Passion: Vegetable harvest in my Mission Viejo apartment garden......

I am so glad to be harvesting vegetables from my apartment garden......

The recipes.............

Passion: Bird bath installation in my garden.......

Its peak of summer.......heat waves are regular.......
I see birds panting for water.....so, I bought a bird bath.......
Have installed in under the dappled shade of apine at the edge of my tiny garden.........
Hmmed by mandevilla, cardinal climber vine and a dracaena, it creates a pretty nook......

The bird bath has two dummy birds......and I have filled the bowl with cool water........

Waiting for the birds to make use of the installation........

Plant: Calliandra........

A Pink Powder Puff (Calliandra surinamensis). .......just outside my back patio........
When we moved into the current house in mid May, it was all green......

Within weeks I saw pink touches among the green canopy..........

In a month, it turned spectacular.....with zillion powder puff-like flowers........

Crows, orioles, sparrows, mockingbirds, hummingbirds to parrots flocked to rest and forage on it....

As summer escalates its heat, soon the blooms will wither away.....and the tree will be back to normal..but it offered views worth-remembering.........

Observation: Succulent pigments...an adaptation to heat stress....

Colorful succulent cladodes.....

They are pretty to look at.....but, the beautiful pigments are only an adaptation of the xerophytes against too much heat and water deficiency...

Observation: Color of the water.........

Same pool..........so distinctly-different color of the water..........

Mus be something to do it light, and depth.......

Place: A windy afternoon on the beach......

With a bunch of friends we went to  a local beach on a summer, but cold, windy afternoon....
Gulls were  flocked on the shore.......

Rather empty beach for a summer...a stunning house on the bluff....

The other side...........

We made puffed rice snacks, garnishing with pickle, cucumber, cilantro, apple, and savories..

Then we walked up to this park, in front of the resort.......

A view....

Got to inhale the pleasant smoke from the bonfire.......perfect end to cold evening.....

Observation: As if purple is the color of summer....

Purple reigns.....

Observation: Life-sustaining snag......

A snag for human can be habitat for so many species....
There is this huge snag, visible from my patio, which is the perch and home for so many birds.....

Place: A visit to Rancho Santa Margarita Lake....

The other day, we visited  a lake not far from our Mission Viejo house.........
In the foothills of Saddleback mountain, it was pretty.........

A gully in the hills,,,torrential rain may have carved it..

Can't wait to see these hills covered in snow......

In winter, it would look more sublime, I guess........when the peaks will be snow-covered.......

Passion: My summer garden.........

It's been just a month we moved here....my plants are adjusting so well to the new place.....their blooms say it all!