Indulging Yearnings

Finding myself a skosh homesick for my Cathy Lane garden this week, I signed up for the Oakmont free garden tour. About 125 admirers joined me in the same trek. Someone with a clever mind planned it, as each of the five gardens selected demonstrated a different purpose. The largest, 3/4 of an acre, was a hillside home with a grand view of the mountains and part of the Valley of the Moon. Photos of big bobcats and other critters in their natural habitat adorned the patio walls. Another garden was planted carefully with only edibles. A third featured the owner/landscaper/artist's oil paintings set out on easels in various settings, a la Monet. All of them sported drip systems of sophistication. One small garden on the golf course demonstrated deer resistant shrubs only. I learned a lot. Of course I had to hit the nearest nursery today and indulge a little addiction. Some of the plants I have purchased this spring have already died; too much or not enough water, I expect. Alas.

The pot and grouping on the left will at least last for a week or so, I hope, as next week on Monday my sorority sisters from 1948 at the U of Washington are coming to visit, and Tuesday my painting buddies from Water Color Connection are making the same trip up Highway 12. Aren't I lucky to be so loved. The manzanita on the top was taken from the largest acreage on the tour. I think its the largest I've ever seen. Manzanita are so slow growing. I wonder if it was here when Jack London hiked these hills?

The nurseries in Sonoma County do tribute to the county's agricultural heritage. But today's trip to the nearest one, Pritchard's, tickled me when the resident roly poly chicken ducked under this display. Thought I, "What a wonderful respite for -any fat and cuddly hen."