Curb Appeal

"The smell of burning firewood and the molding of organic, earthy substances reminded her of jumping wildly into the enormous leaf piles of autumn past

 and she suddenly wished that it was appropriate for someone her age to do such a thing."

~Abby Slovin

Letters In Cardboard Boxes

I love leaves! I love everything about them. I love when they turn and fall from the trees, and I love raking them up into big piles. Granted, I appreciate doing that more when my body isn't inflamed with Fibromyalgia pain, but even when I have to take it easy with the amount of leaf raking I can get done, I enjoy any time spent with leaves, and I am thrilled to live in my own home now, where I have complete control of the landscaping around me.

By this time next year I hope to add at least 5 more rose bushes, and at least 4 dwarf Japanese Maple varieties. I am going to plant a couple of them in the yard and a few will be in decorative pots. Because of the drought in California, Stockton has a list of trees and plants you are allowed to plant and fortunately some of my very favorite are on the list! Ginkgo is especially lovely. I love their little fan shaped leaves, and Willow is another gorgeous option. I want to make the place lovely for us, I am lucky to have a hubby who loves autumn as much as I do! And trees too!

 It's our plan to live here a few years and then maybe move back to the Bay Area, so I will be able to, hopefully, take a couple of the trees with me, but I want to leave the place peaceful and lovely for whoever purchases the house next. I want the yard to not just have curb appeal, I want to house to put out a genuine welcoming vibe and spirit.

 An autumn spirit.

Do you have a favorite tree?

And tell me, if you were buying a new home would trees and shrubs be a deal maker or deal breaker?

Leaf Of The Day

November 19th 2015

 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Have Patience With Me, It's Only Been A Week

"Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control 

of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't."

~Steve Maraboli

Life, The Truth, And Being Free

Let go? Let go of autumn? Oh sure, I can do that, no problem. Well, okay, it's a bit of a problem. I already miss it so much. It's cold. My body hurts, and there is almost no color, except for the trees with autumn leaves still hanging from the branches. Sigh... I miss autumn, but I admit I am a bit obsessed with it. But I also know better than to say I quit autumn any time I want because that's not true. I am hopelessly addicted, all I can do is taper off, and hope you understand it I am not good at it.

:)

There Is Beauty In The World.

"Stop and smell the flowers

And lose it the sweet music and dance with me

There is beauty in the world

So much beauty in the world

Always beauty in the world

There is beauty in the world

Shake your booty boys and girls, for the beauty in the world

Pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world

All together now

Heya throw your hands up and holla

Throw your hands up and holla

When you don't know what to do

Don't know if you'll make it through

Remember God is giving you beauty in the world

So love (Beauty in the world)

Yeah love (Beauty in the world)

~Macy Gray

Beauty In The World

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

Let The Dancing Begin...

"Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead, has never watched them dancing on a windy day."

~Shira Tamir

September is drifting along, quietly. No noise. Well, except for the irritating barking of my neighbor's dog. Poor little fella is used as a weapon in the neighborhood. Any time the immature little brat adults I have mentioned in previous posts as, Donny and Nina, are up to their old tricks, they allow the dog to bark. It seems marriage really did nothing for their maturity. Sigh. The cute little pup-pup began barking at 5:30 am, both of the last couple days... as soon as Donny left for work. It's vintage Nina to let the pup-pup bark, because she knows it pisses off the neighbors in all directions. And when it does, Donny usually gets a visit from someone yelling at him. Yelling is a given at this point, as we have all complained in reasonable tones, and it did no good! Don't get me wrong, Donny isn't innocent. He is the one that came up with the idea of letting pup-pup bark, as punishment towards me for complaining about him to the property owner... in 2011! They enjoyed the affect it had on my health to the point they found they could use the same tactic to keep others in line as well.

As you may remember, Donny and Nina got married last summer, and moved from this property to an adjoining property. Things got better for a little while. He and his psycho bully attitude were gone, but he is still close enough that his behavior still affects all of us to different degrees. In my case, waking me up at 5:30 am. God, I had only been in bed an hour. Sigh. It's so unnecessary. Why can't they just live their lives? Work on their releationship? Plan for the future? I can think of a million things that Alan and I were busy with during our first year of marriage, but actively working on getting each other in trouble with the neighbors wasn't on the radar. Call us boring, but we have found filling our spare time with loving each other, and our little furry children, pretty life affirming!

Oh well. Let's not dwell on things. Summer is taking it's last breaths, and that's a good thing because it makes the pain in life, like not getting the sleep I need, a little easier to take. I can actually see the light of autumn outside my window! It's right there. It's in the golden sunrise, and the light orange sunsets. It's in that hint of coolness in the air. It's in the way a barrel of apples smells at the grocery stores and farmers markets. It's in the taste of a really delicious heirloom tomato. It's in the colors of the new outfits I just bought for autumn, and it's in the sound of the deceased leaves blowing down the street. I know autumn is associated with the withering of the year, but it makes me feel alive inside. It makes me feel like I can deal with the barking. I will try to dismiss the pain from my Fibromyalgia and concentrate on the leaves.

Leaves dancing on the wind is life affirming too!

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time, like dew on the tip of a leaf."

~Rabindranath Tagore

Mood: Quiet/Tired/Happy

~Me :)

Garden Update July 1st 2013

"The serene philosophy of the pink rose is steadying. It's fragrant delicate petals open fully and are ready to fall, without regret or disillusion, after only a day in the sun. It is so every summer. One can almost hear their pink fragrant murmur as they settle down upon the grass: 'Summer, summer it will always be summer.'"

~Rachel Peden

As much as I dislike the summer, and it's oppressive heat, I love what happens to all the roses, leaves and vegetables in the garden! It's gorgeous right now, and it's a happy feeling that it will only get more delicious and fragrant! The next couple months should be stunning!

