Garden for Sale

I was back in CA last week

2005-10-27T13:06:00.000-05:00

Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch.

I was in California last week; business and pleasure wrapped up in one long trip.
I went with friends to the Half Moon Bay pumpkin festival.

I was so tempted to go see my former garden.
I only had time for a drive by of the house. It looks great, they replaced the petunias in the garden box with bright yellow and orange mums.
The neighborhood is still transforming. Two houses were undergoing "curb appeal".
Word must have gotten out on our success in selling.
In just a few months, a small four or five new home division was under construction just down the road.
El Sobrante was always one of the best buys in the San Francsico Bay Area and it now looks like it's payday has finally come. Good Luck to the sellers and good luck to the buyers.

Do I drive by or knock on the door

2005-10-19T01:18:00.000-05:00

Can you ever go back again....Just to look?
I am back in California this week.
Should I go back to see my garden?

My tale told twice...extra nice

2005-10-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

October 11, 2005
http://en.blogworkers.com
A blog to sell your house as told by two journalists
If you want to sell your house, you can ask a real-estate agent for help. But, as some U.S. individuals are successfully doing it, you also can start a blog to promote your beautiful garden or the presence of a nice school in your neighborhood. I wanted to tell you about this particular usage of blogs by very small companies -- yourself -- for a while now. But today, I'm wondering how two different journalists have found and interviewed the same person with almost exactly the same words. You'll find below the first paragraphs of an article published by the Los Angeles Times in July 2005 and of another one published today by the Wall Street Journal. UPDATE (October 11, 2005): Raymond Hennessey, the editor of Tara Siegel Bernard at Dow Jones Newswires, assures me that she found and interviewed Mesha Provo independently. The fact that the details are similar comes from the source, not from the journalists.
Here is the beginning of an article by Jeff Bertolucci, published by the Los Angeles Times issued on July 24, 2005, "On bloggers' turf" (free registration necessary).
When Mesha Provo and her husband decided last March to sell their 1,350-square-foot home in El Sobrante, a Bay Area suburb, she saw green in her garden. A self-styled "fanatical gardener," she recognized the potential draw of her labors — and she hoped to find a buyer who would appreciate her garden's beauty.
So in addition to hiring an agent to list the property, Provo started an Internet Web log — blog for short — and told her real estate agent to include the Web address on her home's Multiple Listing Service information.
Each day, she wrote about and posted photos of her daisies, jasmine and roses to entice prospects.
"I had this idea that I would first tease them with pictures of the garden," said Provo, 52, who is the national sales manager for Ballentine Vineyards in Napa Valley. Later, she added shots of the home's interior and exterior.
Her clever marketing appeared to work. The house sold for $612,000 — $43,000 more than the original asking price — to another gardener who read her blog.
And now is the beginning of an article by Tara Siegel Bernard, from Dow Jones Newswires, published today on the Wall Street Journal web site, "Home Sellers Turn to Blogs To Make Properties Stand Out" (paid registration necessary).
When Mesha Provo, an avid gardener, decided to sell her home in El Sobrante, Calif., she wanted to showcase her property -- with its arbor blanketed with wisteria -- to appeal to other plant lovers. She started a blog detailing her garden's story through passionate postings and vibrant close-ups of her flowers, and eventually added pictures of the house.
A gardener found her blog -- through a flyer put together by a real-estate agent -- fell in love with the house, and ultimately paid $612,000 for it, $43,000 more than the asking price.
"What the blog did was take a buyer, before he walked through my door, and sold him on my house," said the 53-year-old Ms. Provo, national sales director of Ballentine Vineyards in Napa Valley.
As you can see, Tara Siegel Bernard has used exactly the same example as Jeff Bertolucci. The only difference is that Mesha Provo is now one year older than in July But of course, we're in October now..

Did anyone see this story in print yet?

2005-10-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

DJ Homeowners Get Creative With Blogs In Making Sales Pitch

By Tara Siegel Bernard
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Despite the still-hot real estate market, some
homeowners are resorting to clever sales tactics to find the right buyer.

As national sales director of Ballentine Vineyards in Napa Valley, Mesha Provo knows the art of promotion. So when Provo, an avid gardener, decided to sell her home in El Sobrante, Calif., she wanted to showcase her masterpiece, from the arbor blanketed with wisteria down to individual blooms, with hopes of finding a horticulturally-inclined buyer. Since this would be hard to do through a traditional listing, she started a web log, or blog, detailing her garden's story through passionate postings and vibrant close-ups of her flowers, and eventually added pictures of the house.

The result? A gardener found her blog -- through a flyer put together by a traditional agent -- fell in love with the house, and ultimately paid $612,000 for it, or $43,000 more than the asking price.

"What the blog did was take a buyer, before he walked through my door, and sold him on my house," said the 53-year-old Provo, whose blog was located at gardenforsalehomeincluded.blogspot.com.

Though the Internet has already added a dimension to traditional real-estate listings -- with photos and floor-plan illustrations -- and provides another channel to list homes, blogging adds yet another scope, a way to tout intangibles in a more personal forum.

Take Alan Weinkrantz. "I was trying to tell a story about a home that had been well-cared for, well-maintained, has a lot of character and an interesting neighborhood," he said of his blog, which highlighted features beyond his Alamo Heights, Texas, home's four walls. Weinkrantz, who presides over his own public-relations firm, wrote about his great neighbors, the quality elementary school in walking distance, and the beauty of trying new wines on his porch.

However, right now, it appears that such blogs -- they're nearly 19 million overall, according to Technorati -- are best used as a complementary tool. Weinkrantz, who also posted a recent inspection report on his web log, recently sold his home through a traditional broker. He admits that it took an article in the local newspaper to bring any significant attention to his home diary, while Ms. Provo had her blog address on a flyer.

"The blog is a great low-cost, word-of-mouth marketing tool that can spread something," says Steve Rubel, a marketing strategist with CooperKatz & Co., a public relations firm in New York.

However, it's not always efficient, because it's not local. "You have to have many people, locally, talking about the blog" when dealing with a locally-driven business like real estate, says Rubel, who who focuses on setting up conversational marketing programs like blogs. "Right now, they are hard to find.This will have the greatest value when there are networks to find these blogs."

Real-estate brokers have also turned to these online chronicles for their own reasons, which range from drumming up business to creating a soap box where they can comment on the market, interest rates, or the mainstream media's take on the industry.

"Having a blog is an excellent way to get business," says John A. Keith, a
real-estate agent, primarily for buyers, with Coldwell Banker in Boston. He receives between 20 and 30 contacts a month through his blog, called Boston Real Estate Blog, resulting in about one paying client that he ultimately guides through closing. "That may not sound like much, but it is," he says, adding that it beats direct marketing and is "incredibly cheap" given the $8.95 a month
cost.

Lisa Maysonet, an agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York, said she received so many real-estate-related queries -- she can't even board the elevator in her own Manhattan building without fielding a few -- that she decided it would be effective to answer everybody's questions in a single forum.

"It almost grew out of a necessity," says Maysonet, whose blog is called City Vu at http://www.lmaysonet.com/cityvu/. "It's a way I can give them information without having to speak to everyone everyday."

It also positions you as an expert, she says, and enables her to draw on her 20 years of real estate experience and share her take with others. "It's like when you give out a business card," she explains, "You don't necessarily get a hit back (right away) but it's generating an intangible."

Setting up a blog -- whether it's for real estate, other business, or even
personal diarist purposes -- is easy to do. Google Inc. (GOOG) hosts a service called Blogger, www.blogger.com, which provides step-by-step instructions to create a web log free of charge. Six Apart Inc. offers a service at www.TypePad.com, which costs $4.95 per month for a basic weblog with one author. They also offer a service called Movable Type, which is geared for businesses, as well as other services (www.sixpapart.com).

Concludes Ms. Provo: "It's definitely the (wave of) the future."

-By Tara Siegel Bernard; Dow Jones Newswires

Did you read the Dow Jones article?

2005-10-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

The interest in blogging and real estate has blossomed, as my garden did this past Spring. Ms. Tata Siegel Bernard wrote a great article for the Dow Jones Newswire service about "Homeowners get Creative with Blogs in Making sales pitch."

I appreciate her kind words and it make me think that I should get on the ball and write a magazine article or small book about all that I learned.
The photos would be an added touch. What do you think?

So now, go visit http:redoakhollow.blogspot.com and see what I am now up to.

Red Oak Hollow is up and running

2005-08-21T12:45:00.000-05:00

I finally did it.
I started my new blog.
http://redoakhollow.blogspot.com/
Come visit.
Thanks

Daisy Mae tales in now in business

2005-07-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

http://daisymaetales.blogspot.com/

New photos and her little doggie tales...
Check it out.

Here's looking at happiness

2005-07-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

They are looking at the pond. My husband is showing them the little technique to keep it running and the fish happy and healthy. They are the new gardeners! We have kept in touch and they love the place! Our former home is their happy home. The garden is in good hands!

For those of you who came across this blog and want to know more on how to help sell your property thru blogging, please scroll down to the beginning. I started this blog in March. The beginning, like in any story is the best place to start. I learned a great deal about blogging, my garden and my life thru this process. It's not easy. It is not for everyone. You need a great camera. I have a Sony Digital Camera Mavica, 5.0 mega pixels. The camera is great on close-ups. You also need copy and copy comes from your heart. How do you feel about your place. Can and do you want to share that?

