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
Tag Archives: california
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
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
Wreath Making at Guadalupe Park Garden Conservancy. San Jose, California
I’ve never made a wreath before, that’s why when my friend Rose asked if I wanted to join her for a wreath-making class at the Guadalupe Park Garden Conservancy in San Jose I was excited to go. But what I had in mind is totally different than what I experienced. I assumed I would be making a typical wreath with the usual pine-tree leaves and just tie them around a pre-fabricated wire circle. Little did I know I would be in a nature-inspired wreath-making workshop like no other! Continue reading Wreath Making at Guadalupe Park Garden Conservancy. San Jose, California
Peanuts!
I absolutely love, love, love Peanuts! Not the peanuts, but the cartoon strip Peanuts by Charles Schultz. The one with Charlie Brown, and Lucy, Lionel, Snoopy, and the gang. I don’t know what it is about this cartoon strip that has me smiling even thinking about it 😊😊. Maybe it’s the simple story lines that convey meaningful messages or maybe it’s because the stories are just that – simple life lessons conveyed humorously through the trials and tribulation of a bunch of young kids in their daily lives with their friends. Or maybe I like Peanuts because the comic brings a sense of nostalgia when kids played outside and worried more about which friend to invite to their birthday party, or what games to play. Continue reading Peanuts!
Grape Juice Tasting in Anderson Valley. Mendocino County, California
Anderson Valley Wine Trail is an undiscovered area of the massive California’s wine country that is our family’s all-time favorite wine trail. I say undiscovered because where else in California can one go for wine tasting where the only other customers are another couple? At Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. What makes Anderson Valley so special is that it is a treat for the entire family – kids and adults. Continue reading Grape Juice Tasting in Anderson Valley. Mendocino County, California
Persimmon Picking in Silicon Valley
Last week I went persimmon picking with my friend Basanthi and my daughter Rani to a persimmon farm right here in the middle of Silicon Valley. Seriously, when I say this farm is smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, it really is! This persimmon farm has been here long before Silicon Valley got formed and tech companies started building all around the farm. Today it is the only farm in the middle of hundreds of tech companies right off Hwy 880 and Montague Expwy – which is a funny sight to see! I only know about this farm because for years my friend Basanthi has been dropping off the most luscious, crunchy, sweet giant Fuyu persimmons from this farm. Continue reading Persimmon Picking in Silicon Valley
