Anyone recognize this beetle? I found it in my backyard...and now that I look at the picture think it must be some kind of click beetle. Unfortunately I did not flip it over to see if it clicked. It was bigger than any click beetle I've ever seen, but that shape is so distinctive.


The sunset was soo pretty tonight. Not sure what the spots are...bugs, dust, shit on my lens...they are distracting for sure though. I will miss the open space at this house, it's nice to have a big private backyard.

Apparently I'm good with a shotgun. Who knew.

I should have known a bbq at the Jones' would be anything but ordinary. I shot a shotgun for the first time and hit a clay pigeon on the second try. I hit another one not too many tries later as well. It's good to know if I ever need to kill a bird to survive, I can do it. The look on my face is hilarious by the way. So focused!


Toby found this awesome tiny praying mantis. So little and fast!

Blueberry Pizza

It's blueberry season! I went picking at Blueberry Meadows yesterday and made blueberry pizza for a bbq today. It's shortbread crust with a sweetened cream cheese layer, a layer of blueberry sauce and topped with fresh blueberries. Total Gallagher favorite.


Aaron, this is the cactus we gave your parents last year, so pretty and big! You can't see it, but the stamen is in the shape of a white star.


I found this June bug in an unlikely and unlucky place, right outside the door to the City Limits country store. I very rarely go in there, so I thought it was pretty fortuitous for this guy that I did. I moved him across the street to a field. I'm not sure he was doing so great anyway, his antennae are all folded up, and he didn't weigh very much.


Off to the bbq!

My Fourth of July

I made this awesome heart in Oregon shirt today...Now that I know how to set the dye, I can boil the wax out! It's definitely not perfect, Oregon is a bit square, but I'm excited that I turned a white shirt into this on my first try!


The sheep were shorn today, they needed it! How frustrating to have wool in your eyes and not have any hands. The guy let me take pictures of the process, more here. It is definitely is an art form.


Pinned sheep


The wool was so much greasier than I thought it would be, I just touched some of the wool barely and my fingers were greasy. You can see how oily his arms are. I love how clean and pure the under wool looks.


All trimmed up


Flowers in the backyard


California poppies




Succulent bloom


These pictures are from my favorite hike near my house. There is an old growth stand just a 7 minute drive from my house. There is a pond there, from some sort of quarrying, and this is the reflection of the bluffs on the pond.


This pond is swarming with Taricha granulosa



Crazy horse fly I saw on the way back to the car. I thought about taking my macro lens, but decided against it. I'm glad I got a few clear pictures of it without. It was weird, and kept climbing slowly onto my lens.


The view on the drive home.


The hill near my house that I walk up frequently


The sky was so pretty tonight

I opted out of fireworks tonight, I didn't feel like dealing with the crowds. It was still a nice day.

Unlucky Box Elder, Lucky for me

I found this guy in my door jamb, he had obviously had a mishap, but I think his red body showing is beautiful.





I never noticed those extra two red little eyes, I'm guess they are ocelli. I was reading that some bugs only have 2, as opposed to bees and flies that have 3 so they can maneuver better when they fly.

Assorted

Lately I see a new bug and I get excited to photograph it. So finding some half groggy cold wasps was pretty exciting. I took them home, froze them and had about 2 minutes of awakeness before I had to pop them back in the freezer.






I interviewed at Pacific University this weekend and was super impressed by their program. I will find out April 11th if I am in or not. I think I'm ready for a big change, so I'm anxious to see what happens.

I had the best burrito for dinner, I cooked up mushrooms, zucchini, onion, kidney beans and a little taco seasoning. Then put in couscous, steak and cheese on these tortillas I got at the Co-op (Carmen's), soo so good.

I am crashing hard right now for some reason so I'm going to get to bed. I wanted to write more but I feel many errors and incoherent sentences coming on.