Take this simple test. Go find your egg timer. Set it for three minutes. Start talking about your house, in an honest, inviting way. Do you find what you are saying interesting? Can you talk for three minutes on this subject? Write a paragraph about your porch, your garden, the stove....whatever. Does it sound like prose or does it sound like an MLS listing? Do you really want to do this?

Real estate blogging is the opposite of real estate staging. We had a stager come in. She was good. She helped me make our bathrooms look bigger and I took about 80% of her advice and employed it in the staging of the house. I also spent around $400 total in the updating the look of the house.

Back to my point, blogging is the opposite of staging. Staging takes your personal relationship to the house out of the buyer's mind. It lightens, opens and simplifies the space, so they can see themselves in it; their stuff, their style.
Blogging shares your passion. Hopefully, it is so contagious that the first lookers are hooked.
They want the place to go on...to create their mark......to enjoy all your hard work.....

Begin reading this blog at the beginning. Yes, it's over 150 entries. I will be closing this blog down and moving on to my other two. My Daisy Mae has developed a following and will have her own blog. Red Oak Hollow will be my next gardening and country living blog. I plan to work on it later today, during the heat of the day. It might be near 100 today. I want to get some bulbs planted. I need to work before the heat hits.

Yellow Rose left an imprint on my soul

2005-07-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

I miss the roses the most. Absolutely! As I walk our rural roads, I admire gardens from afar. I have said hello to a few folks and ask to see their gardens, at another time. My walks are my much needed exercise. As of yet, I have not spotted a rose garden. It is the deer? Is it the rain?
Is it a different feel for the earth?
I have no roses here. I plan to..... Next spring!

My Blog Got Press! Today's L.A. Times

2005-07-24T08:46:00.002-05:00

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-blogs24jul24,0,5278830.story?coll=la-class-realestate-news

On bloggers' turf
Real estate enthusiasts and buyers are turning to Web logs, eager to gain an edge. By Jeff BertolucciSpecial to The TimesJuly 24, 2005

When Mesha Provo and her husband decided last March to sell their 1,350-square-foot home in El Sobrante, a Bay Area suburb, she saw green in her garden. A self-styled "fanatical gardener," she recognized the potential draw of her labors — and she hoped to find a buyer who would appreciate her garden's beauty. So in addition to hiring an agent to list the property, Provo started an Internet Web log — blog for short — and told her real estate agent to include the Web address on her home's Multiple Listing Service information. Each day, she wrote about and posted photos of her daisies, jasmine and roses to entice prospects. "I had this idea that I would first tease them with pictures of the garden," said Provo, 52, who is the national sales manager for Ballentine Vineyards in Napa Valley. Later, she added shots of the home's interior and exterior. Her clever marketing appeared to work. The house sold for $612,000 — $43,000 more than the original asking price — to another gardener who read her blog. Provo's story may be unusual, but it shows that Internet blogs have the potential to be effective consumer tools for home buyers and sellers. They also appeal to real estate junkies who watch and follow market trends. A blog such as Provo's (gardenforsalehomeincluded.blogspot.com) is an online journal, a chronicle of personal opinions, reader comments and Web links to related topics. It's one person's take on life or on a particular topic — uncensored, edgy and updated frequently.

Some readers base their buying decisions on the information they read on real estate blogs. Brandon Farley, 36, of San Diego, is a devotee of the Housing Bubble 2 at thehousingbubble2.blogspot.com. "There's a lot of information out there — journalism and advertising — that's very pro about buying homes and investing," said Farley, a transportation planner who's waiting for prices to drop before buying. "I don't think there's been a lot — until maybe this blog — to provide a counterargument."
The Housing Bubble 2, a popular blog, is a labor of love maintained by 41-year-old Ben Jones, a writer and investor based in Sedona, Ariz. Jones, who's never worked in the real estate industry, posts commentary and links to real estate articles several times a day. Daily readership is in the "thousands," Jones estimates, and he's gotten as many as 20,000 hits (site visits) per day. It's not uncommon to find 200 or more daily comments from readers seeking a slant they believe isn't offered by their local news media. Why does he do it?"It's a chronicle of who's saying what and when," said Jones, who started the blog last December. He believes the U.S. is in the midst of a housing price "mania," and he personally blames the Federal Reserve, which "left interest rates too low for too long."

Indeed, distrust of the mainstream media runs deep with bloggers. Mickey Cheng, 42, a computer programmer in Thousand Oaks and a regular reader of the Housing Bubble 2, maintains his own site at housebubble.com. "Newspapers are so heavily influenced by the real estate industry that they don't give you the correct view of the situation," he said. Cheng, a renter, is waiting for home prices to fall back to Earth before buying again. In February, Cheng sold his 1,400-square-foot home for $560,000; he bought the house in 1993 for $215,000. He currently leases a two-story home with a three-car garage for $2,400 a month. "The rent is a great deal," said Cheng, who estimates that buying a comparable home in his neighborhood would cost $4,500 a month with a 30-year mortgage. "Renting is half the cost of buying."

Ironically, many real estate blogs post links to housing-bubble stories written by mainstream newspapers and magazines. Cheng, for instance, posts a daily list of bubble-related story links on his site. Recent links directed readers to pessimistic stories on home prices from the New York Times and the Sacramento Bee. Bloggers often find that, like any new hobby, it is fun for a while. But it can quickly turn into a grind. Only the most dedicated — Jones, for instance — update their sites daily. "Once I got into it, I made a decision to post something every Monday through Friday, at least one kind of article," said Tim Iacone, an Oxnard-based software engineer who runs the Mess That Greenspan Made (themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com). Though his blog isn't as popular as Housing Bubble 2, Iacone isn't preaching to an empty hall. He estimates the site gets about 700 hits a day.

Real estate agents have taken up blogging too. From a home buyer's or seller's perspective, these sites can provide insights into an agent's personality, interests and ethics — important considerations when choosing someone to market your home. Jon Strum, an agent with Boardwalk Realty in Marina del Rey, sees his blog, LA real estate (larealestate.typepad.com) as a "mix of commentary, some entertaining real estate stories and good information that people may not be thinking about." Strum, who started blogging in May, hopes his blog will attract clients, although it hasn't yet.

Many bloggers agree that a good site should entertain as well as inform, a fact not lost on Hanan Levin, a real estate agent and co-owner of the Champion Co. in Riverside. Levin opines on the housing market on his blog (growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain), but his readers prefer the daily links to offbeat, quirky sites. He said he gets a lot of e-mail from people who say they spend two hours at work every day reading his blog. Levin, who specializes in commercial properties, isn't convinced that blogs are worthwhile consumer tools — at least not yet. "Even though I have a lot of unusual information about real estate," he said, "I doubt it's really useful to my clients." Like talk radio shows, real estate blogs may simply be giving readers what they want to hear. "It's a case of confirmation bias," said San Diego real estate attorney Christian Spring, 30, a daily reader of the Housing Bubble 2. "Readers are looking for support for their beliefs," he said, and they get that support from a blog.*

How to set up your own blogBlogs are easy and inexpensive to create, and numerous blog sites host pages on just about any topic.
These sites include LiveJournal, http://www.livejournal.com/ ; TypePad, http://www.typepad.com/ ; and Google's Blogger, http://www.blogger.com/ . LiveJournal charges $5 for two months of blogging, TypePad charges $4.95 a month, and Blogger is free.
Jeff Bertolucci can be reached at jbert@aol.com.

L.A. Times Real Estate Section soon.....

2005-07-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

Garden for sale home included.blogspot.com may make next Sunday's Los Angeles Times Real Estate Section. I was interviewed by phone by Jeff Bertolucci for an article on real estate blogs.
He found this blog from Grow-a-Brain, which mentioned it on their website.

www.latimes.com

It may be published this Sunday, July 24th or the last Sunday of the month July 31st.
I am sure it will be fun to check out. My blog worked wonders in finding the right buyer and many of you who found this blog would like to pursue the same thing.
Hopefully, the times article will be packed with ideas.

I feel flattered that my ramblings and photo's have gained a little noticed in the legit press.
I need to get my next two blogs started:
http://redoakhollow.blogspot.com
Gardening from the ground up and adjusting to country living in the South.

http://daisymaetales.blogspot.com
Stories and photo's from the mind and voice of Miss Daisy May, Tennessee Terrier.

Sewanee Writers' Conference

2005-07-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

I am not just living in the sticks.

I have found a place , that is both rural and cultural. I live near academia. The University of the South is at sleeve's length away. I have spent two evenings this past week and plan to do the same this evening, attending the readings of professional writers at the Sewanee Writer's Conference. Just 10 minutes from my porch, I can sit in a hall and enjoy the works of some fairly famous writers, reading from their own.

Tuesday, I heard from John Casey, Wednesday from Margot Livesey and Alice McDermott.
Tonight is is fiction from Randall Kenan. It's free. It's local. It's cultural and I am not sitting in front of the TV.

