rise and shine

I will confess, I know none of these pics are stellar, I live in my garden from sunrise to sunset, but its rare I have a camera with me at the right time, either I head out at dawn, like when the sun is just highlighting the rooster...

 

 

or just before the sun sets to catch the blossoms blooming in the orchard...

 

 

which means I either get the early eastern exposure, or the late western exposure, which means 1/2 of the garden always is in the shade, I never take a camera out mid day, I am just to busy working the garden for that perfect exposure! like this pic of only half of katies face, but I adore how she is always hauling her ball around the 11 acres while I garden...

 

 

or how my front wall is brilliant pink, but looks dull in the evening shade...

 

 

the colors just look washed out when the sun is brilliant on the other side of the house...

 

 

 

 

again Katie has just half a head, but I loved the brilliant apricot behind her

 

 

 

 

this almond tree dazzles me morning and night, with the dawns light it is the only thing that shines brilliant from ten acres away...

 

 

 

as the sun sets, tucked off in the corner, its still smashing

 

 

 

 

our front driveway is a tear drop shape, the center garden is really staring to fill in this year

 

 

I love looking out on the land through the olive trees and seeing the dragonfly bench far off on the hill

 

 

the trees lining the the top of the property are starting to be visible from afar

 

 

another almond tree on the canal is bursting white by the orchard

 

 

my star magnolia is blooming this year with its wonderful fragrance

 

 

its hard to capture the magic of snow white blossoms smothering the trees against a brilliant sky...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am jealous of the birds dinning under a snow white tree...

 

 

despite the drought, more daffs are making an appearance

 

 

the bears bench by the canal will be in full bloom in another day or two

 

 

the acacias are giving me gorgeous blooms to fill my vases indoor, the tiny evergreen clematis vine heading up to that giant trellis is actually getting ready to bloom with a dozen buds.

 

 

the new kitchen garden is coming together, we have 2 exterior walls up, so far 50 yards of fill dirt has been hauled in, with much more required, to level the garden and we went to pavestone and ordered another 15 pallets of retaining block to begin laying out the beds. the goal is to get this in by spring so I can have a kitchen garden with fresh herbs and veggies for the summer

 

 

I know these pics aren't special, but the nonstop joy I get putting in a new garden and seeing the land change before my eyes delights me to no end. its fun to look back and see how far we have come in two years, from these humble beginnings...

in the garden today~

we are in the midst of a dry spell, driest February on record since 1864, not a drop of water this month, jan 19th was the last moisture that fell. despite the dry, the garden is treating our winter like spring~

 

 

 

 

my evergreen pears look like white billowing clouds from a afar

 

 

I have three acacias dotting the landscape with their profusion of yellow

 

 

the almond trees are smothered in blooms

 

 

 

 

my daffodils are struggling with no water, only 20% are blooming compared to last year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this angel has traveled to all of our homes, it now sits midways between an alley of Chinese pistaches that are planted over our passing pets. it is their stairway to heaven~

 

 

for the first time since purchasing our new house my husband mowed our lower acreage, its nice to see the contour and know that it is mowable afterall!

 

 

I have been begging for woodchips since we moved in, I put a sign up in front of my home saying woodchips wanted, it has blessed me tenfold between the county, tree trimmers, homeowner's and pge I have received at least a 1000 yards. last week I came home to a huge surprise of 14 trucks in one day, that's 140 yards of mulch! with my surprise garden gift, I was able to finish one complete side of our property, and as an added bonus, I decided to plant a 100' foot hedge of pink crepe myrtles by the canal. it looks like nothing now, but in years to come it will add a splash of color I had not planned on, all because the county was kind of enough to make this all possible!

 

 

today we started work on the kitchen garden! its going to be about a 1000 sf garden of raised beds just off the kitchen, I look forward to fresh herbs, flowers, and veggies, of course they must be deer proof since its not a fenced in garden...

 

 

 

 

 

while we kept extra busy today I kept looking out and seeing Katie far off in the distance...

 

 

 

she is obsessed with her ball...

 

 

 

she is howling for us to come throw it for her...

 

 

 

 

better luck tomorrow Katie!