Saturday May 28th Mother Robin flew off this morning as always and I crept closer to her nest which I haven’t done for days. Three small heads, silent but pointing towards the sky, looked out, her babies are born. I wondered what happened to the fourth egg. No sooner had a smile appeared on my […]
New life in the gardenias Read More »
Saturday May 7th A large and if I didn’t know better, pregnant, red robin has made her new home in a gardenia bush that faces my office window. The plant sits in a large tub against the turquoise wall of the secret garden, it is neither large nor small but seems an extraordinary home for
Mother Robin makes a nest Read More »
Wednesday February 9th Fifty years ago, when our house was built, the owners planted an almond tree next to the house. Today it is twenty feet tall and equally as wide. It is completely out of place in a forest of oak trees, and we considered cutting it down when we first arrived. Almond trees
Spring and the almond tree Read More »
Saturday November 20th I have been waiting for December to come, Californian winters providing a welcome change from the long warm days of the rest of the year. The sun doesn’t rise over the mountains until past eight o’clock in the morning, early mornings still grey and at half-light. Yesterday I lit candles at lunchtime
Waiting for the winter Read More »
Friday October 8th It rained! It rained all night much to our astonishment and I know this because I was awake every two hours. Listening to the rain while in bed is somehow very comforting and reassuring. This morning the oak trees are dripping water, the mountains are breathing a sigh of relief. A heavy
Rain, rain, come today Read More »
Thursday September 9th As the sun came up over the mountains this morning I decided my potted garden needed closer inspection as the calendar races towards the autumn. The bright red geraniums still have one or two flowers, but some leaves are beginning to turn a musty yellow and dominate the plants. I put my
In the potted garden Read More »
Tuesday August 10th The old bent man came back yesterday and finally installed the pool heater so it works. He added additional bells and whistles so we could gauge what was happening at a glance. What a gift after all these months of waiting for parts and finally a new machine, especially as John had