Best of all, I am not a writer. I have absolutely no ego involved in attending the lectures and readings of this conference. I am an absolute observer. I arrive early and easedrop. It's pretty easy to do, because the talk becomes open and loud as it fills the room. It quiets down as the speaker is introduced and ends with a lengthy applause when they are done. I've just been enriched and it was for free.

I get in my car drive and drive home, remembering some of the turn of phrases and the deeper meaning of it all.

It rains here

2005-07-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

It might sound odd that I would notice the rain, but I just came out of living in the desert called California. It never rains in the summer in California. It did this year this past June and the state goes into a tizzy.

It rains here. We are getting the leftover's of Dennis. It's nice rain. Warm summer rain. Muddle puddles. Mud puddles everywhere.

The electric went out as I sat working in our garage. I am trying to set up my office. This building, the garage with two offices, stands but it is not finished.
Do contactors actually finish their work? There is a roof, doors and walls. No drywall. I thought I would have my walls painted by now and my furniture rearranged a few times. But no problem, because there is no furniture. I made phone calls by candlelight, this morning till the lights came back on.

Our stuff is still in transit. I call and speak so sweetly to Josh, the moving van driver. He promise to be here on Saturday. I know the reckless delay is not his fault, but he is the only one I can speak to. The owner of this company won't take my calls. He is out making more money, misleading more people. I chose this company because the owner did the estimate and said he was always available during our move. Now, he won't take my calls, passes me on to his bulldog wife, who demands more money and passes me on to the scheduler who continues to lie and has few answers....
Once we receive our goods and overpay their increased ransom payment, I am going to gleefully write the Better Business Bureau, Michael Finny on your side, (local TV consumer reporter), the Home and Garden Network Garden Message Board, the CUP and anything and everything else I can think of to report my consumer dissatisfaction for this dishonest moving company. I am so ready to rant.....

Calmly, I listen to the rain and like it. The hills are green, the ponds are full and there are the most interesting mushroom growing everywhere.

Fragrant Memory

2005-07-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

I miss my roses. This is Fragrant Memory, a hybrid tea rose. As Pink as pink can be. It was the only rose that I was able to grow from a clipping. I have tried many times, and just once it worked. I remembered I used root tone. There are two of these bushed in his garden, one in a wine barrel and the other against the fence in a raised bed.

Yes, the dirt did come. Around 5 yards, it's quite the pile. We tarped it because we are getting hit with the rains from Dennis. It is suppose to rain all week.

The best garden buy ever, was at our swap meet; 10 cent seeds, from 2005 season.
We bought 114 packets, of sunflowers, vegetables, herbs and annuals. A shoe box full of seeds. I am in my glory. I sorted them last night. Some I will be able to plant this month and next, some in September and the rest next spring. My mind is whirling on when and where.

I did plant some seeds last summer here at Red Oak Hollow and a few are coming back, a few cosmos and red amaranth. The bush hogging eats wildflower. I need to establish flower beds. I hope to start working on it this coming week end.

The good news is that the moving van left California on Sunday. I may see our stuff on Thursday. I miss all the stuff, the recharge cord to my camera, my work control book, the large bird cage. All the stuff I thought I could easily live 10 days without. I was right, but it's now pushing 20 days and I wait for it to appear.

The neighborhood

2005-07-08T12:06:00.000-05:00

Our closest neighbor is some ways away. The walk does me good.

I am trying to start new habits. You never break old habits. You just replace them and the old habits vanish. I am starting distance walking and hopefully late night munching will disappear. If I keep farmer's hours, early to bed and early to rise, I won't have the time for late night snacks.

I have walked before, very successfully. That was 40 lbs ago. It does work and I have a perfect place to walk. Just beyond the few houses here, is the State Forest. I walked to the forest,today . I walked to Lake road to the little lake and thru the woods and it tracked back to the road. Daisy Mae loves it and then she sleeps the rest of the day. I am just clocking time now, later I will do distance. Yesterday was 55 minutes, today was 70 minutes. Getting a little lost can really eat up the time. I walk without music. I am still marking my surroundings, with sight and sound.

Just 5 years ago, I walked the Alaska Mid - Night Sun Marathon. It was my only marathon. One is enough.

Miss Daisy Mae comes in 2nd for smallest dog

2005-07-07T12:42:00.000-05:00

Daisy Mae wins 2nd Place

Sewanee conducts a Mutt Show as part of their Fourth of July celebration.
Daisy Mae was entered in two competitions; Best Dressed and Smallest dog.

She wore a cute pink and white gigham dress with a pink visor, perfect for a summer day.
The crowd loved her and she made a great first impression. When we changed outfits for the parade viewing later that afternoon, (to an equally darling pink and green polka dot shirt), people mentioned her cute dress from the dog show.

She didn't place for best dress; there were some creative outfits more befitting of the red ,white and blue. The smallest dog competition should have been a wrap. Three puppies place fourth ,third and first.

Daisy Mae was the only adult dog in the winner's circle. Next year, the puppies will be dogs and Daisy Mae will be the same size. She did received a nice trophy for her efforts at being small.

Flowers to go....

2005-07-07T12:40:00.000-05:00

How does a garden travel?

My California garden was not packed and shipped. The best I did was collect seeds and packaged them in simple white envelopes. Our belongings still haven't left California. They may get shipped next week. I am beside myself, because I picked the lousy moving company.

I won't lament. There is nothing I can do, till I receive our goods.

I do want to plant a few seeds. Now, it looks like I will have to wait till September. The August heat will not be good for seedlings, if I was so lucky to get seedlings.

Of course, I had to buy a few plants. At the swap meet, I purchased two yellow Butterfly bushes, "Honeycomb" Buddelia davidil. I haven't seen yellow ones before. They can grow to 6 feet. I transferred them to one gallon pots. We ordered 5 yards of dirt, that may be delivered on Saturday. I have already changed my expectations of things, should does not always work, may seems more promising.

I will be neck high in dirt, depending on where and how we make the dirt pile. The dirt will keep me happy till my seeds arrive.

Purple in bloom at our new home

2005-07-03T20:16:00.000-05:00

It's been nine days since we arrived. I haven't done anything or so it seems.
It's been great. It's been years since I haven't done anything. I highly recommended it.
I have walked the property, taken walks down the road, been to town, been to two Wal-Marts, been to the Piggly Wiggly, stopped by the Saturday's Farmer's market and went to Sunday dinner at our new friend's brother house. I am RELAXED.

It's like camping, but now it's my life. I go back to work on Tuesday. We are still waiting for our belongings to arrive. They may leave Califoninia on Tuesday. On the 14th day, they may make the moving van. For 14 days, our stuff in moving limbo. After we recieve our stuff, with an added $800 surcharge, I will share this company's name with a big do not trust sign. But more of that later, I still believe our stuff will arrive. I still believe....

We have arrived

2005-06-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

This is the view of from our mountain.
Right from the Sewanee overlook.

We drove for 3 days, 12 and 14 hour days.
Everyone did well, except for my husband's back.
The bird loved the journey. He chirped often and enjoyed the constant attention.
Daisy was excellent traveler. I put her doggie bed in a large wooden wine crate and she was happy with her space. Sierra, the cat slept all the way in her crate. She had the hardest time.
Cats hate change. She is still hiding in our bedroom, but is using her box and eating.

It was long but an easy journey. It is so nice to have our small cottage waiting here for us.
Our belongings are still on the road. We are both taking the next week off, to adjust to our new home.

2005-06-20T16:50:00.000-05:00

Daisy Mae says good- bye

Last day in garden

2005-06-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the last day in my garden, excuse me, his garden....
I used the over- head system to water this morning...All those hoses have been packed away.

The movers come tomorrow....We hit the road Wednesday....I am truly looking forward to all of it.

When I arrive at Red Oak Hollow I will post again. I may start a fresh blog...in a year once our home is built we will have a guest home. I will take a year to tantalize everyone and pehaps someday you can come for a visit.

Happy Trails to us.....till we meet again

Visitors let me know if you want to keep in touch

2005-06-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

I have received more comments and emails than I ever wished for.
The nicest people leave the nicest remarks. I am thankful and delighted.
Each time some one leaves me a comment, it feels like Christmas and the Thumbalina doll is really under the tree.

Let me know how to contact you . Leave me an email, with your email address. Anonymous doesn't work cause I can't reply to your email.

Packing my blues away

2005-06-15T17:38:00.000-05:00

I keep packing and I am still at 80% done.
It's more stuff than my eye could see.
15 years of stuff. I found some great stuff though, that I forgot I had.
I have some old posters of clowns and wine.
I going to learn about them, so I can sell them.

On this system, I am on dial up now, so it takes longer to post.
DSL cancelled my service on the day I asked them to cancel it for the day I move.
They can't change it, so I'm SOL for the week.
I will try to post some new pics soon.
I took some great ones.

I am collecting seeds for Red Oak Hollow. I am lucky because my spring flowers are passing and they are giving me a little bit of themselves to carry on in Tennessee.

My husband had his Tractor delivered. He is in man toy heaven.

I've been down

2005-06-12T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yikes, I've been down with computer problems.
I hate DSL.
I am back to dial up, because they disconnected me early.
Their mistake and they can't fix it in time before my move.
I'll try to keep posting, but I may not till after the move.

