Of course, every day is historic. Today grandson Brodie ate with a fork for the first time! And lest I forget, it’s the day of the Total Solar Eclipse 2017. My view was as at right.
Last week I was in Monterey, California, where the sky is also commonly white in the mornings. I’m guessing that today Soldier’s family couldn’t see the natural and rare wonder above the overcast there, either.
But as is also typical, during my brief visit the sun would come out within a few hours of the start of day, and we enjoyed many lovely walks in the neighborhood, and outings a little farther afield.
Earthbound Farm in Carmel Valley has paths to wander through various gardens with a teepee, a fort, a store and café, berry patches…
It is the perfect place to examine snails, red peppers growing, tiny leaves or flowers. Below is a weed I’ve often wanted to get a good picture of – it helps to have a boy’s finger for comparing size:
Laddie especially loved the aromatherapy chamomile labyrinth. I think he might have walked that path for an hour if we had not moved on.
In the Alphabet Garden we saw a plant, or at least a place where a plant had grown, for every letter, including Echinacea and Bean.
On our walks in the neighborhood we saw familiar flowers and plants that Liam and I have noticed many times now, as well as some new ones. I haven’t had time to research most of them, like this:
But I did learn Sea Lavender, what Liam described as having a rattle-like sound to the flower heads. Only the white parts are the true flowers, what I assume this bee is sipping at:
Flowers love to grow on California’s coast! Here are several more I don’t know – if any of my readers knows them, please share.
Below, a tall bush in Soldier and Joy’s back yard:
Awfully fancy, this one:
Joy and I drove down to the Monterey Bay Recreational Trail and walked with three boys, two bikes, a double stroller and a baby pack. We looked for a long time into the water next to the boat docks and I saw my first jellyfish and skate not in an aquarium, plus lots of hermit crabs scuttling in and out of rock crevices. It was beautiful down there.
I have been to visit Monterey twice this summer, to offer a little adult company to Joy while Soldier is working on the east coast. So we chatted and talked and talked some more, which may have been the cause of the boys being even more rambunctious than usual. I was amazed at how when it involves three boys ages 5, 3, and 1, every activity, even something as soothing as Grandma reading to them, devolves into roughhousing.
I don’t have a good picture of that. Just imagine a tangle of six arms, six legs, giggling faces and tousled hair, all somehow hanging on to my lap, with an open storybook underneath it all. It was a multi-sensory experience that will go down in my history book as a sunny day.
Gladsome Lights 
I have a neighbor who grows great flowers and when I ask after their names, he tells me he will make up a name to please me, like George or Suzy. I think the big peachy bloom might be a hibiscus. The back yard bush is most likely Malva ( mallow). The little blue flower I call potato vine and when I popped that into a search box I came up with its formal name: Solanum rantonnetii ‘Royal Robe’ (Lycianthes r.) The fancy one escapes me…but we could call it Frilly Fancy Franny until we are properly introduced. Lovely post!
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I know that flower resembles a hibiscus, but the leaves…. Well, now that I browse photos of the plant online, I see that there are all sorts of leaves. So you are probably right!
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I’m sorry that you didn’t get much out of the eclipse, Gretchen! But your photos are a delight, and your trip sounds just right.
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Such pretty, pretty flowers. And that beach!!! Oh my!
Eclipse watching in our area with a welding helmet. Fun.
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How nice of you to go to Monterey and keep your dil company. Those boys are so darling! I love the sea. I miss it.
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Yes, it’s definitely a hibiscus! We have them here, and their leaves look like that. There could be many varieties, though, but that one I’m familiar with… The photo of your grandson walking in the organic herb garden is beautiful. Is that Earthbound, as in “I go to the store and buy Earthbound brand greens”?!
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I should think so 🙂
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Is that tiny flower a scarlet pimpernel? Such glorious contrasts in the complexity, colors, textures, and beauty of these blooms — especially enhanced with Little Boy 🙂
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I think you are right! And as soon as I read your comment, I had a vague memory of someone else telling me that not long ago! Thank you!
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Don’t forget that your little orange “weed” is a flower, too: scarlet pimpernel, or Anagallis arvensis. I do love your eclipse photo. Even when the eclipse is eclipsed, it doesn’t have to leave a day ruined in its totality!
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What an adorable post! The gardens and the labyrinth and all the blooms are beautiful and fascinating. What a good visit and walk! I am no good at identifying most flowers. I sniff them and enjoy, but do not study in depth.
Yes, boys do love to rough house. It’s just how they are made! I loved that image of you patiently abiding their activity with your book under it all 🙂 Glad you could go keep her company.
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Your first sentence is a perfect intro to and summary of everything that follows! The beautiful photographs remind me that each experience of nature is unique and bears recording–all the more so because this kind of personal history doesn’t repeat itself. Your family must treasure the stories you tell here with camera and words. My special favorite was the last one. No photograph could do a better job with that “tangle” of arms, legs, “giggling faces and tousled hair” than your succinct word picture did. Great post!
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Glad you had a nice visit. Looks like most of the flowers have been identified! We also watched the eclipse with a welding mask (like JodyC). It was overcast here, but there was a nice little open space where the sun was. I was babysitting the grandgirls and they kept checking the progression of the eclipse. They thought it was pretty cool.
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You gave me an idea: Monterey Bay Recreational Trail. Next time we visit Monterey, we will walk the trail. Those flowers are beautiful,
Thank you.
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I always forget the full and correct name of it – the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail. It’s 18 miles long!
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I can start anywhere?
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Yes, and my dil says that some stretches have better ocean views than others.
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That magenta (?) very frilly flower intrigues me. It is so unusual.
Earthbound Farm looks to be a great place for rambunctious little boys and their “big people” too.
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