Splash of orange
Our rose bushes are not only a beautiful unique color combination of red, orange and yellow, but extremely prolific! They typically give us flowers from April through October, and we are currently on the 3rd cycle of blossoms.
The other day I noticed an orange lady bug hanging out on a rose petal and wondered if he/she was attracted by the vibrant color? I sure was :)
Olallieberry Heaven
My love affair with the olallieberry started last June when I discovered these amazing little jewels at our local farmer’s market. At the time, I was engaged in a quest for the perfect crumble, and despite a very close second by my traditional favorite (rhubarb and strawberry), the olallieberry crumble skyrocketed to first place!
This year we had the pleasure of actually picking these beauties at Swanton Farm, a nearby organic u-pick farm. The farm was beautiful and it was a cool foggy morning making berry picking easy.
We managed to pick a huge amount in a relatively short period of time, and all I could think of was the multitude of recipes we could try with this tart, luscious berry. Within a few days we had incorporated our beloved olallieberry into many of our favorite recipes. We enjoyed a delectable crumble, olallieberry oatmeal pancakes, olallieberry frozen tart yogurt and even an olallieberry muffin.
In the case of the pancakes and muffins, we simply substituted the blueberries for olallieberries. With the frozen yogurt, we simply crushed 1/2 cup of olallieberries, strained them, and added the juice to the yogurt mixture while it was churning……
The rest of our massive haul of olallieberries are frozen and ready for the next recipe! Check out these recipes from Swanton Farm showcasing the olallieberry.
Inspiration for californiablue jewelry
If you have a creative outlet, a common question you will receive from people is, “what is your inspiration?”
For me, when I create californiablue jewelry I am inspired by light, color, plants and water. All of these factors come down to one thing - where I live.
Recently our house was included in the home tour section of the wonderful blog, Re-nest.com. As we were being interviewed and the pictures were taken, I realized that my creativity was really born in this house. All of the detailing found in this house is truly inspirational. From the unique ceramic tiles to the beamed ceiling, it is clear that very creative minds were behind the craftsmanship of our home.
We feel very grateful to be living in this house and sharing it’s creative spirit.
Happy 4th of July!
We spent a wonderful weekend visiting friends up north (I’ll dedicate a separate post to this) and participating in our neighborhood’s Rose, White and Blue parade and festival.
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I manned a booth were we invited area animal rescue organizations to help spread the word on all of the amazing work they do. We were promoting pet adoptions of rescue animals, volunteering and fostering opportunities as well as informing the community about low cost clinics and feral cat colony management.
Check out some of the great organizations represented at our booth:
Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue
Society Dog
Our Pack
Nine Lives Foundation
Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty
PAWs for SJACS
Lincoln Hound Society
We were thrilled at the turnout, and all of the animal rescue folks were so nice to spend an afternoon with.
It was fitting to feel particularly grateful for living where I do this 4th of July.
My DIY Succulent Garden
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I love Sunset Magazine. I really don’t say this about any other magazine, but I find so many great articles ranging from recipes to travel to indispensable gardening tips. In one of their recent issues, Sunset did an article on container succulent gardens planted in frames. I was intrigued.
My first task was to find a big frame that would work for this project. Fortunately I found the perfect frame at our local Goodwill Store for a total of $1.20 (they were having a 50% sale that day)! Next, instead of purchasing a bunch of succulents, I thought I would reach out to people in my neighborhood to see if anyone had some baby succulents, aka “chicks” that needed a new home. I was thrilled to meet so many succulent lovers and people were incredibly generous about letting me take some of their supply. In fact, in one case I was doing a neighbor a favor as she was thinning back a section of succulents. I painted my frame to match the trim of our house, and bought some cactus specific soil. I even had left over chicken wire from the compost bin I already had made (yet another article from Sunset).
Here is my finished project. I’m still waiting a bit longer for the succulents to take root before I hang it up in our patio area. As a result of this project I became a bigger fan of the succulent. I love the shapes, the texture and all of the hues of green. Especially in California where water is precious, succulents make beautiful gardens and even vertical art!
