Lone Pine peak,I know some great camping in that valley to the left, an old temple/nudist colony, a roof and big fireplace, in a perfect spot.
Busy,busy, life ain't all fun and games, many, many thanks to new friends and old for your support of the Barnyard! I ask for no money, just links, blogroll or otherwise. Conservatives in the GOP need to stick together so we can ride this storm on top of the waves, not crushed below them.
The birth of a giant
You have seen the in betweens, no time lapse just different plants, the bloom is sort of time lapse. I checked and snapped a pic.
Today, fully open! 
Amaryllis watch: This morning
This afternoon
A larger view, front row suggestions are welcome?!?
My amarylli are starting to bloom! This one is the most advanced and they seem very happy
About six hours later, mine are doing very well this year, tallest stalks ever with several doubles.These blossoms will be 8 inches across and last for weeks, a great find actually planted in what I was mowing as yard, dug up and transplanted a half dozen large bulbs and this is the third Spring bloom. I put them in my North side garden and they love it.
A Salute to our Patriot Armed Forces!
A Barnyard welcome to a new blog friend, Woman Honor Thyself and her readers! The irony is I was pointed to a great new circle of friends by a lefty hate post aimed at one of them, the moonbat hates me as well. She brought up an interesting point in her last post about male flattery towards the ladies, as a contractor that does a bulk of my work with women in their most intimate of quarters , the deepest reaches of their home.
I must maintain the highest standards of civility and sincerity in all my contacts. Heck, I am a Southern country boy and Ma'am and Sir are just part of my vocabulary. I find that if you treat someone with polite respect it goes far. I will find something to compliment the lady and the man of the house about.
When I have desired a more social contact, I simply ask permission to court her. I have always been very complimentary of those around me that deserve it for whatever reason and delivered with a sincere smile. I believe if you are honest and forth coming the compliment will be taken as such, a man's own reputation lends itself to that perception. There is a huge difference in" Oooh, cute dress" and a"Wow! You look great today" for being exceptionally stylish. The turds are obvious and on occasion the good guys get a break.
I grew up in a time and place where handshakes and flowery compliments were just going out of date, and this Goat ain't that old yet.
Is it to late to salvage civility and a polite society? I don't know, I do know it cannot comw from the "Swamp" that is DC, it has to come from us, the regular decent folks of America that are increasingly fed up with the garbage.
It must be through example not law, message and idea not bumper sticker sloganeering.
This is another reason I like Mitt Romney for POTUS. Heck, I don't scold the man for joining the NRA or moving to the right on pro-life issues, I welcome a gifted and brilliant spokesman to the cause. Rudy and McCain are done, Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich will replace them. The Goat likes a Romney/F Thompson ticket with Duncan Hunter as head of DHS, Rudy at AG, and Newt as top policy advisor. I don't see a single democrat that can debate them at any level, McCain and Giulliani, just concede to the left and act tough for the camera. I will vote for them over any DNC candidate though in the general should the make it out of a gruelling primary vote.
Go GOP! Roll Mitt Roll!
Sidenote: I am going to have a bumber crop of apricots, grapes, nectarines, plums(4 varieties) and cling peachs this year, some preservings tips and hints would be welcome, if secret mail them and they will be kept so, if not post away. I'll get some Barnyard garden photos up tommorrow, the fresh peas, english and asian are a wonderful compliment to my diet and coming in strong.
Again a call for readers with some jam, jelly and preserve making skills to contact me with tips, I am a rookie!?!
Yeah, life is steep, (having a good time in the SoCal sun at Suicide rocks)
and craggy, (unnamed peak in the Green creek region)
The hard work is well worth it! (From the Summit of Mt. Winchell in the Palisades region of the Sierra looking into the heart of the high country)
I know! ( Atop Mt. Dunderburgh with the Yosemite high country in the background, beer in hand)
Mesa country, yeah, I get around and see America in all Her Glory.
