December

 

Our home is decorated for the winter - the Geek always puts these lights up the weekend after Thanksgiving and they will stay there until daylight saving begins. We call them winter lights - this is a rather dark corner and all the dog walkers and joggers are thankful for some light. The lights are on a timer and switch on half an hour before sunset, switch off at 10pm and then switch on again at 6am for 90 minutes. We don't do any kind of Christmas decoration anymore and we said goodbye to a Christmas tree several years ago. It was a big relief for me.

December here looks a lot like autumn. The Japanese Maple in front of our house usually gets its most brilliant color around Thanksgiving and this year it lasted well into December.

These pictures were taken at sunrise when the leaves are backlit and the most beautiful.

Winter sunrises and sunsets are so much more intense. I enjoy the view from my bedroom window, shortly before sunrise...

... and after sunset.

However, I don't look that brilliant before sunrise. Here I am before breakfast, and more importantly before coffee, and although my hair looks kind of wild I did comb it. My curls simply can't be tamed and do whatever they want. This is for Nicole's Friday Face Off. Good morning!

Our mornings are cold and foggy, but our afternoons are sunny and very pleasant. I work a lot in the garden since there is still so much to do (the weeds are dancing salsa there). But I also take a break, sit in the sun and knit. My little companion is never far away and claims ownership. Another sweet face for FFO.

And lastly, I gave myself an early Christmas present (the only one since we don't so presents), this beautiful enameled cast iron covered casserole that comes with a lid. This has been on my wishlist for a long time and I finally used my tutorial money to buy one. The crisp gnocchi with brussels sprouts and brown butter turned out delicious in it.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. It's the third Advent weekend, time for the Christmas market in Tübingen.

Autumn in a Breton Village

 

In April I wrote about the tiny Breton village Meneham and its guardhouse. At that time I promised to come back and show its beautiful fall decoration that we saw during our visit in October of last year.

The Meneham site was originally a guardhouse, strategically located to protect the coastline of Northern Brittany. At the end of the 18th century, the militia occupying the site were replaced by customs officers. They were the first real inhabitants of Meneham and settled in the barracks with their families in the mid-19th century. Later, fishermen, seaweed growers and farmers moved in.

The village of Meneham is clocely linked with the history of fishing and the trade of seaweed harvesting in Brittany. Daily life, far away from any town or trading center, wasn't easy for the residents. Their tasks and chores included fishing, harvesting seaweed, drying and burning it in dedicated ovens, working the land, raising livestock and washing clothes.

But there were also Pagan festivals and their festivities - dancing, singing and laughter.

The village's history is also closely linked to the myth of the shipwreckers - for a long time, the inhabitants were considered to be wreck raiders who would cause shipwrecks on stormy nights. However, in reality, Pagan country is a land of sharing and mutual aid, where festive customs have endured.

We learned about all of this by going into some of the charming thatched cottages that were partly museum and partly little shops. Outside, we enjoyed the fall decorations throughout the tiny village.

Meneham also offers workshops and events throughout the year. We saw kids creating simple fall decorations and admired the beautiful and intricate works of lace.

It was a very relaxing autumn afternoon.

Staying with the autumn theme, last Saturday I cooked a autumn-like meal with roasted potatoes, butternut squash, eggplant, Mexican zucchini (from my garden) and bell pepper. 

With it we enjoyed a bottle of delicious Pinot Noir from one of our favorite wineries. We had bought the bottle when we visited there in September with our relatives from Germany. 

With this I join Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday. Cheers!

Autumn Meets Winter

 

Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the comic strip "Peanuts", lived in Santa Rosa for more than 30 years and died here in February 2000. Therefore it's no wonder that many Christmas decorations in my neighborhood depict one or more of his characters, the most popular among them Snoopy and Woodstock. 

Winter has arrived here with heavy rain which, of course, is very welcome. In the higher elevations of the county there are warnings we might see snow on top of the mountains, however, I do think it is not cold enough for that. I'm thankful for the rain, and am enjoying the spots where autumn meets winter.

This is the time when the Geek and I often have a cup of hot chocolate in the evening, which is my ticket to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday this week.

This is only a short post and I hope to be back by Thursday with some German Christmas cookies.

The Last Two Weeks

 

I wish I could come up with something exciting this week, but I don't. Two weeks ago I started PT for my left knee and the sciatica on the right side; I go twice a week and do my exercises religiously because I really want an end to the pain and most of all, I want to take long walks again. While I see some improvement when it comes to the sciatica, I unfortunately cannot say the same for the knee. Some days are okay, but there were moments when I had just started my walk down the street to the mailbox when I had to turn around after only 50 meters or so because the pain was so bad that I knew I wouldn't get to the mailbox (a 12 minute walk one way), not to mention back home. It's frustrating, but I'm determined not to let these things get me down.

