Yesterday we had a visit from yet another mama deer with her very thirsty baby. Junior enjoyed a refreshing drink of water from our fountain, unaware that Casey, our cat, was lurking beneath the fountain. When Casey's presence was discovered, the little deer bolted across the yard to the safety of mom's side.

Mommie Deerest

Mama Deer has been coming by our yard nearly every day with her two adorable twin fawns. She shows them where the juiciest shrubs and plants are in our yard, just perfect for a little snack.

They still have their spots!

Isn't this little guy cute!!! I think he could almost fly with those big ears.

Really Cool Street Art

Check this out - it's really cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6xCT2aTSo

Some July Photos

Tom's sister, Phoebe, dropped by for a visit a week or so ago. She and her husband live in Silver City, New Mexico. Her daughter, Jennifer, lives in Grover Beach, California, which is about 45 minutes away from where we live, so when she visits Jennifer, she drops by to see us, too.

Jennifer, Mom, Tom and Phoebe

We have been lucky enough to see a pair of orioles in our yard - they come to the humming bird feeder in the late afternoons. They normally don't hang around this area, but seem to like our yard this year! We're happy to have them and hope they stay all summer.

And we always enjoy seeing the deer - even though they eat our plants! This young buck already seems to have a girl friend. But why not, he's certainly handsome!

A perfect July sunset

My daughter, Kristen, has been in Paris to attend a class and just returned home. (Besides being the librarian at St. Mary's Academy in Denver, she also teaches an advanced placement art history class, so this was related to that.) I've been anxiously awaiting her email telling me she's home safe in Denver, and just received it, along with this lovely photo of her. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I know that she's home safe and sound. She had an amazing time.....walking all over and absorbing so much art that she says her head hurts!!!!

Hot Day in Paso

It's pretty hot here - 100 degrees or so. So we jumped in the car and drove over to Cambria where it was a very pleasant 61 degrees! After lunch, we drove up the coast a bit to San Simeon and turned around. At that point you can see the beautiful Hearst Castle way up on the hilltop, so I thought I would include a few photos of Hearst Castle taken a couple of years ago. "La Cuesta Encantade" the enchanted hill, was built by William Randolph Hearst. Julia Morgan was the architect, and it was begun in 1919 and took 30 years to complete. The main "house" has 115 rooms, (56 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms) and 90,080 square feet. There are 2 huge swimming pools, guesthouses and 8 acres of cultivated gardens. Hearst also established his own private zoo, and you can still see zebras grazing on the hillsides as you drive by on Highway 1. The Hearst family gifted the "castle" and some of the land to the State of California and it is now a California State Park and for a fee, you can tour the house and gardens. Hearst used the castle as a "get-away" from his hectic life, and whenever he was there, there were usually famous guests staying as well. For more information about Hearst Castle, check out http://www.hearstcastle.com/

The zebras are about the only animals left from Hearst's private zoo - they seem to do quite well grazing with the cattle.

The huge outdoor Neptune's Pool

And the lovely indoor Roman pool

4th of July Parade in Templeton

I hope that everyone (at least everyone living in the U S of A) got to attend a good old fashioned 4th of July Parade today. If not, join us for the parade in Temlpleton. Lots of kids, dogs, horses, old cars, tractors, farm animals, - a real community parade. Every organization in town was grilling hotdogs and hamburgers in the park. And the weather was perfect....sunny, but not too hot. We're making apricot ice cream this evening, and then we'll be off to view the fireworks at Barney Swartz Park in Paso. Happy 4th.

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In the Garden at Sunset

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