The Dry Garden

Cold Nights

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.

Season's Eatings

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

 

An Outing

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

 

 

 

An Abundance

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

Road Block

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.

Highway 101 Strikes

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.

Pacific Crest Trail

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:

 

Fire

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.

An Alpine Meadow

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is returning the meadow at the campground to an Alpine Meadow. They've built boardwalks across it and planted native plants.

 

I took these photographs when we visited the park in July.

 

Does Anyone Know the Name of this Plant?

We bought this very pretty flowering plant at Quarryhill Garden's plant sale. It flourishes under the fruitless mulberry tree but we can't remember what it's called.