Goodbye July, hello August. Hard to believe how quickly summer is leaving. Today we celebrate first harvest known as Lammas, and the quickening of the days getting shorter. I try to hold on to everyone of these longer days, refusing to come in until the sun starts its decline. This summer has been cooler andContinue reading “WELCOME LAMMAS”
Tag Archives: harvest
ITS JULY – TIME FOR PIE
July is bursting at the seams right now with fruit. I’ve been busy picking apricots, blueberries and black raspberries for pies and jams. I also picked up some California cherries for jam making. I am trying something new this year as well. I kept all the cherry pits and I am making a cherry liquor.Continue reading “ITS JULY – TIME FOR PIE”
SUMMER
Summer is for eating popsicles, or watermelon and spitting out the seeds outside. Summer is for lying on your back in cool grass watching clouds go by.act Summer is for picking berries with your friends and bringing enough home for pie. Summer is or riding bikes without a destination or competition. Summer is for swimmingContinue reading “SUMMER”
SOUNDS OF SUMMER
Last weekend I was sitting outside after the sun went down and I heard, for the first time at this house, crickets. The sound of crickets at night is purely the sound of summer to me. I am not sure why we have crickets in the neighborhood now, but I am happy to hear theirContinue reading “SOUNDS OF SUMMER”
MARCH AS SPRUNG FORTH
It’s March and the rains are still coming, but much lighter than the storms of February. Still we hope to have a March miracle. We turned the clocks forward and for the first time, I felt like I truly sprung into spring. I noticed blooms on my apricot tree. I am hoping the strong wingsContinue reading “MARCH AS SPRUNG FORTH”
AUTUMN GLORY
In California, the first true sign of fall are the Santa Ana winds. This morning we had a rush a wind. Very brief and very strong, almost like a dust devil, and then it was calm. I was sitting at my desk when it started raining down leaves that had fallen on our roof fromContinue reading “AUTUMN GLORY”
AUTUMN IS UPON IS
Harvest time is here. I picked my slim wine grape crop the other day. Most of the grapes had developed a fungus and turned black. The abundant rain we had this year, followed by a very cool spring, encouraged the fungal growth. Due to my broken knee, I was unable to get in the vineyardContinue reading “AUTUMN IS UPON IS”
A TALE OF TWO VISITORS
Two fat little sparrows are sitting outside my window on a trellis staring at my ripening grapes. I’ve already lost a lot of the muscat grapes to the birds. They seem to feed on them in the very early morning hours or perhaps the evening. I only know when I go outside in the morningContinue reading “A TALE OF TWO VISITORS”
NAKED LADIES HAVE ARRIVED!
In the past week, Naked Ladies, also known as Amarylilis belladonna from the Colchicaceae family, have begun popping up everywhere in my yard. Earlier in spring they put out long green leaves which die back at the beginning of summer. Than as summer wanes, the long snake-like necks of the flower appear and finally theContinue reading “NAKED LADIES HAVE ARRIVED!”
JULY IT’S ALL DRY
It’s amazing how quickly the flowers go. In June its all bloom, by July its all dry. Most of my flowers are gone now. I have a few struggling zinnias and one sunflower. My perenials are growing but need cutting back. The salvia is always a reliable bloomer and often blooms right into winter. MyContinue reading “JULY IT’S ALL DRY”
Reflections Outside My Window 