AFTER POSTING ABOUT THE POOR LITTLE GUY BELOW JUST WAITING TO BE LET IN THE HOUSE

Yesterday I took these photos of "Beanie".  Because we are surrounded by hills up here in the mountains, in January the only direct sun we get in the yard is for about an hour and a half and that is it.  Although Beanie has a larger basket in her bedroom with a desk lamp light to warm her - As soon as the sun comes through the window she jumps into her small basket to soak in the rays.  I love the light this time of year because it comes with such a small window of time to our house.   We have several outdoor feral cats that also enjoy the deck out in back.  I have taken so many photos of them so I will put them on this blog as I get to them.

We probably shouldn't, but we make sure they eat well and have a protected place to go to when it snows.  The neighbors up here also feed them and one woman in particular leaves a heating pad on in a box on a chair sitting on the front porch and I think the cats think hers  is the most popular house to go to in the winter. 

We have tried to catch a few kittens to take to the rescue center but they are all way too smart up here - they know how to avoid traps and people although they appear to love to hang out at the various houses in this small neighbrhood of ours.

And, we have no rodent problem.

HE WAS ALWAYS THERE - EVERY TIME WE WALKED THIS STREET - BUT IT WAS EIGHT YEARS AGO

There are new owners now as far as I can tell.  The last few times we walked in this area, the house was painted grey and the closed in front porch looked different.  It makes me want to go back and find the photos to compare the difference.  But, the cat was always there - with his friend Pink Teddy.

I felt the urge to post these again to be reminded when I come to my blog of this area I like to walk in.  It is a street in Upland, Ca near where the "Pacific Electric Trail" runs through which is a great path to walk on.  This trail runs for miles through several foothill communities not far from where we lived and walked several times a week through these little towns.

Every time I saw him he seemed to sit near "Pink Teddy".  These photos were all on the same day but if I found my other photos, taken over various days he would still be sitting there.

Pacific Electric Trail runs for 21 miles - from Rialto to Claremont, Ca.

PRETTY PARAKEETS I PHOTOGRAPHED RECENTLY.

Whenever I am anywhere that has birds I must take photos. 

THE LAKE WAS BEAUTIFUL TODAY

A year ago tonight - it started snowing and we had snow through Christmas Eve and a white Christmas day. 

Today it was beautiful as we drove over to the lake.   I like looking back at the snow pictures of December 2016 but I'm rather glad it's a dry one this year.

We had to go down to Redlands for some shopping today and the traffic was so light, probably due to the fact that we aren't having a white Christmas and people aren't flocking up to spend Christmas weekend.  The 330 hwy though, which goes to Big Bear was another story. They are making snow so the snow lifts are running and thankfully it was farther up the mountain and not in our area. 

A BEAUTIFUL "SPIRIT"

"And God took a handful of Northern Wind, blew his breath over it and created Wolf.'



This wolf's name is "Spirit".  I photographed her a few years back when we visited the Big Bear Alpine Zoo.  This is the story of their rescue.  I saw my photos again and thought this beautiful animal deserved to be on my blog again.

The facility had a breeding permit for the wolves for many years. Every year, our one female wolf Wakiza (who passed in 2014) went through a false pregnancy but in 2009, when we checked her during what we assumed was another false pregnancy, we felt movement! On April 9th, 2009, our 9 year old female Wakiza had 9 wolf pups by cesarean section. It was just too hard for her to deliver them naturally at her age. She was really out of it for two days, and wolves have to bond with their offspring within the first 24 hours or they do not recognize them as their pups. Zoo staff had to hand raise the 9 wolf pups from day one, an extremely exhausting process, but an experience they would not have wanted to miss despite the very long tiring hours. All nine wolf pups survived, and now all of our wolves are fixed. We did have to separate two of the female pups because they were getting too aggressive with the other wolf pups, so they now have their own enclosure. The other seven pups share another enclosure. Females Pups born 4-9-2009: Logan, Noelle, Bayou, Spirit Males born 4-9-2009: Blair, Legend (deceased)  Lucien, Sedona (deceased), Truck

The Zoo owners have been in the process of building a new and bigger area to move the Zoo and I'm hoping it's done sometime next year.  We will get an annual pass again and enjoy a visit every time we go up to Big Bear - which is a couple times a month.  Alpine Zoo is a place where rescued animals can be rehabilitated and sent back into the wild or a forever home if for any reason they can't be released - after being too imprinted by humans at a young age.  I always thought if we were to move to Big Bear I would love to volunteer at the zoo.

BEAUTIFUL WALK - HEAPS PEAK - SKYFOREST, CALIFORNIA

We have been walking in various areas lately up here in the mountains.  The other day we went to the arboretum in SkyForest.  It was a bit chilly but by the time we got a good pace going it was a beautiful walk. 

Just about 3 weeks ago we walked through the same area and I got some amazing fall colors.  Most the leaves are now off the trees except for the evergreens.

AT THE LAKE

I will wait a long time for these ducks to take off flying.

PHOTOS FROM A RECENT TRIP TO JAMAICA

My son was married over the weekend in Jamaica.  I took a lot of photos and here's a few that show the skies and the lush flowering plants around the resort.  A very warm and extremely humid island climate but beautiful for growing lush plants and creating beautiful skies. 

I BELIEVE IT'S THE SAME WARBLER THAT COMES EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME

This pretty bird has been coming by to drink water for about a week now.  He always comes in the fall but doesn't stay long.  I'm glad I was looking out the window when he landed so I could get some photos.

A SOULFUL DAY

photo by Anna Geier (thanks Sandy (the other one)...for the photo reference name.

When you do things from your soul
You feel a river moving through you

Rumi