Why did you choose your forum name plus photos of our kitchens

[andiesenji]

We are supposed to have rain tomorrow and clouds have been moving through all day with periods of clearing.

Just before sunset I took this shot looking east over the back fence.   


The little hills in the distance are a couple of lonely buttes, otherwise there is nothing but fairly flat desert for many miles.

[judydawn]

What a lovely photo andie, thanks for sharing it with us.  Do you get much rain where you are?

[nazar]

wow what great cloud/ sunset photo
my husband has just install on our computer  google earth
  its amazing you can get close up pictures of most part in the world
 l have allready see where l live and l felt like going outside to wave at them
 l will check out where you live later .
 l am meant to be doing my 2011 tax return as it is late l got an extension , but would rather be on the forum  he he hee 

[cookie1]

What a beautiful photo Andie. Nazar we all work best under pressure.

[Frozzie]

love the shot andie...must be peaceful where you live 

[Very Happy Jan]

great photo Andi. Thanks for sharing your back yard with us.

[nazar]

 andie l did not finish my tax return  after 4 hours of doing my tax return l gave up
and thought, right my son in daycare today and l get one day a fornight to do stuff without him
and l did not want to waste it all on my tax return
so thought l would finish it when he goes to bed one night  when lm not to tired

[andiesenji]

What a lovely photo andie, thanks for sharing it with us.  Do you get much rain where you are?

During an average year, Lancaster gets a bit less than 8 inches of rain.
There have been drought years when we got a lot less.  Also the El Nino years when we got a lot more - too much of a good thing.

Lancaster and the other cities in the Antelope Valley would not exist if not for the California Aqueduct that brings water down from the Sacramento Delta.  We do have ground water but the wells have to be deep and are expensive to drill. 

[johnro]

Andie what a great photo - thanks for sharing a bit of the almost tangible peace with us   

[judydawn]

Thanks for the link andie, interesting reading.  How far out of Lancaster is your property?

[andiesenji]

Thanks for the link andie, interesting reading.  How far out of Lancaster is your property?

My home is 8 miles northeast from the city center and I am just barely inside the city limits.  Across the road just to the north is county property.  There are just a few houses in our little enclave and the next nearest buildings are almost a mile away.   It's just three miles to the Kern county line and 9 miles to the border of Edwards Air Force base - I used to get to see the shuttles land.  And my house is often shaken by sonic booms from the sometimes weird aircraft they are testing at Edwards. 

For some reason, a trick of the terrain, many lenticular clouds form over the Edwards area.  I took this photo of one a few years ago.


And here is a blow up of that little black speck in the first photo.  It is one of the "mystery" planes - in one shot it wasn't there and the next it appeared, almost like magic.  It's not the stealth fighter or bomber, they have a different configuration.


This was the previous shot taken 90 seconds earlier.


I took these photos across the road from my house, so I'm just outside the city limits.  The distant mountains are the Tehachapis.

[tarasis]

Those cloud photos are great andie, I love cloud watching.

Very intrigued by that plane, it does look a bit like a variation of the stealth bomber.

[CreamPuff63]

those clouds look kinda eerie I'm not surprised there was a "mystery" plane that came into the picture

[andiesenji]

We call them "spaceship" clouds.  Instead of moving like most clouds, they hang in one spot, with only minor changes in shape, for hours.  In most places around the world they develop over mountains. 
They look quiet and serene but there are high winds circling them and small planes carefully avoid them. 

There are photographers who "collect" photos of lenticular clouds and they have a favorite place to set up which is close to the western foothills. 
There's a big paved parking lot, with no buildings around and strangers to the area are mystified until someone explains that this is the place where the hot air balloonists set up for early morning flights. 
Soon after sunrise the sun hitting those hills creates exceptional updrafts which are perfect for the balloons.  They often come right over my house. 

[judydawn]

You live in a very interesting place andie.  I find cloud formations very interesting, yours even more so.