The Front Yard in December

 Good afternoon.  I thought that after I showed parts of the back yard, I'd do the front yard this time.  And then I'll post the same views in the spring, summer and fall.  That way I'll have a record of the yard throughout a year.

This is the right upper corner of the yard within the fence.  I have put my two small wooden yard chairs in the garden, which you can see if you click on the photo to enlarge it.

 I'm told this is a potato vine.  And will be covered in flowers come late spring.

This is along the driveway, and I'm so excited that the tree in the left corner of the photo is sure enough a Crepe Myrtle!!!  The tree I have been admiring since I moved to NorCal and could never remember the name.  The landlord said it is either pink or purple, he couldn't remember.

I LOVE this funky gate.  It is going to be great to photo throughout the year as all those perennials and roses start blooming around it.

It is the reason I call this my little "Hippie" house.

All around the front lawn runs a flat stone path.  Wonderful.  

This is just outside the gate.  LOVE the stone planter!!  Everything is on an automatic watering system which makes it even more wonderful.

I pivoted left from the gate (outside the fence) and even out here is nicely appointed.  More rocks, some natural ground cover.

Rocco especially likes it out here.

From the gate, looking at the front door with the enormous wreath.  The solar lights I added along the sidewalk.  The window on the right is into the garage and has a "stained glass" look.






And a close up of the front door and the big wreath.  The window is into the main living area, which I added a lovely purple sheer to, just for some privacy.

I do indeed like this little house very much.  And so far it looks like my PG&E bill is about HALF what it was in the condo for this month last year.  
Thanks for taking my front yard tour.

Back Yard Joy

I considered this a treasure when we saw it in the back yard, and L Jay considered it trash.  Que sera, sera.....and I win!!

It is an actual old railroad cart that the original owner (house built in the 50's) put here for some yard art.  The wood is pretty fragile, but I'm hoping to care for it a bit and maybe have a planter inside that will have some trailing something in it next spring.  Do you love it???

Here is a different view, you can just barely see the cart there.  This purple shrub is   ?????  anyone?  The hummers love it and I love they are still here in December visiting it.

The orange flowers are great, and apparently will take over the yard if allowed.  In the sunniest part of the day, they are wide open and almost smiling.  Already here you can see (if you click on the photo it enlarges) they are already starting to close up for the evening.  

In the left corner of the yard is this huge mass of rosemary.  I do love using rosemary in my cooking.  I'm wondering if I ought to pick some and dry it upside down in the garage, or if it will produce year round.  Again, anyone know?

Behind it is one of the two peach trees that I am told are very prolific.  They are sadly clingstone peaches, so won't come off the pit nicely, but will cut up great for jams and chutneys which I'm planning to produce next year.
Are you on my gift list??

And hidden over here behind the now leaf less Ginko tree is what is left of the firewood that was here when we moved in.  I do love having a real fire and will probably be ordering some more wood after I return here in January.

Long ago (and far away, in a land almost forgotten) we thought (okay, I thought and talked Lynn into it) a fireplace insert would be a good idea.  It took four friends and a rental sander to shave down the hearth to get it into the space, but it was put in!!  Firewood back then was just about $80 a cord.  Now, and here it is $350.  Walnut is what the neighbor recommends, and that is the price delivered.  YIKES.

One of my favorite Christmas gifts ever was the bundling of kindling that my Uncle Dan used to gift those of us with fireplaces.  I really miss him, and wish I had told him more how much I appreciated him.

The speed and efficiency of this computer is so awesome, I expect to be here more often again.  Thanks for coming to visit my back yard.  Next time, lets have tea....

WOW!

It's been a long time since I have been here!

This is darling Spencer Harrison Templeton who arrived in October.  I got to spend some time with him when he was a couple of weeks old, and look forward to seeing him again later this month when I head north, for our Christmas visit


Much has changed since I was here last.  We have moved from the condo in Yountville after a 14 month stay, to a sweet house in Napa.  I call it my Hippie House.  The landlord in Yountville decided he wanted to sell the unit, and we didn't want it for the half million + they were asking.  So after some serious searching, we landed in Browns Valley in Napa.  I really like it a lot.  The cats have adjusted nicely.

I went from working in probably the nicest kitchen I will ever have to a .....well.....kind of a hippie kitchen.  But it does have a gas stove, and that was my highest priority in the kitchen.  We had a few appliance hiccups in the first few days, but are hopefully over all those and really to rock.

My sewing studio is at about 80%.  I finally have a studio with a hardwood floor! Actually did some sewing in it a few days ago.

The presentation in October at NCQC was a lot of fun, and so far I am booked to speak and/or teach a workshop at 6 different  Quilt Guilds in the Northern California area!!  Excited, and nervous!

My website is up, and I'm doing some fine tuning in the next few days.

Also, I've decided that what the heck, I'm retired.  I have lots of free time, right?  So I going to launch another blog.  This one will be dedicated to my experiences growing up with food.  Will be sharing stories and recipes from as far back as I can remember.  Planning to look for a name like "NOT Julia Child".  Shall let you know when ready for viewing.

More big news, I got a new computer!  I had no idea things could go so fast!!  A friend of ours added Office to it tonight, so I'm excited to play around in that.

Not planning to do much Christmas decorating as we will both be north for the actual holiday.  But some things will come out this week, and I'll get some photos to share, so you can see my new home.

Thanks for checking back.  All is good.  I will be back soon~!~!