End of Summer (kinda?)While August signaled the end of summer vacation it by no means seems to signals the end of warm weather here in the Valley of Heart's Delight (as San Jose used to be known.) The start of September seems set to continue pattern of cool gray mornings followed by warm blue sky days. We celebrated the holiday weekend with a trip to a few favorite beaches to play in the sand, take shelter from the winds, and build sculptures. The beaches north of Santa Cruz always have more surf and wind than those south do because of the orientation of Monterey Bay. But places like Big Basin are cram packed with sailboarding maniacs plying the 6' waves on inflatable para-sails. I admire their verve! (and feel really whimpy at the same time.)
We haven't been exploring nearly as much lately in part because we've been focusing our energy on the house and the yard. Gone are the nastier bits of the shed. The very strange refri
gerator unit that was once attached to the back of the house -- gone. In it's place a wobbly but sufficient summer dining area framed by a string of paper lanterns and a trough turned into an herb garden. Not much in this picture but at night it is a small and slightly festive place to have dinner. (Okay, we're aspiring to a porch but we're not quite there yet. Roof comes first.)We had to move from our previous dining spot because of Hummingbird Alley. Those lovely little Anna's Hummers zip into the feeder and I was convinced that one of use was going to end up wearing one of the little birds in our ears! They're delightful but a little scary when they buzz your ears at at about 70mph!
An Early Apple Harvest
The nectarines are gone and now it's apple season. We have no
idea what variety we have but they're delicious. We invested in a harvesting pole which is no doubt overkill but sure makes getting those sweet ones at the top of the tree much easier. I'm getting ready to start some serious baking of cobbler, crisp, apple butter, etc. Thank goodness the apples keep better than those lovely white nectarines!In addition to our harvesting work Arch has crafted a sand box in the back yard for Nye. However, we've decided instead to turn it into a pond in part because we haven't managed to get enough sand into it to make it really work as a sand box and Nye is actually getting a bit old for a sandbox. Instead it's been taking on a life as a boat launch, mud pit, etc and I'm hoping it will settle down into something quiet and aquatic just as soon as I'm able to locate a liner and a solar pump system for it. Given all t
he birds in the area I think they'll probably appreciate the water/ bird bath a whole lot.One favorite past time of Nye's is going out to our little vegetable patch and scouting out the newest changes. A few days ago it was the green tomatoes on the plants that I had given up on. Tonight it was the beginnings of corn flowers on our late season corn. We're delighted by each new change and the opportunity to experiment and discover. African Basil and Golden Sage were planted today. The basil is cold tolerant so I'm hoping for fresh pesto all winter!
One less than thrilling discovery this evening was that of a black widow spider who's made a home between the tomato pots. Now that we know she is there we'll be cautious. Live and let live for a bit I think. (Though most of you know I don't like to stumble upon spiders I do respect they're place in the natural world!) The minute I spot an egg sac she'll be out on her heals and off to live along the river banks with her young! Thank goodness both Nye and Arch are as in tuned to our new environment and as alert to new "neighbors".
We're looking forward to our future discoveries and the pleasures that come from opening the back door and exploring our yard! I'm sure most won't be poisonous ;-)
XO,
Sara, Nye and Archil
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