Finally...

Yes the snow finally came and I was in Mammoth shortly after. The skiing was awesome and the weather was fantastic. Hope this is the start of epic season with many more days like these to come.

Blurbird skies

Thin...

Well this is the new thin "Me". I lost about 50 lbs. and feel great. I haven't weighed this in about 20 years. I have better endurance with the workouts and look forward to the ski season with more strength. My head and my heart seem to be both in the right place...

Work shot taken 11/15/05

Fall Campout...

Well the Fall campout was a fantastic time. Everybody showed including the Bear.
The Twin Lakes area is beautiful. The weather started off very windy and cold, then turned nice and warm. The fall colors were just starting and seemed to change alittle more each day. We did a 8+ mile hike to Barney lake which was a great trail with the reward of this beautiful snow fed lake. The nights were a great reminder that winter is just around the corner. Got a call when I got home saying that it is snowing today in the high country. I think I will be skiing soon.

Great views in every direction...

On the other side is Yosemite...

Upper Twin Lake...

Salmontrout

Fall colors...

Barney Lake. What a day...

Tahoe...

I was trying to rearrange my pics and screwed the whole thing up, so I am reposting these pics and post for everybodies enjoyment. I will remember this trip forever...

Beautiful meadow

Incline lake in the foreground and Tahoe behind

Sign at trailhead

Last Blast of Summer

My yard continues to amaze me with cactus going off in the late summer instead of spring, and the tropicals still in full bloom. The smell of Ginger fills the air and the Plumerias give the smell of Hawaii. I have another full month or two till this is gone but for now I will just try and enjoy the beauty of my hard work...

The air is full of the smell of ginger

Full shot of the cactus

Another flower opened at the same time on this same cactus

This flower is about the size of a large orange

Update...

Well here is the yard update. Last night one of the 3 blooms from my night blooming Cyrius opened and is really dynamic. The Hawaiian ginger is in full bloom and is really noticeable at night when the air is heavy. My pineapple though not as big as I would hope for August is growing quickly and seems happy. My pineapples seem to mature around Thanksgiving but need alot of sun in the last 2 months to make them Hawaiian sweet. I have one more cactus that will be blooming soon and will update when that occures.

My pineapple is now the size of a nerf football

The ginger is really enhancing the night air

Night blooming Cyrius is the size of a large grapefruit.

Back....

Well Puttzel has reminded me to put up a new post, and it has been awhile. That is because I have been doing nothing but WORK. But there is some fun coming soon in my life and there will be pictures and stories to update my friends of my travels. So Putzs hang in there in the islands and to everybody else health and happiness.....

Summer Time...

Well the yard is really showing off this summer. Those awful humid days and nights we have had really makes my tropicals think they are in Hawaii. In my haste to get these shots and post them I forgot to get a shot of the pineapple. It is still small but growing fast. More later....

Aloha

The line up....

This is what I see from my living room window

As you turn the corner you get Ferns, a Cheramoyia tree, and others...

Towards the back the Plumerias turn to Bananas and Ginger

The Plumerias are really popping.

Summer Daze

Well summer is full swing now as we all know. Next week I will post the pics of the Tropical plants going off in my yard. I have some great friends from Maui visiting and got some shots last night here in S.C. Patti and I have been friends since 1970. Her son Kapena and Patti are here for a family wedding.

Kapena and Don

Patti and Kapena

Patti and Don

More Oregon...

I almost forgot to add these pics of the Tollgate area about 1 hour from Milton-Freewater. This is a awesome area for summer camping and hiking, and winter snow trips. No good ski area here but those mountains you see in the background has some....

Wild flowers at Tollgate

Tollgate area

July 4th Trip

Just got back from a great trip to Oregon/Washinton to visit my wonderful kind friends. The pics that I posted go in backwards order so you have to go from bottom up. But anyway the farm is now in the transition stage as the greenhouses are mostly empty getting ready for the cuttings of the next crops. The weather was great with warm nice days and just right cool nights.
Steve and Donna were very kind to show me around and look at Real Estate in the surrounding areas. July 4th here means alot of fireworks and firearms. Everybody has fun. We went to downtown Walla-Walla and walked around but everybody was going to the park for the July 4th event so it was time for us to go back to the farm for some fun or our own. We went to Harris Park which is just a short 15 minute drive from downtown Milton-Freewater on July 5th and enjoyed a nice hike. Fantastic beautiful area. It is hard not to fall in love with this part of the country...

Overall shot of Harris Park

Harris Park

Downtown Walla-Walla

The backyard

Back 40

Greenhouse 1

The Barkwells

Barkwell Farm

Star light Star bright

This is one happy plant

Spring is showing here

June Flowers

With summer just a few days away my yard is really starting to show off. The June gloom has slowed down the Hawaiian Plumerias but everything else is a poppin'. I hope the next post has the tropicals going off....

Goodbye Putzel

The send off party for my good friend was great. Good friends and great Aloha. We know Mike is going to a better place and wish we were going with him. I feel the need to play the ukelele and listen to IZ cds...

Another cactus flower opened

Homan at work...

Putzel, Sis, Lance

Putzel's going away party. Sister and Lance

Memorial Day

Looks like it will be a beautiful day here in San Clemente. My yard is starting to show signs of spring with the flowers starting to pop. Alittle early for the tropicals but soon everything will be in bloom. More pics as they open....

The plumerias are just starting to fill in and flower

This is looking from my front door towards the back of the yard

These 2 are my first of the spring season

Tuesday...

Well I hope the fog goes away for the upcoming Memorial day weekend. Think I will just sit back and watch the amatures go nuts.

Thursday

Well I am still fine tuning the site but I am getting more familiar with the tools. I see that I could have picked a cleaner shot than the one of me at the river on that Hot Rod, but that was a great trip. Looking for more pics to share from the adventures of DonHo.

Zoom Zoom....

Wednesday

Actually these pics were from last year but I wanted to share these because it was such a great BBQ.

But osciffer I only had 1 beer 

Another day in Paridise