Oh, what a beautiful morning...

Yesterday we had a wonderful day with friends across the canyon in San Andreas. They invited us to join them for a bar-b-que. We had a great time. I brought Cream cake and Tapioca Pudding. They had an Easter Egg hunt for the children. That's when I started missing my Beans, my grandkids. Didn't get together with my family this Easter. Missed them... but being with these friends and their family was a nice way to spend the day.
Today...I'm trying to walk more to help a damaged hip that keeps giving me fits... so it's down to the country road again for some exercise.

The road was lined with Chinese Lanterns. They are more productive than the Lupine right now and they are so delicately beautiful.

The first bend in the road turned into an orange wonderland.

The hills are still alive with Poppies.

I'm still having a love affair with these wonderful spring flowers.

We have a couple and their dog that are living near our creek. They seem very nice. We told them that they could stay there as long as they don't start any campfires. They are panning for gold. So far, they have been rather successful... enough to put gas in their truck. They are thinking about going to Alaska.
I told them to watch for rattlesnakes and poison oak... and to dig under tree roots.

Their four month old pup is a beautiful black lab. It was interesting talking to them. they have been all over. The Prospector told me that they were there. He met them last week and has talked to them a lot. I hope they find enough gold to seek their dreams. I wish them well.
A photographer friend stopped to say hello. He showed me some images that he had taken earlier in the day. Lovely shots of a succulent that grows right out of the rocky soil and blooms this time of the year and a beautiful globe lily image.
I found one of these succulents that didn't have anywhere near as beautiful a flower as the photo friend's flower did. I'm always amazed at the tenacity of these plants, growing in between the rocks, with very little soil, on the hillside. I think this is called a Canyon Dudleya.

Then my neighbor, heading for town, stopped me on the road. We talked and discussed the affairs of the weekend.  All in all my 20 minute walk turned into an hour or more. But that's what I love about where I live...the pace...and the people.
 Half way up our road I had to stop. I found another wildflower.

 This one is called a globe Gilia or the blue field Gilia.  It such a pretty, pale blue.

 As the day went by, the wind picked up and the clouds moved in. We may get some rain this week. I hope so, because with this heat come the snakes. I saw a racer snake in the garden a few days ago. It was rustling in one of the bushes near the composter. I heard a noise and turned around to look. It came out of the bush and whipped past me, into the grass below.
Then there was the huge gopher snake at the back door, just down the steps, one hot afternoon last week. It startled me. Our gopher snakes always seem to have markings like a rattler... but the heads are, of course, a different shape and they don't have rattles.
This one poise for me while I took a few photos. Then it moved away and into the old goat run.  It was quite a specimen.

Can the Rattlers be far behind?