a little birdie told me...

That I needed to show off this cute little sparrow -- there were tons of them on the walks that we did in the morning, but this one let me get about 5 feet away and snap a few photos.

And these are some of my favorite California natives from the Coast Botanical Garden near Fort Bragg -- they're called Matilija Poppies and they'll get about 5 feet tall -- they have wonderful texture and translucence!

The gardens are terrific, by the way. If you ever go to Mendocino, you must take the tiny detour north to visit them.