A quick walk to the backyard in 110-degree heat produced these four photos of the two Lantanas I planted a week or so back. They have been fertilized when planted, and have received water twice each day too. Lantana loves hot weather and is somewhat drought tolerant, I water them solely because of the excess heat lately. The Sagos aren’t doing as well.
A nice bokeh sunset photographed at the Red Rock Scenic Overlook around two years ago. 😎
Alta is an east-to-west road that runs many miles across the valley. I took this shot the other day on the way home from the open desert, it’s a shortcut to get back to the freeway. These folks must be enduring much more traffic noise than I am.
I wanted a home that does not back up to a road and not too close to any main roads. Mission accomplished, yet you just can’t help but hear the many Camaro’s and Dodge muscle cars sounding as though they should be at the speedway, well north of the city.
I really don’t believe that there are any exhaust noise restrictions in Las Vegas. One of those prices paid for city living. I have several stops to make today, maybe I’ll capture something interesting around town. I hope your Monday is fabulous!!
I had to make a quick trip out today, so I grabbed the little Sony RX100 pocket camera for a change. It does a very nice job I think, but during processing, they process differently if that makes sense… It’s a heck of a lot easier to take with me than the bulky Nikon Z6!
The photos are good but not quite Nikon quality…
Somewhere in California
Does this road in California look as though it takes you to the lunar surface? 🤔
This nice barn was photographed near Death Valley a couple years ago with the Nikon D3300 body. These and more photos would look so much better if I had the Nikon Z6 body.
These are the last photos from a couple days ago outside of the city. I mentioned in a couple comments this morning that when the temperature is as high as it’s been lately, I can actually feel a slight sting on my skin when the wind blows hard enough. Crazy, right? It’s not the first time I’ve experienced this. Today will bring 111F again, wow! 🔥
It was almost brutal to walk to the backyard to check the water in the flower pots…
Who could ever tire of our beautiful Mojave Desert sky?
Yep, more Money Man photos! I’m not sure why I named this little cast iron bank that. It just worked at the moment I guess, anyway, he’s now chilling out on the fireplace mantle. No more of him for now… I have several more landscape photos of the desert lined up. 🌵🌴🏔
It’s always very enjoyable to walk among the Joshua trees, Yuccas, and desert wildflowers. Stop, listen. What do you hear? The gentle breeze blowing through the trees? A distant bird screeching? Maybe you’ll see a few Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels scurrying about in search of a meal. And of course, watch out for any snakes or scorpions. Mojave Desert love! ❤️
Of course, I had to take this little fella with me, and it didn’t take long for him to become rather warm as he’s made of cast iron! It was so peaceful out there today with far fewer people. I would rather have all the extra people there though than that damn evil virus. Be safe, friends!
I took a drive out of the city for a little while today to the usual places I like to visit, please excuse the redundancies. Today there was much less traffic out there than the last trip out about one month ago which is great. There is usually a little less traffic in summer due to the heat, but it’s even less now which I suspect that damn virus is responsible for.
Without a zoom lens, it’s very difficult for me to capture good photos of those sweet little Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels. Only one attempt to photograph one was slightly useable. This amateur photographer can’t justify $2600 bucks for that 70/200mm zoom lens for the Nikon Zed 6 lens. Unless someone wants to help with the cost, haha!!
This is round one of about sixty photos taken today. While outside in the sunshine, I grabbed a couple photos of the truck with the new wheels for insurance purposes as suggested by my local insurance dude. It was very hot out there, even at 3200+ feet above sea level!
About three days ago I added some Moon Juice fertilizer to the new Sago Palm’s roots. I keep an eye on them daily, the larger tree on the right side still has the awful discoloration of the fronds which as you may know, does not mean the tree is dying.
It’s heat-stressed by the block wall, and shocked from the transplanting according to the nursery. Neither tree looks any different as yet, I will check to see how often the fertilizer can be applied. I watered everything early this morning before the forecast 108 degrees sets in!
