Late Harvest

Some say it was the cool weather in August, or the lack of sunshine from those smokey days of those terrible wildfires, but in my yard at least, most every crop has come on very slowly. Except the cucumbers. And they're still going strong, so much so that some neighbors walk away rather quickly when they see me with one, or two, or six in my hands. I guess it could be worse - they could go hide when they see me around empty-handed...

"Art" in Action

So last Wednesday we went to help make banners for the "Rise for Climate" March in San Francisco, printing and then painting fabric to be mounted on poles (believe me, there were many more steps to it than just that). But it was a fun and productive afternoon, even if ink landed on a few more surfaces than originally intended - yeah, yeah, it was an old shirt, but not that old...

Yesterday at the March, we saw so many of the banners that we and many, many others helped produce. Let's just hope it can make a difference.

Photos Courtesy of Michael Reardon

Whirlwind Week

They came. It took them twenty hours to get here, but they did finally make it.

They ate and ate and ate and ate - ah yes, the teenage appetite. They got stuck in traffic while visiting Point Reyes, the Academy of Sciences, Ranger Betty, the Golden Gate Bridge, the beach, etc. They went lawn bowling and then moved on to bocce. And then more bocce.

Got lucky enough to sample both the deep dish and thin style pizza from Zachary's. They wouldn't quite commit to it being the absolute best ever, even though they ate it all. Further tastings may be necessary...

Glen (left) and Ian (right) two of the best nephews to come visit.

Somebody's Happy

It's about as tall as I am, and I really don't know the actual number of blooms, but who's counting? Yes, it's time again for the Philippine lily (ilium philippinense). Last fall I transplanted it to a new location and goodness, have my efforts been rewarded. 

Gabe's Basketball

2016

Once upon a time ago, my friend Gabriel played basketball. And then he didn't. So when he and his family moved, there was this slightly spongy, spare basketball which came to my house. Well, the garage, actually.

Where it happily stayed for a looong time, until at last I covered it with concrete for a mosaic project. It was a good start, but that's all it was for another couple of years.

Until this summer, when it became clear that the only way to prevent the garage walls from bulging out and buckling was to finish up some of those semi-started projects. In truth, it probably would have been more efficient to simply throw them all away.

Audio books* to the rescue. For the past month, I have spent some part of most every day in the garage, listening to something good. It got pretty messy, the grouting part, not the listening part, but Gabe's basketball is now completely disguised.

And the work table is again available for the next garage-saving project.

2018

* Wolf Hall and/or Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

  Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Great Bees of Fire

Not really. Not of fire. But just busy and helpful to us, so perhaps we should extend a helping hand in return. For example:

The Great Sunflower Project (GSP) is an on-going, citizen-science, hands-on (just how many hyphenated adjectives can I string together?), participatory activity with over 100,000 members that helps scientists better understand bees and other pollinators.

I encourage everyone with any sort of garden to volunteer with the GSP. You can even do it from your home. Right now, the GPS is looking for people to commit to at least 4 data counts during the year - 40 minutes total. And if you live in the Midwest, please start the counting, because info from there is really incomplete. This map tells the story.

I have been participating in the GSP for 10+ years, and back then I would grow sunflowers in the parking strip. Needless to say, the sidewalk in front was pretty entertaining, but more than a little crowded.

So I wised up and planted coreopsis. My coreopsis counts cannot be used as part of the official GSP pollinator surveys, but are useful in helping identify important pollinator plants. And yes, even if they don't officially count, bees and other pollinators absolutely adore the coreopsis.

Perhaps that is the big lesson - just plant some bee friendly flowering plants. The pollinators will love them and you, even if you don't get around to counting.

The Cruelest Month

This year it would seem that the cruelest month is June, not April, what with families being split apart with no easy way to be reunited, and legal authorities determined to, well, I'm not at all sure what they're on about. I just know that it doesn't make for happy reading.

When I'm done with the letter-writing, phone-calling, petition-signing, oh-do-I-have-to activities, I have a few methods for coping:

o   Elizabeth George mysteries;

o   Working on mosaics in the garage;

o   Searching for my new baby friends - the return of the katydids!


Let's all hope that July will be better.

The Rain in Spain Had a Silver Lining

Although Audrey Hepburn would tell you that "the rain stays mainly in the plain," nearly everywhere was wet. So rather than heading north for more days of soggy weather, we turned south. To the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba:

It was a very good decision. 

Further south in the Sierra de Grazalema, the rains had produced the most astounding wildflower displays. The ground was rocky, but entirely covered with blooming plants.

My inner Flower Floozy was never happier.

Identification Resource: Wildflowers of Andalucia

The Color Purple:

Just where does it begin? Or end?

"She's Nutty as Squirrel Poo."

-- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

December, 2017. San Diego Botanic Garden. I was the squirrel.

The nuts - acorns from a cork oak (Querus suber), an evergreen oak, native to the Mediterranean basin. And important to a wide range of life forms, including the common wine drinker (Homo sapiens potator).

Obviously, cork is used as a stopper for wine, as well as for flooring and other useful things. What's critical is that cork can be harvested from the bark of the tree without harming the tree: the tree lives on to grow another layer of cork bark for future harvests.

Acorns w/tap roots

For me, I just wanted to see whether I could get them to sprout. So I loaded up my pockets and planted them in two large pots and waited. And waited.

And waited until I got so impatient (hard to believe, I know) that I dumped out one of the pots and was shocked by the long and sturdy tap root emerging from many of the seeds. Now what?

Reload the pot and wait some more. That was late March. A month later, baby oak trees started peeking out of the soil.

Now I did not need to be reminded (ahem, Michael) that we have no room for another tree. But there are people, a few of whom we know, who have space for a really cool, drought tolerant and handsome tree in Sonoma County. May they live long and prosper there!