Lovely, fragrant Daphne does well in the dry garden but it is poisonous. Continue reading

White-flowered Carpenteria is spectacular in the spring. The only downside is that it doesn't shed dead leaves readily. Continue reading

Sages plants are useful for dry gardens: The red flowered plant on the right is Hot Lips Sage Culinary Sage flowers very attractively in the spring. Continue reading

On Sunday, the Gardener picked kumquats from this tree and turned them into marmalade Continue reading

The Falkirk Wheel The Falkirk Wheel was built for the millenium. It is a truly astonishing sight and raises a boat from one canal to another, using only enough power to boil eight kettles of water. Continue reading

In December the Gardener and I took a trip to Morocco. Staying in the Ourika Valley was one of many highlights. Our hotel had its own vegetable garden: and its own donkey: Continue reading

The Early Morning Sun Reflects Red on Denali (Mount McKinley) on an August Morning Continue reading

The Perseverance Mine Trail follows the course of Alaska's first road. The Gardener and I ate a picnic lunch on this bridge. We could see the Last Chance Mine from the trail Continue reading

Leaving Ketchikan We disembarked at Ketchikan, visited the supermarket to pick up a few odds and ends, and then returned to the M/V Columbia to eat an excellent breakfast in the ship's restaurant. Wrangell The ferry also stopped at Wrangell Sailing on to Juneau Continue reading

British Columbia Coast We sailed up the beautiful, sparsley populated, British Columbia Coast. Continue reading

Leaving the Dock at Bellingham The Gardener and I decided to visit Alaska. We loaded the SUV onto the M V Columbia, one of the ferries in the Alaska Marine Highway System, http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/pubs/ and sailed from Bellingham, Washington to Juneau, Alaska. Continue reading

The Gardener planted oak and cherry plum trees in the bed by the road. The cherry plum trees are arching over towards the plants on the bank making a green tunnel. Continue reading

Spring is here and the dry garden is blooming: the blue-eyed grass in the foreground is a California native the grasses and Spanish lavender look well together The berberis darwinii blooms beautifully Continue reading

Our son and his family sent us this beautiful bouquet of flowers for Easter. I was out when they arrived and the Gardener couldn't find a large enough vase so he used a cookie jar- an inspiration! Continue reading

We've had many cold December nights. On Christmas Eve the temperature fell to 24F. The Gardener covered the citrus trees with frost blankets, and used incandescent light bulbs to keep the trees warm. Continue reading

This year I took part in Season's Eatings organized by Katie from Thyme for Cooking: http://www.thymeforcookingblog.com Nancy from Cherry Valley , California www.slowtrav.com/blog/nancyhol/ sent me a delicious, apple-themed parcel: and the following recipe: Thank you, Nancy Continue reading

Yesterday, the Gardener and I picked up a picnic at the Village Bakery in Sebastapol, and headed for the beautiful Sonoma coast. We drove to Jenner and then took Highway One north for Salt Point State Park http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=453 The ocean was fairly calm when we arrived but the waves grew in force as the afternoon went by: At about 4:30 p m we drove down the coast with the sun setting over the ocean on our right. We stopped at the Inn at the Tides http://www.innatthetides.com/default.aspx?pg=tideswharf in Bodega Bay for dinner Continue reading

We've already picked more than fifty persimmons but the tree is still loaded. Continue reading

The Gardener and I came upon this Highland cow and calf on a road on Dartmoor in England. They weren't particularly interested in moving to let the car through. Continue reading

The Gardener and I were stopped in traffic on Highway 101 yesterday. A Honda, so new it didn't even have licence plates, crashed into the back of us. The noise was so loud, so much like an explosion, that I wasn't even sure what had happened at first. We were propelled into the back of the Saab in front. The Gardener's off to body shop this morning to find out how much damage has been done. Continue reading

The Gardener and I went camping at Grover Hot Springs State Park, one of the few that isn't slated to close to the public. We drove to Ebbet's Pass, 8730 feet up in the Sierra Nevada and hiked south on the Pacific Crest Trail. The snow is very late clearing this year and the wild flowers were magnificent: Continue reading

I took this photograph of a huge fire burning south of Minden. I was in the car on the way from Genoa (California) to Highway 395. Continue reading