Robinwood Reclaim

My new favorite site: http://www.robinwoodreclaim.com/

Go ahead - click on something.

Back Gate Benicia

A beautiful Saturday morning in Benicia and I just had to take a walk. Few people were out. Some joggers. Some dog-walkers. I strolled some of the back alleys and found myself taking pictures of people's back gates. I like the feelings the back gate evokes. Curb appeal is one thing. But back gates are more intimate. Special little places seldom seen by outsiders.

Some are well tended, others have a sort of incidental quaintness. Old moss. Rusty hinges. Rotting wood.

Beautiful.

Benicia in March

After our last work day, the daughter and I were driving down the hill in Southampton and the view was so pretty I had to sort of angle my car in the middle of the road and shoot this picture real fast before someone hit us.

Today it's sunny, and that's nice too.

Updates and The Brother is Coming!

The daffodil is taking off, in anticipation of the brother coming to visit! He arrives tomorrow and I think he's going to be very surprised to see that the daffodil has grown so much, plus with blossoms!

And look at the Arbor Walk! Last time the brother was here this was a patch of weeds. Actually there was a whole different house on this lot last time the brother was here. How surprising is that?

Also, let's not forget about the nectarine tree, which is absolutely POPPING with blossoms. The brother will be impressed.

Here's another angle of the Arbor Walk. It's a work in progress. Maybe we can get the brother to help while he's here "resting".

Here is the front right patch. I just fed it so hopefully it will start taking off more. Probably after the brother leaves, though.

And I think I owe Hugo an apology. There's a little plant in this section (below) that I saw her eating, but today it's completely gone with snail slime all around. And if I'm not mistaken, cats don't ooze snail slime while eating plants. I'll check with the brother while he's here, just to be sure. He knows more about cats.

Speaking of the brother, won't he be surprised to see this little garden area that the husband has recently planted? It looks like a professional was hired, but he WASN'T!

Of course, Hugo had to watch me while I was taking the pics. She's very excited about the brother. She's heard so much about him.

(The chairs are covered in plastic while it's raining in honor of THE BROTHER.)

Putty Tats and Daffodils

It's spring! It's spring! No it isn't! It's winter! But this weekend it was almost 75 degrees and we gardened absolutely the whole time. It certainly felt like spring. Which reminds me of putty tats and daffodils because look! The kitty found a new, safe place to watch the mean dog who lives up the street and comes over to roll in our grass. Is she the cutest thing?

And here's the part about daffodils. After my amaryllis spent itself, I decided it would be easy enough to "force" bulbs in the house. So I read up on it and it sounded pretty complicated - stick in the freezer, put in 3 inches of potting soil, store in a dark place for 3 months, etc, etc. So I decided what the heck. I took three bulbs and shoved them in a pot with some soil and put them on my window sill. A week later after I killed the plants that were in this little wire castle, the husband put the pot in the castle and it took off! It loves it in there. These pictures were taken during consecutive days this week. The first one (above) was taken at night, the one below was the very next morning. The following two were the next two mornings. Can you believe how fast these things grow? I was trying to see if I could catch it growing by staring at it but I had stuff to do so it didn't work out. I took these pictures instead.

You can just see the little flower opening up! That was about three hours ago. Not much change since then.

Speaking of flowers and spring, the nectarine tree thinks it's spring.

This is the nectarine tree two days ago (above) and here it is this mornng (below). That groundhog was right this year. Frollic, frollic! I always frollic a little bit in the spring.

No Frogs

I have recently come to the realization that there are no frogs in Benicia. We have lived here eight months and I don't think I've ever heard a frog croaking. Is it because we are so close to the water? Is the climate somehow not pleasing to frogs? Whatever the reason, I'm not going to fret. I have a library and the library has CDs and one of them is called "Frogs". This CD (Frogs) has two tracks, both with 24 minutes of frog noise. You have a lack of frog noises? Go pick some up at the library for free. That's my philosophy.

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But it got me to wondering: why are there no frogs in Benicia? So I went to Google and typed in "why don't I have frogs." Believe it or not there were no answers. There were lots of entries about frogs, though. Including this little critter who is called a "horned frog" but I'm calling him a "leaf frog" on account of he looks like he is made of leaves. But no one answered my question "why don't I have frogs." I'm not disappointed. Because as I was typing, Google tried to anticipate my question. "Why don't I have friends," it typed.

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So while I sit here without frogs, I can listen to my borrowed frog CD and revel in the knowledge that at least I have friends. I kind of wouldn't mind my own Leaf Frog, though.

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Maybe frogs come to Benicia in March. I've never lived here in March. I'll keep you posted.

Update: There are indeed frogs in Benicia. You just have to know when and where to listen. I'm not sure when or where, but I have heard them recently. The daughter pointed them out.

More Bungalows

Lately I've been very interested in the Arts & Crafts movement. I've been researching bungalows and Craftsman interiors. Today I ran across this bungalow that reminds me quite a bit of Wellington. I found it on this site: http://www.oakparkdining.com/. It's a bungalow in Berwin, Illinois.

The features that are similar to Wellington's are the off-set front porch and the centered upstairs windows.

Here's one I found on another site. It is only a one-story, but it has similar window placement and front door placement. You don't often see the sideways-facing front door, but I'm assuming this one has that since you can't see the door from the front. The small window on the porch is like our library window. Look at this little cutie pie! It has the offset porch also. And the off-center steps, like Wellington. I love this little white picket fence, which apparently I'm not going to get. I also like the trellis over the gate to the right. This one has the shingles too. The more I look at this one the more I think it's a lot like Wellington before the remodel. Because there used to be a fireplace in that exact spot. And Wellington used to be one-story.

Right now I'm sitting in the front room. The cat is curled up on the big, soft chair in here. She's doing everything she can to keep from being on the designated cat blanket. It's on the chair to protect it from cat hairs, etc. But she's curled into the tightest ball she can squeeze herself into, in the corner of the chair, on the one bit of upholstery that isn't covered by the blanket. She's exerting her independence. You just gotta love her for it.