The Japanese Maple...



The Heirloom Tomatoes...



The Pears...



And to go along with all this loveliness, I got to hear the ethereal musician playing his sax, but today he had some friends playing different instruments along with him. It's lovely. I am so glad he lives in my neighborhood.

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

So. Monday. We Meet Again.

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal."

~Pamela Vaull Starr

 

Mondays have gotten a bad rap methinks. Like black cats and broken mirrors. I have had long irritating Wednesdays, and Fridays that didn't live up to their promises, but Mondays have always been the best chance to reinvent the way I spend a day. Today we get up and its all new. New things to learn will be learned this week, and for the most part it begins today. Of course all things being relative, maybe this isn't Monday at all. From Alan's perspective, today is Friday because he works Thursday to Sunday 6:00 am to 2:00 pm, but his last shift of his work week is Sunday 10:00 pm to 6:00 am making this, in his world, Friday.

Some days of the week I have two of. Others only one. Maybe that's why some days seem months long, and some months years long but some moments, only seconds. All of it goes by so fast that sometimes my heart just pounds when I realize 20 years ago, wasn't 5 minutes ago. I think the powers that be were right in not allowing us to travel back in time. Can you imagine the mess we mortals would make?

Life. Time. Maple Trees. The Moon. Black Cats. Mirrors. New Beginnings. And Of Course...      

                                                                          Monday

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

Backyard Photography ~ Garden Diary... April 10th 2013

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."

~Jan Glidewell

My lovely Japanese Maple has transitioned from stick figure to crimson beauty! I am a little caught off guard by how early the leaves have appeared, but I am not complaining! I get to watch this beauty move about now through the rest of spring and summer then turn the most magnificent crayola colors of copper and deep purple as autumn comes and goes. Aww... life in the garden... I love my maple tree, and with the roses surrounding it I feel ridiculously happy inside! And the occasional visit by a little bird doesn't hurt either! Now if I could just talk the opossums into coming back around to!

:)



Lesser Goldfinch...





Coming Soon...

New Roses
Lavender
Spearmint
Heirloom Tomatoes
White Strawberries

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 153~ Annabelle In The Garden

"Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch to flung into the trees."

~ Faith Baldwin

Meet my scarecrow Annabelle. Isn't she pretty? I named her after a character in the movie, House On Haunted Hill. I love Vincent Price movies, don't you? I also love putting a scarecrow in the garden each autumn. I saw Annabelle at the store the other day, and knew instantly that she would be the perfect girl to watch over the garden when I am off on day trips like today. I am on my way back to Apple Hill today, in search of more autumn countryside, and more of the delicious apple cider donuts, and fresh, chilled spicy apple cider. MMmmmm!

Stay Tuned More To Come...

In the mean time, help yourself to a pear...



~Me :)

Now, go see what my friend JR is up to!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/10/apadf6-151.html

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 115~ Color

"It's on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly."

~ Claude Monet

I did a lot of black and white photography last week, and while I love it, I can't help but want to highlight all the glorious color I see around me. The garden right now is in a full on outrageous display of color. Purple, yellow, apricot, red, you name it, that color is screaming... NOTICE ME! The leaves on my Japanese Maple is especially vibrant. It was an amazing crimson red for most of the year, but right now it is transitioning into a lovely copper color. Everything is so vibrant and vivid right now, you can almost see an exclamation point next to each leaf and petal.

"If the world really looks like that I will paint no more!"

~Claude Monet







~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 9~ Cinnamon

"Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like."

 ~ David Alan Harvey

Gardening gives me a good bit of happiness. Alan and I live in a small cottage, that sits on a large property. Our back yard is three times the size of the house itself, and so there is ample room to grow not just delicious vegetables, but to also grow some flowers. I have claimed an area to the side of the yard, where I have put in what will eventually be our zen garden.

It is a constant work in progress. I add a little more to it each year. To begin with I put in a Japanese maple, the leaves of which you see above. It's an easy tree to grow, and gives me a little taste of autumn with those lovely red leaves, that are actually the color of cinnamon red hot candies. It brings me a lot of happiness. I planted the maple after our friend, Paul, passed away. He was a nice man, and he was always good to us.


Surrounding the maple are my roses. I have a nice variety of peach, pink, deep red, deep lavender and two different ones that are varigated colors. One of bright yellow/bright pink, and the other one is white with soft pink around the edges. Their scent ranges from a deep spicy rose scent to a soft, slightly citrus aroma. To guard against ants and aphids, I sprinkle a lot of cinnamon between the roses, and around the edge of the Cape Cod fencing.


It's the scent of cinnamon, mixed with the scent of all the spicy roses that keeps me blissfully in autumn. When I sit in that area of the garden, I am instantly back in my favorite season, and all is right with the world. Well... almost. There is no such thing as a perfect place. A perfect garden. A perfect world. A perfect moment. A perfect season...


But when I see what I have accomplished with the roses and the tree, and I think about how lovely it all is it feels like nothing really bad could happen outside that little Cape Cod fence. It's just home to me. My safe place. And it doesn't hurt if a couple of cats, namely Dylan and Hendrix, come and sit with me. Even if Hendrix's favorite snack is rose petals. You see, he eats them like potato chips. LOL. No worries... it's all good!

~Me :)


If would like to join me on my A Photo A Day For 6 Months challenge, please feel free to do so. It's just my way of getting back into the swing of blogging regularly. Just get your photo, post it, and come back here with the direct link back to it. I will list your link with the photo for the following day. There's NO subject, just photograph what you want and share it with me.


Now, go see what yesterday's participants came up with...


Duane
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdtate/7213752826/in/photostream 


JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/05/apadf6-8.html