When I went to the northernmost reaches of California to deliver the quilt I wrote about in my last post, I was able to hang around a while afterward and get a tour of the house my daughter recently bought with her husband. The outdoor setting and my nature walk are the subject of this post.
It’s like a park, what with the forest next door, and the tall trees nearer the house. Here is a Blue Spruce.
Spike and his kin watched as The People moved some pots into a sunny spot in the back yard, and a few weeks later they watched some fruits get big. One day they ate all the topmost barely-pink tomatoes.
The People made a wider fence so that hungry animals couldn’t reach the next fruits that ripened, and in the middle of September two of the Belgian heirloom variety called Ananis Noir, or Black Pineapple, were finally ready.
I was on hand to enjoy their really good flavor!
There are some outbuildings on the property, such as this one that is begging for some chickens or goats to move in.
And “next door” is a huge meadow, where I rambled with Pippin, my nature girl. We went through some forest on the way. I hope you will come along on our exploration.
My guide let me know that it is hard to tell a Ponderosa from a Jeffrey Pine, they are such close cousins. But the barbs on the Ponderosa cone point outward and prick you when you hold it. The Jeffrey cones slant inward.
Sugar Pines are spindly, but their cones are bigger, like this.
Yarrow is one of those plants that blends in with the general golden tones of a California summer.
I guessed by the distinctive minty smell that this was a type of pennyroyal.
This plant below with tall purple blooms Pippin had never seen before. I hadn’t either, but that is more to be expected.
When I first glanced down at this plant, I thought of wild strawberry. But upon closer inspection, it didn’t have that kind of leaf.
Less tame animals come around their place. This bear scat was fresh when they first saw it near the house, not long after the bear had gorged on manzanita berries.
Incense Cedars grow in the neighborhood. This little fruit is all the cone they make. But they aren’t true cedars.
Douglas Firs make these cones with “rattails” sticking out. But they aren’t true firs.
This post made me so homesick I almost cried! What beautiful photographs.
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Such lovely photos!
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So, so beautiful! I hope you don't mind, I've downloaded about two dozen of your photos so far, with an idea of using them to decorate my desktop!
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The deer is so gorgeous! Thank you for a fragrant walk in the woods!
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I loved seeing these photos, and joining in on your walk. Beautiful!
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