2005-06-08T13:05:00.000-05:00

Dragonfly on the fly

His commute

2005-06-08T12:54:00.000-05:00

My husband's commute

Can't take the commute any longer. Today was un-bearable. I start out on the back road down the mountain and not a mile in a deer runs in front of the car. To make it worse about a half mile later a Bluebird attempts to smash my windshield (he flew off so I think he managed). Goin' on about a mile and a half later, two turkey hens just walk across the road right in the middle with their six chicks in tow refusing to let me pass. Finally, to top it off, six cars passed going the other direction by the time I made it the first 15 miles. I just cannot bear it any more.

Even my husband is getting into my blogging....

The Best Memories we leave behind

2005-06-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Rusty and Molly at our camping spot

This photo was on one of old disposable cameras. My husband shot the rest of the roll and had it developed and just sent the photo's to me. This shot is a wonderful gift. I took the photo. I don't remember taking it, but I know I did because my dogs always responded to me.

The photo is at least two years old. Rusty passed away in July of 2003 and Molly in May of 2004. Our Shelties were great dogs and they loved each other dearly.
They loved our camping trips up to the High Sierras. We had one spot that we returned to each year. We went for 15 years. Rusty and Molly are buried there, side by side. They have a good view overlooking their favorite little lake. Good- bye, good doggies, good -bye.

24 inches ....Really...

2005-06-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

Catfish from Red Oak Hollow pond

We all have our reasons for our desires......My husband's desires have been fulfilled.
He just wants to go fishing in his pond, when he wants to....
The catfish and bass are the extras; extra fun in catching them, extra bragging rights when they are this big, extra free protein in his diet.

His life is already de-stressed. He hasn't found a doctor yet. He is waiting for me to get there to set us up, with all life's particulars. He hasn't found a doctor, because he hasn't gotten stressed or sick. Tennessee is already working out for him. My husband's answer for "Why? "

The Closer , the better to see you my dear

2005-06-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

Memorable lines from little Red Riding Hood....

Just popped into my mind , the scariest lines from my chidhood reading..

Now I can't seem to get enough close ups of flowers.
This simple mum shows off it tubular petals.
I have the mums right next tot the fish pond

The house is now his!. I signed the papers yesterday, he signs tommorrow.
I move in two weeks. The closer it gets the better it feels.
It still surprises me that when I tell people that I am moving to Tennessee, they say WHY?
They are not asking why, they are just saying WHY?
Californians are suppose to be the most liberal folks around, but they are very narrow in their outlook on life.

I have too many stories to tell on how rude some folks have been to me, when I have told them about our plans. It shows me that they are living life with blinders on.
I had someone say to me on Sunday," I guess it's good, that there are other parts of the country that people want to live."

Willie the Clown wins a Tony....

2005-06-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of him....I knew Bill Irwin as Willie the Clown circa 1977.
I took clown class from him and loved the Pickle Family Circus shows and Bill's Vaudeville shows, one man shows....He is really a gifted and wondefully warm man.

A few months ago,Public TV had an hour special on him,(yes, he is that interesting) and I got his email and just wrote him and he responded.

I am so happy for him. I can't wait till I go to New York this September.
I have to see the show...... The following is from an email from his fan club, I just got this morning....

Bill Irwin has been awarded the Tony as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his work in 'Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'.This is his first Tony Award as an actor. Bill was previously nominated for his work as an actor, choreographer and director for
LARGELY/NEW YORK in 1989. He and David Shiner together received a
special Tony Award for a Live Theatrical Presentation in 1999 for FOOL
MOON.

Play the Name Game

2005-06-05T01:21:00.000-05:00

I came across some web gardening fun.
Go to : www.sunfarm.com and try your luck at naming new plants.
Hellebores to be exact. They are hell bent on Hellebores and they cultivate new species and need to come up with new names.
The prize is a four inch pot of the plant you named.
I entered four times. Can't tell you my names, becasue I want to win.

Better than a glass of orange juice

2005-06-05T00:15:00.000-05:00

How Orange is orange?

I like brights! They sock it to you!
It has more kick than a large glass of Vitamin C.

They can be a little difficult to work into a bouquet.
I made a great bouquet the other day with this orange lily and red roses and lemon verbena.
I will post of photo of that bouquet soon. It is quite striking sitting on our mantle.

Somebody asked me if I will continue to post at my new home in Sewanee.
Oh yes! I caught the shutterbug. It really makes me happy to take these tight closeups of my garden. I wish I could go thru life and see everything this close and intriguing.

I will have 30 acres to take close-ups of. I will have a whole new landscape to plant. I can't wait to have the space to really make mistakes.

Geranium rustler

2005-06-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

Pelargonium, common geranium

I am plant rustler. It is highly encouranged in most gardening circles. It's a snip here and a snip there, run home put it in water and see if roots.

Rustling encourages me to walk the dog. If I know I can snip and be home within 10 minutes, I feel like an accomplished multi-- tasker. Years ago, when this garden first started and I use to walk our shelties, with clippers in my pockets. Clean fast snips!

At least ten years ago, I snipped these pretty white and pink outlined geraniums. Can't even remember when and where. I also snipped some basic all pink and all orange geraniums from some large bushes that were really neglected a few blocks away. I figured if they grow with neglect, I could do that. Those plants cover a long stretch of crappy soil along a portion of our fence. Geraniums like poor dirt; like dogs like decomposing fish guts. They revel in what others abhor. Perfect synergy.

Duck family moves in .....

2005-06-03T13:10:00.000-05:00

Duck Party at Red Oak Hollow

My husband is sending me photos of Red Oak Hollow. He is getting pretty familiar with the duck family that resides on our pond. I wonder if Daisy Mae will consider them friend or foe?

Daisy in the Primrose

2005-06-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Miss Daisy Mae pinked out

Is is only me that thinks Miss Daisy Mae should have her own Calendar in 2006?

The nicest words I ever heard.....

2005-06-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

Morning Glory: Star of the Garden

"Wisteria, I really enjoy your pictures and commentary about your little corner of the world. Your words are just as lovely as your pictures. If you should ever happen to write a gardening essay book (which I would encourage you to do) I think you would have a bestseller!!!" Cathleen

These kinds words left on my blog, made me feel just like this flower. I can't express it better than posting this photo.

Now, if you ever plan to plant Ipomoea acuminata, more commonly know as
Blue Dawn Perennial Morning Glory make sure that you love it.
It will take over your fences and your neighbor fences. It will jump across the garden and you will find it co- mingling with honeysuckle and trumpetvine. It will snake up trees and entangle it self and bring the branches of the plum tree down, so the squirrels will have a better chance of feasting on the fruit. Blue Dawn may make you say "OH Heavens, what have I planted.!"

It is fast growing, as fast as my DSL was suppose to be; 15 -30 feet in a season. The bright blue flowers fade to pink and are more interesting as they age, just like us gals.

CorkBoard Legacy

2005-06-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

Thinking of them

I always saved the plastic photos that came with my roses, along with the metal i.d. badges.
The metal badges, I left on the roses. I thought if I cleared off the green house cork board and made a nicer presentation, it could be a help for the next gardener. He will be on a first name basis with the roses.

June 1st and my countdown begins

2005-06-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

Twenty days to go....so much packing....so many things...I can handle it.. Yeah.. I think I can.....

Dog woods in bloom at Red Oak Hollow

2005-05-31T14:39:00.000-05:00

Spring time in Red Oak Hollow

I am so ready to be there. Twenty days to go.

Tigress, Tea rose that explodes with color

2005-05-31T10:58:00.000-05:00

Tigress, feline rose

New rose for me. Bought it last year at the end of the season.
First year it has bloomed so beautifully.

Chewbacco's offspring? Ewok baby?

2005-05-31T02:09:00.000-05:00

Cutest dog ever

This is Bailey, he is son of Blaze. Blaze is Daisy Mae's boyfriend. Although Blaze is one month younger than ingenue Daisy, he is a proven stud. He has sired two litters already.

Bailey is the pick of the litter and now belongs to Blaze's mom. She is looking for the perfect home for him. She offered him to me and I am so sad to say I can't right now. I didn't even ask the husband. If the husband sees this post, yes, I really want him, even though...We are moving...Even though a puppy is not a good idea right now...Even though....

Bailey is three months old and only 1 1/2 lbs. He is so tiny and may grow to be less than 3 lbs.
He is in excellent health, champion bloodline are both sides, parents can be seen, ect.
He is so sweet. They came over yesterday evening and I couldn't keep my eyes off him.
He is smaller than a Beanie Baby. He is very good natured, played with Daisy's toys and snuggles up and sleeps right on your chest. Daisy was certainly interested in him, but frankly a little jealous.

If you are interested in him, respond to this post and I will pass it on to his current mom.
She is very picky on his placement, very picky.

Tea Tree says farewell to Spring

2005-05-29T03:02:00.000-05:00

Millions of tiny fuchsia colored flowers, Millions

It time to say farewell to the Tea Tree in bloom. It was a good run, around four weeks this year.
The tree is so striking. It was in perfect bloom when we showed the house. Timing is everything.
The best thing for the buyer is that next year he gets to get excited when it pushes bud and begins to bloom. Excellent time to plan a garden party.

I keep calling him the buyer. Does he continue to read this blog? Let us know! Leave a message.

