Fall 2011 update

It's a beautiful fall day in Sacramento!  We've been lucky enough to have little rain and winds so far so a lot of the leaves are still on the tree's.  The result: one of the best displays of fall color that I've seen in our neighborhood since we moved here!

The dried artichokes have become a soggy mess after a slight drizzle this afternoon.

The artichoke plants that I cut to the ground just a month ago? Yep, they are already huge again.  This is partially because I was supposed to split them up and haven't gotten around to it.  The other reason?  Well, this is just what they do.  They are thistles, after all.

Tis' the season for 'shrooms. We've removed about 30-something trees since we moved in to this house, and the roots are slowly deteriorating.  That deterioration causes mushrooms, which are a sign of the pre-existing tree decomposing. 



Fall can be MESSY.  If not for leaves, then for cones. Just ask my front walkway.

And some plants keep blooming, despite the cold weather, like the hollyhock pictured above.

And the straw flowers are still going too, yet the blooms are much smaller than they were in the beginning of summer.  Keep them in mind as a long blooming plant for your garden.  You can dry the blooms and bring them indoors in flower arrangements if you want to extend their fun even further.

Enjoy the many colors that nature has to offer.

Set Them Free....

Over this past week we have experienced new life in our household, and we've experienced death.  Yesterday we buried my grandpa- my Vovo- just a little over a year after we said goodbye to his beautiful bride, my Vava.  As my cousin Danny said during the eulogy, we were truly blessed with the most amazing grandparents that we could have ever asked for.  As much as I am sad to be without them, I find joy in knowing that they are back together again. 

For my daughter's birthday she got a butterfly habitat from my husband's aunt. We sent away for our 5 caterpillars, and enjoyed watching them grow into beautiful butterflies over the past couple of weeks.  It seemed only fitting to release them on the day we released my grandpa from this chapter of his life.

As our newly hatched butterflies skipped along our fingertips, I realized how fragile life can be.

And the butterflies were a great way to explain to my daughter that saying goodbye can be beautiful.  It doesn't have to be sad.

As she said to her little friends "Go- be free!," my heart was warmed, my eyes finally dried....

And how exciting for the butterflies- feeling the wind beneath their wings for the first time.



Just a couple of weeks ago they came to our house like this....

Within a couple of days, they transitioned from pupa to chrysalis... 

And about a week later, they spread their wings for the first time.

Enjoy life.  Appreciate the details. Grow something. Love someone. Be loved. Oh- and hug your grandparents :)