Despite the evil knee, I was able to do a few short walks - I walked at the lake (please note that I wrote "at", not "around" because that's not possible right now) on a cloudy morning and enjoyed the view of the still water and the leaves in the parking lot.

I especially liked the stunning color of these oak leaves as well as the beautiful seeds of the Horse Weed (Conyza bonariensis).

In my neighborhood I enjoyed a few leaves withstanding the autumn winds while others swirled through the air, sometimes doing crazy somersaults.

The Japanese Maple in front of my kitchen window radiated in beautiful autumn colors and I loved the reflection in the bird bath.

My native California vine "Roger's Red" (Vitis californica x 'Roger's Red') was twisting along my clothesline. Soon I will have to cut it back, when all the leaves will be gone.

My Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana) was heavy with fruit this year, so I decided to share with the neighborhood.

In my opinion, winter sunrises and sunsets are more spectacular than the ones in summer. Maybe it's because the sun is so much lower in the sky or the air is colder - I don't know. This was the sunrise seen from my bedroom window a few days ago, followed below by pink clouds at sunset.

The nightsky during a full moon was pretty dramatic as well.

We had some rain - always welcome - and also some pretty frosty nights. Perfect for staying inside and knitting some cat and bird ornaments for our German School's winter fundraiser.

While knitting, reading, grading papers and preparing classes I enjoyed my café au lait out of this wolf mug that I bought years ago in Yellowstone (still one of my most favorite places on earth).

This, of course, is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday - grab a drink and join us!

The Autumn Garden

 

Despite our long dry summer and some extremely hot days in September, we have had a glorious autumn so far. This season is not so much about "putting the garden to bed", but still enjoy its richness and abundance of color.

While California does not have the rich fall colors like the Northeastern US, there are some trees that delight us with their brilliant colors every year. One of them is the Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis) in my garden. Since I planted it 9 years ago it has doubled in size and its fall color seems to get more stunning year after year. Chinese Pistache is a popular street tree in my area and when you see its colors you understand why. It also needs no additional water in the summer.

Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) is a late season bloomer that puts up a real show with Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) as a backdrop. Both need very little water, are great pollinator plants and very popular with our birds.

One of my favorite late season plants that are native to California is the California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum). It is very low in maintenance, doesn't need much summer water and blooms in rich orange and red shades. Hummingbirds love it. It is often overlooked since it is not a showy spring or summer plant with its green-greyish foliage color. But come autumn - it's a show stopper.

Late summer into fall brings the Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) into my garden. This year I saw more than usual. For some reason I love these little guys.

My entire garden is a low water garden. In the summer it usually goes for two weeks between watering, except for very hot periods. This doesn't mean it's a bland, colorless garden or a desert garden - on the contrary. I constantly get compliments about the lushness of my plants and all the activity by insects and birds that is going on here. It just depends on planting the right plants in the right location. Therefore, it is utterly surprising that the Swamp Sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius) is thriving in this setting. I planted it years ago at a very weak moment when I was enticed by its showy yellow flowers. It is neither native to California nor drought tolerant. It doesn't get any special treatment. Still, every autumn it displays its splendid flowers for about two weeks. It loves to mingle with the Verbena bonariensis next to it (which is super drought tolerant).

The following was a mystery for me for quite some time, until I found out that these are seeds of Iris foetidissima. This iris is native to Britain and its natural range is Western Europe. I have no idea how it appeared in my garden. I didn't plant it - I don't even particularly like irises. I assume birds might be the culprits since I see these seedheads in other gardens in the neighborhood as well. The seeds are very showy, but still I wonder. The other plant that turns up uninvited early every spring is African Flag (Chasmanthe floribunda) which is native to the Cape Province of South Africa, but has naturalized in California. These are the little surprises in my garden.

A very fall-colorful California native is the "Roger's Red" grape (Vitis californica) which is a great habitat plant. It grows vigorously, its grapes are very small but sweet and tasty. The autumn color is simply stunning.

We are very fortunate to have had some very needed rain. Here you can see how the water steams off in the morning sun:

I have a Pineapple Guave tree (Feijoa sellowiana) in my garden that came with the house. This year I had so much fruit that we couldn't eat it all on our own, so I gave loads away.

In October and even at the beginning of November there were still tomatoes on the vines.

This leads me right to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date. A couple days ago I brought in my last big harvest of tomatoes and I decided to make tomato sauce and freeze it, so that we can still enjoy some summery flavors later in the year. I cook my tomatoes with their skins, just add lots of basil, some red pepper flakes as well as salt and black pepper. 

And since I had a colorful trio of bell peppers (not from the garden), I decided to braise them with a big yellow onion, garlic, a generous amount of cumin plus two bay leaves and some salt and pepper. After about 30 minutes I let it cool completely and then put it in the freezer.

A trip to the farmers market today resulted in some wonderful fresh vegetables. Oh I do love where I live.