It’s a rainy day in California. I actually see water dripping off of leaves. It’s been awhile. Above you can see Annika pretending to be asleep, so she doesn’t have to go out for a walk in the wet. Unlike Annika, my garden is very happy to see the rain. Continue reading
A Sempervivum ‘Commander Hay’ was the second Sempervivum I added to my collection. There are approximately 40 varieties, so I have a long way to go. I wrote about my first Sempervivum in Sempervivum ‘Green Wheel’ Hen and Chicks.
Commander Hay forms large 4 inch rosettes. When the plant is old enough to flower, the rosette will produce a long stem with star-like pink flowers. Once the rosette produces flowers it dies off, but not to worry, because baby offsets continually form on the plant’s base. You can see these offsets in the photo below. Continue reading
Christmas Cactus, or Thanksgiving Cactus? I’m still not sure, but I’m leaning more towards Christmas, because of the more rounded shape and thickness of the leaves. When I originally bought it many years ago, I probably chose it for the beautiful flowers, and didn’t pay much attention to whether it was a Christmas or Thanksgiving variety. Continue reading
Making your own succulent/cactus planter mix is fun to do and can save you money. I’ve been planning on writing a post on this topic for awhile, but when a friend recently asked me for the recipe, I knew it was time to do it. Continue reading
Surfing in Austin Texas? Our son was raised in Southern California and grew up surfing. He also authored the book,Surf Stories by Ryen Phillips. A fun read, especially if you enjoy surfing tales. For those of you that enjoy outdoor cooking, he has also written Let’s Talk Outdoor Cooking. It has some great recipes and I especially like his stews. It is available for Kindle at Amazon.
He and his wife moved to Austin, Texas several years ago. They wanted to stay near the water, so they bought a sailboat and began sailing on beautiful Lake Travis. The photo below was taken from their boat. Continue reading