On Saturday my husband and I took part in an event; we hiked in Bommer Canyon (Irvine) during its open access day. Once a month they open the otherwise gated trails for the public, and we can hike in the area without a docent.

We had the most perfect day for a hike; cloudy and not too hot either. We experienced some extraordinary views from different points of our hike. I will post scenery images tomorrow; today I wanted to show you wildflower pictures. We saw many kinds; some I recognized, others I still need to learn about. Here is a selection from the beautiful flowers:

Monkey Flowers
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Tuesday night I attended a 3-mile hike at Orchard Hills, which is less than a 10 minute drive from my home. This hike is not open to the public unless you sign up for a volunteer docent led hike organized for certain times of the week. Orchard Hills is part of the over 50,000 acres Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks.

What makes this hike special is that you actually walk around a working avocado orchard.

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We haven’t had rain for a while, and the beautiful wildflowers have started fading away. I met with someone today for a photography lesson by a wildflower field near our house, and took a few quick phone photos of them before they completely go away. It was a great blooming season for us in Southern California. Pretty soon these green and yellow hills will turn brown for the rest of the year.

Today my husband surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of lilies. It was an anniversary present; we met 18 years ago today, on a very snowy day in Denver, when the power was out in many homes. But we had a wonderful first date at the local On the Border restaurant. My lucky day…

I used the Lensbaby Twist 60 for all images, but the second two were done with macro lenses.

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