Wellington's (Almost) Famous!

We had a bit of excitement here at Wellington today.  We were relaxing.  Minding our own business when suddenly there was a ding-dong at the door.  She wasn't really a ding-dong in the sense that she was a nut case.  But there she was, standing on the threshold with a flack jacket, camo pants, a nose ring and with a piece of paper in her hand.  She said she worked for an advertising company that was scouting locations for a photo shoot and asked if we'd be willing to have them shoot Wellington.  Outside for sure, but possibly inside.  She handed me the paper which outlined the details.  Specifically it would be an advertisement for a bank.  And they would pay us.

 

We decided no.  It was an honor just to be asked.  But Wellington is shy.

 

Here is a link to the photographer's site.  I know all of Wellington's fans will be interested in checking it out.



Autumn Scene

 

This is the view from my office.  It's lovely this time of year.

West H Cuties

Another couple of cutie pies in Benicia.  The first is a bungalow that is adorable on the outside.  It's probably teeny tiny and old on the inside.  But you never know.  Look at Wellington?  He looks like he might be teeny tiny and old on the inside but he ISN'T.  And they say it's what on the inside that matters.

 

Don't tell that to this little cutie pie.

The yellow door on this lovely older home always intrigues me.  And I have a feeling that this house is even cuter on the inside, but no one has ever invited me in.  I have hope that if I lurk outside often enough, someone might come out and start chatting with me and who knows what will happen?

But for now I will have to be satisfied with snapping a quick clandestine photo and then hurrying to catch up with The Hub.

Autumn at Wellington 2013

I finally have persimmons!  I don't much like persimmons.  But I love my persimmon tree and I love baking.  So I'm sure I will find something to do with these lovely, pulpy fruits.  And how autumny is this?
 

 

I can't really take credit for how lovely everything is.  The Hub does most of the work.  I just stand around and get compliments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody loves autumn, especially Wellington.

Trial and Error

We at Wellington often receive compliments from passers by regarding Wellington in general, and his garden in particular.  The Hub has even received offers of landscape jobs based on Wellington's garden.  We chuckle, because really we don't know what we're doing.  All of Wellington's gardens are based on what we like to call "trial and error."  Which means we end up pulling out a large percentage of the plants we put in.  Usually it's because they turn out to be the wrong size for the area.  Sometimes the plants don't make it for one reason or another.  Besides, we had 21 years in our previous house to hone our gardening skills.

But Wellington's garden does look lovely.  And it's because we love tending it.  The Hub does most of the work.  I just piddle around, really.  Take today, for instance.  I went out after lunch and hacked at something that had gotten too large for its spot.  I clipped back other plants.  Put some more baby plants into spots that are probably wrong.  The Hub came out and yanked out an old plant that was really too large to be in the front of the bed.  Then I replanted it farther back.  Eventually he grabbed some clippers and went to town pruning back something I had been hacking at.  After an hour or so, we stood back and admired our handiwork.  It's not perfect, but it looks pretty good.  Especially if you take in the whole effect - Wellington with his green lawns, stone wall, big baby oak tree and moundy flower beds.  And if you squint your eyes just a little.

Afterwards we sat in our backyard and watched the puffy clouds peak over the rooftop.  Wellington makes us happy.

High Tide

Just another nice shot of the water.  There's a seagull perched on one of the pilings.  There were kayaks and jet skis in the water.  Walked to the water and back.  Took an hour.  Gorgeous. 

Cute Little Bee

Found this cute little bee buzzing around the flowers.  Soon it will be autumn.  Then the frost comes.  And then all of the mean biting insects will die.  Then they can't bite me anymore like a horsefly did today while I was grooming the horses.

 

But not this one.  It's a carpenter bee.