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."-- Patrick Henry (speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention,5 June 1778)
Stained glass dome I built and designed for someone on the opposite end of my political spectrum
Mitt was the man, of course, I am biased by the way, Rudy and John are getting stale, Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter again gained a little ground as did Tancredo. In the Barnyard's view, I would love to see a debate between just Mitt, Rudy, Fred and Newt besides them the rest are running for VEEP, cabinet positions or just lucrative speaking contracts that pay more than being POTUS. Those four have the most to lose by running and yet their love for America overrides that fact. Mitt could challenge Warren Buffet if that was the direction he chose, but no, he chooses to put that expertise to work for his country, not for his personal gain.
I supported Ross Perot for many of the same traits I see in Mitt Romney, the bottom line fiscally. Mitt answers the questions before his segue to another topic better than the rest by far. In the Barnyard opinion Mitt can be himself and let the others play catch up. He is definately the man I want to preside over the budget and what the future holds. I believe fiscal and security concerns far out weigh social concerns at this time though that is a crucial element.
For Trader Rick, my buddy's team Volcano, Shasta and Lassen.
Sheep and wine grapes in California's Shenandoah valley, zinfadel country
It was a pretty day so I went to visit some friends of mine, a wild herd of domestic goats living in gold country, real party animals this group.
Miles of piles, tailings from the dredging operations that took place here, one of the richest gold productions in the world, this is downstream from the famous Grass Valley/Nevada City mines and the destructive hydrolic mining being done in the area of the Malakoff Diggins . The TV show, "The Big Valley" depicted the region where I live.
The Yuba river and some interesting pine roots, the part coming out of the ground is as big as a man. The 'hills' in the background are those piles of rock dredged from the river looking for gold. I talked to a threesome doing just that and they had some positive ore to show me so I started poking around a bit.
I didn't find any gold but I did almost step on this buzz worm, a young northern pacific rattlesnake about 18 inches long, it is looking right into the camera, click picture for an enlarged view. A sign entering the park warns of them very plainly and about a half hour later, here you go.
It was sunning on the rock under the flowers on the right and is barely visble in the center at the base of the rock.I'll tell you what, launching a new small contracting company in California is a royal pain in the butt, even with no employees. Three and a half months later I am up and running and legal, with some serious dirt on my direct competition. A question for my readers: should I report them for violating workers comp laws? They are former friends and I know the employee they are using on a part time basis. Would I just be being vindictive in reporting them or am I being a good guy by reporting the lawbreakers? I could seriously hurt these folks and their business', they also have families that I know. I got a dilemma in the Barnyard my friends and your feedback will be appreciated. You can comment here or send an email( in profile) if you want privacy, I am very interested in what the Barnyard denizens and flybys have to say here.
My instinct is to report them, WSY?!?
The Democrats are at it again, trying to force far left agenda through, such as giving special protected rights to homosexual and gender disoriented individuals in recent "Hate Crimes" legislation, HR1592. Matt Barber lays it open for all too see at Townhall. I have always said, the gender-benders don't want equal rights , which they have, they want 'special rights" to be hedonistic and not be criticized or shunned. It is blatantly unconstitutional and will meet the President's Veto pen if it gets that far. The Dems are pushing a very hot button within the conservative base and the American public in general.
Watch for Mitt Romney to be the first one hit with the question in next week's debate in lieu of his past statements, I will expect a Federalist answer as it should be left open to the voters at the local level to decide. It would never pass anywhere except maybe a couple hovens like San Francisco. In fact that would be an excellent question:"Would you veto the Hate Crimes Bill and why?", and give each a minute and a half to respond followed by a one minute rebuttal.
Anyway, Mitt Romney is my choice, I am looking for the VEEP, Rudy is out, replaced by former Govs, Gilmore and Huckabee, Fred Thompson is a real choice as is Duncan Hunter. I really believe Newt wants a policy position as the 'Idea Man" , heck, the man wakes up with more than the Dem leadership has in their lives. Personally, I would appoint Tom Tancredo to head Immigration.