Happy summer!
Finally summer has arrived!
The skies are clear, the sun is out and my outdoor table clothes are officially in use. With summer solstice a couple of days away, I wanted to savor the vibrant colors and tastes of early summer.
Our lavender is out in full force, as well as the incredible blue of our morning glory vine. The encroaching vines of the passionflower have produced some beautiful flowers, the magnolia tree has displayed it’s first huge white flowers and the bright yellow lilies are in full glory.
From a taste perspective, I’m coming to terms with the end of rhubarb season (I absolutely love rhubarb so this is hard for me). Fortunately the end of the rhubarb season also means the beginning of the short ollalieberry season. If you don’t know what an ollalieberry is, you need to seek it out! Last year I determined it won hands down as the best fruit for a fruit crisp. Of course my longstanding favorite, the strawberry, is finally sweet and worthy of it’s reputation.
Celebrating the summer solstice is the perfect time to savor the sights and tastes of early summer before we are bombarded with back to school ads and Halloween decorations.
Happy summer!
Visit from a large bird
by Flickr user Steve Byland, used with permission
The other day a very large bird came for a visit and perched in our magnolia tree. I was able to get a picture (not the above picture) and share it with my neighbors to get some help identifying the big bird. Thanks to the many comments from my neighbors, I now know that we were visited by a Cooper’s Hawk. These birds are quite prevalent around our neighborhood and prey on smaller birds :( Upon seeing this large bird (from inside) my cat Newbie was clearly intimidated. Given the size of this bird, I don’t blame him!
A few neighbors thought I might have a Peregrine Falcon in the tree, but I was told by others that peregrines do not perch this low since they are cliff dwellers. Apparently our city of San Jose has a nesting pair who live atop San Jose City Hall, and there is a Falcon Cam! Apparently, Clara the female falcon is currently with Esteban Colbert (yes, named for Stephen Colbert) and they have 2 healthy babies.
Two peas in a pod
I couldn’t resist posting this picture of Newbie and Henry sharing Newbie’s favorite window in our living room. You can see the glorious jasmine in the background combined with the early afternoon sun making this the perfect napping spot.
I’m happy to report that Henry has been fully integrated with Newbie and even Pinky. Pinky isn’t thrilled, but she likes that Henry is giving her the respect she deserves, and Pinky takes her time in evaluating situations. So far Henry has been very good around her….
As for Newbie, he has a loving little brother who likes to be around him at all times, even sharing his favorite window.
P.S. Don’t forget to enter my spring giveaway!
Jasmine in the air
We have this huge bunch of jasmine outside our living room window. Every day there are more blossoms, and the scent is amazing - nature’s air freshener.
I decided we needed this amazing scent in other rooms, so I created my own little air freshener. Take a little sprig of jasmine, or other sweet smelling spring blossom and put it in a little glass vase. In my case I used an empty glass yogurt container. Now you have a cute little mini bouquet which also acts as the best natural air freshener you can get.
Have a great weekend!
P.S. Remember to enter my spring giveaway!!!
Seedlings
This year I decided I would start some of my favorite summer plants by seed. I’ve never done this before, so I thought it would be fun to see how long it takes and I figured the sense of accomplishment would be even greater (assuming these little seedlings survive:). I purchased my seeds from Renee’s Garden, a wonderful California based seed company which has a wide variety of heirloom seeds. I ended up purchasing some Alpine Strawberry seeds (seedlings pictured), some cherry tomato and mesclun lettuce seeds. She also sells some wonderful mixed green cat grass seeds. Your cats will thank you if you grow some of these!
So all of my seeds have germinated at this point, but they are absolutely tiny. I have no idea whether they will survive. It seems impossible that such tiny seedlings could become real sized plants!
My other project is finally setting up a compost bin. I’ve wanted one for a long time, and with spring in the air, it is time. I found this great video about making your own compost bin on Sunset Magazine’s website. I can’t wait to not throw away any more kitchen scraps!
What are you planting this year?
