Citrus Christmas

Here in California citrus grows most everywhere.  I have 4 trees in my garden:  mandarin, lemon, orange, and grapefruit.  These are baby dwarf varieties.  Three out of four trees are producing.  The blossoms wouldn’t hold on to the grapefruit.

To me the taste of cold citrus fresh off of a tree tastes like Christmas to me.  When I was a kid, my parents would take us out to the orchards and have citrus shipped to friends and relatives that didn’t have access to fresh oranges.  Of course, there were samples for us to scarf down.  And who doesn’t love the scent of the blossoms?

Here’s how things are looking.

mandarin

navel orange (Not quite there yet.)

variegated lemon

Volunteers

The fall garden is enjoying many volunteers hanging around from the summer.

Sunflowers?

Cantaloupe PotatoMarigolds Nasturtiums Pumpkins Tomatoes And busy, busy bees.

What a Great Dog.

If there are no dogs when I die, I know I’ve gone to Hell.

Cerberus

March 27, 2002 – November 2, 2009

 

"Beau"

by Jimmy Stewart

He never came to me when I would call
Unless I had a tennis ball,
Or he felt like it,
But mostly he didn't come at all.

When he was young
He never learned to heel
Or sit or stay,
He did things his way.

Discipline was not his bag
But when you were with him things sure didn't drag.
He'd dig up a rosebush just to spite me,
And when I'd grab him, he'd turn and bite me.

He bit lots of folks from day to day,
The delivery boy was his favorite prey.
The gas man wouldn't read our meter,
He said we owned a real man-eater.

He set the house on fire
But the story's long to tell.
Suffice it to say that he survived
And the house survived as well.

On the evening walks, and Gloria took him,
He was always first out the door.
The Old One and I brought up the rear
Because our bones were sore.

He would charge up the street with Mom hanging on,
What a beautiful pair they were!
And if it was still light and the tourists were out,
They created a bit of a stir.

But every once in a while, he would stop in his tracks
And with a frown on his face look around.
It was just to make sure that the Old One was there
And would follow him where he was bound.

We are early-to-bedders at our house--
I guess I'm the first to retire.
And as I'd leave the room he'd look at me
And get up from his place by the fire.

He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs,
And I'd give him one for a while.
He would push it under the bed with his nose
And I'd fish it out with a smile.

And before very long
He'd tire of the ball
And be asleep in his corner
In no time at all.

And there were nights when I'd feel him
Climb upon our bed
And lie between us,
And I'd pat his head.

And there were nights when I'd feel this stare
And I'd wake up and he'd be sitting there
And I reach out my hand and stroke his hair.
And sometimes I'd feel him sigh
and I think I know the reason why.

He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,
And he'd be glad to have me near.

And now he's dead.
And there are nights when I think I feel him
Climb upon our bed and lie between us,
And I pat his head.

And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he's not there.

Oh, how I wish that wasn't so,
I'll always love a dog named Beau.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This is the very best time of year.  The weather is cool.  The colors are vibrant.  The clothes are comfortable.  The nights are longer.  It’s time to hibernate.

Happy Halloween!

Ay, chihuahua!

A recent chat with my mother-in-law got us exchanging gardening stories.  She asked what I had growing currently in the garden.  I reported that all the fall/winter produce was in and some summer stuff was hanging in there like peppers and eggplants.  She had never cooked eggplant so we had a short discussion on that and the fact that my Black Beauty eggplant will not die!  We moved on to the peppers that just keep on giving.

I told her of my initial experience working with serranos without gloves.  My hands were hot and throbbing for 24 hours.  My description sounded like side effect warnings for Viagra.  Mary added her story of jalapeños.

Mary and Marlene were working one day on jalapeño peppers without using gloves.  Everything seemed to be fine.   They finished their project without incident.  Later that afternoon, Marlene called Mary with an urgent warning.

“Mary, whatever you do, don’t wipe when you go to the bathroom!”

Fall is Finally Here

This was taken out at Lake Ming this morning when we were walking the dog.  The weather has finally cooled down and everyone was out taking advantage of the situation.  Golfers, bike riders, walkers, picnickers, and BBQers were all out.  We even saw deer that had wandered down out of the Sierras.

Today, the tree trimmers are coming to thin the Chinese Elm.  The leaves and seeds from the tree are truly never ending.  Hopefully, this will keep the tree healthy and produce massive amounts of shade when we return to “Hades” type weather.

Garden Flowers

Here’s some flowers that are popping in the garden now that the weather have moved into bearable temperatures.  I’ll label the images as best I can.  Note: the images are straight out the camera.

Pansy – Mammoth Red Pansy – Yellow Pansy – Butter Yellow Lobelia – Crystal Palace LantanaEnglish Lavender – Munstead Marigolds Nastersium Texas Ranger – Green Cloud Rose – John Paul II Rose – Pink (unknown) Impatiens Oxalis Rose – Bakersfield Centennial Rose – Lucille Ball Duranta- Repens Geranium Stock – Vintage White Butterfly Bush – Pink Perfection (I think the label was wrong.) Gardenia Rose – Jaune Desprez

And here’s the more edible varieties.

Basil  Eggplant – Black Beauty Serrano Peppers Strawberries – Fern Bell Peppers Lemon – Variegated Pink Lemon (blossom) Lemon – Variegated Pink Lemon (fruit) Plum – Santa Rosa (This tree is crazy.)

That’s it for today.  I just wanted to chronicle how much better we (plants, animals, and people) behave when the weather is nice.

Pansies

I’ve planted some pansies to brighten the flowerbeds when the cold, damp, grey, fog rolls in.  I believe.  I believe.  I believe.  I picked out a few different types.  This one is called Whiskers Orange.  It’s pretty cool for Halloween.  The photo is straight out of the camera too; so this variety should really add some punch to the yards in the winter.

Fall

  

Someone’s happy their paws can’t hold a rake.

Wind, Dirt, and Drizzle

  

California finally received some rain.  My part of California received wind and dust.  Yuck.  We were warned that there would be heavy rain and wind.  The rain amounted to a heavy drizzle or mist.  Big deal.  And this “storm” was a tropical storm so it was humid.  Double yuck.

 

The plants enjoyed the mist and humidity.