Here are two images of the same photo looking up the skylight shaft in the dining room. I am sure that when the home was built in 1996, you could actually see the blue desert sky up there. Decades of scorching Mojave Desert sunshine have made the skylight capable of allowing some light in but no blue sky. Bogus. It doesn’t leak, so let it be! Three different applications were used to create these weird photos. See what happens when I get really bored?!! 😂
I have lived in Las Vegas for a bit over seven years now, to the best of my memory, this kind of heat has been here just once although it’s been close to one hundred fifteen before. This is extremely dangerous heat!
The National Weather Service is warning the public here ahead of time, taxpayer money well spent. I’ve seen these extreme temperatures before in Baker, California in years past, one hundred twenty is fairly common for that area.
Guess who’s going to be staying at home during these extreme heat days? I will try to avoid driving too, that much heat is not good for any piston engine!
I have dug deep into the archive this morning to pull these photos out since there are no new photos to process today. Yesterday, I added some Moon Juice fertiliser to the new Sago Palms. Giving them their daily morning watering, I didn’t notice any difference in the appearance of the trees. Apparently, it’s going to take a few days to see any difference but at least now I know they aren’t dying. No plans for today, just hanging around at home. Right where I want to be!
I have become increasingly concerned about the larger Sago Palm that was planted several days ago as it’s color has changed sharply. This morning, I took a couple iPhone photos of them both and headed back to the nursery where I purchased them.
The very nice lady that greeted me in the office is also a worker among the many plants and trees there (there must be thousands) around the property. I showed her the photos, and to my relief, she said the trees are doing fine.
The reason they fronds are changing color is heat stress from the walls on two sides of it, and shock from being pulled from the fifteen-gallon bucket it lived in for a long time. I have watered the trees as prescribed so I haven’t apparently killed them. Yet!
I am going to mix up some Moon Juice as they call it to fertilise them a bit at the woman’s suggestion. The name of the company is Moon Valley, hence the fun name of the fertiliser. Let’s see how this goes! Nobody wants dead palm trees in the backyard…
I always pronounce Cement as Ceement, I suppose this is because of my Michigan upbringing. Or not. Anyway, these are more reworks, re-colored a bit. Today, I plan to drive north to the nursery where I purchased the Sago Palms armed with photos of them both. The larger palm isn’t looking too god regardless of my watering it as suggested by the nursery.
Gladly, there is a warranty period on the trees which is very nice. If the tree croaks, they will replace it at zero cost to me. I love free stuff! As I’ve said before in this space, John has not a green thumb but I’m not so sure this is my doing. Honestly, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house for a bit and get some fresh desert air!
If you are a regular visitor to my humble blog, then you are familiar with Wilson, the world-famous Desert Tortoise. It seems only natural the these two should get together, but money man as I call him has the better deal.
Wilson, the poor little dude must endure the summer heat and whatever else the desert weather throws at him. He’s some kind of plastic, money man is cast iron and will become as hot as a firecracker in my backyard!
Photo one is a bit fuzzy as I couldn’t kneel or lay down on the faux grass to focus the Nikon, it’s really freaking hot!! Whoda thunk it could get so hot! It’s only 104 right now…
This week, Las Vegas is going to get scorched as the mid and late-week temperatures will push up to 112 to 114 degrees. Gladly, I had the HVAC tech have a look at my cooling systems yesterday. It’s a very old system, maybe as old or almost as old as this home which was built in 1996 but it’s still ticking along just like me! Could you live in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert?
And here is the forecast for the next several days!
This photo makes me think about the millions of years these mountains silently stood here, always watching. If only they could speak to us…
I had a short ride around the area a while ago and grabbed these photos. Along the way, I passed a few parks where lots of people were gathered for cookouts and boy did it smell good! At least a few people were masked and keeping a distance away from others, that’s good to see. The little man-made lakes are pretty to look at and are stocked with fish, I don’t know which fish though. There were about a half dozen people fishing on one end of a lake.
Today’s forecast is for total sunshine and one hundred four scorching degrees. Regardless, it’s another beautiful day in Las Vegas Valley. I hope each of my American friends are having a beautiful day, stay safe and be well!
WHEREVER YOU GO, GO WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
Enter at own risk
Mainly through the lens of a Nikon
by Lize Bard
Landschaftsfotografie in Norwegen
Life in Copenhagen, Denmark, after moving during Covid-19.
