Heatwave, Pollock & My Weed Garden

The week started out with a nice January heat wave.  Santa Rosa was 84 degrees on Monday and the coast was gorgeous.  We called the Rangel girls and went up to our "Secret Beach" north of Jenner.  I've posted a few pictures below of the amazing afternoon.  We hiked, found beach treasures & had dinner at River's End when it was all over.  Grady was filthy, hungry and tired.  What a way to start off the week.  It was one of the best days I've ever had at the beach and I'm so glad we seized the opportunity, dropped everything and went north on Monday.

I've tossed around the idea of gardening for years.  Usually, when I go to the nursery I buy a few plants, bring them home and then let them die in their containers.  Not this year.  I went to the Mostly Natives and purchased a few native plants in October and put them in the ground.  A novel concept, but I'm hopeful.  When we moved into our home here in Valley Ford with one acre of actual land that was ours, I was so excited.  However, I'm not a gardener.  The previous owners left us with lots of plantings, trees & bulbs that still amaze me when they bloom or pop up out of the ground.  It's from nothing I've done, but I appreciate their hard work.  I do have an asparagus patch and from what I've read, it could produce for up to 25 years (if taken care of).  So this week I went out and started weeding the asparagus patch and a few surrounding beds, and unearthed a circular rock area (pictured below) that would be perfect for a firepit.  I filled our "green" bin with all of my weeds and started planning my Spring garden.  I'm sure it will be a lesson in futility, but I'm going to have to start somewhere.  It seems hopeful to plant a garden and I'm hoping it will be gratifying if and when I can produce a vegetable to eat with my family.  Stay tuned...

I've also been volunteering at Grady's school on behalf of the PTA.  We're doing a fundraising project wherein the kids get to paint a Jackson Pollock-like inspired paintings.  I have a few of these in my home and I just love the fluidity of the house paint used and that the kids create a true work of art that is indivdual and one-of-a-kind.  I was inspired by Grady's preschool teacher and how she could get them to create such beautiful work.  We have just completed the last canvases and we are going to hang them this week at the Tomales Bakery, where they will be for sale and on exhibition for the next few months.

This is a before picture of my garden.  I hope to grow SOMETHING and have an after picture for later posting.  We'll see what happens!

Quotes of the week from Grady:

1.  "Mom, I don't like ear wax.  It tastes sour."

2.  "Good-bye nature, good-bye ocean, good-bye sky, I love you!"

3.  "Mom, I think you look pretty in the morning.  And always. And at night.  I love you too much."