An Interesting Weekend...

Hello Friends. This was an unusual weekend that just passed. It started with an unseasonal winter storm watch, which turned into a warning. A big snow system was supposed to move into the area starting Saturday morning. No one really seemed to accept it as a possibility, though, which I think is funny. I was certain it was coming in, because so far, the weather predictions in this area have mostly been reliable.


It started out on Friday, with sun, fall foliage everywhere, and plans for a Halloween party after a day at a bonsai class in New Jersey. Fun, with no drama built into the plans. The predictions for snow came, and we figured that it would maybe drop an inch or two on us, which would melt away fairly quickly. So we headed out on Saturday morning, early, as our class started at 9 am and was almost an hour away. (We thought.)

At left is what it looked like when we left in the morning... what was falling looks like rain, but it was actually a giant slushy, sprinkled on us by the powers that be. It sort of looked like snow, but after landing, it was like rain... it's called rain/snow. Ha ha. 


As we got up to the All Shapes Nursery for our bonsai class, it was actually snowing, and had accumulated about an inch of snow or maybe a little more, and was looking like it was going to be an interesting return trip back to PA.


At one point, I came out of the greenhouse to go to the main house to use the restroom, and below is what I found outside!

Fall trees with snow...

It was a winter wonderland, somehow! In October! Now, in class, we'd been hearing that tick tick tick of snowfall on the plastic sheeting above us. However, as the plastic wasn't transparent, we couldn't tell if it was actually snow or rain falling. I found out it was snow when we came out for our break. THEN, as we were back in class, we'd hear swoooshhhh.... as sheets of built up snow slid off of the roof, sections at a time. Tick tick tick swooooshhh.... tick tick tick tick tick swoooooshhhh.... my mind kept noticing that it wasn't stopping. Although the class was interesting and fun, part of me was worried. We'd brought my Mini out to Jersey, and there was a snow storm going on outside. Were we going to be able to get OUT of here? That was the question of the day.

The snow-covered trees beside the road

A leaf trapped in snow on the roof above

The leaves on the ground outside , after some snowfall

Outside of the greenhouse we were in

So while all this snow was building up, we were actually cozy inside the greenhouse, learning how to control little plants and make them look like old miniature trees... it was really fun!

K was especially adept at it. He saw what he wanted, and he made it happen. His tree looks amazing! I was in awe, actually. Mine started out with good intentions, but didn't turn out quite so nice.

How my tree started out

It could be that I was distracted by the snow. Or I'm just not cut out for the Japanese art of bonsai. I don't know. I'm a fair gardener, but apparently that's where the talent ends!


Anyway, there were all kinds of lovely bonsai trees in there with us for inspiration...

Look at that trunk! 

Love all the greenery at the base

Very exotic! The yellow flowers belong to it

Like a rainforest floor... so cool

A ficus made special

 After the class was over, we used the restroom, and came out to leave. Everyone had gone except for a guy in his BMW, which K had to help push to get through the thick snow in the parking lot. Well, guess what? He also had to push the Mini. Once out of the parking lot, and then twice more after we got onto the long, unpaved road leading out of the nursery... it was a long road... and K didn't get to ride down it. After the last push, he told me to go down to the road, and not to stop, so he had to run about fifty yards in the snow behind me!

The road from the nursery

Roads weren't quite plowed

Our backyard when we returned

Neighbor's power was out, luckily ours wasn't

 I won't describe the harrowing trip back to Bethlehem. Let's just say it wasn't the most relaxing trip. Then when we got back, we thought we'd be out of power, but we got so lucky! Most of the area had no power... the downtown area was mostly out of power, but the block my work sits on was fine! And our apartment had power, also... though most people we know didn't have any power. It was COLD, too. Especially that night. People stayed with others who had power, or stayed in the booked up hotels and motels. It's been crazy. The next day, I had to go in to work, and here are a few things that I saw along the way....

 It was a mixture of autumn and winter, dramatically juxtaposed. I had a lot of fun photographing the variety of foliage and snow. (Though my fingers and hands got really cold in the process!) It's been so cold that the snow hasn't actually all melted yet. There were downed tree branches on every street, and the power still hasn't been restored to everyone's homes. It's pretty crazy. The weight of the snow on the still-cloaked trees caused lots of branches to break off from the weight, and there was a lot of property damage as a result. No one has cable, and a lot of people don't have phone service, either. It's so wild that one day of rampant nature can do so much to disrupt our lives.... and yet... it's so beautiful, don't you think? 


xox

San Jose, Redux

I'm baaaack!! I've missed being a part of the blogging community... not enjoying my mom's ancient computer that takes FOR-EVERRR to load a page, I didn't get online. As you may or may not have noticed, my last posts were all from my iPhone. Therefore, I couldn't share with you the pictures I took with my camera. Or, maybe I could have, but I'm not savvy enough to know HOW!


So a few things to share with you... 

Starting with the cool views from the plane, which always entrance me. I love the shining river in the third photo.... it's like a silver thread woven into the fabric of the earth below.

Strangely, it rained on our first full day in San Jose, which is odd. It RARELY (I'd say never, but it just happened) rains in the summer in California! I mean, I'd only lived there since I was six, but I feel like it was rare enough for me to feel a bit surprised when it happened.


On our walk to the park that I grew up visiting, we also saw some really old, large trees, which K thought were pretty awesome, and I had to agree.

