Flowers and Fruit

As usual, there has been a lot of planting here at Wellington.  A new lime tree named Winthrop, various flowering grasses and this gorgeous clematis that was on sale.  It has only been in the ground a few days and it is already showing off!

Even more exciting is the single apricot.  Two and a half years ago we planted this poor little apricot tree in the Arbor Walk.  I never saw a blossom on it.  But apparently there was at least one blossom, because this year he produced this single apricot.  And this afternoon I ate it.

I actually shared it with the big guy.  But only one bite.  It was the best apricot I've ever eaten, and I'm not just saying that.  It was tangy, yet sweet.  Firm, yet juicy.  Yummy, yet eaten.

We had a huge crop of peaches.  They were pretty good, too.  Except we left the last batch on the tree too long and they got mealy.  But while they were ripe, they were very good.  We were really happy with this batch.  And we're very happy with Wellington.

Benicia Sightings

Yesterday at the harbor there was a fairly cool sight which I failed to capture.  A rather large ship was passing by with tugboats on either end.  I think there was some kind of a barge in there also, but I can't tell by looking at this picture.  It was another nice day, though.

On Friday the little boy and his friend were taking a walk to the water, so I tagged along.  It was hot and beautiful.

Meanwhile back at Wellington, the little snippet that I clipped from the plant in Grass Valley one year ago is positively THRIVING.  Loyal readers will remember that I had the cutting in water in a jar in my kitchen for a while.  It rooted.  The Hub planted it, after which all three of its leaves fell off.  But they came back!

It's mother was gorgeous, so I have high hopes.

The Fruits of Wellington and a Trip to Carmel

Some of us have been out of town.  Mostly to New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.  But they're all close together so it hardly counts.

Back in town, I noticed that Wellington's fruits are positively POPPING.

This is our very first apricot!  This poor little tree was a hand-me-down that was planted as we were making the Arbor Walk.  He arrived all wind-blown from his trip 35 miles in a truck.  His trunk is scarred.  It took him two and a half years to pop out a piece of fruit.  And frankly I don't remember seeing a blossom on this tree.  But there's the apricot!  Proof of fertility if I ever saw it.

Speaking of apricots, here is one of Sybil's plums.  She has quite a few.  But her apricot stick remains fruitless.  She has a couple of peaches, but I think they're duds.

The red apple tree has zero apples.  The green apple tree has two apples, a green one and this reddish one. I'm not complaining.  I'll take what I get.

The problem with living at Wellington is that he is so beautifully located that it's hard to think of somewhere ELSE to go when someone has a birthday or other special occasion to celebrate.  The Dot had her 25th birthday this weekend and decided that she would like to take a family drive to Carmel.  Carmel is a beautiful town only two hours from Wellington.  It was very hot at Wellington, so Carmel seemed like a perfect solution.  72 degrees and sunny.  My favorite.

A saw this cute little house and snapped this cute little pic.  There were a couple of houses for sale along this street, called Ocean Boulevard on account of the fact that it leads to the ocean.  One house was a cute little brick four bedroom with a guest house.  It is a mere $5,500,000.  Another house right at the beach is just over $8,000,000.  Luckily we're happy at Wellington.

 But Carmel is beautiful.

We finished up with a glass of wine at The Lodge.  Some people were playing a round of golf or so.  It was a gorgeous day.