The scene was set for a beautiful day in the vineyards. Gorgeous weather with temperatures in the pleasant 70s, sunny with a gentle breeze, a winery with great wine, and friends who were all free to go together for a picnic in the vineyard. This was my perfect afternoon at Clos LaChance Winery in Morgan Hill in the South Bay. Continue reading Picnic in the Vineyard at Clos LaChance Winery in Morgan Hill, California
Category Archives: Wanderlust California
April and May in the Garden
Happy Saturday!
We are having glorious weather this week with warm sunny daytime temperatures in the 70s and morning temperatures in the cool 50s! Just perfect for our gardens to thrive. However it hasn’t been so predictably pleasant around here this spring. Back in April we had a strange heat wave with temperatures in the 90s! The garden didn’t know what was going on especially my roses, which had beautiful buds ready to open slowly and elegantly, but instead they all just burst into bloom almost overnight. Then a week later we had May showers, lots of it. What this meant for the roses is that the blooms got thrashed and soaked. Between the heat and the rain I had a very short spring rose season this year. Though the roses didn’t fair so well, other plants in the garden thrived and put on a spectacular bloom show. Here is a look at how my garden faired in April and May of this year. Continue reading April and May in the Garden
Gamble Garden Spring Tour 2019. Enter the Garden
Last week I met a few friends to attend the annual Spring Tour at Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, California. Every year The Gamble Garden in Old Palo Alto hosts a Spring Tour where five neighborhood gardens are chosen to show their artistic landscape creativity. A group of us garden aficionados – friends from all over the Bay Area meet each year to attend this event. This is the fourth year we got together to be part of this annual fundraiser where all proceeds from sales of tickets go towards the maintenance of the Gamble Garden. Continue reading Gamble Garden Spring Tour 2019. Enter the Garden
Homemade Corsages and the Twins Junior Prom
Last Saturday was the twins Junior prom and what a day it was! Gowns were chosen, nails were done, hair styled, makeup on, jewelry worn, shoes on, only thing left was to eat, which they quickly grabbed a snack, just in time to take pictures at sun down. Hectic, crazy, exhausting though it was, the day ended up with a fun-filled evening of girls, gowns and guys all ready for a night out to celebrate being Juniors and Seniors in High School. Continue reading Homemade Corsages and the Twins Junior Prom
March in the Garden 2019. The Month of Freesias
March in the Bay Area has given us a preview of spring. We had lots and lots of rain followed by sunny days with warm temperatures in the 60s and even 70s, followed by more rain, and sunny days, followed by more rain and sunny days – you get the pattern. The warm sunny temperatures brought out heavy pollen days with a few of us suffering miserably with allergies, but the rain following washed the pollen away and gave us some welcome relief, which is when I would walk around my garden to see what’s happening. I apologize in advance if all my eyes caught were colorful blooms, I am a sucker for glorious colorful flowers. Lets just say that despite there being lots and lots of plants in full bloom and all looking gorgeous what stole my heart are these beautiful freesias. Continue reading March in the Garden 2019. The Month of Freesias
Sierra Azul Hiking Trail. Mount Umunhum Area. Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you are ready for a great weekend! After days and days of stormy, rainy, cold weather here in the Bay Area the skies cleared out the last couple of days and we had glorious sunshine 🌞. Sunny skies were beckoning me to get outside and do something nature oriented – that’s why when my friend Padmini asked if I wanted to join her on a hike on the Sierra Azul trail off Hicks Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains I didn’t think twice – I just said YES! Continue reading Sierra Azul Hiking Trail. Mount Umunhum Area. Santa Cruz Mountains, California
A Little About Fennel
Fennel is an interesting vegetable and a fairly new discovery of mine. For a long time I assumed that fennel was from the plant that produces fennel seeds. Not until fennel started showing up as a vegetable in cooking magazines did I get curious to do some research on fennel. This is what I found out. Fennel is a flowering plant closely related to parsley, carrots, dill and coriander. There are two types of fennel. One is treated as a spice (Foeniculum vulgare) and the other one (Florence fennel or Finocchio) is treated like a bulb – this is what’s used as a vegetable. Foeniculum vulgare fennel grows 3-5 feet tall with fine textured foliage resembling dill with flat topped clusters of yellow flowers. The stems, leaves and seeds of this type of fennel are harvested and used as a spice. On the other hand, Florence fennel is the more popular type of fennel and is grown for use as a vegetable. This is the fennel bulb that is widely available nowadays at the grocery stores and is sometimes called fresh anise. Continue reading A Little About Fennel
January in the Garden. 2019
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. Continue reading January in the Garden. 2019
December in the Garden
December in the garden has been rather quiet here in the Bay Area, Most of December we had rain and many days of cold and cloudy days, however the last week of December has been spectacular with sunny blue skies and daytime temperatures in the cool 60s.
Tastes, Tales and Traditions by the Palo Alto Auxiliary For Children Benefiting Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital
Like beautiful paintings, a few nostalgic stories, and a lot of old fashioned recipes with proceeds from all sales going to benefit a children’s hospital? Then this book is for you. Tastes, Tales and Traditions presented by the Palo Alto Auxiliary For Children benefiting Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital is a wonderfully original and beautiful cookbook that. I picked up when visiting the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, California. for their Spring Garden Tour. Folks, this is one outstanding cookbook. Continue reading Tastes, Tales and Traditions by the Palo Alto Auxiliary For Children Benefiting Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital
