{this moment} see beautiful

i see beautiful every day in my own home. especially when i look at these two. i love just seeing little bailey melt into hubby's hands.

i also see beautiful in my backyard. i know many of you pups dislike these little "tree rats" but i think they are adorable. this little guy helped himself to an orange from our orange tree and had a nutritious midday snack.

until we meet again my friends-

they're ba-aack!

3 months ago, mockingbirds built a nest in our orange tree and a few days later we were grandparents to two healthy baby mockingbirds.
well, earlier this month, i noticed mockingbirds building another nest in our orange tree and tuesday i found these guys.

what is bailey looking at? is that...?
(don't worry. bailey's on my lap and i have a firm grip on her)

it is! somewhere between 11.00am and noon yesterday, this little guy left his nest. amazing because it has only been 5 days since i took the picture of them in their nest and now he has feathers and is hopping around my backyard!

"FEED ME"

UPDATE:
sadly, at 7.30 last night, i found his lifeless body in our yard. i have no idea what happened and i am heartbroken. we had spent the day being entertained by his antics, chuckling as he'd hop around our yard as he learned to "walk" and watching him spread his wings.
after i found him, i looked up because i heard a strange sound and saw his parent sitting on the wires above our yard, chirping a somber song. it was a tweet i had never heard from a mockingbird before. i'm sure he was mourning the passing of his little one. RIP little birdie. though you didn't live long enough to learn to fly, i'm sure you are now soaring the high heavens with grace.

his sibling however, is still in the nest. i pray he will thrive and flourish into a strong and health mockingbird. i will keep you posted.

until we meet again my friends-

{52 snapshots of life} #earth

why is bailey standing on a rock for our snapshot of life this week? because, my friends, hubby and i unearthed this monster from our backyard. we were digging a hole to plant an orange tree and found this boulder buried in the ground, right where we were going to put the tree. it had to come out if the tree was going to go in. it took hours and hours to unearth it, but we did it. well it was mostly hubby but i did assist as much as i could.

this is the tree we planted. of course it was half this size when we planted it. it's been growing here for almost 8 years. it is also the tree the mockingbirds have chosen to make their nest in.

hey, wanna see behind the scenes of what's got bailey attention?

here you have it. hubby is tempting her with a yummy treat. BOL

thanks to the lazy pitbull for hosting 52 snapshots of life blog hop.
17 weeks down, 35 to go!

until we meet again my friends-

{this moment] see beautiful

this is an orange dog caterpillar. while it might look like poop to you, it also looks like poop to it's predators and what bird wants to eat poop? that makes it the perfect disguise. i have these guys in my orange tree where they will thrive, chomping my leaves, until they make their cocoon and emerge as a beautiful swallowtail butterfly. beautiful (someday).

a high school student here in upland took it upon himself to organize the placement of 2,977 flags in front of city hall in honor of the victims of 9/11. beautiful.

daughter #1 sent me these pictures the other day. she saw these guys by the road on her way home from work. can you imagine? beautiful.

this buck reminds me of the animatronics on the jungle cruise at disneyland ... except this guy is real! beautiful.

and of course my little bailey. beautiful.

This is a Blog Hop!
You are next ... Click here to enter the hop.

until we meet again my friends-

spring is in the air

with spring here, it's time to get some work done in the garden, but not bailey! looks like she's gonna take a nap in the shade of our orange tree...

which is full of blossoms...

and bees...

and oranges!

here are just some of the juicy oranges i just picked.

our plum tree is also full of blossoms but no fruit yet. hopefully i can get to the plums before the birds do! every year it's a race that the birds usually win. i end up wiith some plums but the birds get most of them :(

until we meet again my friends-

unwanted pests

my orange tree is home to many creatures great and small.

and while i don't mind the birds and the bees and the flowers in my tree...

i don't want these guys. besides looking creepy...

they are very destructive to the tree!