Happy mollusk

This abalone shell was feeling very neglected so I bought it a couple of Tillandsias (tillandsai?) while in San Francisco and now it smiles broadly whilst cradling them.

Ya know, I am quite willing to share plants or flowers with anyone who asks, but when I looked out my front window and saw some woman picking every damn tulip and whatever else she could get her hands on in my front yard this evening, my sweet side vanished. She claimed that she was new to this country and "didn't know", said she was "sorry", and jumped back across the ditch before I could
demand that she give me the flowers back. Not that I was going to demand any such thing..but it did cross my perplexed mind that it would be fun to have a remote controlled tazer.
One of my neighbors came home to find a woman picking (and bagging!) every orange off her front yard tree. My neighbor, being not a pansy like me, took all the oranges away from the woman.
Another friend just told me of the day some woman, who didn't live in her neighborhood, was found clipping a nice bouquet of roses from my friend's front yard bushes. She didn't tell me what she did about it but I'll wager that the woman went away empty handed and with her ears ringing. ;>) People just never cease to amaze me. I could never be a police officer. I'd arrest half the world for felony stupidity... but where would we put them? Go say something nice to a cop. They have to deal with much worse crap than pilfered posies....EVERY DAY! 

Needs a name

He's so cute and he has been lurching about in the yard for several years. Sometimes he's in the plants, sometimes in the birdbath. He really needs a name.

Any suggestions? 

more from SF

This is the missing photo from below. It was REALLY hard not to buy orchids!
Hibiscus are so very lovely and do so well here that if they weren't considered a delicacy by the resident deer population, there would be rows of them in my yard.








5 mph traffic on the Bay Bridge. I did a good job of banishing all thoughts of the '89 earthquake from my mind until we were safely on the whole earth side of the bay. Actually, just willing the other vehicles to stay in their own lanes and not attempt to play destruction derby kept me well occupied. Once a lady tried to merge into us on the way to SF. On the way home we watched two cars in front of us attempt to merge into our lane from the left and from the right. There are entirely too many lanes of too many cars all going too fast. (except for when we were all going 5 mph. 5 mph would be fine if not for owning a 6 oz bladder. L o n g way between potty stops even at 60 mph!)

Orchids

Oh to be able to tell you that these are my orchids and blooming ever so nicely in my house. I could tell you that but I would be telling whoppers. I've yet to get an orchid to re-bloom after bringing it home or receiving it as a gift. They need more better brighter light and that stuff..oh yeah, fertilizer! There should be a bi-weekly (and monthly) alarm on this computer that not only tells me to go fert. whatever is in dire need at the moment but which also won't allow me to read my e-mail until the fertilizing is done.

Much drooling was done on the orchids but neither Angela nor I weakened...at least, not for orchids. :>)

Hey! What's up with this blogger? I moved 3 photos over here but there are only two showing! Remedial Blogging 101. That's what I need.

Looks like the SF Flower & Garden Show is going to be in several little posts. Again, I apologize for not having the names of things. Maybe next year. 

SF Garden Show

These are just a few of my favorite things at this year's San Francisco Flower & Garden Show.
Some day I may remember to WRITE DOWN the names of the plants and/or artists as I take the pictures. Please forgive me as this was the first flower & garden show I got to take my little digital camera to! It takes me awhile (years) to get my act together.

The Bromeliads were fabulous. Most would fare better in the coastal climate than here in the hot interior altough, one could surely create the proper micro climate and enjoy many of them .. Jack Frost probably being the biggest bug-a-boo. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that the biggest display of Bromeliads was done by The Bromeliad Society of San Francisco. www.sfbromeliad.org

The show was also a succulent lover's heaven. Not only were the big displays causing viewers to drool but there were many vendors selling a vast selection of succulents to willing buyers. If it weren't for my housing being currently "up in the air" I probably would have filled Angela's van with llittle potted thingies. I did buy a couple of Tillandsias because they look like sea plants and there was a lonely abalone shell in my kitchen.




Wondering what to do with Aunti Silvie's old silverware collection? I am always a sucker for this kind of art. If it weren't for the fact that I am a born klutz, I would take up welding.

Will post more pictures later. Right now the job-that-pays- the-bills is calling. 

Not now! I'm hungry!

It was actually a bit early in the day for a "nooner".
Maybe there will soon be lots of little ladybugs to eat all those darn aphids. 

and more evidence of serious gardening.