The Pond we wanted and the boat we didn't

2005-05-28T01:12:00.000-05:00

Red Oak Hollow pond

The little spot in this photo is our boat. It came with the pond. Actually, it came in the pond.
The previous owners just left it.
I didn't even spotted it when we first looked at the property. My husband did , but he thought it wasn't a problem. He has already fished the boat out of the pond. We layed it at the end of the field to dry out. We figure it would make either a good planting box or a worm farm.
It has seen it's days, as a boat.

He knew that it was Lemon Balm and not mint

2005-05-28T00:37:00.000-05:00

Lemon Balm to your knees

When the buyer and I were walking thru the garden , he asked if this was lemon balm.
I knew then and there, that he was a gardener.
Most people would just see a green plant, some would guess mint.
He nailed it.
Now what do I do with all this lemon balm? I have in the past, dried it and used it in tea blends, sachets, and just stuck it in a vase with other flowers for it' s scent. It grows fast and I usually cut it thrice a season. I don't think I ever used thrice in a sentence before.

The color aqua

2005-05-28T00:35:00.000-05:00

The color of the restful sea

In my seemingly never ending quest to take extreme close ups of flowers, I have gone mad.
This photo is a fraud. It's my pillow. Not a real flower. Just Silk, but what a great color for a flower.

For the sale of our home, I bought an entirely new bed set for our master bedroom. I didn't like the neutral spread I bought, but it had a teal, aqua color running thru it. The bedroom set is not us, but it was part of the plan, to make there room as inviting as possible for sale. It worked. I even have had moving estimators say what a nice room the bedroom is. I packed up the spread and all the pillows. In our next home, it will be the guest room wearing aqua.

Does anyone know of this color in a natural flower?

Love and all it's entanglements

2005-05-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

Love and all it's entanglements

Love in a mist, Nigella Damascena is an intriguing spring flower.
It certainly seems well named.
This variety is probably Miss Jekyll, with her cornflower blue blossoms.

Chinese Lantern getting ready to open

2005-05-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

Chinese Lantern; Abutilon

Why would they call a plant which is native to South America, Chinese Lantern, Chinese Bellflower and Flowering Maple? Seems very cross cultural, to me.

This is a wonderful plant, with rapid growth and striking flowers. I planted 3 of them; one white, pink and red. The white passed away to plant heaven and in it's place came two volunteers. I replanted my volunteers in the white's spot. Last year, they were too small to flower.
They are doing well. Before I leave, I hope to see what colors they might be.

Chinese Lantern makes a great backdrop. It can grow, up to 10 feet. It blooms from May to August in this garden. Hummingbirds are attracted to it. They stand in front of a wall with a cement base and a depth to the garden.

Garden fairy

2005-05-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Garden fairy

Daisy Mae looks pensive in her new outfit. Perhaps she was thinking
" Why does my mom dress me?
How am I going to get along in Tennessee, wearing dresses.
All the other dogs are going to laugh....
What I need is some overalls."

Some one guessed where our Red Oak Hollow is

2005-05-26T01:57:00.000-05:00

Someone asked me on this blog..... Why Sewanne?
I don't recall that, I ever wrote where Red Oak Hollow is, either on this blog or on the HGTV message board, which I enjoy visiting . So how did they figure it out?

Sewanee is on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee. It is a pre- civil war college town. It's called the Oxford of the South. To us, Sewanee was an extra. We saw the town, after we saw the land. The land is 30 acres, 2 streams, 3 ponds, 8 acres cleared, the rest hardwoods. The previous owner was a gardener and half of her plantings are still surprises for me to discover. We bought the land two years ago and had a five year plan to move there. The plan was put into overdrive, after visiting our place, five times last year.

My husband found a job based in Chattanooga and I will keep my national sales job from California. Yes, we are blessed in that way. We are so done with CA. Too much stress, too many people and the high cost of living is really the high cost of dying. My dream is to live rural but have a little something extra nearby. My husband dream is to simply live rural. We both got what we wanted. The Domain( that's what they call the university of the South) is more than a little extra; young people, music festival , writer's conference, library, herbarium, ect. I absolutely wanted to live near a college town, but didn't know where to start looking. I kept that feeling to myself. I never even put that request on our dream list, when we started to look for land. We were trying to figure out weather, cost of living, low taxes, possible jobs and a college town seemed a little much to ask.
How lucky am I?

Watsonia , kin to Gladiolus

2005-05-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

Watsonia doing it's best to cheer me up

Great color from this plant; a hot pink center with a deep salmon peach.
These dandy plant are originally from South Africa, but mine came from my friend's parents garden in Sonoma County. I call them Ruth and George plants.

Ruth had a great patch of watsonia growing along the backside of her home. Good gardeners are always generous. She offered me some and of course I accepted. Free plants always have a home in my garden. I planted them, perhaps 10 years ago. They naturalized very easily, but took a few years to bloom. Beside this vivid pink/orange, I also have them in true white.

George and Ruth had 5 acres in Sonoma, outside Healdsburg. They lived their since the 1970's, before Healdsburg really gussy uped and became the next Napa.

In the late 80's, I volunteered to pick grapes at George's vineyard. We picked his second crop, which was considerable that year. Originally, he grew Gamay, which he sold to Gallo. But as the wine and grape business improved , he t -budded over to Merlot which he sold to Kendall Jackson.

Back in the day of Gamay, his daughter and I and our dates thought it would be fun to pick grapes. It was fun for the first hour, while we joked around and got use to using the short sharp knife. The second hour we lost interest and by the third hour we gave up. I know why tall people don't usually pick grapes. It really is back bending work. Harder work than, I was ever raised to do. I admire the grape pickers. Watch them some time, if you ever get a chance.

Living in Limbo

2005-05-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

This in between is driving me nuts.
I hate it.
I have mini breakdowns every other day.

Moving is stressful. I feel like I am moving by myself, because I am.

My husband took a job in Tennessee in March and we wanted to see how it would work out before we moved. It was the net under this tight rope, we call changing our lives.

His job is working out and I can do mine in any location. I sold the house and now am picking out a mover and packing the house.

The only thing I do enjoy is watering the garden, taking more photos and blogging and of course my pets. If I didn't have pets, I would be jumping of the GG bridge by now.

Our well thought out master plan did have a big flaw; stress and loneliness.

In one month, I should be there and not here. Here was good, but now it belongs to the new owners. It's limbo, the place unbaptized babies go. They are not bad, but not good enough to go to heaven. Never quite bought into that Catholic concept as a child. I don't know if the Catholic church still preaches it. Limbo borders hell, moving borders limbo.

Sierra our Cat

2005-05-24T13:22:00.000-05:00

Sierra our cat considering the move

At one time I had six cats, you know how that is if you have more than one cat. People with one cat are pet owners, people with more than one cat are cat lovers.

We have one cat already at Red Oak Hollow, a Calico named Koi.

Sierra stayed with me and in the last few months, her personality changed.
She likes being the only cat. She comes around a lot more, sleeps with me and tolerates Daisy Mae.
What she doesn't know is that Koi Kitty is waiting for her at Red Oak Hollow and has a three month jump on her for territory and rank.
What she doesn't' know is that we will be driving out to Tennessee, with her in a travel crate, Birdie in his small bird cage, Daisy Mae in my lap and my six foot five husband driving my convertible. It's going to be a cartoon: 4 days , 2400 miles, three animals.

Bug in a Rose

2005-05-23T12:06:00.000-05:00

Bug be gone

Dragon fly in bright day light

2005-05-23T02:09:00.000-05:00

I saw a day glow orange dragon fly , as long as my index finger on the aquatic plant in my pond today. It was bright sun , but I grabbed the camera and ran outside. I was amazed how close I got to the bug. I balanced on shifty rocks to get a solid tight shot. He flutter away but kept comings back. He landed on the very tip of this plant. I think he was admiring his reflection in the pond. He certainly posed for me. I will post his photo soon.

Daisy wants to know

2005-05-22T02:46:00.000-05:00

Where did my Mom go?

She hasn't posted for awhile, since last Sunday.
Where did my Mom go?
She went to the Garden State and had a long 7 hour delay coming home.
The folks at United are not happy campers, right now. It is best to ask nothing of them, it's all they have to give.

Daisy Mae went for a week's vacation and spent it with her best bud, Blaze.
They played constantly and now she is catching up on her ZZZZZ's

It rained most of the week. The garden was taken care of by nature.
I came back and dead headed most of the roses and saw new plants popping up.
New photo's tomorrow.

Free flowers each year

2005-05-22T02:44:00.000-05:00

Mexican Evening Primrose

Best plant for your bucks. I bought a pot or two of these four or five years ago.
They need very little water, but I tend to overwater them and they get taller than they should. It's pretty pink all over the stairs and the path around the fish pond. I walk on them. Daisy Mae looks lost in them.

Now this plant is Oenothera.berlandieri or commonly called Mexican Evening Primrose. It blooms during the daytime. Go figure. It certainly thrives with little or no care once established. Can be invasive if not controlled, although I can't image that this light hearted pink flower would not be wanted. It doesn't transplant well, but it self seeds so easily.