Mom & K under a large pepper tree... the trunk was about 7 ft in diameter!

There were lots of birds, geese, ducks, and a few that I wasn't sure WHAT they were, but have seem them my whole life.

And back at my mom's house, her garden has grown MORE amazing than ever...

She has all sorts of vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers... it was so prolific that I had to tell K about "back in the day" when San Jose was an agricultural center for the States, and all around us there used to be farms and orchards. (I'd heard these stories from teachers growing up, and indeed, the orchards that had surrounded my schools are long gone now.)

My mom knows how to bring the outdoors in... sitting on this window bench that my step-dad made, you can watch hummingbirds up close! All kinds of little critters visit... mostly birds, but a few squirrels, too (which drive Jo Jo crazy, he being the family dog.)

And a few of the ways she brings nature around is to have feeders and bird baths. Also, she's planted a lot of flowers outside the windows which the hummers love to feed on. It's exactly the kind of garden I had back when I lived in Fremont. Full of life!

She also added elements of bonsai, through the use of a grapevine, which has been there for years. She gets delicious grapes on them, too! We took a lot home with us!

There are other interesting elements in her yard, in the form of little scenes... she has statues that used to be inside (bought when we lived in Japan) which she got tired of having in the house. They became outdoor ornamentation, and seem quite happy there!

We really enjoyed spending time outside, as you might recall from my other post. Mom would serve us tea that she'd made from her own herbs, and which were delicious! It was quite relaxing and enjoyable... I'll miss it! 

On Gardening

I recently visited a whole lot of gardening blogs, and was reminded of my love of gardening. When I lived in California, it was one of my favorite pastimes. I'd get home from work and go straight into my garden in the back (if it was still light out) and I'd pull weeds, make discoveries, trim and deadhead. It was my calm space. I always had so much to look forward to every season back in my secret garden. 


I want to share some photos with you of my garden, though it's no longer mine.

I brought lots of potted plants with me from the rental house I lived in before, so the back deck immediately had some color and life. 

This hundred-year-old wisteria was one of the reasons I wanted to buy this house. It's just one of the reasons that I was drawn to this house. I loved the large backyard, all the light the house got inside, and the fact that I was about five miles from work! (Though it could take me up to 20 minutes to get there... drawbacks of living in a Bay Area city!)

 Yes, I was able to keep a plumeria plant, too. I had to winter it inside, but that wasn't a big deal. I loved that plant! I tried to take some with me, but it didn't survive the super-heated summer driving. I had to get it from California to Pennsylvania in my Mini. It wasn't happy, and did NOT survive.

Fence art hiding behind the foliage

I had a lot of help with my garden... when I first moved in, my good friend, Lenore, took me plant shopping at a huge Japanese plant nursery nearby. She purchased many of my trees & shrubs that I have in the garden! So generous, and she helped me figure out the placement for everything, too.

Quince blossoms

Every season in my backyard had something blooming... that was part of her suggestion, too. We went to the nurseries at the different times of year to see what was blooming and thriving. That helped to get me a year-round garden I could always enjoy.

Flowering maple, I think

The yard came with a plum tree, an avocado tree, an orange tree and the wisteria. Everything else was planted afterwards. There were some volunteers, as well, including several fig trees, a wild rose, and the neighbor's trumpet vine.

I had my friend, Jed, build the pergola... love it!

I planted a wisteria at one corner of the pergola, a Carolina Jessamine at another corner, and the bittersweet vine kind of overtook it from a pot I had it planted in. That was a crazy vine that I should've kept in check! 

Love the dark flowers on this shrub. Forget the name... silver (something)

I loved to wander around in my own garden... it was a real sensory experience. Both visually and olfactorily! You'd smell the wisteria at the back door, walk towards the back and smell the sweet tea rose, then the orange blossoms on the orange tree, then the honeysuckle along the garage, and then back to the wisteria, where there were also some freesias in pots along the deck. I planted to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and people! I even had dragonflies back there, probably due to the lady bugs... Poor ladies!

A copper wind chime I made

I enjoyed adorning my garden with lights and wind chimes. You can tell it's summer from this photo above... not as much in bloom. The shoe-button spirea at the bottom middle/right has lost it's little white flowers. 

Another volunteer: chamomile

I encourage rampant misbehavior of my plants. I loved when the plants would grow out of bounds and encroach on other areas... the way they shared space was often inspiring to me. I loved when the spring would bring surprise bulbs, too, that I had forgotten that I'd planted. Someday I'll have another garden, I know. It will take time, as they must to be truly inspiring. I have patience. I can wait. Meanwhile, I will continue with my little terrariums and potted gardens. And I'm happy to enjoy the gardens that all of you share with me in the Blogosphere. Thank you!

Blooms In My Garden

I wanted to share what's currently blooming around my apartment. If you enjoy gardening blogs, like I do, check out May Dreams Garden! I'm linking to her Garden Blogger's Bloom Day post. 


Some of these are in pots, and others are planted in the backyard. Although I'm looking forward to fall, I'll be sad to lose these blooms. Good thing the mums are getting ready for fall! My garden won't be completely barren looking...

Brown-eye Susans on the front porch.

Don't know what these purple flowers are...

Butterfly bush I propagated from a wild-growing bush.

Next to bloom... Mums!