Salton Sea Winter 2014 Part 2

Well spring is here and time the snowbirds have returned back north to our ranch in British Columbia Canada.   Lot of leaks and floods in the plumbing when we turned our water back on and feeling overwhelmed with trying to get everything back in order here.  But before things get crazy busy with life at the ranch I thought I should get part  2 of our life at the Salton Sea this past winter.  So on with my collage of photos which help tell the stories.

I spent way too much of my free time making my homemade greeting cards.  But I have finished them all.  I now have about 250 in stock.  As a test on setting them up I went to the outside flea market near Salton City to see how it would all go. 
Baby Steps

I could not forget my passion for flowers and this spring at the Salton Sea we had beautiful blooms in our yard of desert scape plants.

The empty gravel yard when we bought this house was like a blank canvas for me and over the last 3 years I have so enjoyed creating the landscape and patio areas with mostly materials and plants with little or no costs. 

I am forever moving rocks and adding a plant or two.  The heat this past winter here did slow work down in the yard.  There was not a drop of rain in 10 weeks and most days ranges from 85 to 100 degrees.  The hottest winter I can remember in 25 years going there.  But as I was inside working on my greeting cards progress was made there.

Everyday either early morning or just before the sun went down I went for a walk for about an hour with my dog Sheaba. Our neighbourhood is so varied and forever changing from one location to the next.

Found under many big trees in the the washes around the neighbourhood are makeshift shelters that were used by  illegals Mexicans or even homeless.

From beautiful homes to stuffed chairs on empty lots our area has it all.

Surrounded by mountains  and glimpses of the sea were always there during my walks.

Occasionally company would come and stay with us so would take them for a walk down near the Salton Sea.  We still own a empty lot near the sea and went for a picnic there with friends.  Then headed for the long walk down to the waters edge.

The shoreline here is lined with barnacles, but one still feels like they are walking along and ocean beach even if it is only a salt lake.

The main fish still in the Salton Sea are Tilapia, which dead ones can be found sometime along the shoreline.  I am sure they were once also a source of food for Sheaba when she ran wild down here near the Salton Sea.

The constant hum of ultra lights can be heard all along the shore of the sea a favourite area for them to fly.

There is now so much activity on the shores of the sea with ATVs, jeeps and fishing.  This group of vehicles parked on the shore were sitting in lawn chairs waiting for the full moon to rise.

Every March Tera Del Sol Jeep club holds a jeep rally near Salton City California near the Salton Sea.  Thousands of camper and jeeps swarm the desert during this weekend.

It’s fun to just park at a view point and watch all the activity in the desert and bad lands.  The dust they create is more then I want to put myself near. 

Our area is not without wildlife even with all the dyeing vegetation.  Coyotes are a regular seen around the neighbourhood and desert along with pelicans near the sea and hummingbirds at the flowers.  I discovered a burring owl just on the edge of the neighbourhood.  How it has managed to survived with ATVs driving within 20 feet of it’s burrow.

Seems the little burrowing owl had a mate in the hole, which I could have been around when the babies hatched out.  So many other birds and creatures were always there to be seen when one took the time to look.

I will miss my walk I took everyday and seeing the every changing landscape and skies.  The mountains with the shadows that changed with the time of the day.   But the snowbird had to leave and head back north.

Salton Sea Winter 2014 Part 1

We arrived at our winter home at the Salton Sea in California in mid January to temps in the mid 80’s and have continued to stay way above normal for this time of the year.  Our yard and house were all in great shape with only  a quick clean up outside and set our patio furniture back up to enjoy the wonderful weather.

The sunsets in the evening just made our little home a paradise again to enjoy.  Our landscaping has grown more  giving us an oasis look around our home that was completely bare when we bought it 4 years ago. I have designed and planted to keep our landscaping as maintenance free as possible.  However the additions always continue.

When we first arrived here there was not a bird to be heard around our house, but within a couple of days of putting out the sunflower seeds and other birds seeds our place is filled with the songs and sounds of their lovely happy voices.

Prior to coming here Sheaba our new dog  was just beginning to come around and show happiness in being around us, but now after the  trip traveling  in the truck with us and now sleeping in our bedroom at night she has bonded completely with us and shows happiness and tail wagging all the time with both hubby and I.  Sheaba was an abandoned dog that I captured last winter here in the Salton Sea after 2 winters of trying to gain her trust.  After 8 months she has finally excepted us as here pack and feels secure and safe and she shows affection and love all the time. She is still taken for walks every morning and evening on a long leash here in the neighbourhood, but when we are in the desert we let her loose and she always stays with us.  We seem to have no problem now with getting close to her  to put her leash back on when it is time to leave.  She also jumps in and out of our truck front and back and enters in and out of our house with ease.  She still likes to just lay around in the house most the day, but when we are outside she will lay around the yard near us.  We have no fencing so have to make sure she doesn’t wonder off as their is a leash law here in the housing area.

We have been doing some hikes right near our area.  This hike was just adjacent to  our neighbourhood on the west side of highway 86.  From the highway you would never know that small canyons exist when looking towards the mountains.  We started up a wash and soon were in a small canyon following it for a couple of miles.  When we would climb out of the canyon there were always views and more interesting formations.