Oddly, I've never seen a bird anywhere near this birdbath.
Maud in the fall..pretending that she's Eve?
These tools may even be older than moi! 

Serious gardening

Hmmm. There are more photos...where are they? I need a remedial class in Blogging. ;>)


 

Helebores,,shy and otherwise

Some day I want to do a nice and tidy Hellebore bed. There are so many new colors available now! These were my mom's favorites and have been here for eons. I remember her telling me that they are "fussy and don't really like to be moved." But..I have dug 'em up, put 'em in pots or in other areas of the yard and they just said "Fine. We'll bloom where we are planted!"
These must have been feeling shy and not in the mood to pose....or maybe that was one of our very cold (for here) days and I didn't want to pose them. These are the whitish ones with more of a pale green hue. And freckles. 

They're taking over my world!

Wild onions! Chasmanthe! Vinca! Oxalis! Bamboo! And I'm SO far behind!! The weed-whacker got a lot of exercise yesterday and the mower got a little. Trouble with the mower is that the mower pusher can't often tell what may be hiding in the onions, chasmanthe,vinca, or oxalis. Hence the weed-whacker. Its a much less disturbing noise one hears when the whacker string hits a solid object than when a mower blade does the same. My mower blades pretty much always look like they've spent time in some horrid war.

Note to readers who may have deer issues; They won't eat wild onion, chasmanthe, oxalis, bamboo nor vinca. But be careful what you wish for.

It doesn't take much looking around this 2.5 acres to understand why I wish to go running back to Oregon...to a smaller yard, or even a small acreage IF most of it is fenced for livestock. All these weeds combined with all the traffic down here is giving me nightmares. And/or claustrophobia. (fenced in by weeds. fenced in by traffic) No, this country girl needs some breathing space. A nice bucolic town with a library and a left leaning population...ahhh. Heaven. Yes, I do remember that snakes are plentiful there. That's why I name them all Fred. Fred can change length, color, diameter..I tell myself this. ONE snake of many colors. Not 40 gazillion to surprise the bejezus out of me. We have never ever found any snakes on this property. I used to run into the occasional alligator lizard but I haven't even seen any of those the past few years. (they're probably hiding in the WEEDS!) And yes, I do remember that it rains more than here. This is ok. The sun also shines in Oregon. Once in awhile.


I suppose I ought to get off my duff and put the mower to work. All of this stuff needs to be dealt with before it dries out and becomes a fire hazard. Firemen are pretty high on my HEROS list but having my property in flames is not how I want to meet them.

Besides, the yard is so untidy that even a few freshly mowed pathways will improve its appearance as well as my mood.



 

History

Would somebody please tell us the best way to market our dad's collection of LIFE magazines? We have, I think, all the issues from November 23, 1936 to December 30, 1946. We also have many, many NEWSWEEKs from the 1930's and a few Times. 

Its SPRING!!

The kumquats did survive all that nasty mischief that Jack Frost tossed at them in January! Whether it was the sheets ever so carefully (not) wrapped around the tree or the natural canopy of the olive trees, the fruit was saved from freezing. (whew. What a crummy sentence that is!)

Somewhere I have a formula for yummy sounding kumquat/oatmeal cookies. Its probably hiding under my cauldron. I will miss having fresh citrus when I move back north.

More signs of spring; The clematis is coming back to life. Make that "clemati"...there are several.



And of course, there is the Sea of Chasmanth..

Annoying, yet it is bound to be prettier than the mc mansions that will no doubt be built over it. I won't ever come back to see the progress (destruction), preferring to remember the place as my exclusive play area, as my parents' wonderful flower and vegetable gardens, as the place my dear brother handed sweet, little, innocent me an olive right off the tree and said "Here eat this." It isn't easy to give up the homestead but its too much for one person to keep up. The water costs keep going up, gasoline for the mower keeps going up, I keep getting older...the house keeps getting older...the traffic continues to get worse...and Oregon is calling me back. Thank goodness (and my wonderful friend, AL) for digital cameras!

It is possible that the guys won't get their funding and the sale will fail. I hope its a "go". It would be nice, I think, to spend my later years doing something besides mowing weeds & chasmanthe and moving sprinklers all the time. Now if I could just convince my friends and brother to move north too! 

what's not to like?

I've never understood why some folks are so anti-moss. Its beautiful! I encourage it...it does give up during our hot, dry Northern California summers. Maybe I'll change my tune if and when I get moved back up to Oregon. But can't you just imagine teensy-tiney Leprechauns cavorting in the moss?