Update: Another Must Read from Daniel Henninger
I just enjoy it and hope you do to.
California away from the congestion,it is hard to omit God with vistas like this
For Springtime's sake, rocks and wild flowerswith some hidden rapids
A Green Heron chick visits the shop, we have a family clan nesting overhead, noisy cranks. I wonder what they taste like, kidding. From Andrew McCarthy at NRO, US Prosecuter of the '93 Trade Tower bombings.( Hattip: Hugh)
Al Qaeda is a powerful force. It is a sprawling, atomized, international network of cells. It has proved quite adept at orchestrating savage attacks. But the main danger it poses has never been the orders its generals give to its colonels and on down some regimented chain-of-command. If we had only to worry about members of al Qaeda carrying out orders of al Qaeda, the war on terror would be neither as uphill nor as infinite as it seems to be. The principal challenge posed by al Qaeda is that it spearheads the spread of a strong, though noxious, ideology.
Indeed, al Qaeda does not purport to give direction only to its own members, or even that the directions it does impart are al Qaeda’s own directions. The network presumes to be guiding all Muslims toward what Islam compels. This is abundantly clear from Osama bin Laden’s infamous 1998 fatwa — “infamous” in the sense that it is often mentioned in press, although, to judge from today’s coverage and “expert” commentary, not much attention has been given to what it actually says. Here’s bin Laden (italics mine):The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it[.] … This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, “and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,” and “fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.”
The direction is to everyone. And he is not ordering that it be done because Osama says so, like the mafia does something because the don says so, or the army does something because the commanding officer says so. In bin Laden’s mind, he is merely the medium; the direction, he insists, comes from Allah. In fact, bin Laden plainly knows he is not enough of an authority figure to command terrorist attacks. He needs to cite scripture to convince Muslims that it is the ideology itself which announces these commands. Commands which this ideology compels every Muslim, not just every al Qaeda operative, to perform.
Kudos to the FBI !!!
Cspan just played Fred Thompson's recent speech and he made many good points but there was nothing special, he is a solid conservative and has a good delivery of the message. Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney also deliver the message well and Fred said nothing to distinguish himself from them. I believe these are the five things the base wants, I believe Hugh Hewitt listed them first.
Win The War
Secure the Borders
Confirm Constitutional Judges
Lower The Taxes
Stop The Spending
Conservatives understand what these five pillars mean and the left does not even know they are there. It you listened to Chris Matthew's questions the other night, typical of the loonbats, the inane disdain was apparent. All the candidates but one caught his "Hardball" barehanded and threw it right back, Rudy really fell flat on several issues.
The pro-life movement is a vital and important part of the conservative movement as a whole, and they know very well the hurdles that are in the law. They want a President that will support judges that will uphold the Constitution as written and voted on by the people. Roe is bad law and should be overturned in my opinion because it is bad law. I don't believe abortion should be illegal in the rare instance it would be the better outcome. I believe women/girls shouldn't let men "sleep" with them outside of marriage. Sex-ed should take place in a Marine bootcamp atmosphere not a permissive one led by the gender-bender groups. Young men need to be informed that they can be tagged as a sex offender and the young ladies need to know that if it goes in it turns into a kid. It will come back to haunt you in one way or another, male or female. I support making the right choice type advocacy, teach life, teach the kids that there are consequences for their actions, Lord knows I have paid them.
Trader Rick's comment the other day about Rudy and his abortion position of course led me to Mitt coming to our side very much mirrored my own move to the right. Mitt is known for extensive research, maybe this is one of the sites he ventured to, Useless Eaters. I encourage my friends to visit here, you have to click around since it is interactive, it is from Regent University.
A good spot for a homestead? It once was.
A nice spot to take a break.
There used to be a town here, I believe, and no trees a hundred years ago, 
The well is all that is left, filled and capped.
Archive picture, not taken by me, for illustration only of the size these storms can be.
