Sacramento Vegetable Garden blogger Bill Bird

Added a new link to vegetable garden blogger Bill Bird’s excellent Sacramento Vegetable Gardening blog.
SacramentoVegetableGardeningAlthough not exactly a Redding resource, I imagine Sacramento vegetable gardeners face many of the same challenges as we do. His posts are written in an entertaining and informative personal style you will enjoy. Click on over for a good read, and to catch up with Bill and The Wife That Is Venus.

Some Victorian and other interesting homes in Yreka California

Below are a few photos I recently captured in Yreka California. Lovely buildings remain from Yreka’s golden era, including Victorian, Neo Classical, Edwardian, and Craftsman styles of architecture. Yreka is a small town located about an hour and a half north of Redding on Interstate 5. It’s currently the county seat for Siskiyou County. It’s sort of a sleepy village, alongside a busy interstate. But in the early part of the last century, it was evidently a bustling gold mining center. Click on any to slightly enlarge.Yreka1

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Yreka13Yreka14Yreka is worth a visit from Redding. The drive is one of the most beautiful 90 minutes in the Northstate. And Yreka’s gilded glimpse into our mining past is worth a look. Redding never achieved that sort of style, even in our timber and mining boom years of the last century.

Mt Shasta so real it looks fake

One of those images of northstate beauty that almost looks faked. Too gorgeous to be real.
MtShasta From Sikiyou with cloudClick to slightly enlarge. Shastina and Mt Shasta from Siskiyou County, not quite an hour from Redding.
She could sure use some more snow this year. This dry season. But the powdered sugar dusting simply adds contrast to her craggy majesty. Snowfall as wispy as that cloud overhead. Shot taken yesterday from a moving vehicle, no less. You have to grab the image when it grabs you. Hopefully, we’ll see her in a few days sporting a more substantial white cloak.

Crazy Lady Ranch

Took this picture out south of Anderson while showing property yesterday. Click to expand slightly.
CrazyLadyRanchWhich begs the question, what other kind is there? 😉

A bit of Fall color

I took these images in Trinity County yesterday, on a work related journey into the mountains northwest of Redding.
Stuart Fork Trinity 2013Above, the Stuart Fork of the Trinity River. You can usually find some spots of riotous color in the Northstate. But for the most part, the forests around us are accented in Autumn with muted orange, golds, and browns. And this year is particularly dry, too.
Trinity Ranch home 2013Meanwhile back in Redding, we are still getting ripe tomatoes in early November. This may be last few for this year however. Another blessing of our mild Winters.
Tomatoes in Redding

Greenish bird with red topknot comes knocking

I don’t know what kind of bird this is, but it really seems to want to come inside the house.

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The red topknot folds down into a red spot when not in use.
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Persistent bird has been tapping on the window for most of 2 days now. Click to enlarge.
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Not getting much work done with bird tapping away. Maybe that’s okay.
Butch the cat votes for letting persistent bird in. I’m afraid his vote doesn’t count.
Butch in window
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Persistent red topknot bird. It’s ReallyRedding.