So...I made my anual trek up to the Santa Barabara International Orchid Show on Saturday, March 12. It is something I always look forward to and come home with more orchids than I need, but I do love them so. The ones on this blog were from the exhibitors.

The yellow Paph was beautiful. The pink flower is a Lycaste. I think they are very beautiful and quite unusual.

I bought a dendrobium similar to this one, but mine will not bloom for several years. I hope I do not kill it before it tries to bloom. I am really hoping to get some more unusual orchids this year. I did buy some cattlayas that were in spike and should bloom very soon. I may add some pictures of them when they do.

This green cymbidium was a pendulous cymbidium and so beautiful. I thought of my friend, Kathleen, who couldn't make it this year. She would have loved all the green cymbidiums they had at the show.

This was a beautiful display of pink phaleonopsis - very nicely done. The theme for the show this year was Route 66, so many of the displays had little trucks and signs for the famous Route 66. Kind of different.

Another pink lycaste. Very stunning, I thought! Next to the lycaste is a broader picture of one of the displays.

A beautiful display of pink and purple phaleonopsis. I thought they did a wonderful job of arranging them together.

Here is my husband, so happy to be here! He was such a trooper to take me to the show and pretty much take me whereever I wanted to go. He even stopped at several greenhouses in Carpenteria on the way home. What a guy!!. I usually go with the girls, but everyone had conflicts this year. ,

As always, the displays were beautiful!

I believe this is a Little Egret - we see these quite frequently at Sepulveda Basin and at Lake Balboa. They are realy pretty
Hummingbirds are some of my favorite birds to find. They are little, fiesty flying jewels. I am not sure what the name of the one with his green back to me is. The other is a Rufous Hummingbird, which is seen quite often at Sepulveda Basin.
I am not sure if this is a juevenile Great Blue Herron or if it is an American Bittern. It was in a tree eating something off the branches. I tend to think it is an American Bittern, but maybe if someone reads my blog mabe they can let me know for sure. .
I am pretty sure this is a Downy Woodpecker, but I cannot see the tale to know for certain whether is it a Downy or a Hairy Woodpecker. From everything I can read, the Downys are much more prevalent, but the Hairys are also around. He actually was upsidedown on the branch like this.

We found a hummingbird nest (actually someone pointed it out to us) on our walk on 3/5/11 - There was a baby in the nest and the mom was feeding it. The other fledgling was already out of the nest sitting on a branch. Momma bird pushed the baby off the branch a little after these pictures were taken. I am happy to say he passed the "I can fly" test!
I believe this little guy is either a Lesser Goldfinch or an American Goldfinch. The picture isn't the best, but he is definitely one or the other.

In a little over a week I will be going to Texas to visit my daughter. I am hoping to add to my blog with some Texan birds and the wildflowers should be in their peak of bloom. When I come home we are going out to Anzo Borego and the Salton Sea where we will hopefully see many California wildflowers and birds.

The San Fernando Audubon Society leads
walks at the Sepulveda basin.
We were treated to these beautiful
Western Bluebirds. What a treat!

These were pair of Hooded Mergansers also seen on the walk led by the San Fernando Audubon Society on February 12, 2011. And we saw a beautiful Osprey on the same day. He is so majestic!!

This hummer was taken at the LA Zoo as we walked along the path. He was sure hard to capture!

A male and female American Widgeon at Lake Balboa on February 26

This Red-Winged Blackbird was one of many flocking in the trees.

There is Snow on the Mountains - In fact, it was snowing on Laurel Canyon Blvd as we drove home from Sherman Oaks!!!

And finally - the "boys" - Cody and Charlie - Enjoying their outing at Lake Balboa.

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted anything. My daughter keeps telling me I should post some of the pictures that I love taking. So...here are some of the ones I have had fun taking.

The first one is a hummingbird in flight taken at Sepulveda Basin - one of my favorite local places to see both birds and wildflowers.


And a Cassin's Kingbird, also taken at Sepulveda Basin.

A red-tailed hawk - so majestic!

This butterfly posed on my driveway while I was able to take many pictures of him!!



The raven was taken at Grand Canyon.


Grand Canyon at sunset - too beautiful for words!! What a magnificent Creator we have!!

A Black-crowned Night-Heron taken at Lake Balboa.

This brown pelican was taken on the Santa Barbara pier. He was there for the longest time and just kept turning his head and "posing" for all the people taking pictures. I especially like this full front view of him.

Africa was more than I ever could have dreamed of. The people were wonderful. We had so many opportunities to share the gospel. I loved every single second of it! I have some very exciting news to share. And many of the people were so open. We gave away many Bibles and touched so many lives. My life will never be the same.

After 10 days of clinics (with Sunday off for church and R & R) we have the fabulous opportunity to go to Zambia for 2 days on an African Safari

Words cannot even come close to how amazing that was! Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever thought I would go on a Safari in Africa in my lifetime. I stand in awe of a God who created so many wonderful animals and constantly wonder how amazing heaven will be! We live in a world marred by sin and yet there is so much to delight our eyes with the wonder of our Lord! What will it be like when all things are made new and perfect!!

And, of course, there were birds in Africa, like this beautiful stork.

Although it was over 2 years ago, it still holds a warm spot in my heart. Someday I would love to go back. Apart from my family, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had in my Christian walk, and certainly in my nursing career.

This is (was) an opportunity of a lifetime and I cannot believe the time came (and went) so quickly. For many years I have thought and/or dreamed of going on a Medical Mission trip, but now, the Lord is allowing it to happen. For more information and to keep posted on our team's progress along the way, please visit our team blog at http://www.malawimedicalteam.blogspot.com/ . I am also one of several people who will help to maintain this blog for our team. Check it out and see our picture of Malawi - not Maui (What?? We aren't going to Hawaii???) We are one of the largest teams going out from our church this summer. My teammate and I are hoping to post some bios of our team members over the next few weeks.

Aloha from Hawaii!!!


Last September Al and I went to the islands of Oahu and Kauai in Hawaii. For me, it was a long awaited trip. I've wanted to go to Hawaii since I was in junior or senior high school. Growing up in Upstate New York, I never thought it would ever happen. I was only a little country girl and Hawaii seemed a million miles away. Last September I finally made it. I took so many pictures, I don't even know where to begin.

I have always admired sunset pictures and had a lot of fun trying to capture a few of my own Hawaiian sunsets. This one was taken September 20th, on our 1st night in Oahu. I still had stars in my eyes with the realization I was actually here!!

I continued to take sunset pictures almost every night, hoping to capture the "perfect" one. These were also taken in Oahu.

These last two were taken from our hotel in Kauai. One was taken on our first night there, about 1/2 way through our 10-day vacation. The other picture is taken from another location at the hotel and was my last Hawaiian sunset as we left for home the next day.

We obviously had a lot of other beautiful scenery and things to take pictures of while we were there. We saw several of these cute little Red-Crested Cardinals on both islands. We saw other interesting birds, but the pictures were not that great. On both islands there were wild chickens everywhere.

And, of course, the views were one spectacular scene

after another....

...and another

... and another

and.......I could go on and on, but there isn't enough room on my blog to capture all the beauty. The flowers in Hawaii were breathtaking, but that will have to be reserved for another post. Once again, I stand in awe of an amazing God who created so much beauty that I can only wonder at what heaven will be like.