Another wagging dog tale

2005-05-16T05:02:00.000-05:00

Tobacco plant; Nicotiana

Once you have nicotiana, you''ll always have nicotiana. It's not an addiction like tobacco, it's not evasive like mint, it just comfortable in the garden and happy to be there. It is an tender perennial but most folks consider it a summer annuals. It's like a rescued Labrador Retriever, happy to be feed, happy to be petted and will always be there.

Last year at Red Oak Hollow, I found a lab puppy walking down the road. He was about five months old, black and as sweet as molasses. I was out for a walk and noticed that he was walking along the county road, sniffing for food. When I called to him, he came and then went belly up in a submissive pose. I, of course coaxed him home. We had a big bag of dog food that came with our new mobile home. In Tennessee, you get a 20lb bag of dog food, when you by a new mobile home from Sunshine mobile homes. Sunshine makes mobile homes and dog food.

We had this big bag of dog food and our Sheltie was in California and frankly she was use to getting much better food. We feed the food to the catfish in our ponds, but here was a hungry puppy. Of course, after you feed him and he ate three times, he was more than willing to hang around. He was gentle, loving and a good ole boy.
We named him Clem. We knew we couldn't keep him. We were just visiting our second home, and had to back in a couple of days.

We went around to see if he belonged to anyone or would they keep him. Since this is a college town and rural community, many dogs were dropped off on the mountain. He was probalby gun shy and the hunter didn't want him. I wanted to fly him back with us to California, as my husband rolled his eyes. It wasn't the best plan, because Molly our 12 years old Shelite wasn't feeling well and we knew she was not open to having a large puppy around. After, a dog is ten years old it is hard to introduce another dog into a home. Most older dogs really prefer to be alone, the center of attention. Molly was our princess and we knew the timing of this new dog would be very upsetting to her. She actually passed away about a month later, so we right about the choice.

Anyways ,we found the local dog pound, took Clem there and they called the animal rescue people. I wanted to do more for Clem, but as I was ready to leave Tennessee that Monday morning, I had a phone call that my Mom died and I had to fly to Michigan. Clem did get pushed into the back of my mind.

My Swimming Hole

2005-05-16T00:50:00.000-05:00

My Swimming Hole at Red Oak Hollow

It's rock lined and trimmed with plants. It needs some work
to get it back into shape. I need some work to get back into shape.
I should be swimming there in a month.

The Road Less traveled

2005-05-16T00:49:00.000-05:00

The Road Less traveled at Red Oak Hollow

We were lucky to have found land that was previously lived on.
They had a home, it burned down to the ground 8 years ago.
They let the land go, with only an occasional bush hogging.
But they had cleared around 8 acres, had a road in to the home site and a path that wrapped around thru the woods. Two creeks, three ponds, a back meadow that we already planted with soy beans is waiting for me.

Orange Stars come out in the daylight

2005-05-16T00:48:00.000-05:00

Punch up the garden

This is a houseplant. I bought it at Home Depot.
Don't you just hate it when you can't remember?

This is pretty common gift giving houseplant, but it screams look at me.
It breaks off easily and I just root tone it and stick it back into the soil.

Help! Tell me what it is. So I can tell him.

Rocks and plants from other places

2005-05-14T20:26:00.000-05:00

Rocks from Napa Valley, Plants from South Africa

We brought the rocks from Napa Valley. We took them right out of an open field.
They were in the way for the annual bush hogging. We may have saved them their blades. Yes, we knew the owners of the field.

We drove the 50 miles back to our home, carried them up the hill and worked them in the land. Most Californians would have just bought them at the local rock store. We did price them out. We said "They must have rocks in their head to charge that much for rocks."

The little coral colored plants came from Chimney Rock winery's garden. The previous owner of the winery, came from South Africa and she told me that was where the little plants came from. They muitlply easily given the right semi shady conditions. They are perky and bright. I use to work for the winery and one of the first things I did was to get to know their full time gardener. He appreciated that I appreciated his work and he gladly potted up roses, butterfly bush and other plants for me. It was one of the little perks that was there for the asking . It pays to be perky.

I will share a little secret

2005-05-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Plants in my office

When we had the stager come in, the first thing she commented on was the first thing she saw.
Our front door leads directly into one bedroom, that I use as my office. She wanted the first look to be the best and she didn't appreciate that I had my HP fax machine sitting there.
She suggested plants. Plants I can easily do. I did one better. I took my plants and dress them up a bit.

Now, I have tried to raise orchids. Every year I buy them either at the San Francisco orchid show or at the local Farmer's Market. They survive but never bloom again for me.
So, I went to Michael's and JoAnn's craft and floral store and bought some silk orchids and placed them in the real orchid pots. The orchids are real in my house, the flowers are not.
I have a couple of orchids in the master bedroom, very romantic and one in the bathroom, the mirrors makes it really pop.

My real estate agent thought they were real, so has everyone else......Except for the buyer.
He raises orchids.He knew by the plants leaf that that it wouldn't produce that type of flower.
I even left the plastic identifier tag in the pot. I thought I was so smart.
We laughed. Busted!!

But I highly recommend dressing up your orchids. Unless you can grow them.

He plans to do so in the greenhouse he is getting with our house.
Happy ending to all.

A gardener's Poem

2005-05-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

A Gardener's Musings
Sun dappled memories
Of summer's bright flowers,
Like a living Monet
Where we while away hours.
Sweet butterfly hugs
And tree froggie kisses;
Oh, the wonders and joys
A non-gardener misses!
~HarleyGal
From Blossomswap.com

Some mornings it's hard to get up and stretch

2005-05-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

Graceland stretching her sweet petals

It's dawn as I write this. I have been up for a few hours. I can see this rose from my office window. She is waking up, just like I am. Yet, she is doing it without a cup of coffee.

I am going to have my second cup in the hot tub. I need to get my emotions and motions going. I need to start packing, find a moving company and thin things out.

California Tree Hugger

2005-05-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

If trees could talk ...

It's the texture of trees that hold me spellbound. It's their girth and height that keep me rooted to this earth. Of all things growing, trees have the biggest effect on me.

This is a close up of one of the pines that we have on our hill. I suspect the trees are older than the house. The house is 48 years old. The trees are tall. I can't really judge height. 40 Feet?
There is at least 9 substantial ones on our hillside. We do nothing to them but watch them grow slowly. They anchor the hill. The provide shade and a playground for the squirrels. They allowed us to feel that we lived in nature.

When my husband and I started to look for property, we were very vague on what we wanted. We wanted water. Not the ocean, more like a lake. But to buy lake- front property, is pretty rare and very expensive. Most lake front property is a strip. We wanted space, not a strip of property that ran down to the lake. What we really wanted was our own lake. What we really needed was a pond.

We both knew we wanted trees. Not the scrub oaks of California, not the transplanted eucalyptus trees from Australia, not even the pines. We wanted trees with leaves that changed color. We wanted dense green canopy. We wanted dogwood blooms, red bud punch. We knew we needed to move out of state. If only for the trees.......

A burst of pink floating in the pond

2005-05-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

Water Lily

This photo relaxes me. I think that says enough.

Take a second look

2005-05-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

Angel Bunny gets the biggest reaction

It's been really great that people on this blog and on HGTV message board and and On Live Journal on their gardening message board have responds to this blog. Their kind words have really meant a lot to me.

Many people commented about Angel Bunny. She weirds them out. I never before noticed but "Yes indeed, she is odd." It's a cherub statue with a rabbit head. I think it is the naked body with crossed legs that is so unsettling for some folks. From the side view, she seems less strange. We loved her, when we first saw her in Eureka Springs, AK. If you ever been to Eureka Springs, you know it's a little odd for Arkansas. It's a cute town, with an artistic bent. We felt at home, love the town and consider moving there.

I'll try to find another Angel Bunny on the web. If I do, I will post where. Some folks love her and want one.

Moving on: Other people really understood what I attempting to do with the blog. They understand it better than I did.

whitedove1 wrote" A labor of love being sold. I can feel her pain and anxiety of who will end up with her earthly baby." Hit me with a dose of reality. Exactly! This is what I have been feeling.

The house sold immediately. It is being bought by the right guy. He grows orchids and does wood working with his down time. He loves the garden. He will make it his own. I'm sure they will be great garden parties.

I will be moving in a month to our land in Tennessee, Red Oak Hollow.
I will keep blogging.
A little bit more of the California garden and a little bit of Red Oak Hollow.

Now what do I do?

2005-05-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

I need a little help here.
I started this blog to find a gardener who wants to buy my garden and home.
First person who saw it , bought it. (Still pending, till all the details are crossed and dotted)

No what do I do?
I got addicted to this blogging.

Do I continue with the photos and musing for his and my benefit?
Do I stop blogging?
Do I start to write about the little piece of heaven that we secure in Tennessee, that we call Red Oak Hollow?

Sweet Smell of Success

2005-05-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

Honeysuckle, small flowers that come in big plants

It's official, the garden is pending sale.
The first person who looked at it was the right person.
I know he will tend to it and make it better and most of all, make it his own.

The Sweet Smell of success is best represented by the Japanese Honeysuckle, which cover 2/3 of the fence. It was one of the first vines we bought along with the Trumpet vines. Soon it bloomed, but as I recall it took a few years to develop the fragrance that I desired.

