Herman Munster

I don't know if I have it in me to finish him, but it was fun doing his head.

New in the Feltfarm

Just finished these & added them to the Feltfarm:

Boxiefishies:







Pufferfishies

Ginger

eeva

Healdsburg Ridge Hike

Playing tourist in my own backyard again, I finally got up to Healdsburg ridge today. Being the first non-rainy day in quite awhile, everything was clean and fresh. And I was the only one up there. I managed to stumble and do a face plant at one point, but thankfully the ground was still soft. There are two beautiful ponds up there. "Fox Pond" was rimmed with wild yellow irises. It had blooming lillies on the water and bright blue dragonflies flying around; many in tandem. It was just too bright and sunny to get decent pictures of it, but I did get some other pictures that I liked:

Ain't nobody here but me & the lizard


I don't know what these are called, but I always think "cornflower blue" when I see them.



The second pond I came upon was less in the direct sun, and I was mesmerized by some of the reflections.




From atop the ridge, you can see the Russian river over on the right, and Mt. St. Helena on the left.

Poppies!

You really can't tell by my pictures, but there is a spectacular display of red poppies at DeLoach Vineyards at the corner of Gurneville Rd. and Vine Hill Rd. Maybe I'll get out to shoot them again when it's not so sunny. They're not going to last long, though.

I am not a gardener

I am the daughter of an Arborist and a Rosarian. My Dad studied Ag at UC Davis and owned acres of walnuts and pears. He would get up in the middle of the night to set out smudge pots to keep his trees warm if it frosted. He knew how to graft a red delicious apple onto a golden delicious tree. My mom could grow anything, and was an award-winning floral arranger. Both parents were skilled at Bonsai. I could go on and on - it seems plants were the main focus of their passions, and there were few plants and trees they couldn't identify. I, however, did not get the gardener gene. It went to my sister, while my brother and I ended up with the "make stuff" gene. I do not like touching dirt, and I don't like taking care of houseplants. It was a big deal for me to plant a handful of irises last fall.

That said, I absolutely love plants and flowers. I love them in the house, as long as they look good, but when they start to turn brown and wilt, I can't wait to get rid of them. I am fortunate that mom left us some beautiful roses for our yard that, thankfully are hardy enough to withstand my inattention. I am also lucky and thankful for my friend Sib, who gifted me a little baggie of wildflower seeds early this year, which has turned into this little fairytale patch of cheerfulness in the front yard.

So right now, our front yard is blooming like crazy, and I'm loving it! My mom used to tell me that some day I would begin to enjoy gardening. Well, maybe a little. But I'll still never be a gardener.








Mom's "Regansberg" Rose



And my first iris opened today!