ABC Wednesday - V

V is for Vernal Pool

This is the definition of a Vernal Pool: A vernal pool is seasonal pool that is present in the spring and dries up in late spring or summer. It doesn't have water in it again until winter rains recreate the pool. This makes it fundamentally different from a year-round lake. In particular, fish are absent, since they require year-round water.

Here, in Murrieta, we have a wonderful example, the Main Pool on the Mesa de Colorado. This is the largest and best vernal pool at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. Some years there is no pool at all, no rain means no water; not water equals no pool.

Here are some more photos of the Vernal Pools:

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ABC Wednesday - U

One day I was at a nearby pond, with my camera, of course. I squatted down to take a shot of some mallards, and right in front of me, concealed in some bushes was this huge duck, a Muscovy Duck. I was really close, I was startled; but the duck was calm and I got a couple of shots. I had no idea what type of duck this was, other than Ugly, so I did some research to come up with it's generic name, it's real name is Cairina moschata. Even after I educated myself, I still think he's ugly. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sorry if anyone is a Muscovy Duck lover.

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ABC Wednesday - T

These are my favorite Teacups.

Oden playing Twister, by himself.

This is Thunder, our local minor-league team's mascot.

Kids love Thunder.

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ABC Wednesday - S

ABC Wednesday is brought to you by the Letter S.

S for Stool.

I have quite a few stools inside my house.

This stool I picked up in Vermont.

It's perfect for toddlers to sit on.

This Stool I have 2 of, when my Dad saw it he wanted one for his desert home.

When my Dad died, his widow didn't want it any more, so I took it.

I think my daughters would each like one of stools.

This stool, that Bob built for me, is by the front door.

We place books there, ready for donation.

This is the stool I sit on to do the family accounting.
Paying bills is such fun.. Ha, Ha.


And this final beauty is where I'm sitting now, at my pc.

Now visit Mrs. Nesbitt, to see all the other S's.

ABC Wednesday - R

Rabbit in the road.

A rabbit, in the wild

A Rascally Rabbit.

A pet Rabbit.

Now, visit everyone else at ABC Wednesday, at Mrs. Nesbitt's.

ABC Wednesday - P

Presenting the letter P, for today I found a lot of P words.

A power plant.

Peanut packs from our local teams.

Pears, three types.

A bed of Pansies.

A small urban pond.

Pink Roses, from my garden.

These Pigs are trying to hide.

They're at a Petting Zoo, and want nothing to do with People.

Visit everyone's M post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday - O

An OLD OLDSMOBILE in OLD Town.

Onions, at the Farmer's Market.

This is Ozark Man. It is one of my favorite photos.

This is Oden, my youngest grandson.
Oden is 8 1/2.

Now visit everyone's M post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday - N

Numbers have their own language.

They can help you find home,
yours or someone elses.

Numbers can tell you where you are.

Numbers can tell you where you've been,

or where you're going.

Numbers can keep you safe.

Numbers can be fun. Great numbers.

Numbers can help you find the book you're looking for.



Numbers can help you communicate.

ABC Wednesday - M

Mallard, looking for a meal.








Oh, maybe.









Yes, maybe it will work.









Here it goes.










Still going.











That was good.









Now, I'm full.











Heading for the ranch









Getting close.









Got to climb.

Yeah, I made it.

Siesta time.


Visit everyone's M post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday - L

This is Lucy, she's a duck in a Petting Zoo.

This is the light bar, on top of the SWAT Team
Hummer, in Murrieta

Lupines are one of my favorite wildflowers. Their blooms don't last long, 2 or 3 weeks, so you have to enjoy them while you can.

Check out other L post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday - K

These are special keys,

emergency keys to our neighbor's homes.

We have theirs, they have ours.

The keys I carry each day,
two cars and the house keys.

The key to the mailbox and to the pool.

These are handcuff keys.

If you get arrested and handcuffed,

these are the keys you need.

They're universal.

My fellow booksellers and I

knitted scarves for the homeless

this winter.

Check out everyone at ABC Wednesday. Thank you Mrs. Nesbitt.

ABC Wednesday - J

Jigsaw is a J word. It can be a tool or a puzzle. I live in an active senior community.

In our library is a large table that always has a jigsaw puzzle in progress. Everyone is welcome to work on it.

Looks as if they're ready to start a new puzzle.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, well I say so is junk. Look at the marvelous collection for sale in Old Town Murrieta.

Here's some Junk Food at the market, not at my house!

Check out everyone's J post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday - I

The letter I was a hard one for me to come up with anything interesting. Hope my post isn't too boring.







