or DO ANYTHING.

IT'S SO HOT...

that cows are giving evaporated milk.

that hot water is coming out of both taps.

that chickens are laying fried eggs. 

and...

It’s So Hot That People Are Baking Cookies on Their Dashboards. 

OK, I just had to add some levity to this post. I think I got it out of my system.

We didn't even take a walk this morning because we didn't get an early enough start.
Yesterday we walked the river road. It was warm, but tolerable.

We parked the car at the bottom, of our driveway and walked the river road.

The creek was dry as a bone.

I'm guessing that this old fence isn't keeping the cows out of the creek anymore.

This is our our neighbor's barn filled with wood for the winter. Winter?

Yea, Winter......... Oh, Winter.... cold days... sweaters... maybe some snow... boots... frost on the pumpkins... rain... homemade soup... NO RATTLESNAKES... and long walks up to the ridge. Sorry... just a bit of nostalgia...reminiscing about a distant time and place.

To drown my sorrows, I came home and made a Blackberry Galette before the heat hit. I didn't get a photo of it until this...

So I did a lovely, food network photo for you...

The recipe is here. It's a good one.

I used a Pillsbury store pie crust, but I should have used this dough recipe. The store bought crust was too heavy. Only use the premade if you're in a big hurry. It's OK. It's just not as wonderful as the pastry dough.
My cousin and I made one up at her Tahoe house and we made it from scratch. It was much tastier. Please try the recipe pastry. It's very good.
All the same... the Jackson version didn't last any longer that the Tahoe version. I added some blueberries to the blackberries. You can add anything that you like. I also used some lemon zest in the fruit.
There are all kinds of  savory Galettes too with potatoes, vegetables and meat. ( Here's a little information for you.)

It's French. 

It's easier than pie. 

Now you know... We will survive this summer with Galettes... 

and tomatoes.

Do you need any tomatoes?