January has been wet, wet, wet for us here in the Bay Area.  Rain and more rain and chilly temperatures made for a tumultuous time in the garden.  

One of the storms we had was so fierce that one of our eucalyptus trees got ripped off its trunk.

The latter part of January however we have had spring-like temperatures in the 60s!  The birds were chirping away thinking spring has arrived early. It has definitely been a roller coaster ride weatherwise.

Movie Review: Dumplin on Netflix

Before I start sharing my garden update I would like to share a quick little movie review of  the comedy Dumplin I watched on Netflix last night with my girls.

Folks, Dumplin has to be one of the better movies I have seen in a long time. I am a picky movie audience, very rarely do I recommend movies to watch, but Dumplin is a must see!

Produced by our favorite All-American Girl – Jennifer Anniston, Dumplin is well directed, well acted, and has an awesome story.  And kudos to this beautiful lady for producing such a beautiful feel-good movie. This movie is clean, no violence, no curse words, just good old-fashioned story with a great mesage –  that no matter what we look like, we are loved, worthy, and beautiful.  

You wouldn’t expect a movie about teen beauty pageants to be a feel-good movie, but it is! I won’t spill the story, but let me just say it’s a great story.

Jennifer Aniston is hilarious as Mom of teenage daughter Dumplin. I always knew she is great at comedy (love Friends anyone?) but to see her in a recent movie and be as funny as she can be, she is so good!  Not only is Jennifer good, every single person who acted in this movie did an outstanding job. From the lead actress  Danielle MacDonald to her best  friend in the movie Odeya Rush, everyone deserves an award of some kind 😊👏!

For a good laugh, some tears, great Dolly Parton music, and a feed-good time; check out the movie Dumplin on Netflix.

Back to flowers and all things pretty in the garden

I made cuttings of my favorite geraniums over the summer that are now thriving in the winter. Go figure! They add such a lovely pop of color to my little patio that I couldn’t resist bringing them indoors to enjoy in my kitchen.

Bought a few amaryllis plants from our local Trader Joe’s during the holidays

These plants are only available in December, and I stocked up on a bunch. Here is a look at these gorgeous amaryllis plants blooming all through January.

My Christmas cactus are still blooming along.  

The pink one is rather unexpected in that the buds are white and I thought they would have white flowers but they open into beautiful pale pink flowers!

Spectacular January sunsets

We have been having a few spectacular sunsets in January, here is one sunset that I was able to capture the beautiful colors of.

January in the garden is silver-colored

That’s because once all the leaves have fallen off our cottonwood trees, all we see are silvery bark of these beautiful trees. And with the backdrop of the green hills, these tree trunks shine even brighter.

Nasturtium seedlings have started sprouting and a couple even have flowers. I cut a few blooms to enjoy indoors.

Pruned my geraniums and brought a few stalks indoors to enjoy.

Can you believe the vibrant orange color on these geranium leaves! Gorgeous!

Mulched the garden and have started pruning my rose bushes. I have a lot! And I am so picky with pruning that I just do it myself but it does take over a month to get it all done.

My little lemon tree is producing loads of lemons this year. After two years of not getting watered properly the little tree rewarded me with fruit after we fixed the watering situation 🍋🍋🍋.

Moving on to our veggie patch and Anjali’s little herb patch, the herbs are still going strong. Parsley is especially loving our winter.

I took out my Valentine’s decorations most of which I used on my indoor plants and bouquets.

This lacey heart collection I displayed on a beautiful branch I found after one our storms. I love the little patch of moss that looks like a little nest on the branch!

Trying to keep busy in our mild winter weather I made a few more succulent arrangements.

Hope you had a joyous January.
Looking forward to a fabulous February!