My first perfume was Honeysuckle from Avon. It went out of fashion, and Avon brought it back as a Retro scent. If I remember correctly, it is a perfume from 1966. In 1966, I was a teen and thought the smell of honeysuckle was exotic. I wore it for a few years. I had no idea of what honeysuckle was and that someday I would have it grow rampant in my garden.

It is such a pleasant scent and such an interesting flower. Up close. Look up close and it is more than you would expect . It is a vase holding it's own flower. How charming is that!

Smells like poetry

2005-05-11T03:01:00.000-05:00

Smells like poetry to me

Sometimes you miss what you can't imagine,
because you can't imagine what you been missing.

2005-05-11T02:54:00.000-05:00

Pink and happy to be Pink

A Perfect Pair

2005-05-11T02:40:00.000-05:00

Love -in-a-mist and Shasta Daisy

Love in a mist is soon going to be everywhere in the terraced rock garden.
Shasta Daisy bloomed first, but Love in a mist is a more dramatic spring annual.
I collect the seeds, which are in a papery horned seed capsule.
The seeds themselves are tiny black seeds and they scatter on their own.
This plant keeps giving of itself each and every year.
Too much water makes it spindly.
It is mixed in with rose campion, Shasta daisy, catnip, African daisy, and others.
It makes for a soft and comfortable look to the garden.

Oh, What a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day....

2005-05-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

Cherry Parfait

Here is your desert, first thing in the morning.

Cherry Parfait, one of the newest rose additions to the garden I call "The Endless Days of Wine & Roses". I have over a dozen long stemmed roses growing in wine barrels, directly from Napa Valley and Home Depot.

Cherry Parfait is one of the prettiest rose ever........ It is a Grandiflora, simply identified as a red and white. Grandifloras are derived from a crosses between hybrid teas and floribundas.

Parfait is a desert made of cream, eggs, sugar, ad flavoring frozen together and served in a tall glass. The word parfait comes from the Old French word Perfect and from Latin, perfectus.
Now you know why someone named this very rose, Cherry Parfait. It's Perfect!

The Hills are alive with the sound of ........

2005-05-09T09:46:00.000-05:00

El Sobrante Hills

Spring is the greenest time of the year. The hills are really dressed to the nines with their lush green suits. This is the view from the naturalized hillside of our home.

El Sobrante means left- overs in Spanish. It originally refers to the open space left between the spanish land grants of the 1800's. It's not a city. It is an unincorporated county town.
We don't pay city taxes. Now that is a plus!

It also means that our semi rural lifestyle is freer than most.
Folks around here have horses, goats, rabbits, chickens, turkeys and mini donkeys.
I have seen these animals in the greater one mile neighborhood.

I always enjoy seeing someone riding down Appian Way on their horse.
Old Mills Feed Store has been here forever. The owners passed away years ago, but I nod at their still standing sign, Feed of All Kinds.

Maybe a semi rural lifestyle will be the Feed for Your Life.

Happy Mom's Day to all Mothers of all kinds

2005-05-08T14:47:00.000-05:00

Life is your perspective

Today's Horoscope for all

2005-05-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

It's human nature to dream, and to at least try to make those dreams come true here on planet number three. Your chance to turn one of your dreams into a goal, and to tackle that goal with your usual meticulous attention, has now officially arrived --

Here little fish.. Here little frog...Here little turtle...

2005-05-08T12:10:00.000-05:00

The Pond from the steps of the Mexican Primrose looking down

The pond is the relaxing part of the garden. We built it for it's sound.
Another one of our sense,to be cultivated in the garden. I can be pulling weeds and hear the gentle water fall of the pond and the bird songs in the background and forget that I have a full time job, a house to clean, dinner to make, bills to pay. It is better than Paxil.

The fish in the pond are mostly ten cent goldfish that have grown to good size, a hybird cross of gold fish and koi, an intereting all black fish, where did he come from? The fish multiple and nature sees that they don't overpopulate. The best denfense agains too many fish is the spectacular Blue Heron that sweeps by the garden and stops in for lunch. "Yes, the fish are fresh today, Mr. Bird. " "Don't eat too many!" as I watch in horror and glee. Look, nature in my backyard and I am only 14 miles from the Bay Bridge that leads to one of the greatest cities in the world, San Francisco.

Announcing .....Announcing....MY GARDEN IS FOR SALE

2005-05-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

Blood Red Trumpet Vine

YIKES! Today the house is listed in the local papers as a coming soon.
Tomorrow it is officially listed in the MLS.

My garden, my love, and my charming house will be up for sale.

Let the Trumpet Vine announce the news!

How perfect for a trumpet vine! He finally has a job, fitting for his unique stature in the garden.
The trumpet vine is a spectacular vine for mild climates. It climbs by tendrils and it has trumpet shaped flower. It can easily grow to 20 -30 feet tall. This garden's trumpet vine was one of the first plants, planted along the redwood fence that my husband built. The fence was the first home and yard project. We had a frisky Sheltie puppy when we move here. Rusty, best doggie in the world and later his galpal Molly. Sweet Molly passed away last Mother's day. She was only 12. The hardest thing about pets is that they have a shorter life span than we do. Okay, I am digressing, but Molly still brings tears to my eyes.

The point is that I find it hard to believe that the trumpet vines is over 15 years old. Yes, It has grown to massive length. It covers a third of the fence and sneaks it's way into the honeysuckle.
It took at least five years for it's first bloom. I though it would never bloom. It was worth the wait. The cluster of 4 inch long, trumped shaped flowers stand out well from the vine. The color is captivating; orange red fading into bluish red with yellow throat. Flowers appear in bursts throughout the yeast when the weather warms. It is the number one vine to attract hummingbirds.

MY Mother's Day Card

2005-05-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

My Mother's Day card: my two favorite things

I snapped this picture on Tuesday. I needed a floral bouquet for a trade wine tasting. Some of the wineries like to make the best first impression their tables. Most wineries go to the florist or have a bouquet delivered.

I go to my garden and do one of my favorite things; make a floral arrangement of the flowers I grew. I can choose the color, the size, the scent, the vase. Since, I bow down to roses, I let them call to me and say "Pick Me today! I am the most beautiful. I need to go somewhere and show off!"

Tuesday, Heirloom won hands down. It's the most concentrated lavender bloom I have ever seen. It hold it color long. It is a Hybrid Tea Rose, but it blooms in a bunch like a Floribunda. I still have some of the bouquet doing well in vase in my office, five days later.

The bouquet also has lavender , Beared Iris, Mexican sage, statice, and a beautiful bell flower five star petal blue purple flower that I am growing in abundance in front of the fish pond. I don't know the names of everything I have planted. Sometimes in this blog, I will just describe rather than name the plants.

Now, if you have seen this blog before, you know that my other favorite thing, ( sorry for calling her a thing) is my Daisy Mae. I have only had her since August and I have never been so in love with a dog before. She is absolutely wonderful. Her only fault is that she is too friendly....Can you be too friendly? She need to say hello to everybody, doesn't matter if they are five house down the street and they are just getting out of their car. She has even jumped into a car just to get more pets, luckily she was on a long leash and the woman thought she was the cutest thing.

So I am Daisy Mae's Mom and today we are going to have some fun.

Birdie say Hi!

2005-05-06T14:49:00.000-05:00

Birdie loves the garden too!

Birdie is our lovebird. He loves to hang outside in his cage and listen to the birds that come by to visit. I tell them him that I have to bribe the birds with bird seed, so he will have some company. Some of the birds do sing to him and he sings right back.

If you come to visit, say hi but don't mess with his cage. It's his home and it's not for sale.

Knock, Knock......... who's there?

2005-05-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Bacchus's door

God of wine and the celebration of power and fertility of nature.
Now that is a "Welcome!"

The knocker stays and you'll see why on the next post....

Wine Cellar, just a little extra delight

2005-05-06T14:24:00.000-05:00

Need a hobby?

For most people this could be a hobby in the making.

Maybe you have some wine storing above your kitchen stove or under your bed or in the hall closet? Only 6 bottles or four cases or more......

Wouldn't it be grand to have a wine cellar?
Someplace to keep it properly stored and waiting for the next party?

What's for dinner tonight?

2005-05-04T20:28:00.000-05:00

The Wine Cellar, the coolest place in the house

Call it a hobby, call it a passion, call it a possibility.
If you like wine, you will be thrilled to finally have a place to stash it.

If you don't like wine, you really should reconsider if you want to live in California.
We drink a lot of it here.

The 98 bottle wine rack will stay. The wine will not. Sorry.
You have to fill the rack on your own. This is fun....
But I can make recommendations.......Trust me , I am a professional.........

California Dreaming

2005-05-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, I came up with the The Best Photo ever.

Isn't this why people live in California?

Hot Tub, glass of great red wine ( I highly recommend Ballentine Vineyards) and this view.
What more do you dream about?

About the wine ...go to Ballentinevineyards.com

Bless her cement heart

2005-05-04T19:29:00.000-05:00

Bird Girl from Savannah

Bless her heart is definitely a Southern way of saying something;
not quite a left handed complement, not an insult, not a slur. It just a kind remark, smothered in smirk.
It's pretty cool.
I don't have the hang of it. I have so much to learn.

