AGAPANTHUS

We passed these plants one day while shopping down the hill.  

I had to get their photos.   I would see this type of plant often but 

never knew its' name.   
 

PUTTING UP PHOTOS FROM OAK GLEN

 Made a trip to Oak Glen awhile back  - another mountain area but about an hour away from us.   I've been meaning to post these so I have them on my blog as a memory.  

We will make another trip in fall to enjoy the fall colors.  This area gets a lot of tourists so its' best to go during the week especially during apple season.  

Things are going well here - lots of time spent with our new granddaughter, now 8 months old.  Our July was a beautiful month weather wise and we had lots of yard work to get done which we still will be working in some areas.

I really don't have much to write about....I guess that's why I don't blog much anymore.  

Hard to believe that we are halfway to September already.  

So that's all I have to talk about.  

HOUSES IN REDLANDS - some nice front porches.

 These were taken in January.  It's nice to know that even though winter can be rough in the mountains, if we go down to Redlands you'd never know it's winter time.  This is one of my favorite areas to walk or drive through whenever we go off the mountain.  

There is the city of Redlands and then the old town part of Redlands where some nice shops and restaurants are.  I've often thought if I was going to move again if I can't afford the coast, I'd love to live down in this area.  But, with everything so expensive these days, I'll stay put.  

FRIDAY FRONT PORCHES

 I use to enjoy posting photos of  front porches I would see on my walks.    Now I have a theme for Fridays.  

I had trouble for about three days getting into my own blog and other blogs.  I was getting blocked and for some reason I thought it started happening after my last post...thinking it was something that got into my computer.  I ended up deleting the last post and it just happened to coincide with others blogs that I couldn't get into either ...shorter version it was a blogger problem.  

I'm doing whatever I can to get my inspiration back for sketching.  

Hope your weekend ahead is one with good weather and good food, good health and generally good all over.  Mine will be fun because the sun will be out and it will be the beginning of hopefully lots of hiking and visiting some areas down where I use to live, to enjoy walking along some trails down there and combine that with a visit to see my new little granddaughter who is now 4 months.

This porch appealed to me because of the old mail box in front and the plants.  This was from a walk in Redlands, Ca awhile back.

MONDAY MEMORIES

 I am a big nature lover.  I didn't know how big until I moved to the mountains.  At my long time house I knew I loved to be outside working in the yard but I also had kids, their friends and my medical transcription job I did at home.  So in those years of working I knew I preferred working outside rather than in the house cooking etc.  In fact, I would rather clean toilets than cook, although I had to cook and was ok at it.  

But we move to the mountains and I could hardly stay inside in the first 8 years or so.  I would go over to our local lake, a few blocks away. with  bird food and sit on the ground and invite them to come in and "talk".  There was one tree where all the coots would run up to me when I got near it so I called it the gathering place.   I know they enjoyed the peanuts more than the conversation but I enjoyed just sitting there and asking them about their day. 

The world has gone so crazy that I'm glad i have this connection to nature as it really soothes the mind and heart.  I hope you all have a way to relax and enjoy whatever it is you do to find peace.