You often feel like you are on the moon when hiking this area.  On our return trip the sun was just setting.

The colors here in the desert are so bland I have been taking some photos using my expressive art setting on my camera which add some interesting colors and effects to the photos.  I call the series

A Strange  New World..

Here are some photos in and around our neighbourhood  using the expressive art feature.  When the devolvement was put in the the early 60’s every lot had a palm tree planted and over the years many have died leaving just stumps behind.  Also left behind from the building boom of 2006 are homes that were only framed and then abandoned when the building boom collapsed. 

We had friends visiting for a few days and took a hike in an a area where sandstones with interesting formation and continued to hike on down to the Salton Sea.  Hubby drove the whole way as he was on medication so had to stay out of the sun.  We walked almost 2 miles down to the shore of the Salton Sea while passing through the desert and interesting landscapes and remnants of building from years gone by.

It got very hot and when we approach the sea the land become barren with much dried clay in areas that flood during rains.  Every year in the past 8 years I have found the desert around here to be browner and browner in vegetation, but the sea is still blue and beautiful to view.

The Salton Sea still remains beautiful to look at and explore, it is still filled with many varieties of water birds.  The shore line can now be walked along in many places with huge open areas that were once under water, but now the sea is drying up and the shore is getting further out in many places.  The sea is surround by mountain ranges on both the east and west side the always create a dramatic backdrop.

Well if you can’t beat them might as well join them.  Seems in my neighbourhood almost every photo I try and take the power lines are in it.   I don’t have that problem at my ranch up North.  I decided since there were a part of the landscape and very prominent in places I created a series of photos with them.  So here is a new series of mine.

The Power of Energy

 When the big building boom came to this area in 2004  builders choose to run power above ground as it was cheaper.  This was not a new development , but an old one the had been started in the early 60’s where water had been put in but no power, but only a handful of homes were ever built.  So there was so many different companys that began building in 2004 that all power went above ground in the housing area.  Then of course there is always the bigger power lines that run through the desert around us.  I now look at them differently and I realized all the patterns they created when I pointed my camera just right.  So now instead of taking away from the photo they are the subject of the photo.

 We we had more company come and go and expecting more during our winter stay here keeping us very busy.  During my down times I have worked on my homemade greeting cards and will soon have almost a hundred cards made for different occasions, then I will begin on my Christmas cards again.  The unseasonal hot weather had kept me inside during middays often, so I can work on my cards.  Otherwise I would be out walking or expanding our landscaping.  Visitors here have also kept me away from my creative work,  but that is the contrast here from my hermit life at our ranch in British Columbia.  I seem to have no problems being away from the internet.

 

Good Bye Christmas and Hello New Year

Time is rushing by again, disappearing.   Gone is Christmas but forever in our memories those special moments will linger on for some time yet.

I am so thankful this winter to have Sheaba my new dog, because of her I go for walks everyday no matter the weather or how much snow.  It is just a joy to watch her run and hunt.  She has her days now where she is quiet settled in the house and comes in and out the door without having to put her on the leash.  I finally found a treat she likes and has responded with a wagging tail.  She is also wagging her tail when she sees us in the morning.

Yes those peaceful walks through the forest covered in snow.  I am gone for hour everyday just walking our property with Sheaba.

The memories of Christmas going out to cut our tree.  We found one that wasn’t the prettiest, but needed to be cut down as it was growing on one of our access roads.

The house was transformed again into a country Christmas look.  It just glowed.

The snow outside brighten our view everyday.

Memories of were placed on the tree.

Each one brings peace to my heart.

But best of all I loved the lights and glow everywhere.

It was a special time for Sheaba as well.  We had Cole for a week over Christmas so she was in heaven with a playmate during Christmas.

We also had company over Christmas and enjoyed long talks and even longer walks.

Coming back late after a long walk to see all the lights aglow around the house.

Saying  goodbye to our friends and walking them back down to their car and giving it a push to get unstuck.

It had been a few years since we ventured away from home for New Years Eve, but we braved the snowy roads and joined a whole group of friends for an evening of dancing the night away.  The hit of the party were a couple pair of sunglasses that everyone passed around.  My hubby turned into Elton John for awhile when wearing them.

 

We didn’t get home that night till 4am and  didn’t get out of bed the next morning till 11am and the sun was shinning so grabbed some coffee and we sat on the deck and enjoyed a beautiful New Years Day morning.

During the Christmas season I was busy creating free to share  ECards for my Facebook page.  I had sold most of my homemade Christmas cards and just didn’t have time to create more in time people to mail them so enjoyed the creative fun of making these ECards.

We will be heading south to our winter home in the desert at the Salton Sea in California in less then a week, what a contrast it presents from our winter wonderland. 

Looking forward to seeing how all our landscaping has grown and yes working on it again.  Using the bike to visit friends who live there and walks on the beach.  It truly is a different world down there.   Will those sunrises get me out of bed again at 6am?