Around the yard

Several things have caught my eye around our yard lately.  Here are a few images taken near the house.

The peaches on the neighbor's tree are ripening nicely.

The Matilija Poppies have really bloomed nicely this year.

We have some artichoke plants that have gone to seed.

There are at least two insects on this artichoke.

We should have ripe tomatoes soon.

Quicksilver Ranch

Just a couple of miles from our house is a little ranch named Quicksilver Ranch.  Quicksilver Ranch is famous for the miniature horses that they breed and raise.  They allow people to come and visit during the day.  Although we frequently drive by, we don't often stop.  Since we had friends visiting recently, we made it a point to go and spend a little time visiting the horses.  Late spring and early summer is when most of the colts are born.  When born the colts are only as large as mid-sized dogs.  Even full grown, the adults are probably only about three feet high at the shoulders (about 1/2 that of typical full sized horses).

This colt is only about 18" high!

The colts are very playful.  Besides frequently running around the pasture, this colt was also playing with this large "ball".

They also seem to spend a lot of time flopped down sleeping on the grass.

The California Quail

I intended to primarily post new photography in this blog.  But going through some older images, I found that I had taken a LOT of pictures of California Quail during a stay at Montaña de Oro State Park during the summer of 2009.  Since this is one of our favorite birds, I thought that a selection from these images would be fun.