Surfing Seals!

On July 30, 2013July 30, 2013 By cindy knokeIn MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES100 Comments

If you look closely at this photo, you can see the two nostrils breathing, from another seal under the water.
I went to visit my mom today to celebrate her 86th birthday. I noticed the waves were happening, so we decided to check the surf. On days like this growing up, I would have developed a stomach ache, so I could leave school early and hang out at the beach. I would never do anything like that now of course……Well, unless it was a really sunny day and I was doing something I didn’t like…….
This shot is looking south towards Crawlers beach.

Anyhoo, decent sized waves were breaking off of La Jolla Cove mid-day which is unusual.

The seals were having a blast playing in the waves. This guy is scoping out the sets!

You can see the cormorant’s tail. He barely made it over! There is also a seal inside the wave at the upper right.

This seal could care less about the waves. He’s having a lobster lunch thank you very much and has no time for games. You can see half the lobster in his mouth. He is eyeing the other half to make sure he doesn’t lose it.

A youngster is taking a break from all the action!

This big old guy, bah-humbug! He sees waves come and go. It’s all a snooze for him.

It is so annoying when kelp gets stuck on your nose.

The cormorants and egrets were watching for little fish tossed up by the waves.

Mama seagull’s getting tired of feeding these pushy adolescents, they’re always demanding more fish and shrimp. Gimme, gimme, gimme! Adolescents of all species are frequently over-indulged in La Jolla. The seagull probably picked up this trait from watching humans. Just another example of the well known phenomona, seagull see, seagull do…..or is that monkeys?

Happy Birthday Mom! And many, many, more!

“To Be….Most Perfectly Alive!”

On July 28, 2013July 28, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, MY PHOTOGRAPHS132 Comments

Sunflower and friend.

“For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive.” DH Lawrence

Lily of the Nile

“The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition.” Honore De Balzac

St. John’s Wort

“I have lost my smile, but don’t worry. The dandelion has it.” Thich Nhat Hanh

Red Coneflower

“There are no flowers in the Moon; that’s why the Moon is a boring place!” Mehmet Murat ildan

Morning Glory

“The sun shone through them, revealing a pattern of interlacing, delicate blue veins, visible through the opaque petals; this added something alive to the flower’s fragility, to it’s ethereal quality, something almost human, in the way that human can mean frailty and endurance both at the same time.” Irene Nemirovsky

Magnolia

“How right it is to love flowers and the greenery of pines and ivy and hawthorn hedges; they have been with us from the very beginning.” Vincent van Gogh

May you see flowers everyday!

Matilija Poppy!

On July 24, 2013October 21, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, MY PHOTOGRAPHS103 Comments

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” Henri Matisse

Matilija Poppies are a shrub native to California and Mexico.

The flowers are large, about the size of a mans hand with the fingers extended. They are the largest flower of any plant native to California.

They are nick-named “The Fried Egg Plant,” as their flowers do indeed resemble a fried egg.

“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.” Heinrich Heine

Dreams of Giverny!

On July 20, 2013December 10, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS107 Comments

“My heart is forever in Giverny.” ~ Monet

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“What could be said about me…a man to whom only his painting matters? And of course his
garden and his flowers as well.” ~ Monet

These photos were taken at Orchard Hill Country Inn in Julian California in June 2013.

It’s a Curse to be Born Beautiful!

On July 18, 2013December 10, 2013 By cindy knokeIn MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES136 Comments

Just ask Penelope.
She is so tired of superficial people who only value her for her looks! She is talented and creative. She can give you high-five.

How many other girls can do this? Plus when your built like Penelope, it takes lots of effort to get your paw in the air!

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Okay, okay, she wears a pink bow in her hair and pink polish on her toes. But that’s not her fault. How she dresses has nothing to do with this issue. Besides her human makes her wear it. You have to admit, if it was her choice, she’d be rolling in mud. Dang, damn, pink bow…

Being a beauty is such a beast!

Note re: verisimilitude. Penelope is not her real name. I can’t remember her real name. But I met her for a hurried minute in Pismo Beach. Her human seemed lovely, and Penelope was obviously a very loved, very well-behaved poochini. I am besotted with bull dogs and would love to have one some day, but I would let him or her choose their own accessories, within limits of course……..no piercings or tattoos until your sixteen, that sort of thing.

Cheers from The Holler.

“Stand Still Like a Hummingbird.” Henry Miller

On July 17, 2013July 18, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Birds, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES106 Comments

Have you seen a hummingbird stand in the air,

as if he hadn’t a care,

supported by nothing but air?

Have you seen a sight more fair,

than a hummingbird floating in air?

But even the best, must finally….

rest.

Blue Orchids!

On July 16, 2013December 10, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS62 Comments

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(Note: These are “color-infused” white phalaenopsis orchids. Subsequent blooms will be white. Color infusion process is some secret patent. These orchids were purchased. For more discussion see: http://www.orchidboard.com/community/beginner-discussion/63444-gemstone-orchids.html) They certainly are dramatically beautiful, but I think the company should be more forthright about the dyeing process and the fact that subsequent blooms will be white. I had to google to find out about this orchid.

Still Life: Mixed Hydrangeas

On July 16, 2013December 10, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS32 Comments

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Look Who Fluttered By Today!

On July 16, 2013December 10, 2013 By cindy knokeIn GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS56 Comments

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Birds of Fine Feather Flock Together!

On July 6, 2013 By cindy knokeIn Uncategorized71 Comments

At least at the zoo, they do!

There’s a peacock in that tree! A fellow Hollorite had one on her roof! But this one was loose at The San Diego Zoo.

The Zoo has huge walk-through, multi-level aviaries, that I have been visiting since I was a small child. It is full of exotic birds.

Check out their painted plumage!

The San Diego Zoo houses the largest collection of bird species in the United States.

It’s a picture-taking paradise!

And the birdies know it!

Look at them, they practically pose.