God lives here......Mom says so

2005-05-04T19:26:00.000-05:00

God lives here......Mom says so!

I sent my mother- in- law this blog. She really enjoyed it and said the nicest thing.
"God lives here."
I do believe her.

My neighbor said when she is feeling low she just looks at this blog and it makes her feel better.

Gardens can do that, make you feel better.
I believe gardens are heart smart, almost as effective as a glass of red wine.

The garden of good and naughty

2005-05-04T19:17:00.000-05:00

Bird girl keeping her eyes open in the mini rose garden

Ever since I read the book " The Garden of Good and Evil", of course after first seeing the movie. I will admit to that. Movie first, book later, I knew I wanted to go to Savannah, Georgia.

I only spent a day there, but long enough to acquire Bird Girl for my garden. I had her sent back and she arrrived a few days before my birthday. She is very appealing and so well balanced. I placed colorful rocks in her outstretched hands. At first, I considered bird seeds, but I didn't want her to get marked by bird droppings. She is a giant among my mini roses.

She will go with us to Tennessee, Bird Girl is really a Southern Thing.
Bless her heart!

Don't wear perfume, live with it

2005-05-03T10:01:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to smell the Jasmine

Jasmine has been in bloom for a few weeks now. It becomes the best part of the morning.
Open the doors to the back yard and breathe.
We even put a trellis with jasmine at the back bedroom door, which leads to the hot tub. Sit in the hot tub and smell the jasmine. Not a bad way to start the day.

Hello Kitty

2005-05-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

Trio of cats with mouse

This art stays with the garden. It is the best piece of garden sculpture we were ever given. It was a gift from my sister in law. They came to visit and found it during their travels, up in Mendocino. Three cats with a relaxed mouse, smile on the lavender and white wispy flowers. I don't know the names of all the flowers I have planted. Above the cats is Mexican Sage. It has spikes of furry purple flowers. The fur goes well with the cats.

This terraced bed is done with large rocks and a little cement. The sculpture is cemented in and that is why it stays. Somebody needs to keep an eye out for mice......

Small delight among the rocks

2005-05-03T01:14:00.000-05:00

It's the Tiny Things that count

They may not look blue in this photo, but they are.
Like a blue purple gem, the color depends on the light.

It's an ongoing saga, I saw this plant in the nursery.
I liked it.
I bought.
I had to fine a place for it.
Stuck it here.
Two years later, it says thank you for noticing me.

Breakfast Deck and sighting an Osprey

2005-05-03T01:11:00.000-05:00

Coffee for one

If you ever need to get away and don't have the time, energy, money, free space to do so, simply have a cup of coffee on this breakfast deck. You can get away for the time it takes to drink the coffee, water the window box and look to see if there are birds sitting on the telephone pole.
We saw an Osprey with a fish in it's mouth, just sitting on the telephone pole.
It was there a least 15 minutes. I think he was showing off.
It was a fish bigger than our gold fish, so we figured he must have caught it in the dam, up the road a few miles. He needed to rest before he made plans to eat his brunch.

Osprey are magnificent birds, they can be 22"long and 54" wide.
It was something to see. We took pictures of him, before we had the digital camera.
So I can't post his picture. We keep a bird book and mark the date and place where we see birds from our home or camping trips. I highly recommend the hobby.

The bird cage, (you see in the photo, which I keep in the sun room /breakfast deck,) is for my little lovebird, Birdie. You will see a post of him soon. He is very pretty and very sweet. He is only 49 grams. That is less than 1/2 an ounce.
For a little bird, he catches his share of pet attention.
The little cage is his outside cage, for when the sun is shining and he wants to hear the birdsongs of the morning.

Have another cup of coffee, .... Escape......

Iris, first plants we planted in our garden

2005-05-02T17:45:00.000-05:00

One week from today my garden goes up for sale

Iris was the first plant we planted in our garden. 15 years ago we carved out a small circle in the center of the garden and planted two dozen rhizomes and we thought we were something.
That circle has been redesigned a few time now. Some of those irises survived and have been relocated to other plots. I have good gathering of iris at the base of the Crepe myrtle tree.
I have some around the New Zealand Tea tree. I have some in front of the birdbath.
But the majority of the iris patch is located up the hill on the naturalized part of the garden.

Up the hill, is left to nature. We don't water it. How many iris? Countless.
A few were in bloom today, a few more yesterday and probably by the end of the month, most of them will be. Plants don't hurry. They take their time.

Sitting Pretty

2005-05-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

How the outside is really the best part of the inside of the house

I needed somewhere to sit to put on my gardening boots and gardening clogs.
This bench does the trick and it gives more living space outside.
I want to live outside and so will you.
My husband would grill every meal.
It's easy and who wouldn't want to cook outdoors instead of inside.

What would you do?

2005-05-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

Bird builds nest in most obvious tree

I am sitting in the hot tub this fine Sunday morning, having my second cup of coffee and listening to the birds. I spot one busy little Phoebe collecting building materials from the garden.
She is smiling, she seems so happy. Do birds smile?

She seems overjoyed in finding all this great pieces of plant material that will be perfect for her new digs. She has chosen the best tree in the neighborhood. Our New Zealand Tea Tree, which is in full bloom. It is a happy sight to see. As I type this blog entry, I can see that she is still at it. It is like she bought a million dollar home with no money down, no interest payments.
I swear this bird looks happy.

What do I do? I know this tree is to low to the ground to be safe for a nest.
My cat doesn't hunt, but other's do. I can't imagine that she will safely raise her babies here.
Do I chase her away? Do I take apart the nest?
Do I let her be?

Yellow columbine brightens the day

2005-04-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

Better than pills...

The Montelindo Gardening Club Motto:

Digging in your garden
is cheaper than pills.
Planting and growing
will take away ills.
So remember your garden
when you're feeling low
You'll feel much better
when things start to grow.
By Peggy Court

A few years ago, I had the pleasure to belong to a gardening club; The Montelindo Gardening Club. It was great. I learned so much and the members were so generous with their gardens. It takes 30 years to became a good gardener. It's a very long learning curve.
I stopped going, only because I stopped going to the monthly meetings.
I seldom found the time.
I wasn't a very good member, having a full time job.
I can't wait till I can join another gardening club, in our new place.

What price is serenity?

2005-04-30T14:39:00.000-05:00

Sitting on the park bench and this is what I see

Park Bench, Pond and tranquility

2005-04-30T14:37:00.000-05:00

Daisy Mae likes to fish

Daisy Mae can keep herself occupied just by looking at the fish.
I can keep myself content by just looking at her, listening to the trickle of the small waterfall, watching a butterfly sail thru the garden and spotting a plant in bloom that wasn't so yesterday.

Nature is not a place to visit, it is Home!

2005-04-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am finally posting a picture of the house

Things are moving along. The house and garden will be on the MLS listing May 9th.

The house is painted just two years ago, a pale wisteria, with white trim and gray contrast.
The front of the house has a great palm tree, which we assume was planted over 40 years ago.
The front is very low maintenance, the shrubs get trimmed every other year.
The front flower bed was planted last year with pastel colors of blue, pink, lavender, and white.

The tall plants are Pride of Madeira, Echium fastusum. There are some great photos of this plant, already posted on this blog.

A large pink camellia anchors the garden to the entrance way of the house. It stand six feet and was one of the original plants we kept, when we redesigned the front bed. It is outstanding and starts to bloom in December and continues thru the spring. There are still bloom on it today.

I have lavender lantana in front of the Pride of Maderia and along side of the house. It is a perfect striking accent. Birds are attracted to lantana. It is an evergreen vine shrub.

The front row of the bed is Society Garlic, Tulbaghia.violacea. The leaves are a bluish green, very narrow and can grow to 1 feet long. It grows in clumps and spreads easily. I have over 15 plant and they all were propageted from two plants. The flowers dance in the breeze with their rosy lavender color. Some people don't like the scent, but it does cut down on ants.

Along the steps and right in front of the house, we planted white flowers that are an iris type that were given to me and I cultivated till they filled a six foot planter box. Very low maintenance. When I want more flowers, I simply water them more often.

Next is Lily of the Nile , Agapanthus pops bright blue flowers in mid summer and early fall. It stands right next to the steps and offers a cheery hello.

The porch is tiled and has a landing, that I sometimes place large potted plants on.

Sneak into the kitchen for your first look

2005-04-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

When there are flowers on your table....

The kitchen is one the two reasons we bought the house, the kitchen and the land.
We knew that the land over a third of an acre would keep us happy with planting.
We knew that the kitchen would be the center of the home.

It is large and open. Our table can seat 8. You can sit in the kitchen and look into the living room and out into the garden.

Country Kitchen

2005-04-29T11:24:00.000-05:00

County Kitchen
Large and bright. The washer and dryer are behind the accordion doors.
They are included with the house.
The refrigerator and dishwasher are included.
The kitchen also had a greenhouse window box, perfect for African violets.
Lots of cupboard, that are very deep and welcoming.
The ceiling fan keeps the room cool and often helps out with my cooking disappointments.
The tile floor is brand new.
The kitchen was recently repainted white and I have accented the room with blue.
The curtains are slate blue with pink roses.
The white blinds are brand new and cover all four windows.
The sunporch is right outside the kitchen door .