The ISBN allows me to be certain I get the book I want, each book published has it's own individual identification number, an ISBN. Last year we moved from 10 digits to 13 digits, this change was 40 years in the making. I wonder how long before the next increase.




In 1965, W. H. Smith (the largest single book retailer in Great Britain) announced its plans to move to a computerized warehouse in 1967 and wanted a standard numbering system for books it carried. They hired consultants to work on behalf of their interest, the British Publishers Association's Distribution and Methods Committee and other experts in the U.K. book trade. They devised the Standard Book Numbering (SBN) system in 1966 and it was implemented in 1967.

At the same time, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee on Documentation (TC 46) set up a working party to investigate the possibility of adapting the British SBN for international use. A meeting was held in London in 1968 with representatives from Denmark, France, Germany, Eire, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and an observer from UNESCO. Other countries contributed written suggestions and expressions of interest. A report of the meeting was circulated to all ISO member countries. Comments on this report and subsequent proposals were considered at meetings of the working party held in Berlin and Stockholm in 1969. As a result of the thinking at all of these meetings, the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was approved as an ISO standard in 1970, and became ISO 2108.







That original standard has been revised as book and book-like content appeared in new forms of media, but the basic structure of the ISBN as defined in that standard has not changed and is in use today in almost 150 countries.







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ABC Wednesday - H

Hat is my H word. I don't have many hats, because I really don't wear them very often. My secret is I love hats. In days of yore, I'd buy a hat for no reason except I loved it. When we retired and downsized to a cottage, I donated all of my collection to charity. I've since collected a very few.

This is one of my favorites. What is Rock Bottom Remainders, you may ask. Well, they are one of my fav rock bands. You'll never hear them on the radio. They have never released an album or CD. They only perform once a year. So, who are they and why do I love them?

By day, they’re authors.Really famous authors.
But once a year they shed their pen-and-pencil clutching personas and become rock stars, complete with roadies, groupies and a wicked cool tour bus.

Do you recognize any of them from the back of their book jackets? Amy Tan, Dave Barry,
Greg Iles, James McBride, Kathi Goldmark, Matt Groening, Mitch Albom, Ridley Pearson,

Roy Blount, Scott Turow, Stephen King. Roger McGuinn and others guest for this one night show. Let me tell you, it is a rockin' good time; and all the money raised goes to charity for literacy programs.

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ABC Wednesday - G

Grass, we have grass. Grass is a great G word. I took this shot from the ground, looking through our over-grown grass. I wanted it to look, "As high as an elephant's eye." I know that quote is about corn, oh well. We've had so much rain lately, the grass has growing like a weed. It'd be great to hide Easter eggs in. The tallest patch of grass is 18" tall. See the lavender behind the grass? It's actually 5 feet tall! Bob cut the grass yesterday, now it's back to normal.

ABC Wednesday - F

Mrs. Nesbit host ABC Wednesday. Check out the others who participated at her site.

I chose Faces. It's a great F word. These folk are some of my fellow booksellers. When I asked the males, if I could take their picture, each one said, sure. Most of the females, said, NO. One of the reasons I work at a bookstore is these great folks. As you can see, booksellers are diverse. We have a staff of 60, so these are a few.

Here are Bob and I.

ABC Wednesday - E

MrsNesbitt host ABC Wednesday, and I thought I'd give it a try. Today's letter is E. One of my favorite E words is Egret. Here are some photos of an egret I shot on our golf course a couple of weeks ago.

Recently when I pulled into our driveway, there was an egret walking down our sidewalk, away from our front door. He was tall, about 4 feet, and seemed to be just slowly strolling around. I stopped the car, and wasn't sure what to do. I'd already raised the garage door, so I left it up, I didn't want to unduly startle him. He walked in front of my car, totally ignoring me, the car with its engine running, and the open garage. He kept stopping to look at all the bushes and hedges. I just sat there, in my car, transfixed. By the time he'd strolled over to Reta's, Bob had popped into the garage, wondering why I hadn't come into the house. I motioned for him to come outside so he could see our visitor. We watched him stroll around in front of Reta's then move onto Barbara and Charlie's front yard.

Bob and I went inside, but I couldn't resist the pull of the egret, and I returned to the front to watch him. All the time he was walking, his long neck was undulating, as he crept on his navy blue legs. When he reached the next yard, Barbara and Crosby's, I discovered the purpose of this outing; he was lizard hunting! And he got one. It was very cool. When he got all the way down to Jody and Dick's yard, he got another one. After that I went back inside. I've seen egrets on our street before, but never this up close and personal. And I've never seen and egret hunt before, as I said, it was very cool.